A Dubai-style chocolate experiment

When my friend Jacqui mentioned Dubai chocolate to me in July 2025, I was quite late to the party. Apparently the flavour/texture combo (chocolate + pistachios + crunch) had been around since 2021. Suddenly I started seeing it everywhere. The first block I bought was from the gorgeous Turkish Delight store in Adelaide, and variations are available in supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. Of the types I've tried, the Adelaide version tasted best, as it was not so sweet as the others, but I'd prefer an even less sweet option. This particular style of chocolate is also very expensive – ranging from about $125 to $150 per kilo – so I've been pondering how to create something similar at home.

My first thoughts were to combine Chang's Fried Noodles with pistachio paste, then coat it in melted chocolate. However, all three brands of pistachio paste/spread I found had sugar as their main ingredient (unlike, say, peanut butter which can be made of 100% peanuts) so I decided to use whole pistachios instead. The ingredients:

I melted the chocolate, then mixed in the noodles and nuts, and spread the mixture in a silicone loaf mould. (More usually used to bake things like date loaf and banana bread, but also perfect for shaping chocolate blocks, it seems!) The result:

Andrew and I taste-tested the chocolate and we liked it! These ingredients achieve the qualities I was seeking but without being cloyingly sweet (though, if I try it again ... I may use milk rather than dark chocolate). The mixture was also much cheaper than commercial versions, with the ingredients costing $20.10 for 410 grams (so about $49 per kilo). Nom nom. 

Chocolate cheesecake re-re-engineered

Chocolate cheesecake just got even easier to make! I've tinkered with this recipe over many years, removing the sugar from the base (it's sweet enough without it), halving the sugar in the topping then deleting it altogether, deleting the egg whites and increasing the amount of chocolate. It works well.

First, make the base

200 grams plain, sweet biscuits [I like to use Malt or Digestive biscuits]
100 grams butter

Crush the biscuits. Melt the butter and combine well with the crushed biscuits. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a foil-lined springform pan and chill.

Next, make the cheesy topping

250 grams cream cheese
200 grams chocolate [milk, dark or white]
300 ml pouring cream

Soften the cream cheese a little and beat well. Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water or in a microwave. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly, them combine with the cream cheese mixture. Whip the cream. Combine the chocolate and cream mixtures well, and pile on top of the base. Decorate with extra cream, grated chocolate, or fresh fruit. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

New Zealand: the 2025 edition

Every second year or so Andrew and I go to New Zealand to catch up with my family. This time we went in late May and early June, and have made a mental note to go earlier in the year next time, as several tourist attractions had closed for the winter already. Anyway, there's not much to report. Apart from spending time with family, the trip was largely about eating, drinking, and walking. Some highlights:

Wellington coffee @ Lazy Juan

Chilli oil eggs @ Kind Wish Café, Kelburn

Whanganui River (at a rare, non-raining moment)

Tram ride! Whanganui

Virginia Lake, Whanganui

Lunch @ Tasty Indian Restaurant, Whanganui

Double decker bus in Whanganui

Dinner @ Tasty Indian Restaurant, Whanganui (yes, we went there twice)

Coffee @ Jolt Coffee House, Whanganui

OMG! Deconstructed lemon meringue pie @ Union Square

Bistro & Bar, Martinborough. A revelation :-)

Nasi lemak @ Little Penang, Wellington

More Wellington coffee!

Lunch @ Curry Heaven, Newtown, Wellington. We used to go to

their CBD branch but it closed so we tracked them down to the suburbs

The Wellington Cable Car (funicular railway)

Thanks to Andrew for (most of) the pics. He thoroughly documented the trip.

Farewell, NZ. See you next time.

