Flourless Chocolate Espresso Mud Cake

This cake is not much to look at but its taste and texture is sublime. I have adapted it from another recipe so that it is completely flourless apart from 3 tsp of cornflour, which I don’t count the same as standard wheat based flours. This also means that this cake is gluten free which means it is suitable for people on a wheat and gluten free diet – ideal for a colleague in my office who has just been advised to cut wheat from his diet. I felt sorry him and didn’t want him to miss out on the Monday Munchies and was the reason for developing this cake.

It has a thick chewy outer crust which hides an airy mousse like and incredibly rich cakey layer inside. You know the very centre of a good squishy brownie, well the whole inside of this cake is just like that – mmmm! It involves 200g of good dark chocolate along with a hit of strong coffee which produces an intensely chocolaty deeply rich flavoured and moist cake with an unbelievable aroma. Small slices are enough for an instant mood enhancing boost.

I replaced the flour with ground almonds and added a little cornflour and gluten free baking powder to help stabilize the cake. It puffs up when baking and then sinks ever so slightly on cooling. It’s best to let it cool completely in the tin as it’s quite fragile when warm.

It was devoured at work (I only got a little taste) and it would also make a wonderful dessert for a dinner party, dressed up with some drizzles of white chocolate, lightly whipped cream and plump raspberries.

I’m afraid I don’t have a picture of the inside, I thought it would be rude to cut into it before delivering it to work.

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Mud Cake
Ingredients
200g butter
200g dark chocolate 65% plus

30g cocoa powder

2 tbsp instant coffee powder

60ml water

1 tsp vanilla essence

180g caster sugar

3 eggs

100g ground almonds
3 tsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Grease an 8inch/20cm loose bottomed cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 160C.
Place the butter, chocolate, cocoa, coffee powder, water and vanilla essence in a medium saucepan.
Place over a low heat and melt gently until smooth, whisking every so often to make sure it all combines together smoothly.
Then set to one side to cool slightly.
Beat the sugar and eggs together using an electric mixer until thick, creamy and pale in colour.
Keep whisking and slowly add the melted chocolate mix until all incorporated.
Scatter the ground almonds, baking powder and cornflour over the surface of the batter and beat again to combine.
Pour the mix into the cake tin (it will be very liquid) and bake for 50-55 minutes until it looks puffed up and slightly cracked on top and s skewer inserted into the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it, but no wet batter.
Leave to cool in the tin before un-moulding and devouring.It can be left at room temperature, but if you keep it in the fridge it will become denser and be more like a giant truffle.

The Beautiful Fig

I was extremely lucky in that on my recent visit to the shops I happened upon some fresh figs, in packs of four, that they were reducing to the ridiculous price of only 30p despite still having 2 days until their best before date. I had tasted fresh figs for the first time this summer and not wanting to miss such a bargain I grabbed a couple of packets and returned home happy. They really are a thing of beauty, with moody purple skins and ruby red centres. They were soft and succulent with a softly sweet taste and texture with a most individual smell. It was only after enjoying one with my lunch that I realised I still had 7 figs left and there was no way I would be able to eat them all in time. Later on as I was browsing through my favourite blogs I came across Ivonne’s blog - Cream Puffs in Venice, where she had just announced that she is this month’s host of the popular event, Sugar High Friday. Not only that, but her theme of choice was figs!! It was obviously meant to be and I decided there and then to enter with my own figgy concoction.

I had some pastry in the freezer so making a tart was by first choice. I decided to quarter the figs to show off their spectacular centres and to make up an almondy frangipane mixture in which to bake them. I made a last minute decision and spread a layer of my plum and vanilla jam over the base of the pastry case before adding the filling, turning the tart into a stylized version of a Bakewell tart.

I am really pleased with how it turned out. The figs looked amazing with their rich red centers and speckles of tiny seeds and the baking really brought out their sweet, yet slightly earthy flavour. The frangipane was soft, moist and full of almondy goodness. The layer of jam in the base helped to prevent the pastry from going soggy and added a sweet fruity flavour boost with a subtle hint of vanilla. All the flavours mingled together producing one very tasty and pretty tart. It was so quick and easy to put together and yet looks special enough to serve at a fancy lunch or dinner party. Its lovely served warm but I think it tasted even better when allowed to cool to room temperature.

You have until the 24th of September to create your sweet fig inspired recipes. The full details can be found here.

