Luscious (Retro & Boozy) Tropical Treat

Preparation Time  25 Mins
Cooking Time   35 Mins
Serves    12

 

For the cake:
175g (6oz) butter
125g (4oz) caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
200g Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate
125g (4oz) self raising flour
50g (2oz) ground almonds
25g (1oz) desiccated coconut

For the icing and decoration:
227g (8oz) can pineapple rings
80ml (4 tbs) coconut rum
200g cream cheese
50g (2oz) icing sugar
284ml (1/2 pint) double cream

 

You’ll also need:
Two 19cm (7 1/2 inch) sandwich cake tins, greased and base-lined
A piping bag and star nozzle
A greaseproof paper piping bag

 

Cream the butter and sugar well, then slowly beat in the eggs. Melt half the chocolate, beat in with the flour, almonds and coconut until smooth. Divide mixture evenly between the tins.

 

Bake in a moderate oven at Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F for 30-35 minutes until cooked. Carefully turn out and cool on a wire tray.

 

Drain pineapple, mix juice with the coconut rum then use all but 2 tablespoons to soak both the cakes.

Whisk the cheese, sugar and reserved juice together until smooth. Now add the cream and whisk until spreadable.

Reserve 1 1/2 pineapple rings, chop the remainder.

Sandwich the cakes together with some cheese mixture and the chopped pineapple, lift onto a plate.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of mixture into the piping bag, spread remainder over cake. Mark the top into 12 portions then pipe whirls on each and one in the centre. Grate the reserved chocolate and press onto sides of the cake. Melt any remaining chocolate, fill bag, snip off end and pipe on zig-zag lines on each portion.

Complete with pieces of pineapple and the chocolate decorations. Enjoy!

Having a chat with David Williams

We caught up with David Williams - a Cadbury employee - when we were touring the Cadbury archives last week. And lucky him, he's become the first of our staff interviews.

Hey David, where do you come from?

I live  in Bournville, within smelling distance of the factory and have done for 21 years.    I live in a Cadbury house on a Cadbury road. My commute to work every day is a 20 minute walk through the park.

How long have you been working at Cadbury?

24 and a half years.   I started as a graduate. In fact, Cadbury paid for me to go to Cambridge University  for a year  of post grad study , before I started with them properly. 

What do you do at Cadbury?

I’m a Manufacturing Systems Development Manager - I’m the guy that  tries to make it all work together.    So when we build a new  plant, I figure out how the plant’s going to work and how the operators are going to work it and then we write the software so it does what we want.   But when people ask I just say "I am a Chocolate Engineer ."

How do you feel about the move to Fairtrade?

Amazing. I was so pleasantly surprised by the move. I’m proud that Cadbury have found way to make Fairtrade work in the competitive environment. As a consumer, I would always opt for Fairtrade products anyway, so it’s great.

Tell us about your time in Ghana

I worked in Ghana in 1991.  One of my jobs out there was to count the number of growing pods on reference cocoa trees and to check that the trees were healthy.   I had a brilliant time.  I really loved visiting the farms and getting a genuine understanding of what life is like out there.  It was great to see that so much of the cocoa was grown on small, family-run farms. 

What was your favourite toy as a child?

Thunderbird  2 for sure.   If Thunderbird   2 actually existed and was around today, the world would be a better place.

A little whiff of stuff to come

We saw some incredible stuff in the archives yesterday. These three shots give you a little taste of the juicy stuff that's to come.

Here's what they are from top to bottom:

• My hand taking a letter sent from Richard Cadbury to his father in 1856 (check out the Cadbury purple sleeve of my top - tee hee)
• A little peak into the cupboard FULL of artefacts
• And one of many really, really big books

If anyone needs me I'm in the garden

We're having a brilliant day today. We're in Bournville and it's great.

If you've been to Bournville you'lll probably agree that the minute the train pulls into Bournville Station you've officially entered a place that is truly Cadbury, in every sense of the phrase. Suddenly all the bannisters, street lamps and benches are a distinctive purple. And everywhere you look people wear jumpers and jackets with the logo on their chests - that's not to mention the commonplace sight of people in hairnets (I'm a big fan of the hairnet for beards - or would that be a beardnet? Hmm).

