chocolate

Chocolate Nut Cake

13 Comments / cake, chocolate, gluten-free, vegetarian /

The name for this cake could indeed have a double meaning.  I get asked if we can make a chocolate cake at least once a week, and it is very often more regular than that.  Well, the request was sounded at about 6.30 am on Sunday morning, something along the lines of  ‘Can we make a chocolate cake that we can ice and decorate’.  The request was, of course, answered with a bleary ‘Later, maybe’.  Well, I am afraid my children are determined little creatures and so after a trip to the garden centre and before making sunday lunch for my parents and our neighbours, this chocolate cake was made and iced.  It was then decorated after dinner and before pudding – very extravagantly I have to say, and there was no time to take pictures, it needed to be eaten. Needless to say it involved a lot of sugared orange and lemon slices, hundreds and thousands and silver balls.

Here is a slice I finished off about mid-morning today.

The recipe is based on Rachel Allen’s Italian Hazelnut Cake in her Bake book (ISBN 13 978 0 00 725970 0), with the added chocolate and the addition of ground almonds as I didn’t have 200g of hazelnuts in the house. Then it was iced with a fudge frosting, which is not entirely necessary but does make a very good addition.

If you use gluten-free baking powder, then this makes a delicious gluten-free cake.

For the cake:

100g whole shelled hazelnuts
100g almonds (ground or whole, depending on what you have available or go for 200g of hazelnuts should they be available to hand)
50g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
1 tsp baking powder
100g softened butter
5 eggs separated
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Butter and line the base and sides of a 20 cm springform tin.  Preheat the oven to 170°c (gas mark 3) or use the baking oven of a 3 or 4 oven Aga.

Whizz the hazelnuts, almonds, baking powder and chocolate in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.  Add the butter and pulse until just combined.

Beat the egg yolks and the sugar with an electric whisk until the mixture has a mousse-like texture. Add the nut and chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Whisk the egg whites in a very clean bowl until they are stiff.  Add one-third of the egg whites to the mixture and mix in well to loosen the mixture.  Add the rest of the egg whites in two batches, folding in very gently to retain as much air as possible.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45-60 minutes.  I placed mine on the oven rack placed on the bottom rung of the baking oven of my Aga and it was cooked in 40 minutes, so do adjust according to your oven.  The cake is cooked when it is firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, then take the side off, leave for another 15 minutes and then remove the base and then leave to cool completely.

For the icing:

25g good quality dark chocolate
100g icing sugar
25g butter
1 ½ tbsp milk
½ tbsp vanilla extract

Method
Place all of the ingredients into a heavy based saucepan and heat gently until melted and stir well to combine.  Beat for a minute or two until cooled and spread onto the top of the cake.

Decorate, or not, to your heart’s desire.

Chocolate Nut Cake Read More »

Chunky chocolate biscuit

15 Comments / biscuits, chocolate, spelt flour, vegetarian /

Quite a lot has been happening in this household lately and I felt in need of some serious comfort and restorative baking.  These biscuits are an adaptation of my chocolate, oat and almond cookies that I posted some time ago.  This time spelt flour comes into play and gives the biscuit a delicious crumb.

My eldest is now off from school for the summer and so we baked these together, the three of us, piled up at the worktop.  I was very happy indeed when she shouted “Yippee, this is fun, and I am not at school this time”.  A reference, I have no doubt, to the fact that since she started school she usually comes home to something that her younger sister and I have baked together,  but the three of us haven’t had much time in the kitchen together lately.

Making these biscuits went a little way to righting that wrong.

Makes about 12 large biscuits.

100g softened butter
100g soft brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g plain flour
50g spelt flour
50g ground almonds
25g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
100g good quality dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°c, gas mark 4, or use the baking oven of a three or four oven Aga.

Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and light.  Add the egg and the vanilla extract and beat well.  With a large metal spoon stir in the flours, baking powder, almonds and cocoa powder.