Fresh Fig Frangipane Tart
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry (homemade or shop bought)
6 fresh figs
80g butter
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
75g ground almonds
½ tsp almond essence
3 tbsp jam of your choice

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Roll out the pastry until around 4 mm thick. Line a 23cm round tart tin with the pastry and set to one side.
Cut the figs into quarters and set to one side.
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well until incorporated.
Stir in the ground almonds and the almond essence. The batter should be fairly thin.
Spread your jam of choice over the base of the pastry case before pouring in the frangipane mixture.
Arrange the sliced figs decoratively on the tart before placing into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 160C and continuing to bake for a further 20 minutes until slightly risen and golden brown.
Allow to cool before removing from the tin and serving in big slices.
Serves 8

Update: The round-up can be viewed here.

Daring Bakers August Challenge - Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart

For the past few months I have kept an eye on what challenge the group known as ‘The Daring Bakers’ had been set that month. I loved the concept of it. A group of baking fanatics all given the same recipe, baking it and posting about it on the same day and discussing the results. I found it amazing the way the same recipe and different peoples interpretations of it could produce such varied results. Some had failures while others had roaring successes, either way they had a great time and were brave enough to take up the challenge.

Recently I found myself longing more and more to be a part of this group, to become a Daring Baker. It was seeing the results of the last two challenges, bagels and a strawberry mirror cake that spurred me into action. I emailed the founders, Lis and Ivonne, asking permission to join and after sitting with crossed fingers I was accepted and sent my first recipe challenge. I have never felt so excited. I was dancing round my room and the fact we had to keep it secret until the posting day made it even more exciting. This months challenge was chosen by Patricia and Veronica and they selected a Milk Chocolate & Caramel Tart.

My first thought upon seeing the tart was ‘oh yum, that looks divine.’ Reading through the ingredients I realised there were quite a few but nothing I wouldn’t be able to get hold of. Upon reading the recipe I realised it was going to take some planning but feeling confidently excited I set to work.

The first task was to make the chocolate hazelnut pastry, as this needed time in the fridge overnight before rolling out. I decided to go ahead and make the whole batch even though only 1/3 of it is needed for the tart, as the rest would keep in the freezer (who wouldn’t want a lovely batch of hazelnut pastry in the freezer?) My first mini challenge was finding the hazelnuts. The recipe stated using ground hazelnuts, which I found impossible to get hold of. Instead I bought some fresh nibbed hazelnuts and decided to grind them down in the food processor. This worked well and I ended up with some small, almost paste like hazelnuts and some still in small chunks which I was quite pleased with as I thought this would add a nice texture. I prepared the rest of the pastry following the recipe to the letter whereupon I was struck by my first bought of doubt. The pastry was a lovely chocolaty brown colour, smelt amazing and tasted pretty good too, but was it supposed to be the texture of thick buttercream? I doubled checked the recipe, no I hadn’t left anything out. How was that supposed to be rolled out? Feeling a little apprehensive I squished it into a log shape, wrapped it in clingfilm and placed it in the fridge.

The next morning I apprehensively opened the fridge door. My pastry looked the same as before. I tentively gave it a poke, and… success! It was now very firm and more pastry like. Hooray! Feeling elated I cut off the required amount and proceeded to roll it out using lots of icing sugar to dust the counter. As I rolled, it became softer, but I managed to form a large enough circle for my tart case. I decided to line the base of my tart case, even though it was a loose bottomed one, as I know from past experience that they can still sometimes be hard to get out. I decided to use a round fluted tart tin, one because it’s a little more decorative and two, because I didn’t have a straight edged one. After doing this I returned to my pastry only to find it had now gone very soft and stuck itself firmly to the counter. Oh nuts. I managed to unstick it and lifted it into my tart case. The base got there in one piece, but most of the sides just fell away. Feeling undaunted I tore little bits of pastry into segments and moulded it into the tin as I have previously done with other pastries. This worked well and I soon had an evenly lined pastry tin. I blind baked it, complete with baking beans and a layer of tin foil for easy removal. Once the allotted time was up, the pastry sides had puffed up slightly but not shrunk at all. Smiling happily I scrunched up the foil and removed the baking beans. The smile promptly fell from my face as the top layer of pastry base came away with the foil. What?! Nooooo! I hastily discarded the baking beans and scraped the pastry off the foil and arranged it back into the base of the tin (thankfully it was a little undercooked). I then put it back into the oven for a couple of minutes to firm up. This worked and I now had a fully baked pastry case. Hahha you silly pastry, you will not beat me!

