Posts tagged chocolate

Mocha Macaroons

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Mocha Macaroons

 

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After my frequent delicious sessions of ice cream making I always find myself making macaroons with the surplus of egg whites that sit patiently in the fridge, aging unnecessarily but making them (apparently) all the better for creating the perfect macaroon. I’d hate to see them be turned into a batch of brittle powdery meringues which are one of my foodie hates. So before they could be whisked up into a stiff peaked meringue hell I stole them for some macaroon experimenting. Results….a cheeky invented edible ‘mocha macaroon’ which was much more satisfying than an expedition to Costa! (I would just like to add that although I hate meringues, my mum’s version are great if there are ever to be any knocking around and would categorically NOT be powdery or brittle). Now with my back covered……..

  • 60g egg whites (about 2)
  • 40g caster sugar
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 110g icing sugar (minus 2 tbsp)
  • 12g Green & Blacks cocoa powder

Filling

  • 75g unsalted softened butter
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water, cooled
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking tray with parchment
  2. Blend the ground almonds, icing sugar and cocoa together in a food processor until fine and then sieve.
  3. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add the caster sugar a spoon at a time until glossy stiff peaks form.
  4. fold in 1/3 of the almond mixture to loosen it. Then fold in the rest, being gentle not to knock the air out.
  5. Spoon into a pipping bag with a round ended nozzle and pipe consistent circles of mixture evenly. Give the tray a sharp slap on the surface to level them and leave for 20 minutes, uncovered.
  6. Bake for about 12 minutes. They are ready when they come away easily from the tray. Leave to cool.image
  7. Make the buttercream filling by combining the ingredients in a processor and then spooning into a smaller piping bag.
  8. When cool, pipe small amounts onto macaroon halves and sandwich together!

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Coffee Ice Cream

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Coffee Ice Cream

 

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A perfect Easter lunch dessert to keep everyone awake in front of the roaring fire………although this year the cold weather seems to be doing that for us brrrrrrr! If you’re a coffee fan then this ice cream is an instant (see what I did there) and satisfying winner!

(Serves 8)

  • 1 can condensed milk
  • 300ml single cream
  • 2 heaped tbsp instant coffee
  1. Warm the cream in a pan over a medium heat. When it looks like it is just beginning to simmer, remove from the heat and whisk in the coffee until it had dissolved.
  2. Pour the condensed milk into the cream and stir to combine
  3. Chill and then put into a container and freeze overnight…no churning needed! Although if you want an instant ice cream, churn for about 30 minutes and eat!

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I served mine with a mini version of my hazelnut frangipane tartlet (see here) drizzled with dark chocolate, half a lightly poached vanilla pear and some teeth shattering hazelnut praline. For the vanilla pear, lightly poach half a cored and peeled pear in sugared water for about 20 minutes with a splash of vanilla extract or a halved and de-seeded vanilla pod, until soft.

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Hazelnut Praline

  • 60g caster sugar
  • 40g hazelnuts
  1. Toast the hazelnut in a hot oven for about 6 minutes. Then remove, wrap in a towel and rub the skins off
  2. Lightly bash in a pestle and mortar or in a plastic bag with the back of a rolling pin to coarse crumbs. Sprinkle sparsely over a piece of greaseproof paper
  3. Heat the caster sugar in a dry frying pan over a high heat and leave to melt, stirring every so often until the sugar turns liquid and golden brown. Watch it as it will easily burn.
  4. As soon as it is a pale golden brown and the sugar has all dissolved, remove from the heat and quickly pour over the hazelnuts in a thin layer. It will set fast so work quickly (it will be EXTREMELY hot though so make sure you don’t touch it)
  5. Leave to cool in a cool place or place the caramel on a hard marble surface to speed it along. When cool, break in shards and mind your teeth.

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Vitamin C Brownies

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Vitamin C Brownies

These chocolate orange brownies won’t fight off scurvy but I’m sure the Government would say you’re well on your way to one of your five a day here…..they do contain orange zest after all. Add a packet of fruit pastels and hey….new years health resolution kept. I’ve made countless amounts of brownies and all have varying textures from ‘cakey’ to ‘gooey’ but this one I would describe as ‘fudgy’ I think.

Makes, well, more than enough….(about 25 squares)

  • 225g unsalted butter
  • 350g plain, good chocolate chopped into chunks
  • 150g walnuts (or hazelnuts)
  • 4 large free range eggs
  • 350g light brown muscovado sugar
  • 225g plain flour, sieved
  • Grated zest from 2 large oranges
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 23x32cm deep tin with parchment. Alternatively, use a few smaller tins, it just depends how thick you want the end result.
  2. Put the walnuts onto a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes until fragrant
  3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and once beginning to turn liquidy add the chocolate chunks and stir until melted. Put aside to cool slightly.
  4. Put the eggs, sugar and orange zest into a large bowl and whisk for a good 5 minutes or so until light, airy and creamy.
  5. Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and stir to combine.
  6. Add the walnuts and fold in with the sieved flour.
  7. Pour into your prepared baking tin and bake for about 20-25 minutes until set but with a slight ‘goo’ in the middle. Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into fudgy chunks and dust with icing sugar.