Lord Howe Island

Andrew and I visited Lord Howe Island, for the first time (hopefully not the last), in early October. What a wonderful little slice of paradise. We walked, climbed, ate, drank, watched birds, snorkelled and learned about the island and its history. There are approximately seven restaurants on the island, which may be why travel agents recommend a seven-night stay! We were supposed to stay for seven nights but ended up with an unscheduled 24 hours in Sydney at the start of the trip as it was too windy on the island for the plane to fly. Never mind. We found things to do in Sydney and thoroughly enjoyed our six nights on Lord Howe Island. I won't waffle on, but here are some pics:

A gorgeous and peaceful getaway.

Coconut. Is there anything it can't do?

For the past year or so I've been buying decadent and delicious granola from my local organic shop, Choku Bai Jo. It's … very moreish. But I felt like something was missing. That something turned out to be Aldi's organic coconut flakes:

The coconut morsels make my daily muesli and yoghurt even better. And that got me thinking about coconut more broadly. It's very versatile! I use it (whether desiccated, shredded, flaked, powdered, in 'milk' or 'cream' form, as oil, or as part of another product such as condensed [coconut] milk) all the time. If you enjoy this magical substance too, here are some ideas you may like:

Breakfast

Nutty maple granola

Coconut risotto

Lunch/Dinner

Vegetable laksa
Pumpkin soup with drizzled coriander pesto
Sri Lankan lentil curry
Coconut split pea soup
Pumpkin and pea curry
Vanuatu salad
Chickpea delight
Potato and pea curry
Tofu in lemongrass coconut milk
Thai green eggplant curry
Bagus mushroom soup

Byron Bay curries

Sweet stuff
Coconut ice cream (or rocky road ice cream)
Chocolate nut cake
Black rice pudding
Chocolate echidna slice
Marshmallow treats
Wattalapam
Lolly cake

Coconut jelly

Enjoy!

White choc chip macadamia cookies

200 grams butter
250 grams sugar
200 grams (half a can) sweetened condensed milk
300 grams flour
2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
200 grams white chocolate chips
100 grams macadamia nuts

Cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk and beat well. Mix in sifted flour and baking powder. Add choc chips and nuts. Roll into balls, place on cool tray and press with fork. Bake at 160 degrees C for 15 to 20 minutes. This recipe makes about 24 large-ish cookies.

Chocolate gingerbread cake

I revisited this old favourite recipe today and confess I doubled the quantity of chocolate chips! We're taking the cake to our friends' place for dessert tomorrow and I'm sure their kids will approve of the bonus chocolate.

1.5 cups wholemeal flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
0.5 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
0.5 teaspoon ground allspice
0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg
125 grams chocolate chips
75 grams butter, softened
0.5 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
0.5 cup dark molasses

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and butter and flour a cake baking tin.

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and spices in a bowl. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a separate bowl until fluffy, then beat in the egg. Mix the molasses with 0.5 cup warm water. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the molasses mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake about 55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto rack and cool completely.

Note: you could also make this in muffin-sized pans, in which case cooking will take about 30 to 40 minutes.

Spring High Tea @ Hotel Kurrajong

The Hotel Kurrajong is a Canberra institution. It's perhaps best known as Prime Minister Ben Chifley's home away from home during his parliamentary career. Yesterday Andrew and I had a delicious Spring High Tea at the Hotel Kurrajong! Yes, I know it's been spring for two months, but for most of that time Canberra was in COVID lockdown. So it was fun to dress up and go out for a (socially distanced) feast.

Nom nom! There was also espresso coffee to finish the meal.

Caramilk choc chip cookies

I've been making versions of this recipe since I was about seven, with dark, milk or white choc chips, with or without the cocoa, and maybe with added nuts. But when Caramilk chips appeared at my local supermarket, I realised it was time to experiment again!

200 grams butter
250 grams sugar
4 tablespoons (half a can) sweetened condensed milk
300 grams flour

0.25 cup cocoa
2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
260 grams Caramilk baking chips

nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk and beat well. Mix in sifted flour, cocoa and baking powder. Add Caramilk or chocolate chips (and nuts if you like). Roll into balls, place on cool tray and press with fork. Bake at 160 degrees C for 15 minutes.