As it cooled I set to work preparing the caramel filling. I wasn’t feeling too worried about this as I have made caramel once before and the instructions seemed pretty straightforward.

I slowly melted the sugar in a dry pan and swirled it until it turned a lovely golden brown. It then said to add the cream and butter to it, and as I hadn’t remembered to remove them from the fridge beforehand I thought that adding very cold cream to very hot sugar was a bad idea and that it would probably set instantly. So instead I heated it very gently in the microwave until it just felt a little cool rather than cold. I added them to the caramel and stirred, only for it to do exactly as I feared and set into solid lumps. I put the whole lot back on a very low heat and stirred slowly and ‘oh joy’ it all melted and blended back together with only a few small stubborn caramel lumps. I then had to add a flour and egg mixture and as I was by this point feeling a little frazzled I mixed the flour and then the added the eggs on top in a small bowl with the result that it formed a few stubborn flour lumps. Stupid girl, you should had slowly added the eggs to the flour to make a paste not just plonked the whole lot in together. I added it to the caramel anyway and then hit upon the idea of sieving the caramel into the pastry case, like when making a custard tart. This worked perfectly and meant I ended up with a silky smooth glossy caramel. (I would advise using a metal sieve as I suspect a plastic one might melt from the heat of the caramel). I placed it into the oven to bake and licked the sticky caramel remains from the saucepan with my fingers. It tasted amazing, so creamy and rich and it reminded me strongly of something from my childhood. I tasted some more and realised it tasted exactly like Werther’s Original, those set butterscotch, oval shaped sweets that always feature a grandfather and grandson in the adverts. Only this was even better, as this was soft and gooey. It came out of the oven with a lightly set sugary top, looking a bit like a treacle tart and it took a lot of restraint to prevent diving in with a fork there and then.

After it had cooled I prepared the chocolate moussey topping. This was so quick and easy compared to the rest of the tart. The recipe stated to smooth it into an even layer over the top of the caramel, but I wanted something more decorative than this. I had worked very hard over my tart and I wanted it to look more impressive. Instead I filled a piping bag and swirled the mousse over the top and decorated the edges with rosettes. I was thrilled with the outcome. It was now the afternoon and so I put the whole lot into the fridge to firm up before we feasted on it after dinner.

I had tasted the individual components along the way, but eating the whole thing together as one was amazing. All the flavours worked so well. There was the nutty cinnamony pastry which complemented the caramel and chocolate top so well. The pastry turned out crumbly and full of flavour. The caramel was heavenly. Sweet, soft and creamy, yet still firm enough to hold its shape when cut. On its own it was a little too sticky but the light creamy chocolate mousse helped to cleanse your pallet and free your tastebuds, ready for the next mouthful. I had some mousse left over and so I serve some extra with each portion. It tasted SO good and I was so proud of my efforts. I had overcome the little hurdles and set backs that the tart had thrown at me, but this only made the achievement feel all the better. If the recipe had gone too smoothly it wouldn’t have felt like a challenge and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it so much. This way, I now truly feel like a Daring Baker and can’t wait to see what new challenge we will be presented with next month.

Would I make the tart again? Definitely, especially now I know the little snags and problems to watch out for and how to overcome them. I made this while I was at home for the weekend, as I wanted to have people to share it with. My dad ate three pieces in one sitting and even my brother polished off his plate and he doesn’t usually like ‘fancy’ desserts. I think if I made it again I would probably use dark chocolate for the mousse topping rather than milk, as I love dark chocolate and I think this would help prevent it from becoming too sickly sweet (meaning you could have a bigger slice!).

Thank you so much Patricia and Veronica for selecting this tart for our challenge. It is not one I would probably have chosen to make myself, but I had such a brilliant time making it and an even better time demolishing it. YUM!

P.S. we had the option of making some brittle caramel shards to sprinkle over the top of the tart, but I decided to leave these off as I am not a fan of brittle caramel. Plus, I thought the tart would probably be sweet enough as it was.

Here’s the recipe. It’s originally from Sweet and Savoury Tarts by Eric Kayser.

Milk Chocolate and Caramel Tart

Makes One 9-inch(24-cm) square tart or one 10-inch (26-cm) round tart.

