{"id":280,"date":"2007-01-22T22:17:53","date_gmt":"2007-01-22T22:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sararosso.com\/index.php\/2007\/01\/22\/sugar-high-friday-jan\/"},"modified":"2009-12-27T21:49:59","modified_gmt":"2009-12-27T20:49:59","slug":"sugar-high-friday-jan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/01\/22\/sugar-high-friday-jan\/","title":{"rendered":"Little Chocolate Balls Recipe and AltroMercato Fair Trade Chocolate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Update<\/strong>: I just wanted to add this post to R khooks&#8217; initiative to <strong>&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/rkhooks.net\/2007\/09\/03\/stop-the-traffik-chocolate-event\/\">Stop the Traffik Chocolate competition<\/a>&#8220;<\/strong> regarding Fair Trade\/Slave-labour free chocolate. <a href=\"http:\/\/rkhooks.net\/2007\/10\/09\/stop-the-traffik-competition-round-up\/\">Visit the round-up<\/a> to see who else participated and give your input\/support on this initiative!&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Join us for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/01\/22\/announcing-world-nutella-day\/\">World Nutella Day on February 6, 2007<\/a>!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I participated in this month&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.domesticgoddess.ca\/pages.php?page=10002\">Sugar High Friday<\/a> which is being hosted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.davidlebovitz.com\/\">David Lebovitz<\/a> (who was also the European host for the Menu for Hope, if you remember).<\/p>\n<p>The theme this month is <strong>Chocolate by Brand<\/strong>. I was pretty excited because I knew it would be a great opportunity to learn from other bloggers about some specific brands of chocolate that I&#8217;d probably never heard of or tried.<\/p>\n<p>And then, of course, I&#8217;d be <strong>forced<\/strong> to go out and seek them.<\/p>\n<p>I decided on the brand of chocolate I would use before the recipe. These <em>palline di cioccolato<\/em>, little chocolate balls are super nutty, mascarpone laced delights made with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_trade\">fair-trade<\/a> chocolate<\/strong> from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ctm_altromercato\">AltroMercato<\/a>, an Italian consortium providing fair-trade goods including fabrics, clothing and foodstuffs. They have shops all over Italy and most supermarkets carry a small fair trade section (<em>equo solidale<\/em> in Italian) from AltroMercato.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/msadventuresinitaly\/366289300\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/187\/366289300_2f2c391f5f.jpg?resize=500%2C287\" alt=\"Fair Trade Chocolate\" width=\"500\" height=\"287\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I used the fair trade cocoa from <strong>AltroMercato<\/strong> and I devised a way to include what is quickly becoming my favorite chocolate &#8211; the relatively new fair trade chocolate from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Modica\">Modica, Sicily<\/a> called <strong>Quetzal<\/strong>, which is also sold by AltroMercato. What&#8217;s so special about it?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chocolate from Modica has a rough texture and is oh, so delicious.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chocolate from <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Modica\">Modica<\/a> is made the way the Aztecs made it (the recipe was brought back to Italy by the Spanish) with heated lava stones (see: <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mount_Etna\/_Mt_Etna\">Mt. Etna<\/a> in Sicily) and kept at a low(er) temperature so that the sugar crystals don&#8217;t melt in completely with the cacao, which results in that grainy, crumbly texture.<\/p>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t found much written about it in English, in fact the page on Modica Cioccolato in Wikipedia is <a href=\"http:\/\/it.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cioccolato_di_Modica\">written in Italian<\/a>. Another source is my fellow expat Gia&#8217;s post on <a href=\"http:\/\/gia-gina.blogspot.com\/2006\/08\/chocolate-from-modica.html\">Modica Chocolate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Fair Trade Chocolate from Modica by MsAdventuresinItaly, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/msadventuresinitaly\/362957327\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/98\/362957327_cae73d0096.jpg?resize=500%2C375\" alt=\"Fair Trade Chocolate from Modica\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The fair trade Modica chocolate is available in several flavors &#8211; <strong>black tea, hot pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and coffee<\/strong>. I&#8217;m having a tough time deciding my favorite, but I think cinnamon has pulled ahead of the others. The fact that the chocolate isn&#8217;t smooth means that the chocolate taste hits you first, then the secondary flavor &#8211; fresh cinnamon, earthy hot pepper or tart ginger &#8211; and the sugary crystals are the last to go.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Photo Sharing\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/msadventuresinitaly\/362957923\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/157\/362957923_0bc5e27daa.jpg?resize=500%2C436\" alt=\"Ready to Roll\" width=\"500\" height=\"436\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Palline di Cioccolato<\/strong> (Little Chocolate Balls)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>250g biscotti secchi (&#8220;dry&#8221; biscuits\/cookies &#8211; think <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Animal_cracker\">animal cracker<\/a>s)<\/li>\n<li>250g mascarpone<\/li>\n<li>250g hazelnuts<\/li>\n<li>200g (white) sugar<\/li>\n<li>75-125g cacao (start with 75g)<\/li>\n<li>Vanillina (2.5 packets = 1 package for every 100g of ingredients) or 1-2t. vanilla extract<\/li>\n<li>Liquor &#8211; a few splashes of a liquor of your choice like rum, Baileys, Kahlua<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Separately, blend the nuts, biscuits and sugar to a fine and similar size. They don&#8217;t need to be super-smooth (though the nuts should be a rough butter) as a bit of texture really adds something. In a bowl, mix the nuts, biscuits, cacao and sugar together well and add the mascarpone and vanilla. Mix with a spoon and then with hands to mix well. Add the liquor at the very end and mix well, add other ingredients to taste if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Form little balls that can then be rolled in coconut, chocolate-mixed sprinkles, or dipped in chocolate, or eaten plain. Leave in the fridge to set up.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: I had to add more cocoa to this mixture as I think the free-trade cocoa was a bit milder than the recipe called for &#8211; you can taste often and adjust.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I used coconut and Modica chocolate (coffee flavor) as my rolling ingredients this time around. Next time, I would like to experiment with these &#8211; using cane sugar instead of white, almonds or peanuts instead of hazelnuts, and maybe even filling them &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nutelladay.com\">Nutella Day<\/a>, anyone??? <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Also, &#8220;biscotti secchi&#8221; may give some people problems but they are widely available in Italy as sweet &#8220;cookies&#8221;\/crackers that are made with little to no fat and ready to be dipped in your morning coffee.  