DillDoe

Friday, January 20, 2006

Chocolate Jolt!

Back from Hibernation!
Ok, to kick things off here's a treat that'll keep you up!



Ever had a big lunch and then fall into a food coma when you go back to work/class?
Here's a nice 'pick me up' treat that's simple to make and delicious as well!

Here are the stuff you need:
  • Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips (or block)
  • Coffee beans (maybe canned)
  • wax paper
  • butter knife (or sm. offset spatula)


(click to enlarge)

I choose Mrs. Fields semi-sweet chocolate chips, because it has a nutty flavor. Other one's I've tried were Nestle and Ghirardelli. Nestle's toll house chips were good, with no aftertaste. Ghirardelli's on the other hand was horrible, with a bitter, alcoholic aftertaste.
Shown are Hazlenut roasted Coffee beans. Whole beans have more flavor than the canned ground stuff. Plus you can control the size of the grounds. Expresso would be a nice substitute, but I haven't tried it yet. Use your favorite flavor of beans.

First, ground up your coffee bean. Should be a coarse ground and not too fine.

(click to enlarge)

Next, melt your chocolate (follow direction on back of package) You can use a double boiler, heat pad, etc.. Easiest way is to put it on your wax paper and melt it in your microwave. Save on wash up and no burnt chocolate (unless you microwave it too long)

Microwave time should be the same, 1 min on medium high. Test to see if it melts. If not, nuke it for 30 secs more on medium high and test. Repeat 30 secs till you get a nice melted product.
Be carefull not to microwave it too long or you'll burn your chocolate.

Take your chocolate and stir it with your butterknife or spatula till all the chips are melted. Then sprinkle your coffee grounds into the chocolate and mix. Add as much as you want, good ratio is 2 parts chocolate to 1 part coffee (or 3-2 for more coffee). Mix it well and spread it out on the wax paper to about 1/8" thickness.


(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Let it cool at room temperature or toss in fridge/freezer till the chocolate sets (Freezing will be faster, but final product won't be as nice)
Cut into 2x2 pieces and enjoy your caffeine boost. 2 pieces should wake you up.
The chocolate does a great job in masking/integrating the coffee taste. It kinda taste like crunchy Oreo cookies crumbs covered in chocolate. The first batch I made (about 9 pieces) I ate while watching TV cause it tasted so good I couldn't stop eating it. Big mistake cause it kept me up almost all night. So if you need to pull an all nighter than go ahead and pig out!

posted by DillDoe at 3:11 PM

48 Comments:

  • good lord, this is so unhealthy.

    it should be noted that those afternoon slumps at work are essentially your body screaming because of drastic fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

    i'd suggest altering your diet before you resort to treats like this, which only exacerbate the problem.

    you only get one body! treat it right!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:38 PM  

  • So suck a crystal, anonymous, give me caffeine and chocolate!

    By Blogger toybreaker, at 9:08 PM  

  • "good lord, this is so unhealthy"

    yep.

    and so is a big heavy lasagne, a cold crisp martini, a cigarette after sex, sitting in the sunshine at the beach, a cheeseburger, raw oysters, b.c. skunk, drinking enough wine that you get the giggles, skydiving, listening to music loudly, skinnydipping, and gummi worms.

    respect your body, absolutely. you do only get one. but pleasure in moderation makes a life worth living, at least for me.

    did i miss the "you must make and eat this" portion of the recipe instructions?

    recipe looks kick ass, btw. making it tomorrow.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:26 PM  

  • Nice. I'm making these right now.

    P.S. - You can block spam in your comments by turning on word verification. Flip the switch, or expect more penny stock crapola.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:34 PM  

  • ..and skinny dipping is unhealthy?!
    yeah, maybe in Lake Tuberculosis...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:36 PM  

  • One other thing: Darker coffee means less caffeine. If you want the most jolt go for a light roast.

    Not true:
    http://coffeefaq.com/caffaq.html#darkvlight

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:18 PM  

  • that's good stuff.
    thanks for the recipe.
    simple but beautiful.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:28 PM  

  • Wow. Crate & Barrel sells a more intricate version of this every holiday season, called "Java Bark" - they take the chocolate and coffee beans, and add in cookie bits in the mix, and some light icing on top. Now if anyone can figure out THAT recipe... heaven.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:30 PM  

  • One of my friends used to make this, but he used whole beans which actually tasted pretty good, I thought. It works like magic, I'd stay awake through every class whenever I had some.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:38 PM  

  • graeme: Yeah, parchment is a good way to go. I only had wax on hand.