Chocolate Shortbread Pastry
Refrigeration: overnight
Yields: enough for 3 tarts - 9 ½ inches (24 cm) square or 10 inches (26 cm round)

A day ahead

Ingredients

1 cup (250g ) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150 g) confectioners’ sugar

½ cup (50 g) ground hazelnuts

2 level teaspoons (5 g) ground cinnamon

2 eggs

4 ½ cups (400 g) cake flour

2 ½ teaspoons (10 g) baking powder

1 ½ tablespoons (10 g) cocoa powder

Method

1. In a mixing bowl of a food processor, cream the butter.

2. Add the confectioners’ sugar, the ground hazelnuts, and the cinnamon, and mix together

3. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing constantly

4. Sift in the flour, the baking powder, and the cocoa powder, and mix well.

5. Form a ball with the dough, cover in plastic wrap, and chill overnight.

The following day
Ingredients

½ lb (250 g) chocolate shortbread pastry (see recipe below)

1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar

1 cup (250 g) heavy cream (30-40 percent butterfat) or crème fraiche

¼ cup (50 g) butter

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

2 ½ tablespoons (15 g) flour

1 ¼ cups (300 g) whipping cream

½ lb (250 g) milk chocolate

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 °F (160 °C).

2. Line the baking pan with the chocolate shortbread pastry and bake blind for 15 minutes.

3. In a saucepan, caramelize 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar using the dry method until it turns a golden caramel colour. Incorporate the heavy cream or crème fraiche and then add butter. Mix thoroughly. Set aside to cool.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat the whole eggs with the extra egg yolk, then incorporate the flour.

5. Pour this into the cream-caramel mixture and mix thoroughly.6. Spread it out in the tart shell and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Milk chocolate mousse:
7. Beat the whipping cream until stiff. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave or in a bain-marie, and fold it gently into the whipped cream.

8. Pour the chocolate mousse over the cooled caramel mixture, smoothing it with a spatula. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator.

For the caramel decoration (optional):
Melt ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar in a saucepan until it reaches an amber colour. Pour it onto waxed paper laid out on a flat surface. Leave to cool. Break it into small fragments and stick them lightly into the top of the tart.

Serves 6 – 12 (will-power dependant)

Black and White Blondies

To give them a proper name they are really Black Cherry and White Chocolate Amaretto Blondies. When Myriam of ‘Once Upon A Tart’ announced another Brownie Babe event my first thought was unsurprisingly brownies. However, I decided I wanted to do something a little different this time (having participated in event no.1) and as blondies are also allowed I decided to create my own recipe based on them instead.

I decided to make the blondies extra blonde by melting in some white chocolate and to use whole black cherries which I hoped would provide a great colour contrast. During the making of the blondies I hit upon the idea of creating a brownie base layer before adding the cherries and the blondie batter, to give them a sort of baseline. As I was in an experimental mood I also added some amaretto to the blondie batter, in the hope it would complement the cherries.

The blondies are quite dense, fudgey and gooey when cooked with a slightly crisp/crackly surface and a velvety smooth texture with a slight chew. Due to the white chocolate, and their general nature, the blondies are quite sweet, but biting into a chunk of juicy cherry helps to cleanse the pallet and prevents them from being too rich or sweet. I was really pleased with how the cherries looked against the background of the blondie and I had arranged them so that there was a whole cherry included inside each square. To my annoyance I forgot to remove the stones from the cherries and didn’t realise until after they were in the oven. However, I think this helped them to retain their shape when cooked. I took these into work for the Monday Munchers and people didn’t seem to mind the stones. I think they rather liked spitting them out or nibbling around the outsides. I was a little disappointed at how the base brownie layer turned out very thin. It didn’t have quite the effect I was hoping for but its still there as a sort of outline. Next time I will use more of the batter for a thicker brownie layer.

Overall these are really tasty little treats and the flavours all worked together well. I think they actually taste better the next day, after sitting in the fridge which allows them to become even fudgeier and allows the flavours of the cherries and amaretto to develop more.

You have until 17th of August to submit your brownies or blondies to Myriam’s Brownie Babe event.

