It’s about time to grab Oma Maitse from news stand and see inside how many kilograms of chocolate you need in order to survive the Valentine’s. I’ll give you a little background story and one recipe as a teaser.
From own experience I can tell that after you’ve prepared it all, three people can eat it for seven days or more.
When we got the assignment from the magazine I definitely wanted to avoid red heart-shaped things. I wanted to avoid red color completely. I don’t remember how exactly it came to me, but all of a sudden I realized I want to shoot food in boudoir atmosphere.
Then I started gathering ideas. I make no secret that I use Pinterest a lot. Not only do I search what’s already pinned but I also google, search other resources like Behance for example. I’m not looking for food images, I’m looking for fantasy worlds – interior, fashion, fine art etc. So for those of you curious of the thinking behind photos, go and see the mood board. And follow me for seeing new things happening there! When I’m done pinning my ideas are usually so grandiose that require three days of set building and hundreds of Euros. As we don’t have a budget for set design I start scaling it down to something doable.
In my head I run through all the props I have in studio or home or that I’ve seen in shops. Usually at that point I tell my idea to my companion Kertu and she tells me she also has something suitable or she knows someone who has. All those things end up in a pile at the location of the shoot. Like this.
I love my props. I like the hidden rhythm that appears in chaos when the right form, shade and pattern come together. For me it’s pretty much done there at this point. I already see the final images then. Of course a lot of frustration will follow after that when the light is not right, the food is tricky or some other unforeseen circumstances arise, but already there’s a lot of beauty. For me the preparation is the easy part. That’s why I sometimes wonder why I go on photographing instead of just being a stylist. (Not going to go into that now.)
This time space was a subject on the photo. You should feel the air and space around the food if you look at the photographs (in the magazine for now. I’ll follow up with the rest of the photos and recipes.). Remember, we can’t build walls or floors. Sometimes we redecorate them with paint or tapestry or fabric. Most often I try to avoid interior larger than 2×2 meters (2 m tabletop, 2 m background). It can’t be done entirely at the tabletop. To be honest – most often you actually can trick the viewer and create the atmosphere with the use of light and perspective, but first you need to imagine the real thing, need to get into the mood yourself and then the right environment helps a lot.
Alright, you’ve suffered enough, time for the recipe. Luckily it’s easy to make.
Colorful No Bake Chocolate Cake
Serves 6-8
110 g clarified butter
110 g dark chocolate
50 g honey
50 g condensed milk
80 g cocoa butter
pinch of salt
50 g pistachios
50 g pecans
45 g dried figues
20 g freeze dried berries (raspberry, strawberry, figue)
1 ts vanilla extract
Melt butter, chocolate, honey, cocoa butter and condensed milk, mix with nuts and berries. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, pour the mixture in and let cool down in fridge.
***
Kirju küpsetamata šokolaadikook
6-8le
110 g selitatud võid
110 g tumedat šokolaadi
50 g mett
50 g kondentspiima
80 g kakaovõid
näputäis soola
50 g pistaatsiapähkleid
50 g pekaanipähkleid
45 g kuivatatud viigimarju
20 g külmkuivatatud marju (vaarikas, maasikas, viigimari)
1 tl vaniljeekstrakti
Sulata või, šokolaad, mesi, kakovõi ja kondentspiim, sega juurde pähklid ja marjad ning vala küpsetuspaberiga vooderdatud vormi. Pane külmkappi tahenema.