We'll be taking these to our friends' place tomorrow night. I think the kids will like them ;-)

Nine weeks of lockdown, but who's counting?

Well! Nine weeks ago today the Australian Capital Territory (i.e. Canberra) was plunged into COVID lockdown. It was initially supposed to last for two weeks but the cases kept happening and are still happening. We've barely left our suburb in the past nine weeks and are forever grateful that we decided to upgrade from a townhouse to a free-standing house in 2016, as the garden is a delight if we must be trapped at home. So, what have I been doing lately …?

Reading books

So many books! I've barely bought any paper books in the almost ten years since I first got a Kindle. Whenever I want to read a book, I first check whether our wonderful local library service has a copy (and order it online if it does), then consider whether to buy it on Kindle if it doesn't. I usually have a massive pile of library books on my bedside table, and read vigorously to finish them all before they're due back. Of course, that plan has gone pear-shaped since the lockdown was announced as the library is locked down too. So, I've been reading the backlog of books I'd accumulated on my Kindle. It's been great. Some recent reads include Ladyparts: A Memoir by Deborah Copaken, Redhanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick by Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire, Men Who Hate Women: From incels to pickup artists, the truth about extreme misogyny and how it affects us all by Laura Bates, Weird English by Evelyn Nien-Ming Ch'ien, Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose, and All About Yves: Notes from a transition by Yves Rees. Oh. My. Goodness. That's a lot of books. All of them have been excellent. I may get a rude shock when the library reopens, too, as my reservation list is up to 20 books. Fingers crossed they don't all arrive at once.

Listening to podcasts

So many podcasts! So little time. Some current favourites include Bad Blood: The Final Chapter, Catfish, Cautionary Tales, Hunting Ghislaine, Killer Psyche, Ms Represented and The Trap. I really only listen to podcasts when I'm doing housework (washing dishes, gardening, walking to the shops) and the time available for podcasts tends to vary depending how much editing work I have.

Watching movies

When we're allowed to go out I usually try to watch at least one film, at the cinema, each week. While the cinema's been unavailable, Andrew and I have been watching old movies at home each Sunday afternoon. He even makes popcorn. Woo hoo.

Gathering and cooking and eating food 

When I'm feeling anxious (and, y'know, there's a pandemic on) I tend to hoard food. Not to the point that any gets wasted, but our cupboards and freezer are pretty full at the moment. Not to mention that I spend even more time than usual dreaming of food and planning meals. Aaaargh. I have tried a couple of new recipes lately: chana aloo (chickpea and potato curry) and warm French goat's cheese salad. Both were delicious. Oh, and I've discovered you can use a stovetop jaffle maker to cook mini pies, using defrosted pastry sheets. And that if you stud the top of a chocolate mud cake with chopped up Mars bars, it's even more fun. Yep. Terrible photo but yummy cake.

Gardening

Last but not least. The garden is, and will always be, a work in progress. Here are some of our spring flowers this year.

I don't grow many vegetables, as we have an amazing organic shop nearby, but I do have a lovely crop of garlic at the moment and recently planted some yams from the (ahem) 10 kg I bought via mail order. We've also built up a collection of young fruit trees over the past five years: feijoa, plum, apricot, pomegranate, lemon and lime. Oh, and the many berry bushes are flourishing.

Yes, do try this new twist on chocolate mousse

Well, that was magnificent! Recently the Her Canberra website featured a recipe for avocado-based chocolate mousse. Um, what? A gluten-free, vegan-friendly* dessert that actually helps us meet the recommended daily servings of fruit and veges? Why not, I say! I tried making the mousse today and it didn't disappoint. Nom nom.

* use maple syrup instead of honey for a vegan version.

