Thursday 1 December 2011

CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY - ENDED


OK, it is officially the start of the count down to Christmas, we have opened No.1 on the advent calendar and I am panicking even more about the lack of christmas shopping I have done.  

What better way to kick off the festivities that a giveaway.  To help you with your shopping I have the perfect gift CHOCOLATE!



Thanks to the extremely generous Bala Croman from The Chocolate Cellar in Liverpool I have a very chocolatey give away for you all.

I have 1Kg of 70% Belgian Chocolate and if that's not enough there is also a bottle of Rubis Chocolate Velvet Ruby wine.  This wine has the most sumptuous and decadent taste, rather like a dessert wine with a touch of caramel and rich chocolate.


I was very excited to get my hands on the chocolate wine and thought long and hard about a suitably luxurious recipe that would do justice to such an extravagant ingredient.  In the end I decided it would have to be poached pears.  Pears lend themselves brilliantly to chocolate and poaching them in red wine  
 is a classic.  I've also added a bit more christmas with some star anise and it worked big time.



First peel 6 Pears but keep them whole with the stalk intact.  I used fat juicy ripe ready to eat pears.  Using hard pears means they will need to cook for longer.  If you can be bothered you could core them too but it's not crucial. Put the whole bottle of chocolate wine (minus that sip you had) in a saucepan with 230g Sugar and 2 Whole Star Anise.  Warm this through till the sugar has melted then gently lower in the pears ensuring they are covered in the wine.  Cover the pan with a lid and poach for 30 minutes. Once the pears are tender and cooked through, remove them from the pan and simmer the wine till it has reduced by half.  Leave it to cool and it will become thick and syrupy.

Serve the pears with a little syrup poured over them and whipped cream or ice-cream.


To Enter this giveaway simply take a photograph of yourself covered in chocolate....oh no, that's not right, sorry!

You need to do one or more of the following:

  a) Follow this Blog and leave a comment telling me what you would make with the chocolate and or wine.

  b) For another chance of winning,  LIKE my Facebook page - Yasmin Limbert - Pieces of Rainbow and let me know you are entering this giveaway.
  
c) And just incase you want to enter 3 times, Follow Yasmin Limbert on Twitter and leave me a tweet letting me know you've entered.  

Good luck to you all.

I shall be drawing the winner at random on Friday 9th December.


22 comments:

  1. Following your blog on gReader! Those pears have made me hungry now...

    I would make dark chocolate & orange cupcakes with the chocolate.

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  2. i would have to make some truffles with the chocolate and I would try and get the wine in them!

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  3. I would make christmas truffles, for other people though as sadly I have gallstones which is bad as I LOVE chocolate. The wine would be shared with my husband when the kids are in bed :)

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  4. I am following and tweeted and facebooked! I would very much like to make a chocolatey christmas pudding with some red fruits soaked in the wine and with the chocolate baked in. Most of the wine I would like in my tummy, to eat along with the chocolately christmas pudding!

    Great comp, Great blog :)
    x

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  5. I am following you on ye ol' facebook and twitter also got your blog bookmarked = ].

    Hmm probably bake a batch of brownies and then try and find a very yummy choc alternative Christmas pud.

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  6. I'm following your culinary creations : )

    (Love the new background)

    On my honeymoon my husband and I had a chocolate souffle with a good steak...I'd like to try to recreate that, with the addition of a red wine & chocolate reduction.

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  7. I follow your blog and love it! I would probably use the chocolate to make chocolate candy. Thanks for a great giveaway!

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  8. I'd make a chocolate truffle torte with wine instead of brandy/rum...

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  9. I would make chocolate ganache!

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  10. What wouldnt I make with this chocolate? I have a recipe for a salted caramel and chocolate tart that I have been meaning to try. I would probably start there... Oh and drink the wine! LOL

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  11. Following on twitter too @nellyscupcakes

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  12. Oh! I was your 100th like on facebook too! (Helen Ritchie

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  13. Well, I have entered on fb, twitter and and now on here... Do I like chocolate or what!!! hahaha!!! I would make a wine reduction with red berries in and serve on the side of a rich chocolate tart... Or maybe chocolate hidden under boozy red wine and pear in mini pastry cases!!! I really wanna win now so I can make them!!! hehehe x x x

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  14. Like many above I am a subscriber. With the chocolate I think I would make a flourless chocolate chestnut cake, Nigella's Mont Blanc (more chestnuts!), maybe dip homemade honeycomb in it and any leftovers sneakily nibbled with the wine!

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  15. Hello I'm following your blog by email. I would LOVE to win this prize as I have a list as long as my arm of things that I want to bake in my around the world in eighty bakes. I would very much like to make a Yule log with the chocolate and also a sacher torte. I would like to make some mulled wine too and try to put it into a cake of some description too

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  16. ps. I've also liked your facebook page too (Lauren Prince)

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  17. I would use the chocolate to make cookies, brownies and probably a cake or cupcakes. The wine will be shared with friends :)

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  18. Too late for me, i have only just seen this!
    I would make a chocolate cheesecake brownie with it. It's the only thing I can bake, without burning and even me, who doesn't really eat cake, LURVE it!
    So, please can I win? If not, I could just drink the wine, whilst playing Clag!x

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  19. Not too late but what is Clag - isn't that something that gets stuck to the roof of your mouth!?

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  20. Oh yes. It’s exciting to see this is stunning offer.

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