Black Cherry and White Chocolate Amaretto Blondies
Ingredients
100g butter
80g white chocolate
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
75g plain flour
16 black cherries, fresh or tinned.
2 tsp Amaretto
2 heaped tsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp additional plain flour

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8 inch tin with greaseproof paper.
Melt the butter and white chocolate together in a small bowl, either in the microwave or over a pan of boiling water.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl until thick, creamy and paler in colour.
Stir in the melted chocolate mixture before sifting over the flour and folding in gently.
In a separate smaller bowl, dissolved the cocoa powder in the hot water until smooth. Transfer around ¼ of the white chocolate mixture into the smaller bowl containing the cocoa powder. Mix until well incorporated and add the additional tbsp of flour to thicken slightly.
Pour the dark chocolate batter evenly over the base of the prepared tin.
Arrange the cherries at regular intervals over the surface of the dark chocolate mixture.
Beat the Amaretto into the white chocolate batter and pour over the top of the cherries, ensuring they all get evenly covered.
Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted comes out relatively clean. (You may want to cover the tin with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking if it’s browning too much).
Allow to cool in the tin before removing and placing in the fridge for 30 minutes before slicing into squares.
Makes 16 squares.

Fresh Apricot Upside-Down Cake

I made this cake whilst on holiday in France. We had bought an abundance of ripe, fresh apricots from the market in the village and despite eating quite a quantity of them, in the hot weather, they soon became so ripe that they were starting to leech their juices. Something had to be done to use them up quickly and this wonderful apricot cake was the result.

Baking the apricots really intensified their already sweet fragrant flavour. They looked so vibrant and glossy studded into the cake and surrounded by pools of their sweet buttery juices. The vanilla scented cake has quite a close texture but is very light and soft. This also meant it absorbed all the apricots excess juices, allowing the flavours to mingle together brilliantly. This cake is so simple and yet utterly delicious, especially when served with a big blob of crème fraiche. I think this may in fact be the best cake I have eaten all year. I bet it would be equally good with plumbs in the autumn time.

Fresh Apricot Upside-Down Cake
(Recipe from My Cool Desserts blog)
For the topping
150g caster sugar
55g butter
55ml water
8 – 9 fresh apricots

For the cake
4 eggs
1½ tsp vanilla
55g butter
115g self raising flour
140g caster sugar

Method
Heat the oven to 170C. Grease and flour a 9inch circular spring-form cake tin.
Cut the apricots in half, remove the stone and set to one side.
To make the topping, place the sugar and water in a pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 5-8 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. As soon as it’s melted in, pour the golden syrup mixture into the base of the tin. (If you stir for too long then mixture can seize up and go grainy. Don’t worry if this happens, spoon it into the tin anyway and it will dissolve again during baking.)
Add the halved apricots onto op the syrup, cut size down.

To make the cake, put the eggs, sugar and vanilla into a bowl. Beat with an electric whisk for around 10 minutes until thick, pale and creamy.
Sift over the flour and fold it in gently.
Melt the butter and stir into the cake mix (It will be quite runny as this stage).
Pour the batter over the top of the apricots and place in the oven to bake for 45-50 minutes.
It should be golden brown and top and a skewer inserted should come out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before placing a large plate over the top of the tin and quickly turning out.
The apricots syrups juices will drizzle themselves down the sides of the cake.
Serve cold or slightly warm with cream or crème fraiche.

Chinese Red Bean Cakes

I had heard tell of a Chinese supermarket in the city centre and so today I went in search of it. I found it quite easily and was amazed at the variety and quantity of exotic looking vegetables, dried fish, noodles, sauces and rice there was available. It was set out like a proper little supermarket, with isles and mini shopping trolleys and was run by a group of very friendly Chinese people. There was even a section dedicated to bowls, soup spoons, chopsticks, bamboo mats and rice steamers to complete the selection.

I should think the noodle section was the biggest. It had rice noodles, egg noodles, wheat noodles, seaweed and buckwheat of all different thicknesses and lengths. There was even some rice macaroni which I have never come across before. There was also an interesting flat green rice noodle, which on closer inspection turned out to be flavoured with green tea. I was sorely temped to buy some but having already got half a cupboard full of noodles I decided I could always come back another time when I have eaten through some of my supply.