    Chocolate and Coffee, what's unhealthy about that? Studies shown that small amount of both is beneficial to your health. Moderation is the key.

    kl: thanks for the tip, turned it on. Good bye spam.

    You could use whole beans and make like a chocolate block. I did it this way to cut time for cooling/cutting.

    By Blogger DillDoe, at 11:00 PM  

  • anonymous @ 9:26pm

    Exactly!

    life is about the things that make you smile, and this recipie is one of them!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:27 PM  

  • ahhh I'm so excited to try this!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:23 AM  

  • Whoa! Evil!!!
    I am gonna buy some coffee beans and chocolate tonight and make it!!

    w000t!!

    By Blogger Loughlan, at 1:30 AM  

  • Your recipe reminds me of this vending machine that they used to have,at the mall near me. You'd put a quarter in,and it would give you a handful of chocolate-covered coffeebeans. I hope you don't mind,but i posted your recipe on my blog,with a link to your blog (giving you credit). Don't let the health nuts get you down. They do it all for the vanity anyways. Honestly,which do you think is more tasty: chocolate or whey protein? Keep up the good work.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:50 AM  

  • Es (from the) presso (press) espresso.

    Better than the covered beans is the "rich dark drinking chocolate" from starbucks. Chaintico, maybe. Order one with 2 or 3 shots in it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:46 AM  

  • Dark roast has less caffeine per volume. So you must brew stronger coffee to make the same caffeine content. Reread your own link.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:50 AM  

  • yuck

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:05 AM  

  • You sir, are awesome. Trying it this weekend.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:01 AM  

  • Anyone know of some cool looking (devils, bsd beasties, etc.) forms to pour this wonderful stuff into?

    By Blogger Tony, at 10:11 AM  

  • Why not just drink some coffee?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:33 AM  

  • Actually, MrEricSir was right. The roasting process causes caffeine to evaporate from the beans. The longer the roasting process, the lower the amount of caffeine.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:36 AM  

  • Just a tip: Leave enough parchment/wax that you can fold it over on top of the chocolate and press down. Toss it in the freezer for 15-20 and then press lines into it with a butter knife to score it. Makes it easy to break, so you don't have to saw through the block when you're done; Just snap off a piece!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:18 PM  

  • a tip:
    before covering your beens with choclat put the (uncrushed) beens in the oven for a few minutes.
    Now they're more chrunchy!

    Randy

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:06 PM  

  • Tony Mendoza: you can use cookie cutters if you want shapes. Just cut them before the chocolate full set.

    I was just going to add folding over the paper to press it down, but you might not get the coffee distributed evenly. With a butter knife I can get a pretty good distribution (that and I get to lick it afterwards) It's spread thin enough that I could just snap it without scoring it.

    TIP: Use the flat edge of the knife to smooth the chocolate.

    isn't it redundant to reroast the whole bean? I guess it could help to dry off residue moisture so your chocolate won't be gritty (chocolate & water is a nono) but that hasn't happened it :P

    By Blogger DillDoe, at 4:01 PM  

  • Randy,
    For the love of humanity, please buy a dictionary.

    Thanks,

    All My Base Are Belong To Me

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:49 PM  

  • Hey Tony,

    Here's a couple of URLs for adult chocolate molds. See if these are what your interested in.

    http://onestopcandle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=OSC&Category_Code=_ADCM

    http://nawtythings.com/novelties/candymolds.html

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:01 PM  

  • Keep a container of unsweetened cocoa handy. Add 1/2 teaspoon to your cup of coffee. Stir real well. Add some non-fat milk & sugar substitute. If necessary microwave a little to heat it up. Awesome. Coffee & Chocolate. Maybe 60 calories a cup.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:06 PM  

  • Hi. I found your recipe via a post on Boing Boing. I just want to say that it's really effective and tastes great.

    I used aluminum foil instead of parchment paper or wax paper and I used coffee grounds, but I didn't have any problems with it. Thanks a lot!

    wanderingscribe@LJ

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:48 PM  

  • Be careful of the aluminum foil & microwave. Those 2 don't mix (nice fireworks though)

    Actually, this is faster than making a cup of coffee and less stuff to clean as well :P

    By Blogger DillDoe, at 11:26 PM  

  • if you live in the EU, you can order some of these instead of doing yourself...
    http://www.kaffeegenuss24.com/kategorien/KaffeeCo/P830108122.htm

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:35 AM  

  • "good lord, this is so unhealthy.

    it should be noted that those afternoon slumps at work are essentially your body screaming because of drastic fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

    i'd suggest altering your diet before you resort to treats like this, which only exacerbate the problem.

    you only get one body! treat it right!"

    I think I speak for all of the know rational world when I spell STFU!