Place heaped dessertspoonfuls of the mixture onto lightly greased baking sheets and cook in the centre of the oven for 12-14 minutes.  Take out of the oven and leave to cool for a minute or two before lifting onto a wire tray.  They are delicious eaten still warm from the oven but they taste good the next day too, should you have any left.

Chunky chocolate biscuit Read More »

Chocolate and strawberry ice creams

17 Comments / chocolate, ice cream, strawberry, The Ordinary Cook /

The weather forecasters tell us this week it’s going to be ice cream weather in England, and who am I to question them? I, therefore, expect that tonight’s edition of the local paper will have at least one photo of a girl wearing a sun hat and eating an ice cream in a park somewhere in Shropshire.  It may make the front page, if it gets above 20°c today. I scoff, but in this house all weather is apparently ice cream weather.   My two girls will ask for ice cream when there is snow outside.  Come wind or gale, ice cream is their number one choice.

My mum very kindly left her ice cream maker at our house, which makes meeting the demands of my children very easy indeed.

Mum also has a large strawberry patch in her garden, which, when the strawberries are ready, is visited daily by two little girls who emerge with strawberry juice grins quite a bit later.  Any surplus strawberries are pulped and mixed with sugar and the resulting purée is bagged up and frozen for use during the winter and spring until next year’s harvest.  Hence, the making of strawberry ice cream this week, when we still have a few weeks to wait before we can visit the strawberry patch.

When strawberry ice cream is made it is inevitable that there will be cries for chocolate ice cream shortly afterwards and so that too is made.  Both are absolutely delicious and really don’t taste like anything you can buy from the shops.  It is definitely worth the time spent making both.  The strawberry ice cream takes mere minutes, there is a little more stirring involved with the chocolate ice cream but it is definitely worth it.

The ice cream in the pictures were the just before school portions and yes, I know it is probably wrong to give your children ice cream before school, but when it is made out of such delicious things I can’t really see any harm in it.  Especially when it means I get to sneak a spoonful or two as well.

The recipes for both ice creams come from Jacki Passmore’s The Book of Ice Creams and Sorbets (Salamander Books, 1992).

Chocolate ice cream

50g (2oz) good quality dark chocolate
4 egg yolks
50g (2oz) sugar
375 ml (12 fl oz) single cream
a tiny pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.   In a stainless steel or heatproof glass bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together until pale, thick and creamy.  Scald the cream in a pan and then, whilst still  whisking pour the hot cream slowly over the eggy mixture.  Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir continuously until the mixture thickens and just coats the back of the spoon. Stir in the chocolate and mix well.  It takes a while for it to combine properly so keep on stirring until it is a glorious dark brown. Allow to cool.

If you have an ice cream maker, then pour the mixture into the ice cream bowl and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  If not, pour the mixture into a large tupperware box and place in the freezer for an hour, take out of the freezer and using a fork beat until smooth.  Repeat this process another 3 times.

After a full day in the freezer this ice cream will need to be removed from the freezer for about ten minutes before you can even begin to think about spooning it out.

Strawberry ice cream

500g (1lb) fresh strawberries
100g (4oz) caster sugar
350ml (12 fl oz) double or whipping cream

Method

Mash the strawberries with a fork or whiz in a food processor until pureed.  Add the sugar and mix well.  At this point you can place the mixture in a freezer bag and it will happily freeze until you want to use it.  If it is frozen, allow to defrost fully before adding the cream. Lightly whip the cream.  Add the cream and mix well.

If you have an ice cream maker follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If not place the mixture into a large tupperware and place in the freezer, after an hour of freezing use a fork to beat the mixture well and freeze again. Repeat this 2 or 3 times.

Store the ice creams in covered containers.

Chocolate and strawberry ice creams Read More »

Chocolate and orange tart

16 Comments / chocolate, pudding, The Ordinary Cook /

My goodness this is good!

My sister-in-law is a keen cook and has a huge folder full of ripped out pages from recipe magazines with some of her favourite recipes.  I was spending a lovely half hour looking through this file when I came across a recipe for Chocolate and Orange Mascarpone Tart which just looked as if it needed to be made. I borrowed the cutting, and if Janice is reading this, it will be coming back to you soon, I promise.  I meant to make the tart over a month ago, but didn’t quite manage to find the time before we went away.  The tub of mascarpone that I had bought though had a surprisingly long shelf life so when we returned from our hols I was very pleased to see that if I was quick I could still try my hand at this little gem of a tart.