One thing I was particularly looking out for was Moon Cakes. I have heard a great deal about these special little decorative pastry cakes that are commonly filled with red bean paste or other sweet treats and have never yet tried any. I had previously been on the shops website (to get directions) and on it they had a list of products which included quite an assortment of Moon Cakes. I found the isle dedicated to sweet treats but couldn’t see anything that resembled a Moon Cake. I asked a very friendly counter assistant if they had any and was told that they are only around at the end of July to the beginning of October as they are made to celebrate a mid autumn festival, rather like how Easter eggs are only around at Easter. I felt very foolish but he didn’t seem to mind and pointed out another pastry cake that he said was made using exactly the same pastry and filling but in slab form rather than cake. I thanked him and eagerly bought the pastry.
They are made with a soft, light, doughy pastry that surrounds a deep dark red filling, making them look rather like a giant fig roll. I broke off a piece when waiting for the bus, unable to wait until I got home in my eagerness to find out what they tasted like. It was like nothing I have ever had before. At first it’s just sweet but then a strong, yet not overpowering, spicy flavour develops. It began to remind me of something and I decided its ginger, as it was spicy and warming at the same time. However, I think there if definitely more to it than just that. The filling was wonderful, thick and slightly sticky. It had a slightly mealy texture whilst still being smooth which I suppose is due to the ground red beans, similar to the texture of houmous or a cake made using ground almonds. The whole pastry had been given a lovely shiny glaze which made it even more appealing. It smelt strongly of molasses or black treacle and yet didn't taste like there was any in the actual cake. I'm so intrigued as to how it was made. Overall I absolutely loved it, so different to anything I have had before. I’m definitely going to go back later on to try and get my hands on some genuine Moon cakes.

Click here to read more on Moon Cakes.

I’m Back – Hooray!

It took a little longer than anticipated to get the internet up and running in my flat as BT were insisting they had to come and inspect the line before connecting me. Then the times they kept proposing to come and visit were in the middle of the day, during the week, when I was at work! Still all sorted now.

I absolutely love my job, it’s perfect for me being a fruit loving vegetarian. I have never eaten such a wide range and quantity of fresh fruit on a daily basis. The day feels quite long and my bus has broken down on me three times already but the work is so interesting, varied and ‘hands on’ that it more than makes up for it. Thank you to everyone who has sent me good luck wishes.

Anyway, I have a small backlog of recipes which I need to post about and seeing as today has been a lovely hot sunny day I thought I would start with a very summery recipe for individual baked strawberry sundaes. I made these to use up some madelines that had gone rather stale, but I have also made them in the past with thinly sliced scones, which are lovely.

I cheated slightly by using bought fresh custard, but in my defense you can buy some very good quality fresh custards these days. I decided to bake the strawberries rather than stewing them as I though this would give them more of an intense flavour and help to retain some of their shape. The baked strawberries looked and smelt good enough to eat just as they were; I bet they would be great spooned over some yoghurt or porridge.

The overall dessert was very tasty, with the sweet, summery strawberries and the thick, creamy custard with little layers of softened sponge in-between. They look quite impressive and take only minutes to assemble. They also happily sit in the fridge for two days without any ill effects. For extra indulgence add layers of lightly whipped cream on top of the custard.

Individual Baked Strawberry Sundaes
Ingredients
500g strawberries
300ml fresh custard
6 madelines or 3 plain scones

Method
Heat the oven to 190C.
Remove the stalk from the strawberries and place into a baking dish in a single layer. Reserve a few smaller strawberries for decoration.
Cut any particularly large strawberries in half but leave the rest whole.
Bake for 15 minutes, give them a stir and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until softened and the juices given off have turned thick and syrupy.
Leave to cool.
When ready to assemble, slice the madelines or scones into 5mm thick pieces.
Using a pastry cutter, cut out discs the same diameter as your chosen glasses.
Place a scone/cake disc in the base of each glass and top with 2 tbsp of cooled strawberries, making sure to add plenty of the syrup to soak into the cake.
Top the strawberries with 2 tbsp of custard before adding another cake disc and repeating until all the strawberries have been used up.
End with a layer of custard and top with a whole reserved strawberry.
Cover and leave in the fridge for a minimum of two hours, to allow the cake to absorb all the strawberry juices and go soft.
Eat and enjoy.

Makes 3

"Divine" Chocolate Torte

I wanted to make some kind of dessert to take round to Chris’s the other night as he had invited me over to watch a film. As he is the biggest chocoholic I know, something chocolaty was the obvious choice. I had a rummage though my recipe books and old cookery magazines and came across this recipe from an old BBC Good Food magazine. It appealed to me as it contained whipped egg whites meaning it produced a lighter torte than the more denser versions. After a few quick ingredient alterations I set about creating the torte. It was very easy to make and was setting in the fridge within the half hour.