    Caffeine and chocolate unhealthy? Gimme a break. This is the most anal-retentive BS I've read all day! No one ever, and I mean ever, died from caffeine and/or chocolate. Ever.

    Even if you have health problems, none of them are related to caffeine and/or chocolate except for general overeating.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:48 PM  

  • In a pinch, or if you live with roomies who like to snack outside of their own cupboards, you can just throw together whole roasted coffee beans and chocolate chips in a ziploc baggie. Eat by the handful. Really freaks out the co-workers. :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:44 PM  

  • I made it today, sprinkling in a little bit of cinnamon and crushed red pepper before grinding the beans. Hot-cha caffeinated chocolate I got! Bang, bang, BANG!!! (that's three more bangs)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:58 PM  

  • People have died because of caffeine. http://coffeefaq.com/caffaq.html#WhatHappens

    a girl takes 16 caffeine pills, almost dies.

    20 caffeine pills taken, vomits, looses consciousness.

    another high-caffeine story

    36 caffeine pills taken, effects similiar to LSD

    Roughly half of the weight of typical milk chocolate is pure saturated hard fat.

    So moderation is a virtue here. As in many other areas of life as well.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:41 AM  

  • my end result ends up being too soft at room temperature after setting in the freezer. trying to find another ingredient to harden it up

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:30 AM  

  • There're are pros & cons to everything we eat. If you're a health nut, there are far worst things you can eat besides chocolate & coffee.

    For those who are getting soft finished product, you're melting it too long and ruining the chocolate structure. I tried it out and 2 mins (1 min & two 30sec heat) will melt all the chocolate but the end product will be too soft. You want to melt about 80% of it(1 min & 30sec) and it should be as warm as your lower lip. It'll still retain enough heat to melt the rest. That is why you have to keep microwaving it at 30 sec intervals to check. This is form of tempering, creating a glossy, hard final product. Since it is winter time, freezer should not be necessary. Hot chocolate and cold freeze = temperature shock.

    More info on chocolate from Mr. Chocolate himself, Jack Torres.

    http://www.mrchocolate.com/aboutchocolate.aspx

    By Blogger DillDoe, at 3:28 PM  

  • tastes great.

    a cooking with chocolate note:

    if you are concerned with appearance/presentation (e.g. you are giving these as gifts), don't put the hot mixture in the fridge/freezer to cool, let it set gradually at room temp. rapid temp fluctuation causes the cocoa butter to rise to the surface, giving it a whitish, cracked appearance.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:43 AM  

  • oops missed reading comment right before mine, guess mrchocolate already has that info on blooming on his site

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:47 AM  

  • Mmm. I think I might add some rice crispies to the mixture and see how that works.. or peanuts. Mmm.

    By Blogger Cafn8, at 12:38 PM  

  • this is the most disgusting recipe ever online!!

    I am a coffee addict-chocoholics... and thanks to its horrible cannot-stop-must-eat-more taste, it keeps me awake all night...

    (must...eat..more..chocoffee....)

    oh yeah,
    1. try fresh-roasted espresso-grounded coffee beans, tastes and smells waaay better... IMHO
    2. don't plunge it into freezer, except you're in a hurry... doens't taste any better. Just let it stay to cool down in room-temp

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:56 PM  

  • this is awesome but where's the site?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:17 AM  

  • Yup, stovetop work as well. BUT you have to clean the pot.
    Well chocolate is an aphrodisiac!

    By Blogger DillDoe, at 4:29 PM  

  • that sounds great.

    well trying it this week.

    By Blogger JADE..likes that, at 3:25 PM  

  • Here's how to make delicious chocolate covered strawberries. First of all ensure that the strawberries you are intending to use are dry, then allow them to be room temperature warm prior to making them. After the strawberries have been covered in chocolate, put them in your refrigerator to cool, but do not store them in the fridge. Consume within 1-2 days.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:34 PM  

  • It is very much like what I made when I was a student. This recipe is easy and can replace using coffee. The only advantage is novelty. Probably many of us are tired of daily coffee. But I do not advise you to use it often despite the fact that it works.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:03 AM  

  • ummmm chocolate....bring it on! If you love chocolate too, you and your readers will be intrigued by the creative college student baker at http://thestudentstomach.blogspot.com she has some really appetizing chocolate recipes and photos including her yummy Brown-ka-roons! Check it out! By the way...."Chocolateshow" is coming to New York City on November 10-13. You may know that it is modeled after the famous Salon du Chocolat in Paris!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:14 AM  

  • I have great cocktail recipes for your sweets:)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:27 AM  

  • Thank you for new coffee facts:)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:01 AM  

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