Our trip today has been all about searching through the archives. We've been eager to get our mits on all the books, journals and brilliant stories I keep hearing and today, lovely blog reader, was the day.

The archives haven't disappointed. The air is heavy with history and the space has some of the most massive books we've ever seen - like, if you're reading this in an office then imagine a book the size of your desk. Then there are artefacts, packaging samples, handwritten ledgers, advertising samples and crazy things like cocoa pods in formaldehyde. It's all right here people.

We have taken loads and loads of pictures so watch our Flickr page, because it's about to get seriously interesting.

Perhaps most exciting of all is that this trip to the archives is the first of a few adventures that we have to look forward to. We'll be back in Bournville pretty soon to do a factory tour (and sneak in a bit of Cadbury World action), then we're off to the Selkey Vale to meet our dairy farmers and after that we're off to Ghana to talk Fairtrade with the communities the move will mean the most to.

But for now, we're buried in books and loving it.

Fairtrade Towns

Let's talk about Fairtrade Towns. There are hundreds of them in the UK, but what does it actually mean to be a Fairtrade Town? And what are they committed to do? Here's the scoop.

A Fairtrade Town is a town, city, village or borough that has made a commitment to supporting Fairtrade and using products with the FAIRTRADE Mark.

Garstang in Lancashire (pictured above) declared itself ‘the Worlds first Fairtrade Town’ in April 2000. The move captured the imagination of local people and the interest of politicians, inspiring other  towns, villages and counties to work towards Fairtrade status in their communities.

Here are the five goals of a Fairtrade Town, visit the Fairtrade website for more information on any of these goals and more information about how your town can join the movement:

1. Local council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and agrees to serve Fairtrade products (for example, in meetings, offices and canteens).

2. A range of Fairtrade products are readily available in the area’s retail outlets (shops, supermarkets, newsagents and petrol stations) and served in local catering outlets (cafés, restaurants, pubs).
   

3. Local workplaces and community organisations (places of worship, schools, universities, colleges and other community organisations) support Fairtrade and use Fairtrade products whenever possible. A flagship employer is required for populations over 100,000. 

4. Media coverage and events raise awareness and understanding of Fairtrade across the community.
   

5. A local Fairtrade steering group is convened to ensure the Fairtrade Town campaign continues to develop and gain new support. 

Having a chat with Chris Osburn

As a freelance food writer and Food and Drink Editor for Londonist, you're obviously a foodie. What kind of food excites you most?

Oh gosh, all of it! As long as it’s good, anyway. I love foraging through street markets, finding the absolutely right food and drink establishments for the right circumstances, sampling local specialties when I travel, experimenting in the kitchen (and behind the bar), figuring out how to get people who are better cooks than me to make food for me … essentially doing all I can to live as flavourful a life as possible. We’ve got to eat; why not enjoy it to the fullest? I suppose what excites me most about food is being able to enjoy it in a convivial setting with other appreciative folks. Be it splurging on the tasting menu at a high end eatery, settling down to a DVD and takeaway pizza or trying out a new recipe, good food nourishes the body, delights the senses and complements any occasion.

What's your favourite chocolate recipe?

I adore the thick hot chocolate like you get in Spain. Authentic Mexican mole too. Growing up America's deep south, I still hanker for the locally manufactured Moon Pies.

When you're buying food to cook at home, how would you prioritise ethics, price and quality in your purchasing decisions?

Of the three factors you mentioned, quality probably has a slight edge over ethics and price. Obviously, price is a significant consideration, but I do believe that we often get what we pay for when it comes to food. As for ethics, the longer I live and more I learn about the importance of ethically sourced food. Ultimately, I think quality and ethics are often aligned in such a way that the highest quality product available is likely to be the most ethically sourced as well. When the best conditions for all stakeholders and the environment are introduced, it gives people a sense of ownership, pride and sustainability about the products they help bring to market. I reckon happy workers who are socially and ecologically aware are more apt to care about their work – especially with respect to food, resulting in yummier products for consumers.