Now, I am afraid that there is no evidence of which magazine this cutting was originally taken from, but as I seem unable to take a recipe at its word I have made my own adaptations to it anyway.

It’s really delicious and really rich, so a 20cm tart will easily serve 12 people if not a few more and it still tastes good a few days after being made – I know because I have been doing plenty of experimenting!

For the base:
200g dark chocolate digestives
50g unsalted butter, melted
zest of 1 orange

For the filling:
250g mascarpone, at room temperature
100g cream cheese, at room temperature
3 eggs, at room temperature
grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
150g light brown soft sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp fine sea salt
50g good quality dark chocolate
50g good quality orange flavoured dark chocolate ( I used Lindt Excellence Orange Intense Chocolate, which has delicious orange crispy bits)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°c (gas mark 6, 400°f).

Whizz the biscuits in a food processor, or place in a food bag and bash with a rolling-pin until they make fine crumbs.  Add the biscuit crumbs to the melted butter with the orange zest and mix to combine well.

Press the biscuit crumb mixture into a 20cm springform cake tin, making sure it is well pressed down. Place in the fridge to chill  whilst you make the filling.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Place all the ingredients for the filling, except for the chocolate, into a food processor and whizz until smooth. Add the chocolate and whizz again until combined.  Pour this filling over the biscuit base. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until just set and risen slightly at the edges.  Slide a knife around the edge of the tart to loosen it and then leave in the tin to cool.  Chill in the fridge for several hours or overnight before serving. Serve with plenty of cream.

Chocolate and orange tart Read More »

Crispie or cornflake cakes

13 Comments / cake, chocolate /

I couldn’t decide what to call these little beauties –  Easter egg nests/ Crispie cakes/ Cornflake cakes?  Obviously the ones in the picture are crispie cakes (made with rice crispies), but they could just as easily be made with cornflakes and with it nearly being Easter they could be nests.  We made them (my three-year old and I) this afternoon, ready to take to school tomorrow so that they can be sold at the Easter Fayre.  I am not sure there will be many left though by that time, I keep noticing the box being opened and another sneaked away.  There are not many people that don’t love these cakes.  If I am making them for a party I make sure I make plenty as they are always the first cakes to go and are just as popular with adults as they are with children.

I sometimes make them more simply by melting a bar of Dairy Milk and then stirring in as many rice crispies or cornflakes as the chocolate will coat. However, I do have to plan ahead for this as I always have a cupboard full of 70% chocolate but have to purposefully buy Dairy Milk.  I am afraid that my children love 70% chocolate as much as I do, I think this may be a result of the amount I consumed when I was pregnant and feeding them.

They are very easy cakes to make and very easy to polish off!

I can’t really give you an indication of the weight of the rice crispies or cornflakes, as you will need more rice crispies than cornflakes and they will make more cakes than when you use cornflakes, which need more chocolate to coat them.   Strange but true.  Just pour in as many as you think the chocolate mixture will coat easily and then add more if you think you can get away with it.  You want a good coating on every grain or flake.

Method
50g unsalted butter
100g good quality dark chocolate
4 tbsp golden syrup
Rice crispies or cornflakes (as many as you need)
Sugar coated chocolate eggs or other decoration (optional)

Melt the butter, syrup and chocolate over a very gentle heat until melted and smooth.  Add the cereal and stir well and pour spoonfuls into cake cases. Decorate with the eggs or other decoration or leave them unadorned.  Allow to set, if you can bear to, and then enjoy.

