Well it’s hard to believe I know, but today is the sixth anniversary of We Should Cocoa. Yes, Chele of Chocolate Teapot and I started it six years ago and I’ve been managing it solely for the last few years. So with a new year just about to commence, it’s time for a change. I also have 9 darkly divine chocolate recipes for you to celebrate the occasion.
Blogging challenges have moved on and multiplied since #WeShouldCocoa started up all those years ago. Many bloggers have become more commercially focussed and seem less inclined to make something specifically for a challenge. So I’m starting year seven with a new format. There will no longer be a challenge of making something with a specific ingredient or to a special theme. From now on all recipes containing chocolate are welcome (as long as they are vegetarian of course).
I will continue to do a monthly round-up of all entries and from now on I’ll also pin all entries to the We Should Cocoa board on Pinterest. The round-up will be posted on the 1st of the month following entries along with the linky for the month. The linky can be found at the bottom of the post and will be open for entries until the 28th.
Before showcasing our 9 darkly divine chocolate recipes, I just wanted to say a very big thank you to everyone who’s contributed to We Should Cocoa over the last six years. Whether you’ve taken part in the challenges or have guest hosted, it’s been a wonderful way of getting to know each other and sharing the chocolate love. I very much hope that some of you will still want to be guest hosts. I wouldn’t have been able to have continued this for so long without your help.
9 Darkly Divine Chocolate Recipes
Kate, over at The Gluten Free Alchemist has been trying to make the most of seasonal cherries. Shockingly I managed to miss the cherry season this year and didn’t have a single one. I’m feeling quite deprived. I shall just have to gaze at these perfectly gooey chocolate-cherry pecan brownies and hope that works – gluten-free of course.
I made one of the best cakes ever, though I do say so myself. Darkly divine this coffee cardamom chocolate mousse cake is best served in small slices and works well as a dinner party dessert with crème fraîche if liked.
We’ve got lucky this month and more sumptuous brownies have emerged from the Mainly Baking kitchen. These tahini brownies with a sesame praline crust sound unusual and quite delicious. Suelle deserves special mention as she’s been with We Should Cocoa since the very beginning.
For something completely different, we have savoury cocoa jerk tofu from Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe. The spicy Caribbean marinade has my name all over it and I shall be losing no time in trying this out.
Nico from Yumsome reckons she makes the best vegan choc chunk cookies ever and who am I to disagree? They are chewy and bursting with chocolate and look absolutely fabulous.
Scones and nutella are a new one on me, but one I’m very willing to try. Head over to The Lawer’s Cookbook to find the recipe for coconut scones with coconut nutella glaze, cooked in her new kitchen in her new house.
Last week saw the return of the Great British Bake Off. The contestants were challenged to make Jaffa cakes and I’ve seen Jaffa cake bakes popping up all over the internet ever since. I reckon these homemade Jaffa cakes from Kat at Baking Explorer are the best I’ve seen.
One of my favourite things ever is tiffin, so I was delighted by this chocolate tiffin from Farmersgirl Cook. Janice has used lots of dark chocolate in this sumptuous no-bake and I really want a piece now.
And finally, just to show that Jaffa Cakes don’t get it all their own way, Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food for Families made one Giant Jaffa Cake. She also departed from tradition by making it vegan and why not?
So ends our darkly divine chocolate recipes and our sixth year of #WeShouldCocoa.
We Should Cocoa September Entries
Guidelines on how to enter are on the We Should Cocoa page.
Congratulations on 6 years Choclette, i have enjoyed meeting you and participating in WSC, here to another six years. I am joining in this month with a seasonal contribution, but thought I’d let you know seeing all the Jaffa cakes that a while back I made a vegan Jaffa cake, but never got round to sharing it with WSC and its vegan too! http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/vegan-friendly-giant-jaffa-cake.html
Six years is very impressive. Well done! It’s been a great challenge and I have to say that I have loved the themed approach….. It always inspires me to think more widely and ‘out of the box’. But you are right….. there is now such a proliferation of linkies out there.
I will certainly continue to link up as often as possible. Thanks for all your hard work running the challenge over the years and onwards and upwards as they say….
Thank you Kate. I will miss the “challenge” aspect to it too, but times change. Thank you so much for supporting WSC over the years. You’re bakes are always a highlight and I look forward to seeing more of them.
So many amazing recipes to choose from! They all look lush 😀 love the sound of your coffee cardamom and chocolate mousse cake. Looks so decadent and rich!
Thanks Nadia. That cake is just amazing and definitely the best I’ve made in a while.
many congratulations on 6 years – thats such a great achievement x x
Thank you very much Jenny. It’s strange, the time has flown by and yet it seems as though the challenge has been around forever.
Six years is amazing, well done! Good idea to widen the format, I know I’ve found it hard to take part some months, much as I’ve wa ted too. Hoping to make another chocolate bake this month, GBBO themes permitting!
Hahaha yes indeed Lucy. I’d forgotten about the #GBBO factor. I’m hoping to enter the odd one or two of those this time around – always so much to fit in!
a lovely round up of very fine recipes… and congrats on 6 years… you are a better woman than I (if that makes sense) I simply couldn’t carry on although I gave both Random Recipes and Simply Eggcellent my best shot, it was all too much! I have a few chocolate recipes coming up so I shall do the link thing for sure xx
I really miss Random Recipes Dom, it was a great challenge. But TBH I’m not sure how often I’d manage to enter these days. I hardly do any of the fun challenges I used to do. Hope you don’t give up on #WeShouldCocoa though.
Wow that is pretty amazing to clock up 6 years – I love WSC and am please it continues to run – I think after 6 years you must have exhausted most of the chocolate flavour combinations. And I have a lovely chocolate cake for you this month!
Excellent Johanna, I look forward to seeing your cake. It will be interesting to see how it goes under the new format. Thank you for all your years of entering and for hosting too 🙂
Always a pleasure Choclette – just realised I have changed my mind, as is my way, to enter some chocolates that I am sure you will enjoy! (And am happy to host again if you are needing help)
Thanks Johanna and for your offer too. Yes please, guest hosts are still very welcome. I just need to figure out how it would work. I’m very sure I will enjoy your chocolates 🙂
Six years is a long time, and it must be difficult to come up with new challenges, so I can understand you wanting to change things. I’ll miss the challenge of trying something new though – I’ve just looked back over all my WSC entries and realised how much they have contributed to stretching my imagination and baking skills over the years. I cooked thing for WSC which I would never have tried otherwise!
Thank you Suelle, that’s a lovely tribute. It’s not so much the new challenges that are the issue as the number of people that want to take part in them. Your bakes and contributions have always been properly considered and thus doubly appreciated.
Thank you, Choclette!
Oh Choclette – coffee, cardamom, and chocolate mousse in form of a cake? How you tempt me! *bookmarks*
Hehe, that’s the general idea. Do let me know what you think if you make it.
Well, well – six years, hard to believe it’s ONLY six years as We Should Cocoa is one of the first linkys I ever joined. It’s seems to have been around forever and a good thing too! Looking forward to the new format and another 6 years 😉
Thanks Janice. I know what you mean. We launched it the year after I started my blog and there was a bit of time in the planning stages, so it’s very closely tied into the world of blogging for me.