How much do you know about the Fairtrade movement?

Would the FAIRTRADE Mark influence your purchasing decision? Not as much as I should! However, I’m learning more and more. I was impressed with the recent Fairtrade Fortnight activities here in London and thought that was a fantastic and fun way to get the message out about Fairtrade. All things being equal, the Fairtrade mark already positively influences my purchasing decisions. I’m willing to pay a little more for Fairtrade products too. I can’t think of any reason not to buy Fairtrade when given the chance.

Do you think there's been a slow shift in food lovers' approach to food that's increasingly about where the food comes from and not just hedonism?

Yes! Just because we like to indulge doesn’t mean we want to destroy the environment or exploit people. I love knowing that the animals I eat were reared and killed with compassion, that the produce I eat was grown in an eco-friendly manner and that the people involved in making my food live full and decent lives.

What do you think of Cadbury Dairy Milk's decision to go Fairtrade?

I think it’s brilliant! And I hope more major brands will take notice of Cadbury’s commendable decision and follow suit.

Picture courtesy of Emilia Simonelli

Goodbye old Poll. Hello new.

Well that's it folks, the end of our first poll. And a whopping lot of you think you're rather enlightened when it comes to Fairtrade. In fact 465 said you knew exactly what the FAIRTRADE Mark stands for.

We think that's brilliant.

Now we're quite interested in comparing what you guys know with what you think other people know about Fairtrade as you'll see from our new poll question: Do you think most people understand what the FAIRTRADE Mark on a product actually stands for?

Get voting.

Chocolate Mocha Mousse

A velvety smooth, utterly luscious mousse for special occasions.

 

Preparation Time  10 mins
Cooking Time   30 mins +cooling
Serves    5 or 6

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks
l25g (4oz) caster sugar
275ml (1/2 pint) milk
5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
10ml (2 tsp) gelatine
20ml (1 tbs) instant coffee
l00g Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate
284ml (1/2 pint) double cream
6 Cadbury Flake's from the 99 pack or chocolate decorations

 

You will also need:
A piping bag and star nozzle 5-6 glasses

 

Ingredients:

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together well. Heat the milk and essence almost to boiling point, then whisk slowly on to the eggs. Pour the mixture into a pan and stir the custard over a low heat until thickened a little, but don't let it boil.

Sprinkle gelatine over the hot custard and let is dissolve. Strain the custard to make sure it's really smooth.

 

Melt the chocolate together with the coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water. Whisk into the custard.

Cool before folding in the lightly whipped cream.

 

Refrigerate until beginning to set, then pipe or spoon the mousse into the glasses. Decorate with Flake or a chocolate decoration.

 

Serve chilled. Hmmmm.

Wayhay the Aztecs

By the time you get to the end of this post you'll be bigging up the Aztecs with us. For sure.

Thousands of years ago, with the ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations of Central America discovered cocoa trees that grew wild in the jungle.

They used them to make a spicy, rather bitter drink for special occasions. Centuries later the Aztec Empire fell, and the Conquistador Hernan Cortés brought cocoa beans back across the ocean to Spain. Wayhay him too.

Gradually chocolate spread across Europe – it was the fashionable choice of Kings and Queens, the nobility and the rich. It was the caviar and champagne of the times.

At the end of the 19th Century milk was added, and at last someone devised a way of making chocolate to eat as well as to drink. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that chocolate became affordable for everyone.

Chocolate's been on a seriously epic journey. Is there anything else you want to know about chocolate? Let us know.

Last day to Vote

So this is what our poll looks like at the time of writing - almost five hundred votes and a pretty strong indication that when it comes to Fairtrade, people reading this blog really do get it.

A staggering 88% of votes came in for "Yes, I know exactly what it's good for consumers and farmers". Bravo. We were pleasantly surprised by the level of confidence and familiarity that our readers clearly have with Fairtrade - not least of all because it means that we can have a bigger conversation.

If you haven't voted yet, then be sure to click the button, it's easy and quick.

And if you're one of the 12% and have any questions about the meaning of it all, then let us know and we'll get right on it.