Crispie or cornflake cakes Read More »

Chocolate banoffee cup

8 Comments / chocolate, pudding /

We had friends for dinner last night and I needed a dessert.  I was going to do a rum chocolate cup, but then I spotted the bananas in the fruit bowl and couldn’t resist a banoffee pie, but I had no biscuits to crumble and I couldn’t be bothered with making pastry, so this was it – a combination of banoffee pie and the chocolate cup that I was going to make.  Very yummy it was too, although you probably wouldn’t want to eat two, it is decadently rich. The chocolate ganache sets in the fridge so when you dip your spoon in you get the combination of a hardish chocolate and a silky smooth caramel.  Mr OC described it as tasting like a Mars should taste.

Please notice that lovely evening sunshine we had yesterday – oh joy, the light is returning!

To make 6 cups

2 bananas, sliced thinly
2-3 tbsp rum (optional)
400g dulce de leche (otherwise known as Carnation Caramel)
150g 70% chocolate
300ml double cream

Method

Divide the banana between the 6 cups or glasses and pour a splash of rum over each.  Mix the dulce de leche in a bowl until smooth and then spoon over the bananas.  Chop the chocolate finely.  Scald the cream in a pan over a medium heat.  Remove the cream from the heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.  Pour the chocolate ganache over the caramel. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Chocolate banoffee cup Read More »

Chocolate tiffin or refrigerator cake

6 Comments / cake, chestnuts, chocolate, vegetarian /

This is another of those recipes with a variety of names, some call it tiffin, others refrigerator cake, others still a no-cook chocolate cake. I am sure there are other names for it too.  This is my version and although there are a list of ingredients below it really is one that you can play around with and add whatever is your favourite fruit and nut combination or add whatever you have in the cupboard. This week I had a packet of vacuum packed roasted chestnuts, some dried cranberries, dried blueberries and macadamia nuts in my cupboard.  I used milk chocolate Hobnobs because they were the only biscuits I had in the house, but you could use digestives or Rich Tea or any other biscuit you have in the tin.

This is rich and decadent but delicious and a real treat with a good coffee and five minutes peace and quiet, although the latter is highly unlikely in this house.

150g best quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
50g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
50g dried cranberries
50g macadamias
50g pecan nuts, chunkily chopped
25g dried blueberries
80g Hobnobs (or any other biscuit you may have in the tin) broken into chunks
60g roasted chestnuts

Method

Place the chocolate, butter and syrup in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water until they have all melted.  Stir to combine.

Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Line a loaf tin (mine measures 20cm length x 12cm width x 6.5cm depth) with clingfilm, with plenty to overhang the sides. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tin and smooth the top.  Place in the fridge for a few hours until set.  Remove from the tin and peel off the clingfilm. Cut into slices and serve with a lovely cup of coffee and put your feet up and enjoy.

Get printable version

Chocolate tiffin or refrigerator cake Read More »

Chocolate buns or fairy cakes

4 Comments / cake, chocolate /

Are these called buns or fairy cakes?  I have no idea so I opted for both. It was the Christmas Fayre at my eldest daughter’s school the other day and they asked for cake donations so these were ours. Show me a kid who doesn’t love milk chocolate and hundreds and thousands…

I liked these too.  I added milk chocolate chunks to the cake mix so there was a very satisfying bite to these little cakes. The ones I held back from donating (well you have to enjoy the rewards of baking!) were soon polished off by me and the girls.

I hope those who bought them at the Fayre enjoyed them as much as we did.

Make sure the eggs and the butter are at room temperature before you start as they will mix much easier and rise better.

Makes 18 cakes

110g caster sugar
110g softened butter
120g self-raising flour
20g good quality cocoa
2 eggs
30g milk chocolate, drops or chopped
splash of milk (if needed to make the mixture a soft consistency, if your egg is big you probably won’t need it)

18 paper cake cases and 2 patty tins (cupcake tins)

For the topping:
50g milk chocolate, melted
your choice of decoration

Method
Put the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder and eggs into a bowl and using an electric mixer beat together until just combined. If the mixture is a little stiff add a splash of milk and stir to combine. Add the chopped chocolate and stir to mix in evenly.

Put the paper cases into the holes of the tin. Put a spoonful of the mixture into each paper case, you want to half fill the cases to give space for rising.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°c (gas mark 4) for 15-20 mins until springy to a slight touch.

