Ode to Theo Chocolate: Fig, Fennel, Hazelnut and Chocolate Fruitcake

Once upon a time, I lived in Seattle, home of Theo Chocolate, the bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the Fremont neighborhood. Theo is the creator of some cheerfully offbeat chocolate bars, including mirepoix caramels and the delicious Coconut Curry chocolate bar.

But, in my mind, nothing competes with their Fig, Fennel and Almond bar. All alone, it is interesting to nibble at. Throw it in the mix at a wine-tasting, however, and this chameleon steals the show. I have never had a piece of chocolate so overtly recreate itself depending on the wine it is paired with. With one red, it tasted dark and bitter; with another it was absolutely jammy and all you could taste was figgy chocolate. Another tasted very grown up and sophisticated - smoked fennel with a tinge of syrupy sweetness. With every sip of a different wine, the same chocolate sang a new song. For that kind of a magic trick, it became my favorite.

At Christmas time in my family, we always make Maranatha Cake... a secret recipe from my Dad and the men on his side of the family. My brother makes it, and I am sure he's been teaching his son to make it as well. I think I am the only woman in the family who makes it as well.

This is one of my brother's photos -- the original cake in full-loaf

Technically, it's a fruit cake. But I hate calling it that, because it is more like a candy bar baked into a loaf form. There is very little "cake" -- just enough to hold the chocolate, fruit and nuts together. It isn't doused in alcohol, it has no citrus or (much worse) citron or green pineapple in it.

The published variation includes apricots and white chocolate.

The original recipe is a guarded secret, but my father published a variation recipe in a paper several years ago. Since the variation is out there, I figure I am safe to share my variation on our family recipe.

This one is a tribute to Theo's Fig, Fennel & Almond bar.

I attempted this last year with figs, fennel bulb, almonds and semi-sweet chocolate. It was extremely disappointing as I discovered fennel bulb retains little to no flavor once it is cooked/dried out. So I had chocolate fig bars. Dumb.

This year, I wised-up, and got fennel seed. Also, because I really am just tired of almonds, and I have always loved hazelnuts since I was a small child and related emotionally with them as the puny round underdogs amidst big personalities in the mixed nuts bowl... I decided to substitute hazelnuts for almonds.

The results, I think, were incredible. If you don't like any of the dried fruit/nut ingredients, just substitute your own in the same quantity.

Preheat oven to 325.

You'll need 2 bowls, parchment paper, a regular sized loaf pan and a few other regular items.

In a bowl, beat together until pale yellow:
- 3 eggs
- 1 c. sugar

In a separate bowl, sift together:
- 1 1/2 c. flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons fennel seed

Then add to flour mixture:
- 1 bag (usually 11-12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips, or about 1.5 cups
- 2 cups dried black figs
- 2 cups raw hazelnuts

Stir the dry ingredients together to make sure all the fruit, chocolate and nuts are separated and coated in the flour mixture. Pour in the egg/sugar mixture, and mix everything until all the flour is absorbed and you have a very chunky batter. Press it all into a no-stick sprayed, parchment paper lined loaf pan. [if you don't use paper to lift the loaf out, you will be sorry!] Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean or with only melted chocolate (not batter) on it!

Hint: It will make your cake much more moist if you put a pan of water in the oven on a lower rack while you bake the loaf of maranatha cake.

Once it has cooled, lift it out of its pan and wrap in plastic wrap and foil to keep. This will last for a very long time in your fridge and is great to pull out throughout the holidays to slice off a wedge at a time. We cut our about 1/2" to 1" thick, and usually can only handle a half-slice at a time.