Also a great gift to cunningly ply any potential life-long friends or future husbands with…………..

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Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

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Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

You know the moments when nothing but a chocolate cake will quite do? This cake is so moist and simple and courtesy of Nigella, the queen of chocolate desserts. With no butter its great for all those lactose intolerant folk and if you use ground almonds instead of flour…..gluten free! Plus, almonds give it an added texture which is really nice. I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t offer a deep and hearty enough chocolate flavour….I would suggest a generous painting in a dark ganache perhaps……? Anyhow, nothing pleased me more than taking a charitable and gluttonous chunk over to some appreciating friends to share the satisfaction. Of course, I kept some for myself too………..now pass me the mascarpone…

  • 150ml olive oil
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 125ml boiling water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 125g plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 3 eggs
  • 200g caster sugar
  1. Line a 23cm (ish) cake tin and preheat the oven to 170°C.
  2. Whisk the vanilla and cocoa powder into the boiling water until smooth. Leave to cool a little.
  3. Using an electric whisk or a food processor, combine the eggs, oil and sugar for a good few minutes until pale, frothy and airy.
  4. Pour in the chocolate mixture and combine.
  5. Then combine the flour and bicarbonate and stir into the chocolate mixture.
  6. In the words of Nigella- ‘pour the liquid batter’ into the lined cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean (although it will be a moist cake)
  7. Serve warm with ice cream, mascarpone or anything that hits the spot!

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Dark Chocolate Sorbet

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Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Nothing additional added. No secret extra ingredient. This hasn’t been fiddled with. I’m known for always adding twists and tweaks to recipes to add an extra special touch and style which is usually appreciated. However, after what must have been the 100th time at knocking out the standard cauliflower cheese for a mid week supper, I decided to explore the tasty addition of a few added flavours. Don’t get me wrong it was delicious but with a few glaucoma-like glares from the family, I soon realised some dishes are best left untouched. This is one of them. The chocolate flavour (and I am by no means a chocolate lover) confidently powers through like Usain Bolt in 100m final. As a milk chocolate hater but a 90-100% addict, this is perfect for the dark chocolate fans. Left alone, you can experiment with what its eaten with instead….This recipe was helped by one of my favourite ice cream master David Lebovitz.

  • 555ml water
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 75g ‘Green & Blacks’ dark cocoa powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 170g dark chocolate, chopped finely
  • Splash vanilla extract
  1. In a saucepan, whisk together 375ml of the water, the sugar, the cocoa and the salt. Heat, whisking for a few minutes until all the cocoa is combined and mixed into a silky texture. It may not look like its going to mix but keep whisking.
  2. Bring to the boil and bubble for about a minute, until a little more thickened and syrupy.
  3. Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate and vanilla and whisk until the chocolate has melted. Add the 180ml of remaining water and mix.
  4. Transfer to a blender and give it a few pulses to blend it all together thoroughly. Chill until cold.
  5. Then churn in an ice cream maker until thick and soft textured (about 30-40 minutes)

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Chocolate Mousse with bling……..

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Chocolate Mousse with bling……..

This was the perfect little dessert this Christmas time. A really light, simple chocolate mousse that even a academically and domestically challenged young child could manage, spiked with some extra flavours and accessorized with some crunchy gold shards of honeycomb and melting pecan shortbreads to add the Christmas sparkle. It was perfect to shove onto a big wooden board and plonk into the middle of the table at the end of a tiresome boxing day marathon meal for your guests to greedily help themselves to as they wish.

Chocolate Mousse (Serves 6)

  • 150g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 50g nutella
  • 125ml double cream
  • 50 ml milk
  • 4 eggs whites
  • 25g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  1. Heat the cream, milk and vanilla in a pan until just beginning to boil. Then quickly remove from the heat and add the chocolate.
  2. Mix until melted, smooth and shiny
  3. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the caster sugar spoonful by spoonful until the meringue is shiny and glossy.
  4. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate, a third at a time, keeping as much air in as possible.
  5. Once all has been combined, spoon into individual glasses or ramekins and chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.
  6. I served mine with some shortbread biscuits and some crispy honeycomb!

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Honeycomb

  • 100g caster sugar
  • 4 tbsp golden syrup
  • 1.5 tsp bicarbonate soda
  1. Begin by spreading out a large sheet of parchment on a cold flat surface and oil lightly.
  2. Mix the sugar and syrup in a pan until dissolved. Do not stir once dissolved but swirl the pan to combine
  3. Bubble for a few minutes until it begins to turn golden brown. It will be very hot so be careful. Watch closely, if it does not boil long enough it won’t set, too long and it will taste bitter
  4. Once it turns golden, remove from the heat and working quickly add the bicarbonate of soda and whisk briefly. It will bubble fiercely. Once it has aerated, quickly tip onto the parchment and leave to cool and set solid.
  5. Break into shards and book a dentist appointment before enjoying, dipped into your chocolate mousse!