Mmmm. Chocolate.
For me, chocolate is pretty much a universal panacea for what ails me.
I even like chili-flavored chocolate *VBG*.
No surprises, then, that I applaud every time a bunch of researchers come up with new evidence to prove how good chocolate is for us.
Heck, chocolate is even better than men!
Really?
Yes, really.
Well, according to a poster I spotted, at least. But hey, if it’s on a poster, it must be true, right?
TWENTY REASONS WHY CHOCOLATE IS BETTER THAN MEN:
- You’re never disappointed when you open the wrapper.
- Chocolate doesn’t care how many pieces you’ve eaten before.
- Chocolate always hits the spot.
- Chocolate doesn’t secretly want to be eaten by your best friend.
- Chocolate doesn’t think the shopping channel is stupid.
- Chocolate always smells good.
- Chocolate won’t ask “Was it good for you?” because chocolate knows it was good for you.
- Chocolate doesn’t sulk if you don’t feel like it first thing in the morning.
- Chocolates are easy to pick up.
- Chocolate satisfies you even when it’s gone soft.
- You can suck on a piece of chocolate even in front of your mother.
- Chocolate never leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
- Chocolate doesn’t know what time of the month it is.
- With chocolate, size really doesn’t matter.
- Chocolate doesn’t mind when you bite its nuts.
- With chocolates, you don’t have to be a virgin more than once.
- “If you love me you’ll swallow” has real meaning with chocolate.
- You can have more than one chocolate a night without ruining your reputation.
- Chocolate doesn’t just think it’s smooth.
- You can tell just by looking at it that it hasn’t been in anyone else’s mouth.
*snort*
Seriously, though, here are some of my favorite chocolate treats.
~I can bake a pretty damned good chocolate layer cake. But honestly? When it comes to birthday cakes, I can’t go past The Cheesecake Factory’s chocolate mud-cake.
~I love a really good quality dark chocolate in a block. And paired with a really good glass of red wine and a romantic movie? Pure magic.
~Hot chocolate made with milk, and a big gooey pool of melted marshmallow on top–Best. Comfort. Drink. Ever.
~ Chocolate truffles. Or chocolate fudge. Hey, I’m not fussy.
~Mars Bar chocolate sauce– What’s that? You think you’d like the recipe for that one? Okay. In the spirit of giving and all…..
Mars Bar Chocolate Sauce
- Chop up two Mars Bars
- Add 1/4 cup of milk (or less, if you want the sauce to be really thick)
- Microwave for 1 minute on High. Stir.
- Microwave for another minute on High. Stir.
- Serve over ice cream.
~Microwave Chocolate Brownies — ten minutes from whoa to go. Well, maybe 15 minutes if you can wait for it to cool before you start eating. It doesn’t get any better than that.
~And my all-time favorite Chocoholics treat? Chocolate Brownie Pie.
OMG, this pie is triple-chocolate decadence! *goes into paroxysms of rapture at the mere thought of it* Better still, it keeps really really well. So it’s a great dessert to make for, say, Christmas, because if there’s any left over, it tastes even better the next day.
Here’s the recipe:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHOCOLATE BROWNIE PIE
PASTRY:
1 cup flour
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespooons cocoa powder
125 g (4 oz) butter cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons water
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa in a food processor. Add butter & pulse. Add egg yolk, vanilla & water (one tablespoon at a time). Chill pastry then roll out to fit base & sides of 26 cm (10 inch) flan tin.
FILLING:
200g (7 oz) cooking chocolate
125g (4 oz) butter
¼ cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons of vanilla essence (perhaps halve that if using pure vanilla extract)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup plain baking flour
Melt chocolate & butter in microwave. Add sugar & blend well. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla, walnuts (if using) & finally flour.
Pour into pastry shell & bake at 180 deg C (approx 350 deg F) for 40-50 mins. Cool.
ICING:
100g chocolate
50g (approx 2 oz) butter
Combine in microwave until soft and spread on top of pie. Sprinkle with extra ground walnuts (optional).
Enjoy!
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And in the spirit of our Red Sage ROCK AROUND DECEMBER celebration, I have a daily giveaway to offer you:
One commenter will win his or her choice of TWO of the following Red Sage eBooks from my backlist:
- EVEN DEMONS GET THE BLUES
- LET SLEEPING DEMONS LIE
- FROM THE ASHES
- SCENT OF A MAN
- SECRETS VOLUME 30 Desires Unleashed anthology
To be in to win, just leave a comment and tell me what your favorite chocolate edible is.
Or, if you’d rather, feel free to add your suggestion to the Twenty Reasons Why Chocolate Is Better Than Men list 
Cheers!
Maree Anderson
Maree’s Website
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14 comments
I’m into plain old milk chocolate, nothing fancy like chili flavored or salted. My favorite commercial brand right now is Dove. I do like moist, fudgey brownies (even better topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream), but haven’t found the perfect recipe yet .
In the Chicago area, there’s a restaurant called Portillo’s that has THE BEST chocolate cake with fudge frosting and a piece is only $2.40 which is a steal for a restaurant dessert. They’ll sell a whole cake for a little over $17 and it makes 10 very large slices. I’ve never bought a whole one, but I’m thinking about it…..