A few years ago there was a bit of a craze for sneakily putting fruit and vegetables into dishes so fussy kids would eat them without knowing. While I'm not a huge fan of hoodwinking kids (and happily, don't have any kids to hoodwink) I DO like finding recipes that include healthy ingredients yet still taste fabulous. If this is you too, you may like to try some of these ...

avocado, lime and ginger ice cream
chocolate zucchini cake
pumpkin loaf
banana muffins
beetroot chocolate cake

A weird new world

While the Australian government has been annoyingly vague about the COVID-19 situation – often providing contradictory or downright spurious information – I would estimate that this is about the third week of our (mostly) self-isolation. Being self-employed, I always work at home, while Andrew normally goes to an office so has switched to working at home. He's commandeered half of our dining room table as his new office. To draw a clear line between 'home' and 'work', he's been covering his monitors with a towel when he's not working, and also walking around the block (in lieu of a commute) at the start and end of each work day.

What else has changed? I've been surprised at how quickly all my usual activities have become virtual: a regular Thursday evening cheese and wine gathering now conducted via Zoom, virtual coffee dates with Andrew's workmates and my (former) workmates, and Sunday night dinners with friends moved online. Isolation is strangely social.

Also, my boot camp instructor Rex has started offering online boot camp. Four times a week he emails a list of sets of exercises, complete with videos to follow along. It's great fun and I'm finding I work out just as hard as I would if it was in person. Weird. Hope my enthusiasm keeps up ...

High knees

Work-wise, I'm still getting plenty of editing. I'm very grateful for this. Most of my clients, whether new or recurring, have been working on their research projects for months, years or even decades, so the pandemic doesn't seem to be hampering their output (so far). Still, the current restrictions on movement mean I have more spare time than before, and I've been seeking out activities that give comfort, whether gardening, reading, cooking, listening to podcasts or curling up in front of the TV.

What I'm reading ...

... or rereading, as the case may be. In between some new and mind-expanding books (How Many Friends Does One Person Need? by Robin Dunbar; Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow; All That Remains by Sue Black, and many more), I've been dipping into old favourites (The Millstone by Margaret Drabble; Destination Saigon by Walter Mason; A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans; The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and many more!) Unfortunately our local library (where I'm an avid member) has closed for the duration of the virus crisis; I'm glad I have a backlog (and back catalogue) of Kindle books to read.

What I'm cooking and eating

Yep. Comfort food. It's late autumn here (indeed, there's a touch of winter in the air this weekend) and in half anticipation of shopping restrictions becoming even more stringent I've been filling up the freezer with hearty, flavoursome dishes and cooking old favourites. Things like ...

nachos
potato and pea curry
teriyaki tofu and veges
shakshuka
vegetable soup
cheese soufflé
chocolate mud cake

Andrew and I usually avoid buying takeaway food and drinks to avoid packaging waste; we prefer to eat at cafes and restaurants. Now that sitting down in public is banned we've had to bend our usual rules! We want to support our favourite cafes to help them stay in business, so have been buying coffee each day and also having a couple of takeaway meals each week.

We're standing by you, Stand By Me

What I'm listening to

Podcasts! So many podcasts. Coronacast on the ABC (of course), plus more escapist goodies such as No Filter with Mia Freedman, 9 Days in July, Armchair Expert, Friday Night Comedy, Modern Love and Andrew Leigh's The Good Life.

The garden is a joy. A place where we can zone out and forget the world is in uproar. Right now we have ...

... lots of ripening chillies ...

... and some cute baby pumpkins

Soon I'll need to harvest the chillies to make room to plant garlic.

One final thought. While all overseas travel is cancelled for the foreseeable future, the current need to wash our hands dozens of times per day has seen us delve into our bathroom drawers ... and be reminded of past overseas holidays. While other people buy knick-knacks while travelling, apparently I buy soap. Handy, in the circumstances! Here's what I found:

Clockwise from top left: Fiji (visited in 2019),

Thailand (visited in 2011!), Malaysia (last visited

in 2013), New Zealand (last visited in 2020)

Timor-Leste (visited in 2018)

Left: Canada (last visited in 2017),

right: Japan (visited in 2016)

It's lucky soap doesn't go out of date!

Good luck, everyone.