Friday 27 June 2008

salted chocolate chip rosemary loaf cake - sweet and salty come together for a perfect contrast!

every time i've opened my baking cupboard this past week, i've seen the bright blue wrapper of the dark chocolate with sea salt peeping out at me, begging to be used.


so today, i capitulated. i wanted to make something that would really bring out the salty element of the chocolate but yet contrast it with something sweet so there would be that nice sweet/salty taste in every bite. and then i remembered the delicious loaf cake of posts past. the batter has a delicious sweet vanilla flavour to it and with the sprinkling of sugar on the crust making it a little more sweeter, i felt the dark salty chocolate and the added savoury aroma of the rosemary would be a perfect complement.


and it was! i just chopped up the chocolate bar into nice chunky sized chips and popped it into the usual batter. again that aroma from the oven is enough to just make you imagine you are sitting on the porch at grandma's (that statement is obviously heavily influenced by Hollywood as in Ireland my grandma neither had a porch nor do we ever even have the weather that would encourage sitting outside on anything - porch, footpath, hammock or whatever!) it's just really good...since baking cakes with rosemary, i think it has become one of my favourite herbs. i never really experimented with it much before apart from pairing it with lamb so it is so refreshing to discover how good it is in sweet foods.



and again it didn't fail to satisfy, it was perfect in this loaf cake. each bite was a delicious combination of sweet, salty and savoury. the dark chocolate was perfect - the taste rich and smooth, the vanilla cake sweet and moist and the rosemary warm and aromatic. this loaf cake is really the perfect recipe to experiment and have fun with and so far every time i have made it the result has been delightful!


15 comments:

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

I bet this was/is delicious. It wouldn't last long around me. And I am not a chocolate fan. But the salted chocolate has piqued my interest since you blogged about it last week.

Unknown said...

hi nikki...ya it really piqued my interest too...i'm so loving the amazing flavour combinations this chocolate company offer...and the bad news for my waistline is that i am a chocolate fan...ho hum!

Thistlemoon said...

That sounds totally heavenly Sinead!

Rachel@fairycakeheaven said...

ooooooooooo divine, loving salted chocolate and salted caramel at the moment

Unknown said...

hi jen - thanks...it's well gone by now but it was such a lovely treat to have a slice in the morning for breakfast!

hey rachel - me too for the salted chocolate, must experiment with salted caramel too!

The Little Kahuna said...

How unique!

Unknown said...

thanks little kahuna...the taste of that chocolate is pretty unique and special!

Anonymous said...

Hey airy fairy
How are you? Well I was doing what normal anonymous readers do lurking around your blog minding my own business until I stumbled upon two cupcakes whose recipes you haven’t given :(
I’m talking about the apple cinnamon cupcakes and the black forest cup cakes ..plzz can I have the recipe I will be soooo greatful
Love
The not so silent anymore admirer..!

Unknown said...

hello my dear not so silent admirer...of course i can email you the recipes. would that be ok? but you'll have to give me your email address for that? ;)

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE THE GREATEST..!
i feel like a super hero who is trying to hide my identity but still ur apple cinnamon cakes look delicious enough to make me come out of my hiding..!
my email addy is fariahkhan@hotmail.com

Faery said...

Wow this sounds very interesting I have never heard about salty chocolate but I am pretty sure this loaf was delicious, as my Granny said "if you are making a dessert you'll need a pinch of salt"
Sinead... you are tagget hi hi the rules in my blog

Unknown said...

hi fariah, i will email that recipe off to you as soon as i can :) and it's nice to be able to call you by your name now!

hey faery - ya i had never heard of chocolate with salt either and then i tried this and was hooked :)

Lore said...

Love the contrasts in a dish, they always bring the best of each ingredient! Yummy :)

Unknown said...

hi lore, ya me too contrasts are great especially when they turn out just the way you want them!

Anonymous said...

I just got here by googling "salted chocolate", but this sounds unbelievably delicious. I'd be eternally grateful if you'd email me the recipe at dgan1@asu.edu

Thanks a bunch!