Maree!!! You are cracking me up! I LOVE chocolate, too–nothing compares to that smooth, amazing, melting in your mouth moment(s)! Thanks for the recipes–I’m drooling over them, and I haven’t even had breakfast yet (hmm… perhaps I might have to try something new this morning…
)
One of my favorite chocolate treats are those Lindt truffles–bite sized and deliciously melty and luxurious… I also am a sucker for a good red velvet–a restaurant here makes a cheesecake version, which is just more creamy goodness to love
I’d happily give up chocolate for a bit for some of your backlist though–it’s a close race, but your books would definitely trump ;p
(Oddly, I didn’t crave chocolate much while I was pregnant with my younger two–it was definitely a temporary aberration though; after they were born, the lure of chocolate rushed back, stronger than ever
)
My favourite chocolate treat is a bar of white chocolate with crispies and hazelnuts that I get from a Lidl near us. Tastes delicious
I absolutely LOVE those little Andes Candies thin mints in the bright green wrappers. I always have a box of them in my desk at all times for those daily cravings/pick me ups.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
Maree, you are such a bad influence on me! As you well know, I LOVE, yes capital letters, chocolate. The only kind I can’t abide is when it’s mixed with coffee. No mocha anything for me.
Loved you list. You forgot this one. Chocolate will never be jealous if you sample another one.
Now, off to sample a few…
Anne — OMG, that chocolate cake with fudge frosting sounds to die for. No more restraint, girl. You NEED to buy a whole cake. I’m sure you could invent an occasion to justify it
And as much as I love flavored chocs, just give me a good old plain bar of it…. like the one the woman in the photo is chomping on. That’d do me just fine.
Fedora — do I detect the possibility of a bowl of ice-cream with Mars Bar Chocolate Sauce for breakfast in your near future? That would be, well, awesome-sauce! *g* And yeah, those Lindt truffles. YUMMY! So glad to hear that your lack of craving for chocolate was only temporary. Coz, yanno, that would have been too tragic for words.
Hey, what’s a red velvet cake? Can’t say I’ve heard of that one.
Joder — oh oh! I think we have something similar to those in NZ. If they are, then I know exactly what you mean. Very VERY moreish.
Roz — Me? A bad influence? Never! *g* Mmm. I hear you about the chocolate/coffee thing. It’s a travesty. Why on earth would someone want to ruin two good things like coffee and chocolate by mixing them together? Shocking. Shouldn’t be allowed.
Let me know how your “sampling” goes
Thanks heaps for stopping by, ladies. You’re all awesome-chocolate-sauce-ness!
Maree – I am so with you. Chocolate does not expect your to pick up the kids or do the washing because there is nothing to wear!
Chocolate – my man du jour <3
Imogene — Bwah hah hah. Excellent point! *VBG*
I love chocolate in just about anything, but my favorite combinations are chocolate & peanut butter or chocolate & carmel. Hey it just occured to me that I need to try chocolate with peanut butter & carmel. Darn, now I need to go to the store.
drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com
Maree – LOL- I wish I had been warned before reading this, so I wouldn’t have been taking a drink!
I have to disagree with #6…only because I worked at Russell Stovers Candy factory for a year…in the back…where it was all made. That was 13 years ago, and still to this day I cannot stand the smell or taste of Russell Stovers Candies! *shivers* Yuck! (Anyone who ever shops at their stores, NEVER get the seconds…TRUST ME on this! You really don’t want to know where the candy was before it winds up in the Seconds bin… nope, nope – I can tell you horror stories!)
My favorite chocolate “go-to” snack is Reese’s peanut butter cups, of course… But to prepare, I love this chocolate trifle pie I make, which reminds me I haven’t made one in a while. Luckily I have to go to the store tomorrow *G*
Thanks for sharing!
Kathryn — I’ve just discovered a local outlet that sells Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, so now I can indulge instead of waiting for my overseas friends to bring them back for me — yay! So you’d be a Caramello chocolate fiend, huh? Yum. All that gooey caramel. Nom nom nom.
Trisha — OMG, you didn’t decorate your monitor with your drink, did you? Sorry….. Yep, I love the peanut-butter chocolate combo, too. Whoever came up with that was a freaking genius. Love the sound of your chocolate trifle pie, BTW. I’m envisioning it now…. YUM!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your chocoholic loves with me!
Ilona — sorry, I missed commenting on your comment! How rude of me. I blame being in a wishing-I-had-chocolate-right-now coma after reading the comments *g* White chocolate & hazelnut and crispies…. now that’s what I call a treat! I’m quite partial to White Chocolate Magnums myself. And Dark Chocolate ones. And Chocolate Almond. And…. Yeah. Well. Chocolate and ice-cream: You get the picture.
And the randomly drawn daily draw winner is…..
**Anne**
Anne, Congratulations! Would you please email me:
MareeAndersonAuthor@gmail.com
And let me know which 2 ebooks from my back list that you’d like.
Thanks so much for stopping by, ladies!
Congrats, Anne! Happy reading! Maree, thanks again for chatting about chocolate!