I thought the best American equivalent was Animal crackers &#8211; anyone else have a better way to describe-identify them??<\/em><br \/>\n<a title=\"Palline di Cioccolato by MsAdventuresinItaly, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/msadventuresinitaly\/364665746\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/150\/364665746_25776c8e83.jpg?resize=500%2C343\" alt=\"Palline di Cioccolato\" width=\"500\" height=\"343\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Update: I just wanted to add this post to R khooks&#8217; initiative to &#8220;Stop the Traffik Chocolate competition&#8220; regarding Fair Trade\/Slave-labour free chocolate. Visit the round-up to see who else participated and give your input\/support on this initiative!&#8221; Join us for World Nutella Day on February 6, 2007! I participated in this month&#8217;s Sugar High&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/01\/22\/sugar-high-friday-jan\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-chocolate","7":"category-italy","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uB1-4w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2156,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/12\/made-in-italy-chocolate-basket-mega-mix-of-moleskine-my-menu-for-hope-vi-bid-items\/","url_meta":{"origin":280,"position":0},"title":"Made in Italy Chocolate Basket &#038; Mega Mix of Moleskine : My Menu for Hope VI Bid Items","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"December 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year after being the Europe host for Menu for Hope bid items, I really gained an appreciation for how much work it takes to pull off something of such a global proportion. I'm so happy to take part again and offer you some great bid items! What is Menu\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog Event&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog Event","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/blog-event\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/mfh6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":361,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/06\/27\/valrhona-chocolate-box-and-swiss-chocolate\/","url_meta":{"origin":280,"position":1},"title":"Valrhona Chocolate Box and Swiss Chocolate","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"June 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm heading to a country known for its cheese and chocolate (and not France). I'm heading to Switzerland on business. Since chocolate is on my mind (I hope at least to bring back something for the office), I thought I'd add my most recent \"taste\" of designer chocolate -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chocolate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chocolate","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/food\/chocolate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valrhona Box","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1196\/635839957_53da661eb3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2971,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/03\/gelato-and-hot-chocolate-a-chocolat-double-header\/","url_meta":{"origin":280,"position":2},"title":"Gelato and Hot Chocolate: a Chocolat double-header","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"February 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I met with a longtime blog reader & fellow food blogger who was in town for business in Milan (I love it when that happens!) - she asked me to recommend some gelaterie but I did one better and joined her for a gelato close to where she was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chocolate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chocolate","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/food\/chocolate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pistachio, cinnamon and hazelnute chocolate gelato at Chocolat, Milano","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/whatisee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/IMG_3610-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":462,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/05\/world-nutella-day-2008-round-up-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":280,"position":3},"title":"World Nutella Day 2008 &#8211; Round-up Part 1","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"February 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy World Nutella Day! Make sure you check Bleeding Espresso's World Nutella Day Round-up Part 2! And even though it wasn't a contest, we wanted to thank everyone for participating and we each have selected a \"World Nutella Day Co-Host's Pick\" that will receive 2 bars of Fair Trade Chocolate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog Event&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog Event","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/blog-event\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3943,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/24\/the-largest-chocolate-easter-egg-in-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":280,"position":4},"title":"The Largest Chocolate Easter Egg in the World","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"April 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I definitely think this is a contender. 6 kilos of chocolate. What's the largest chocolate Easter Egg you've seen for sale? Happy Easter e Buona Pasqua :) \u00a0 UPDATE: I knew provoking you would bring out some bigger eggs - here's a 10 kilo chocolate egg down in Campania:","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Holidays&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Holidays","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/holidays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Largest Chocolate Easter Egg in the World","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/IMG_3811-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":319,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2007\/04\/11\/warm-fuzzies-and-chocolate-easter-eggs\/","url_meta":{"origin":280,"position":5},"title":"Warm Fuzzies and Chocolate Easter Eggs","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"April 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We arrived back from Berlin and I remembered that I had stashed away quite a few chocolate Easter eggs - what to do, what to do? Of course, we will eat these, but first I wanted to play a little bit. By the way, the speckled ones are the best,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Chocolate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Chocolate","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/food\/chocolate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chocolate Easter Eggs Watching Over or Ignoring?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/178\/455146909_69e321cf95.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2221,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/2221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}