Rosen Trevithick's Blog, page 2

Would you like to give somebody the gift of making their own chocolate? Or perhaps you'd like to make a really attractive prize for a raffle?

Collecting together all the things you need to make chocolate, and presenting them in a hamper, makes the idea gift for a chocoholic or anybody who loves making their own treats.

Below, I talk you through creating a chocolate making hamper.

An example chocolate making hamper

Depending on your budget, you may w...

Cecilia Peartree has kindly posted the next interview in my Chocolate Making Adventures blog tour.

Find out what I plan to do next and, whether there'll be a second chocolate book.

Read Rosen Trevithick - Chocolate Making Adventures on McCallum Ogilvy - A writing and cats blog set in Edinburgh.

As my blog tour continues, Katie W. Stewarts (AKA the illustrator of my Smelly trolls series) has interviewed me about Chocolate Making Adventures. Why did I decide to take a break from fiction to write a cookbook? Who did the stunning photographs? And just how hard is it to make your own chocolate?

Read the full article Rosen Trevithick, Chocolatier extraordinaire on Katie's blog, Trees Are Not Lollipops.

Many thanks to Katie for hosting the interview.

The blog tour to promote Chocolate Making Adventures continues, with a guest post on Ken McGee's blog.

When Ken asked me if there was any way to link me post to his Dark Tidings series, I was sceptical. However, because my book includes a section on making silicone chocolate moulds, I was able to write a quick post describing how to make a dark (chocolate) wizard.

My debut cookbook Chocolate Making Adventures is out today.

Download for Kindle (2.99)

Buy the paperback (10)

From cocoa bean to mouth-watering treats...

Make your own chocolate at home.

Most recipes for homemade chocolate involve buying it from the shop then melting it. But what if it's actual chocolate itself that you want to make?

Thanks to the recent widespread availability of cocoa beans and cocoa butter, chocolate-making has never been easier. You can create it on an ordinary kitchen stove.

Le...

Back in 2013 (remember that?) David Wailing published a novel called Auto, which went on the win the SpaSpa award for best novel that year. I read the book myself and it's terrific, but ended with a cliffhanger that I've been dying to resolve ever since. Finally, Auto 2 is here. I've interviewed David, to find out more.

The Cover for Auto 2 by David Wailing

The first book is called Auto and looks at a fu...

Two chocolate testers have posted the first reviews of Chocolate Making Adventures. The title is my debut cookbook, which is set to be released later this week.

The first is by Kath Middleton, from Ignite Books, who gives it five stars.

Kath received an early draft of the book and quickly learnt to create stunning chocolate, which she's been sharing around her neighbourhood, causing good tempered rifts between different factions.

She describes the ease of chocolate making:

"I began tentatively, n...

vegan (use agave instead of honey) . nut free

It's surprisingly hard to buy candied orange peel, and when I do find it, it tends to be very expensive, given how quickly I can devour it. Fortunately, it can be made at home for a fraction of the price. And it's fruit, so you can pretend to yourself that it's healthy.

Chocolate coated orange - Photography by Claire Wilson, Live Life Explore

makes 200g (72 pieces)

100g plain or milk chocolate

the peel of three small oranges

2 tbsp honey

vegan (use agave instead of honey) . nut free (unless vegan)

Gone are the days when you need a saucepan and a selection of (slightly) obscure ingredients in order to make fondant. These days you can pick up fondant icing sugar in most supermarkets.

Fondant makes a wonderful filling for chocolates because it's quick to make, easy to work with and can take on a range of flavours. Peppermint creams are my all-time favourite chocolates.

Homemade Peppermint Creme Bars - Photography by Claire Wilson...

vegetarian nut free additive free

Don't believe what they tell you - you can make white chocolate at home and it will taste creamy and sweet, like proper white chocolate such as Milkybar, Lindt or (with vanilla) Green & Black's.

I've read numerous blog posts that tell you you can't make delicious white chocolate at home, for example 'Don't bother making white chocolate unless you want to melt it and mix it in with other stuff. Eating it raw isn't so nice.' Other sites claim that their white...