I found that the torte didn’t require any time out of the fridge before being suitable to serve, due to the addition of the egg whites which kept the whole dessert light and moussey. We cut slices and eagerly picked up our forks. The forks sank effortlessly through the thick moussey layer and taste and texture was gorgeous. It just melted away on your tongue, all smooth, creamy and incredibly chocolaty while still being light and airy. Big indulgent grins spread across our faces and Chris pronounced the torte as being “divine.” Praise indeed from such a chocoholic.

Chocolate Velvet Torte
Ingredients
9 digestive biscuits
45g butter
2 egg whites
75g caster sugar
200g dark chocolate
250ml double cream
1 tbsp brandy

Method
Place the biscuits into a freezer or sandwich bag and bash them with a rolling pin until you achieve fine crumbs.
Melt the butter in a medium sized bowl and then add the crushed biscuits. Mix well until all the crumbs are buttery and then quickly press the mixture into the base of a deep 7inch loose bottomed cake tin. Pat down with the back of your hand.
Place the tin in the fridge to set while you prepare the filling.
Place a mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water (making sure the base doesn’t touch the water) and whisk the egg whites and sugar for about 5 minutes, until a thickened glossy meringue mixture is achieved. Remove from the heat.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave and meanwhile whip the double cream and brandy together until it just reaches the soft peak stage, you don’t want it too stiff.
Fold the melted chocolate into the meringue mixture, followed by the softly whipped cream.
Pour the chocolate moussey mixture into the tin and smooth the surface.
Cover with foil and leave to set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or preferably overnight.
When you want to serve it, run a warmed knife around the inside of the tin to help release the torte. Unmold and serve immediately with a little extra lightly whipped cream if desired.

Ooey-Gooey Chocolate Pudding

I came home today craving something warm, chocolaty and gooey. I immediately thought of the self saucing chocolate pudding recipe I have been meaning to try out for weeks. I have made chocolate self saucing pudding once before, with my sister a few years ago. I’m not sure what we did wrong but it turned out very dense with an odd texture that turned to slime once it entered your mouth – not pleasant. I remember we had fun pretending it was a sewage works and even went as far sticking a few Lego men into it who were drowning in the slime. Since then I have always been put off by the idea of them. That was until recently, when I saw Bill Granger make his version of the pudding on one of his Saturday morning TV shows. His puddings turned out moist and fudgey with a lovely layer of sauce underneath and in short left me thinking ‘mmmmm I want one.’

So tonight I hunted out his recipe and adapted it slightly to suit my own taste. Bill’s recipe made four individual puddings but I chose instead to half the recipe and cook it all in one bigger dish. I also added a little brandy to the mix as I think that always goes well with chocolate. The original also states that a sugar, cocoa powder and water mix should be poured over the top of the pudding before going in the oven, which is what forms the sauce layer. Rather than do this I decided to experiment by making some hot chocolate and using that instead. I also used a mint hot chocolate to give it an extra twist.

The result? Delicious! The sponge topping was moist and fudgey in texture and the sauce underneath was glossy and gooey with a lovely hint of mint and better yet no slime in sight! My head is now buzzing with all the other flavour combinations I could try using differently flavoured hot chocolates – orange, hazelnut or mocha. Ohhhhh I bet it would be great using strong coffee instead of the hot chocolate. I see many more self saucing puddings on the horizon.

Mint Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding
(Adapted from Bills Food by Bill Granger)

Ingredients
60g plain flour
50g caster sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
120ml milk
40g margarine
1 egg
2 tsp Brandy

1½ tsp hot chocolate powder – I used mint flavoured
120ml hot water

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and add the margarine, egg and brandy.
Beat everything together using a wooden spoon until nearly combined and then gradually add the milk, bit by bit.
The pudding mix should be quite thin and batter like once all the milk has been incorporated.
Pour the batter into two 250ml pudding moulds or one 5x7 inch/12.5 x 17.5cm oven proof dish.
Dissolve the hot chocolate powder into the hot water and drizzle all over the batter.
Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes for the individual puddings or 30-35 minutes for the one big dish.
Once cooked you should have a dark spongy topping over a thick glossy sauce.Eat immediately and serve with cream or ice cream if desired.

Serves 2.