Leave to cool, then top each cake with a spoonful of melted chocolate and sprinkle your choice of decorations on top.

Get printable version

Chocolate buns or fairy cakes Read More »

Marzipan chocolates

3 Comments / chocolate, marzipan /

It’s the time of year when Christmas cakes need to be marzipanned.  If you are marzipanning a cake then I definitely recommend making extra marzipan so that you can make a few of these.  I won’t be marzipanning a cake because my mum is in charge of Christmas cake baking but I couldn’t resist making some of these anyway because I love marzipan and I love chocolate therefore I adore marzipan chocolates.  You can make them into any shape and if you are more talented than me then maybe try making them into marzipan fruits.  My talents certainly don’t stretch that far.

Making your own marzipan is easy and much more satisfying and much tastier than the shop bought version.  It does contain raw eggs though so don’t make these for young children, pregnant women or the elderly or anyone else that has vulnerable health because of the risk of salmonella with raw eggs.

This is the recipe my mum always uses for her Christmas cakes and it works beautifully.

250g (8oz) ground almonds
125g (4oz) caster sugar
125g (4oz) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp lemon juice
few drops of almond extract
1 free range egg, lightly beaten

50g 70% cocoa chocolate, melted

Method

Stir the almonds, the caster sugar and the icing sugar together in a large bowl until well combined. Add the lemon juice, almond extract and most of the egg and mix to a fairly firm dough (you may need all of the egg or you may not, so add it gradually).  Take the dough out of the bowl and knead on a surface dusted with icing sugar until smooth.  I then wrapped it in clingfilm and placed in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up a bit more before making into the sweets.

To make the sweets as pictured above I took small balls of dough and rolled until smooth then pressed down with the tines of a fork to flatten. I then dipped them in the melted chocolate and placed them onto greaseproof paper to set.

You could roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to make shapes. You could leave the chocolate out of it and simply enjoy the marzipan all on its own.

These eaten whilst enjoying a glass of Amaretto would send me to marzipan heaven.

Get printable version

Marzipan chocolates Read More »

Chocolate and coffee cake

4 Comments / cake, chocolate /

It was my husband’s birthday yesterday and the girls wanted to make him a cat themed birthday cake.  They are both a bit obsessed with cats it has to be said.  So this is it.  The cake is Nigel Slater’s Chocolate Espresso Cake (from Real Food), which always works wonderfully and is popular with everyone who tries it. It is rich and fudgy and very moreish.  The cat is a whipped ganache and complements the cake very well.

For the cake:

180g 70% cocoa chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp espresso (very strong coffee)
140g butter, cut into small pieces
5 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder
90g plain flour

Topping:
100ml double cream
50g 70% cocoa chocolate, broken into small pieces

Method for the cake

You will need a 20cm springform tin, lined with baking parchment.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water.  Be careful that the steam does not make contact with the chocolate and make sure the water doesn’t boil.  Too much heat will seize the chocolate. When the chocolate begins to melt add the warm espresso and leave to continue to melt.  Add the diced butter, (the smaller the better), and stir gently until it is all melted and combined.

Whilst this is happening beat the 5 egg whites in a very clean bowl until stiff and then fold the sugar in as gently as possible.

Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the 5 egg yolks, then slowly fold this into the egg whites, trying to be as careful as possible to retain as much air as you can.

Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder together into the mixture and fold in until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180° c (gas mark 4) for about 30 minutes, until it is springy to the touch.  Leave it in the tin to cool completely.  It can be served like this, dusted with cocoa powder.  It is lovely with double cream poured over it. However if you want to recreate the topping read on.

For the topping, beat the cream until it’s aerated but still soft, (adding the chocolate will thicken it up quite a bit so you don’t want it to be thick at this stage). Melt the chocolate gently over a pan of barely simmering water.  Add the chocolate to the cream and stir to combine. Spread onto the cake and if you want it to look like  a cat then use jelly tots and spaghetti to decorate.

Get printable version

Chocolate and coffee cake Read More »