Cadbury, A Taste of Chocolate ~ Renée Lang (ed)

As a marketing tool this cookbook is a bit of a silly idea. I'm certain that Cadbury must realise that no-one in their right mind believes you need to go out and buy 'Cadbury Bournville Cocoa' to make one of the enclosed recipes if your cocoa is in a differently labelled box. That said, if we use just a tiny bit of common sense the book is quite handy. The recipes are quite simple to read and also to follow. The most difficult they get is Chocolate ice cream and Tuile baskets to serve it in, neither of which would necessarily stretch an experienced cook terribly.

What I have found the book useful for is quick and simple idea's for the occassional morning tea at work (can't take Tim Tams every time). It's also got some nice recipes if you are wanting to get the kids involved in cooking. The recipe for Yum yum balls is virtually identical to the non alcoholic Rum balls I used to make with my mother and sisters for special occasions. It is both fun to eat and to make, as long as you don't mind getting a bit messy - they are rolled into balls in the palms so if the kids are helping you need to make sure they have scrupulously clean hands, and it also helps to have a non-cooking person around to turn the taps on when you are finished (when I say messy...). I've also used the Plum pudding christmas truffles recipe quite a few times for morning tea's towards the end of the year as they are very quick and very easy and look impressive enough that no-one realizes quite how quick and how easy they are. If you can melt chocolate (and for this recipe I'm lazy and use the microwave) and you can cut glacé cherries you'll have no trouble.

Although the recipes in the book aren't complicated affairs they are tasty and if you have a sweet tooth they are probably right up your alley. The Hazelnut swirl cheesecake looks absolutely delicious, as does the Ice cream tort with grasshopper sauce as pictured on the cover photograph (above). The Orange sticks is another recipe I adapted and have used a lot over the years (combining the best of my candying recipes) and I would be more than happy to sit down to a big bowl of Chocolate surprise in golden syrup dumplings with a dollop of vanilla ice cream at the end of a cold Canberra day.

Recommended for the family cook, and for getting kids involved in the process. Some quick and useful idea's for morning tea's at work.

- Kath