Chef Warren Laine-Naida's 30 year gastronomic journey has taken him from the west coast of Canada, the Rocky Mountains, south western Ontario and, since 1993, Europe. He studied at the Stratford Chef School, has appeared on radio and television, has contributed to cook books and in 2009 published "Art in Chocolate". His menus and chocolate creations, both edible and non-edible display pieces, have tantalised guests around the globe.
Are you interested in commissioning a unique edible menu? Having an event catered? A decorative chocolate sculpture? Or in attending a chocolate workshop? Please contact us! Chocolate sculptures created for you are guaranteed one of a kind.
Christmas Fruitcake (You Need to Bake this in October to be Ripened for Christmas)
BUT you can bake it the day before Christmas and it's still so yummy!Fun fact: The German Stollen, also a type of fruitcake, is actually classified as a bread. Its form is meant to remind us of the swaddled baby Jesus, the powdered sugar covering the loaf the swaddling clothes.
500 grams raisins
250 grams candied orange peel
250 grams candied cherries
250 grams chopped dried dates or apricots
500 grams walnuts and almonds mixed
Mix this together with gingerbread spices, and 400 ml mix of dark rum and whiskey, or bourbon. Let sit for one week, well covered, until the fruit has absorbed the liquid.
375 grams flour
375 grams butter
375 brown sugar
6 eggs
Makes a large, 9 inch cake.
Grease the cake pan, line it with baking paper, this stops the edges from baking or overcooking.
150 C oven NO FAN.
Place a pan of boiling water at the bottom of the oven. This will keep the oven moist and help avoid drying out the cake. Make sure this container is kept topped up with water should it evaporate.
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs.
Sift the flour into this mixture bit by bit.
Add the fruit and nut mixture.
Place the cake batter into the pan.
Cover with a round of baking paper.
Bake for 2.5 to 3 hours.
We spread the cake's surface with orange or apricot jam and then cover it with rolled out marzipan.
Over this goes a layer of royal icing. When the icing is dry, we dust it with powdered sugar and decorate with some figures.
What to Do with the Extra Fruit and Nuts? Make Chocolates!
I always lay down too much of the fruit and nuts. Leftovers go well in mince tarts and pies. Still, there was leftover fruit! So I made chocolates. I have a nice flat of Valrhona dark chocolate rounds which I received from Kiki's Pralinenwelt, so I decided to put them to good use.
Step 1: Puree the fruit and nuts very fine.
Step 2: Carefully fill the chocolate rounds. I used a piping bag made from baking paper.
Step 3: Seal and garnish with white chocolate.
Step 4: These rounds roll! So I filled a plate with cocoa, and set them in the cocoa ready for the party.
What do you do with your leftover Christmas Cake fruit and nuts? Or, are you a much more careful baker than I am?
Just one of the recipes from "The University Club" novels
Dark Chocolate Truffles with Bacon (12 pieces)
sprig of fresh rosemary
150 grams dark couverture
100 grams sugar
100 ml white wine
250 ml whipping cream
50 grams rendered bacon fat (this replaces butter and adds a lovely salty, bacon flavour)
1 tablespoon balsamic cream
bring sugar, sprig of rosemary and wine to light boil.
add room temperature cream and return to light boil.
add grated chocolate, and reduce slightly.
remove from heat, remove rosemary, stir in balsamic vinegar and bacon fat.
let cool, and spoon into balls.
toss in cocoa, sprinkle with gold leaf, or eat them naked.
White Chocolate & Cheese Parfait (6 portions)
1/2 fresh papaya
1/2 fresh mango
1 fresh red chili pepper
1 fresh lime
300 grams soft goats cheese (chevre)
100 grams white chocolate
500 ml cream
Whip room temperature goats cheese until creamy.
Finely grate white chocolate. Whip the cream.
Gently fold all ingredients together.
Spoon mixture into 6 glasses and cool.
Cut papaya and mango into very fine pieces.
Cut the red chili pepper into very fine slices.
Mix together with the juice of the lime.
Serve spoonful on top of each parfait.
Cooking and Lifestyle, Essen und Genuss
Watch three new cooking videos on my YouTube Channel!The apple is pleasure. Food is culture. Food is togetherness. Food is mindfulness. Lightness - and joy! That's how Kerstin Kleber and I started in our first video, and now we're continuing!
This time we talked less and finally cooked together, and it was a wonderful afternoon!
A vegetarian lunch - light and delicious, quick to prepare and easy to make. A cutting board, a knife, a blender and off we go.
What are we making?
- Fresh salad
- Whole wheat spaghetti with two different homemade pestos
- White chocolate and goat cheese parfait
We enjoyed two different white wines (dry and off-dry) with this - a Chardonnay with our appetizer and main course, followed by a Riesling with our dessert.
Want to see the recipes? Watch the three videos, in German, on my YouTube Channel!