No Veruca Salt, you cannot have some of my first attempt at Moxies' mud cake. Photo / Judith Lacy
No Veruca Salt, you cannot have some of my first attempt at Moxies' mud cake. Photo / Judith Lacy
OPINION:
Two bowls to lick, and chocolate ones at that! That’s some serious licking. It’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in my kitchen.
All this delight is thanks to Moxies’ mud cake recipe in the new cookbook A Taste of Palmy.
I’m a sucker for any cookbook, so when Iheard about A Taste of Palmy I just had to get my oven mitts on a copy.
Our relationship didn’t get off to the greatest start, as when I picked the book up the weather turned bad, so I pressed my new-found friend to my chest. The water woes got worse, though, when my water bottle leaked onto the book, and it now has a light brown tinge. It’s printed on tauro paper, 100 per cent pure virgin pulp, which is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. A great initiative, but I’m not sure it’s robust enough for a cookbook.
A Taste of Palmy is beautifully presented, with the ingredients and method well set out. It is exactly how I like a cookbook to be - recipe on one side, photo on the other, and the photos are a joy to behold.
For this humble cook, most of the recipes are aspirational. But, maybe that’s the point - it gives you an insight into how your favourite dishes are created and the skill required, and encourages you to go to a relevant eatery.
I learned some tips and more about Indian food as I read.
Some of the owners have supplied blurbs about themselves and their eateries. Some of these needed proofreading - two ways of spelling Aberdeen co-owner Brendan Hapeta’s first name is an example.
A Taste of Palmy is available at i-Site.
There are 17 sweet eats, 19 savoury and three drinks recipes.
Some of the savoury dishes feature protein I would never eat - duck liver, oxtail, prawn - but that’s my fault for being such a fussy carnivore.
I’m keen to try to make The Herb Farm’s flower slice, but first I need to learn about edible flowers. For inspiration, I of course had to try the original. Such a taste sensation, with pretty flowers and leaves pressed into the chocolate icing.
Back to Moxies’ mud cake. There are only four ingredients - eggs, brown sugar, chocolate chips, and cream. I was reluctant to use six eggs and 500 grams of chocolate chips, so cut the recipe in half. I’m confident I’ll use the half-dozen next time.
The result was so moist and moreish, and now I’m off to Moxies to see how mine compares to the professionals’ cake.
In two weeks, I will try a savoury dish. Watch out, My Kitchen Rules.
A Taste of Palmy is available from i-Site. It costs $30 - certainly the maximum I would pay for it.
