I visited Ghirardelli Square the before week Australia's Darrell Lea went into administration.
It was standing room only in the chocolate shop and ice-creamery where the line for a table went out the door and into the square and a gorgeous summer Saturday.
The locals are proud of their homegrown chocolate brand. Ghirardelli's employs a small army to keep the traffic flowing through the shop. And tourists walk away with any number of gimmick chocolate boxes from milk pails to the famous San Francisco trams or a red, white and blue canister in the shape of a star.
I did think of Darrell Lea standing there in that chocolate shop but it was a bitter-sweet moment. I haven't bought Darrell Lea for a few years now because the quality fell. The rocky road was full of coconut and no jelly (only at Christmas time, for some reason).
Their famous nougart Easter eggs are unrecognizable. I did feel sad when they went under but it made me think of how clever Ghirardelli Chocolates are.
Here's a quick video I edited together:
I thought of this again last week when I made chocolate cake for dinner ;)
This recipe keeps for three days - yummier on the third day, if it lasts that long. I haven't made it for 12 months. After quadrupling the recipe to make my mother's birthday cake last year was a tricky business that was enough to put me off chocolate cake for a year.
Recipe for Chocolate Cake
Simple Chocolate Almond Cake - from Robert Linxe's La Maison Du Chocolat
(My favourite cook book)
1/2 vanilla bean (though I use a whole one)
200g chocolate (proper: half ordinary, half cuana)
5 eggs
1 stick + 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 2/3 cup confectioner's sugar (castor sugar)
pinch salt
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar (castor ok)
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup ground almonds
Method:
1. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds with knife. Put bean and seeds into double boiler with chocolate (break into pieces). Melt over low heat.
2. Separate eggs. Whites in large bowl. Yolks in small bowl.
3. Add butter into melted chocolate and stir in sugar and egg yolks. Remove from heat.
4. Add flour and mix. Set aside.
5. Pre-heat oven 180º (400º) & grease 10 inch pan - line with greaseproof paper.
6. Add pinch salt to egg whites, beat, adding in granulated sugar.
7. Fold egg whites into chocolate mix.
8. Pour batter into pan. Bake 20 minutes.