I want to talk about something we all love. I doubt there will be anyone on this planet who does not like it, if not craves for it. Wait for it…Yes, I am talking about ice cream which is the coolest thing –literally- on a hot summer day.

The story of ice cream begins a long time ago –over 3000 years- in China. We all know that Chinese invented so many things throughout the history like gunpowder, ink, umbrella, porcelain etc. but let me say, ice cream is the tastiest discovery of them among all. No need to say it was not the same ice-cream as we are used to consume today. Ancestor of today’s ice cream was mostly a mixture of snow from the mountains, fruit, wine, and honey. As expected it could not be found easily since you need to obtain ice from a mountain or let’s say you need some slaves or soldiers to do that for you. This difficulty in ice supply turned ice cream to a delicacy that could only be found on the emperor’s dining table at first.

Well known adventurer Marco Polo was the one to return from China to Italy with this recipe in hand, snow ice cream with an addition of extra milk. Not surprisingly, rich people of Italy loved the idea of this frozen milk. When you use rich and Italian in the same sentence you should expect another famous figure, Catherine Medici, to come out at the same instant. This gourmand lady took the recipe to France when she married the French king Henry II in 1533. French chefs added chocolate -what would you expect other than that- and strawberry to make it closer to the ice cream we eat today. It took almost 300 years more for White House guests to be served ice cream.

When we come back to our time I feel so happy that we don’t need to be rich or a high-born to enjoy a scoop of this beauty. It is not that difficult to make your own ice cream. For sure it is more laborious than buying from a supermarket in your neighborhood but also easier than climbing up the mountains for a bucket of snow. There is no point in mentioning the superior taste of homemade ice cream over fabricated ones I guess. Consider this recipe as a treat to yourself and indulge in the deep flavor of chocolate and coconut with each spoon. Bon appétit!

Ingredients (for 1 liter of ice cream)

• 200 ml (6,8 fl. oz)heavy cream
• 400 ml (13,6 fl. oz) coconut milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 220 g (7,8 oz) dark chocolate
• 190g (28,2oz) sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 60 gram (2,1 oz) oatmeal cookies

Instructions

Note: If you do not have an ice cream machine that does not mean you cannot make your own ice cream. Take a large and shallow glass bowl -like the ones we use as ovenware- and pour the final mixture in it. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours than place the bowl in the deep freezing section. Wait for approximately half an hour then take the bowl out and mix well with a metal fork for 3 minutes, you may use a hand blender (with metal blade) as well to make this task easier. There should not be any ice crystals left on the edges. Put the bowl back to the deep freezer and follow the same procedure for 3-4 times. After the ice cream is ready add chopped oatmeal cookies and mix, transfer your ice cream to an air tight container and keep in the deep freezer till you serve.

Chocolate Monster Cake

Last time I told you that I was going to tell about my vacation so here comes the first part. This will also help you figure out why the far-famed performer (calling her as just a singer will be unfair) Lady Gaga is placed at the right side of this incredibly delicious piece of Chocolate Monster Cake I call.

Going to Antwerp for Lady Gaga Concert

A couple of months ago, I miraculously managed to get two tickets to Lady Gaga’s “The Monster Ball Tour” which is said to be a phenomenal performance to be seen. Initially I aimed to buy tickets for the Paris stop but there was not even one ticket left both for two nights. The situation in Rome was the same but I was determined to buy the tickets even I need to check each and every country on the list. Finally I found two of the last tickets left (what’s more, each seat in a different row!) for the show in Antwerp.

Antwerp Shops

We flew to Paris first and from there headed for Antwerp with the car we rent just to make a change (what a brilliant idea!). Let me tell you one crucial thing at that point; do not make a change, never ever consider renting a car in Paris. I am serious. Even though I live in Istanbul which is also well known for its traffic jams, it rarely takes two hours to get in the nearest highway exit on a week day. I really do not want to remember this part of the trip, be hundred percent sure that train is the best choice.

Antwerp seems like an empty city!

To me, Antwerp seems like a deserted city; there are few people on the streets, in the restaurants, or anywhere you may think. I was asking myself “How come on earth, they will find enough people to fill the concert area for two consecutive nights?”. Then I made such a strange assumption that all of the city dwellers were resting at their homes to save their energy to dance with Lady Gaga that night.

Main Square in Antwerp

The common side of Belgian cities is that one day is well enough to discover the city and to see the basics. Unfortunately food is not varied compared to other sides of Belgium, waffle and mussels are again the most well known examples of local cuisine in Antwerp. I will give you an outstanding mussel recipe by the time I find fresh and quality mussels in the fish market to retest it. As for the waffle, you may check this post to find all about its history and a delectable recipe as a bonus.

No one's around but fashion is all around!

The city has more to offer when it comes to design and fashion industry. There are many local brands, hip stores and well known fashion labels like Dries Van Noten originated in here. It is a better idea to cruise around the central area and discover these nice stores. Diamond exchange market might be another attraction if you are inherited some diamonds from your beloved aunt.

Dille & Kamille Shop in Antwerp

As for me, my favourite was the Dille&Kamille store with all its culinary supplies, simple but chic tableware, cutlery, home and garden accessories etc. It is one of the stores that provide you a peaceful atmosphere to spend hours in it and makes you want to buy each and every item you see for your house.

In front of Dille & Kamille Store

As the sun sets down, we put our tickets in our pockets and headed for our appointment with Lady Gaga that night. I was planning to take beautiful photos from the concert but unfortunately security people took my camera, on the grounds that it was too professional. So sad but not enough, second shock was on the way; our hardly found separate seats had the worst possible viewing angle (this explains why I was able to find them in the first place). We moved to a better place accepting the fact that we would be standing all night on top of our exhausted feet.

