Chocolate Wishes (30 page)

It was only just light on Easter Sunday morning when we met in the churchyard like a pair of conspirators. Raffy was carrying the big basket of chocolate eggs.

‘What, no Easter Bunny costume?’

‘Couldn’t get one big enough,’ he said with a grin, kissing me. ‘And look!’ He held aloft a small wooden object.

‘What is it?’

‘A wooden rabbit’s foot! An elderly parishioner who carves walking stick handles made it for me. It’ll save getting Effie’s lucky rabbit’s foot brooch dirty and be much easier to make paw prints in the flowerbeds with.’

We went around hiding the eggs in crevices, under bushes and in low tree branches.

‘Isn’t this a bit irreverent?’ I asked, as he inserted one between the feet of the marble angel that had almost fallen on him.

‘No, because Jesus said, “Suffer little children to come unto me,” and since the church is his house, this is his garden.’

‘I suppose you’re right,’ I said, reflecting that I was going to have to get used to this sort of conversational gambit, now it came with the whole new Raffy package. ‘What about keeping a few eggs back, in case one or two of the children don’t find any?’ I suggested.

‘Good idea. OK.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I’ll take morning prayers in a minute – it’s just a short service today, because the big one is mid-morning and only a couple of regulars will show up. Then the egg hunt will be directly afterwards.’

He gave me a kiss and went off into the church, and a few moments later Effie Yatton arrived to help, with a big roll of Easter Bunny stickers, a picnic table and folding chair, which she erected just inside the gate.

By the time he came out again, there was quite a crowd of excited children and their parents waiting for the off, and Effie had absent-mindedly eaten one of the spare chocolate eggs.

Later that evening an exhausted Raffy and I were sitting on my little sofa, with Arlo curled up and snoring in front of the fire. The lights were off and the curtains open, so we could see Jake and Kat in the garden. He was getting extremely good with the firesticks, weaving intricate patterns in the darkness.

‘I don’t really want to leave my little cottage and walled garden,’ I said drowsily.

‘You don’t have to. Presumably you will still come over here every day anyway, to make Wishes?’

‘Yes, and type up Grumps’ books,’ I said. ‘And Jake can either stay with us, or here in the cottage, in his university holidays, can’t he?’

‘Whichever he prefers,’ Raffy agreed. ‘I think he should
have his own room at the vicarage, though, so he knows he’s always welcome. And I’m going to get plans drawn up to install a proper kitchen in the main part of the house, so Maria can just do the cleaning and housekeeping and not the cooking, after we’re married!’

‘You only want me because you think I’m a better cook,’ I accused him.

‘No, I want you because I can’t resist your chocolate,’ he said, kissing me.

‘And I can’t resist you.’ I returned the kiss enthusiastically. ‘You’ve gone from being forastero to criollo and now – gran couva!’

‘I hope that’s a
good
chocolate?’

‘The best,’ I said simply, then groaned as the phone at my elbow rang. ‘Who on earth can that be?’

‘Chloe, is that you?’ asked a once-familiar, brittle voice.

I sat up straighter. ‘
Mum?
’

‘Yes, it’s me. Mags said the gaff was blown, so I thought I might as well ring you.’

‘Why? What do you want?’ I demanded suspiciously.

‘Nothing – only that I hear you haven’t got a man yet, so if you want to come out to Goa for a holiday with Mags, I can guarantee to find you one.’

Typical! Six years of silence and then the only thing she’s interested in is whether I’m still single or not!

‘That’s all right,’ I said, relaxing back into Raffy’s embrace, ‘I think I’ve found one for myself.’

This is a simple ganache of cream and chocolate. Make it in small quantities, since it does not keep for more than a couple of weeks in the fridge.

You will need double cream and chocolate. While Chloe used couverture chocolate, patisserie or any type with a good percentage of cocoa solids will work perfectly well. I prefer very dark, bitter chocolate, but choose the kind
you
like best.

Have a clean jam jar ready.

For a firm but spreadable consistency, you need roughly equal parts of double cream and chocolate. Grate the chocolate into a bowl, or chop it finely.

Heat the double cream until it is hot but not boiling and then pour it over the chocolate. Stir well until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

At this stage you can add powdered ginger to taste, to make Chloe’s chocolate and ginger spread, or experiment with flavourings like rum or vanilla.

Spoon into the clean jar and allow it to go completely cold before covering and putting it in the fridge.

This is great fun to do and very easy, if messy!

You will need an Easter egg mould – I have metal and plastic ones in various sizes and they work equally well. Rub the insides with a piece of kitchen paper.

Couverture or patisserie chocolate are best for making hollow shells, but again, any good chocolate will be fine.

Melt the chocolate in a double pan or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Do not let steam or water get into the chocolate!

Coat the inside of the moulds with the chocolate. My moulds have a deep, embossed pattern, so I prefer to coat the insides with a pastry brush, just as Chloe did. The alternative is to spoon melted chocolate into the moulds and swirl it around to cover. Whichever method you use, apply three or four coats, then clean any runs from the edges of the mould.

When it has set slightly, turn the moulds upside down on a wire rack and leave them to harden. They will contract slightly as they do so and a little pressure at one end of the mould should release them.

You can stick the two halves together, either with a little melted chocolate, or by heating a baking tray and briefly touching the edges to it before sealing them together. (I put solid chocolate rabbits inside mine before sealing the two halves.)

You can decorate the outside with a ribbon, piped icing – whatever appeals to you. I have made Fabergé-style jewelled eggs, sticking on cake decorations, like little silver balls and frosted, coloured diamonds, using sugar paste. Or simply put the egg inside a cellophane bag with a ribbon tie.

And the very best thing about working with chocolate is that you can eat your mistakes: have fun!

1. Chocolate can have distinctly different flavours depending on the species of the cocoa bean and the conditions in which the bean was grown.
   
2. It is scientifically proven that chocolate contains the ‘love-chemical’ phenylethylamine, and by eating it you receive a similar feeling to when you are in love. Some might even say it is better than a hot date…
   
3. A cocoa pod contains roughly 40 to 45 cocoa beans. It takes up to 270 cocoa beans to make 500g of chocolate.
   
4. In general, darker chocolate contains a higher percentage of cocoa solids and is more expensive than milk chocolate.
   
5. 90% of the world’s cocoa is produced by just 9 countries, the majority of which are African.
   
6. Cocoa butter melts just slightly below body temperature at around 33°C, which is why it melts in your mouth.
   
7. 7. The world’s largest Easter egg was created in 2005 by a Belgian chocolate manufacturer and displayed in New Jersey, USA. It weighed in at a colossal 27 feet tall, 21 feet wide and weighed 4,299 pounds. That’s a lot of chocolate…
   
8. The first chocolate bar was created in 1847 by the Bristol company Fry & Son.
   
9. More than twice as many women eat and crave chocolate than men.
   
10. If stored in warm conditions, chocolate can develop a white film called bloom. This occurs because the cocoa butter separates out and melts sugar onto the chocolate’s surface.
    

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

AVON

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A Paperback Original 2010

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Copyright © Trisha Ashley 2010

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