Chocolate Monster versus Fame Monster

No matter how hard were the conditions, Lady Gaga’s show was amazing. Let alone her fantastic performance as a singer, scene settings, choreography, costumes and theatrical details were awesome. It looks like the music world found its next revolutionary. Lady Gaga was already named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year. If you have a chance to visit any of the countries included in her tour schedule, rush to buy your tickets (if not sold out already!).

Antwerp Street Painting

It was one of the best live performances I have ever seen up to now. Her recent song “Monster” inspired me to call this cake as Chocolate Monster due to its 250 gram dark chocolate content. It is a bit fancy, not fancier than a Gaga dress though, with its waved style chocolate coating on top and raspberry-chocolate cream filling inside. Once you prepare it, call your friends to share before you taste. Otherwise it is highly possible that you will turn into a selfish monster after the first piece and will keep it all for yourself. Eat responsibly!

Note:I never use photographs taken by other parties on this blog. However due to restrictions my camera was taken before the concert. That’s why I used Lady Gaga photos from her official website.

Chocolate Monster Cake

Ingredients (makes 8-10 servings)

For the cake

• 6 eggs
• 125 g (4,5 oz) plain flour
• 175 g (6 oz) sugar
• 85 g (3 oz) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 g (1,75 oz) cocoa powder (a high quality one like Varlhona is preferred)

For the filling

• 450 g (15,8 oz) raspberries (washed and drained)
• 120 ml (4 fl.oz) heavy cream
• 150 g (5,3 oz) quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
• 2 tablespoon Kirsch (optional)

For the coating

• 100 g (3,5 oz) quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
• 40 g (1,4 oz) butter

Making of Chocolate Monster Cake

Instructions

If you are lucky enough to live in a place close to your work then no way on earth you would understand the situation I am in. My house is located in Asian side of Istanbul while my job is on the European side and even though the distance between two is not so long in terms of kilometers, it is not the same case in terms of time it takes to commute. Particularly in winter the traffic is so damned congested that sometimes I spent two hours to reach home. You might consider this time as an opportunity to read a book, to reply emails or at least to sleep if you are not the one to drive but unfortunately I am suffering from motion sickness when I try to focus on anything than the stationary cars outside the window.

After such an exhausting trip there is only one thing to sober me up; a piece of quality bittersweet chocolate that releases the chemicals in my brain to clean up the negative residues of last two hours. Indulging these little bars provides us the “good feeling” besides a couple of hundreds calories we would be better off not to take in. So if you frequently seek happiness through chocolate bars or let me use the right word for that; if you are an irrepressible chocoholic, then you’d better get ready to pay its price by putting on some extra pounds preventing you to fit in your favorite jeans.

Recently I and my office mate sitting next to me lost ourselves in a chocolate crave. I had a large box full of chocolate covered almonds, hazelnuts, raisins, delights and lots of small chocolate bars on my table that I forgot to take home. Once I opened to taste one, lid of the box stayed opened for good like the box of Pandora. We promised not to let each other eat anymore of them and to keep the box in my drawer so that we would not see these little shiny black gems. Now either of us secretly devours few pieces and it is killingly funny to see her silently open my drawer to snatch up one when I am concentrated on something else. Thanks god the box will be emptied soon by our mutual efforts.

I tried to figure out the reason behind the pleasurable effects of chocolate afterwards and why we crave chocolate more than other sweet stuff like candies or caramel so it looks like a passion beyond loving sweet things. To my surprise there are extensive academic researches on the matter to disclose the secrets of choco-chemistry.

According to academic research conducted, there are more than three hundred known chemicals within a small piece of chocolate. The most controversial finding was from neuroscience researcher Daniel Piomelli and his coworkers stating that chocolate contains substances that mimic the impacts of marijuana (not at the same level for sure otherwise we would have been buying our daily chocolate dose from choco-dealers operating at the back streets).

According to their research there is a chemical neurotransmitter naturally produced in the brain called anandamide which is also found in chocolate. The interesting part is that this substance activates the same cellular receptors as THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) that causes a person to feel “high”. You may say “if our brain can produce anandamide naturally than what makes the difference with chocolate?” but the thing is that anandamide is produced in the brain and then breakdowns so quickly that you might not have a chance to catch the good mood (if it breakdowns too quickly in your body then you end up with depression). Here comes the difference; there are other two different chemicals in chocolate delaying the natural breakdown of this substance and makes you feel good for some time after gobbling up a few bars.

Mentioning all about the chocolate reminds me of a chewy dense brownie made out of a quality bittersweet chocolate. Till I reach the perfection I tried and retested different recipes with more butter, less butter, more chocolate, less flour and so on. But the one I am going to share is the ultimate one to beat the others. This time I also made a change and combined the bittersweet chocolate with its probably the best accompany; orange. The result was so good that the flavors blended in a perfect harmony without overwhelming each other like the notes of an elegant French perfume. If you did not try any of my recipes up to now, you have to give this one a go since it is literally superb.

For the majority, brownie is something like a cake with too much cocoa and walnuts inside however a really good brownie does not contain cocoa powder but chocolate. By following my recipe do not expect to end up with a well baked sponge textured cake in the end. This is more like a dense dessert you would savor after dinner besides a cup of coffee. The only difficult part is to help yourself not devouring all pieces in one day like my better half who craves for these brownies even by looking at the pictures. So here comes the recipe of feeling good with perfectly legal ingredients. Enjoy.

Ingredients (makes around 20 small pieces)

• 160 g (5,6 oz) butter
• 160 g (5,6 oz) bittersweet chocolate (55-60% cocoa percentage is preferred)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon orange liqueur (Cointreau or Grand Marnier depending on your choice)
• 0,5 ml (1/10 teaspoon) pure orange extract
• 1 cup roasted walnuts (or pecans)
• A pinch of salt

Instructions