Tag: Chocolate
Peanut Butter Blondies

Peanut Butter Blondies

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Blooondieeeeeees! Here comes the insanely underrated cousin of the brownie. These have the crisp top and chewy texture of the best brownie imaginable, but instead are flavoured with peanuts and little chunks of sweet white chocolate. I made these a while ago, and then realised I forgot to write down the recipe. So when it came round to doing a blog post on them I was like ‘ah man, how the hell did I make these before??’ Luckily though I think I’ve worked out what I did to get this amazing texture, and they’re now better than ever – but I guess the only way to know for yourself is to make a batch!

Recipe

Makes 16 squares

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 50g Butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 175g Peanut Butter
  • 200g White chocolate, chopped roughly
  • 190g Plain flour
  • ½ tsp Baking powder
  • A pinch of Salt
  • 200g Light brown sugar
  • 100g Golden caster sugar
  • 3 Large eggs
  • 1 tbsp Vanilla bean paste

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Take a 21 x 21cm tin and line with butter and baking paper.
  3. Put the butter, peanut butter and ½ the white chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt. Take off the heat and leave to cool until needed.
  4. Then put the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl and stir to combine.
  5. Take another bowl and put in the sugars and the eggs. Whisk with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is thick and pale, about 2-3 minutes.
  6. Pour the chocolate mixture and vanilla into the egg mix and fold together. Sieve in the flour and then add the chunks of white chocolate. Fold everything together again until fully combined.
  7. Pour the mixture into your lined tin and smooth it over with a spatula so it’s an even thickness.
  8. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the blondies comes out clean.
  9. Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into 16 squares. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Deconstructed Mississippi Dessert

Deconstructed Mississippi Dessert

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Back in November I made a Mississippi mud pie for thanksgiving, which if I say so myself was pretty darn good. So for a while now, being the massive chocoholic I am, I’ve been thinking how I could re-interpret it, and with a little refinement make it into an awesome dessert. With Masterchef just finished I’ve been going through a bit of withdrawal, but I’ve been super inspired by all the incredible cooking on the show, and so I decided now would be the time to make a more delicate dish, like this delish deconstructed mud pie.

Whilst being predominantly chocolate based, each element here contributes a unique texture and flavour to the dish so it doesn’t come across too rich. Almost like an ombre there’s a crumbly, very rich chocolate crumb, a lighter but fudgy brownie, a creamy sweet chocolate custard, and then a light whipped cream, all served with chocolate shards and a sharp raspberry coulis to cleanse the palette. (As you can probably tell from how pretentious that sounds, I’m pretty proud of how this one has turned out). Unlike my other fancier dishes this one is also fairly easy. There are a lot of elements but each one doesn’t require too much knowhow to make, so it’s worth giving a go!

Recipe

Serves 5

Time 2 hours, plus cooling time

Ingredients

For the Chocolate brownie

  • 110g Butter
  • 140g Dark chocolate
  • 2 Medium eggs
  • 140g Caster sugar
  • 30g Plain flour
  • 100g White chocolate, roughly chopped

For the Chocolate custard

  • 100g Dark chocolate
  • 290ml Whole milk
  • 3 Egg yolks
  • 60g Caster sugar
  • 15g Plain flour
  • 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
  • 20g Cornflour
  • 160ml Double cream

For the Chocolate crumble

  • 100g Plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 150g Unsalted butter
  • 55g Cocoa powder
  • 40g Caster sugar
  • 5g Sea salt

For the Cream

  • 300ml Double cream
  • 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste

For the Coulis

  • 150g Raspberries
  • 100g Caster sugar

To Decorate

  • 50g White chocolate
  • 100g Dark chocolate
  • 5 Fresh raspberries
  • A few sprigs of fresh mint

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 15×15 cm loose tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. To make the brownies put the butter and chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt.
  3. Take another bowl and whisk the eggs until pale and fluffy with an electric whisk. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until it leaves a trail when the whisk is taken out.
  4. Fold the chocolate into the eggs, sieve in the flour and add the white chocolate. Fold everything again until combined.
  5. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and bake for around 20 minutes until a crust has formed on top and it feel slightly firm. Set aside to cool.
  6. Now make the chocolate filling. Put the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. Then put the milk into a pan and heat until just boiling.
  7. In another bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar, plain flour, cocoa powder and cornflour until smooth. Pour in the milk whilst whisking until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook gently, whilst whisking, until just starting to thicken. Take off the heat, stir in the melted chocolate and then leave in the fridge to cool completely.
  8. Take the filling out of the fridge and whisk to break up. In another bowl whisk the double cream to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the chocolate mix and then pour this into a pipping bag. Put this into the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
  9. Now make the chocolate crumble. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until a smooth dough forms. Roll this out on a lightly floured surface to make a thin sheet. Put this onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and crumble with your fingers to make a crumble/crumb-like texture. Then put it back into the oven to bake for another 10 minutes until crisp. Set to one side to cool.
  10. Next whip up the double cream and vanilla into soft peaks (when it just holds its shape). Spoon this into a pipping bag with a round nozzle and leave in the fridge to chill until needed.
  11. Then make the chocolate shards. Put the white and dark chocolates into separate heatproof bowls over pans of gently simmering water. When melted transfer the white chocolate to a piping bag with a small, round nozzle. Take a sheet of baking paper or acetate and drizzle the white chocolate in a squiggle pattern over it. Leave to set completely at room temperature.
  12. When set, take the dark chocolate and spread over the white chocolate in a thin layer, making it smooth with a palette knife. Leave to set.
  13. Finally make the raspberry coulis. Put the raspberries and sugar into a pan and heat gently until the raspberries mush and gently simmer.
  14. Pour the mixture into a sieve and press through with the back of a spoon to get the juice and pulp but to remove the seeds. Pour this into a pipping bottle with a small, round nozzle and leave in the fridge until needed.
  15. When ready to plate up begin by cutting 3 small circles out of the brownie. Place these in a semi-circle around the edge of the plate. Take the chocolate custard and pipe blobs of it around the brownies. Then take the fresh raspberries and arrange them in a crescent around the other elements. Then take the cream and fill in the gaps. Then sprinkle the crumble in the gaps to make a crescent shape and then break the chocolate sheet into shards and place them around the plate. Take the coulis and pipe spots of it around the plate, and then put the rest into a jug to serve with the dessert. Garnish with the fresh mint and serve!

 Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Loaf Cake

Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Loaf Cake

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In every family there’s always a scale of culinary abilities. There’s the Delia Smith – the one who does the majority of the cooking, the ‘I cook to survive’ one who could make pasta and boil an egg if needed, and the one who could burn water and would die trying to find their way to the kitchen. Whilst in my family we have a kinda scale like this, everyone of us has, admittedly, a pretty good knack in the kitchen, and we all have our signature dishes. For me it’s my chocolate fondants, for my Mum it’s her chicken and leek pie, my Dad’s is his ultimate apricot tiffin, and my sister makes a mean chocolate banana cake.

However, since my sister left home we haven’t had many of her incredible banana cakes around, so I thought I’d make one of my own. This one’s just like hers – packed with banana and chocolate chips which melt into delicious puddles when served warm! I’ve also added some peanut butter though as I love a good PB and chocolate combo. This one is also really easy and fun to make, but when served fresh from the oven it’s everything you could want from a cake.

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 50g Unsalted butter
  • 75g Peanut butter
  • 250g Caster sugar
  • 2 Medium eggs
  • 250g Plain flour
  • 2 tsp Baking powder
  • 2 Ripe bananas
  • 200g Dark chocolate

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Put the butter, peanut butter and sugar into a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
  3. Add the eggs and then whisk until combined. Then sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and fold in to make a smooth batter.
  4. Mash the bananas in another bowl with a fork until they’re a pulp. Then roughly chop the chocolate. Add the bananas and 150g of the chocolate to the batter and stir until fully combined.
  5. Line a 1L loaf tin with butter and baking paper. Pour in the mixture and then bake in the oven for about 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle. If the top starts to brown too much cover it loosely with kitchen foil to protect it.
  6. When ready take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before turning it out of the tin. Leave to cool on a wire wrack.
  7. Meanwhile put the rest of the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water. Pour this chocolate into a pipping bag with a small round nozzle and drizzle over the cake. Then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Chocolate Malteaser Fridge-Cake

Chocolate Malteaser Fridge-Cake

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I’ve got to the point now where I’m cooking more than twice a week, so I have a fast growing store of recipes I’m waiting to post. This one, for example, I made way back at the start of March when I was craving a slice of this Malteaser fridge-cake bliss. It won’t do much for anyone on the nutritional front, but it’s a definite mood-booster. I feel everyone has that one thing that they make which is a hit from the first time they make it. For me this is one of those – it’s impossible to get wrong, tastes incredible, and is perfect for sharing, what’s not to like?

As it takes barely any time to make, and doesn’t need to be cooked, I often whip this up late at night when I’ve realised I’m meant to be taking some food to something the next day. I can whop everything together, bung it in the fridge and then it’s ready to be cut it into slices in the morning!

Recipe

Makes 12 squares

Time: 15 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients

  • 150g Butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 300g Milk chocolate
  • 80g Golden syrup
  • 330g Digestive biscuits
  • 350g Malteasers

Method

  1. Put the butter, chocolate and syrup into a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Leave to melt, stirring occasionally to combine.
  2. Whilst waiting for the mixture to melt put the biscuits into a bowl and crush with the back of a rolling pin. You want it to be mostly crushed but if there’s a few lumps here and there that’s fine.
  3. Put the malteasers onto a chopping board and chop them roughly. Add them to the digestives.
  4. Pour the melted chocolate onto the biscuits and malteasers and mix until all combined.
  5. Line a small square tin with butter and cling film. Then pour the mixture into the tin and level out with the back of a spoon.
  6. Put the mix into the fridge to set for at least an hour, or better overnight.
  7. Once set chop the malteaser fridge cake into squares and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Hazelnut Cake with an Orange, Balsamic, Salted Caramel Ice cream, Honeycomb and Chocolate Shards

Hazelnut Cake with an Orange, Balsamic, Salted Caramel Ice cream, Honeycomb and Chocolate Shards

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You probably recognise the elements of this dessert from my post last week on orange, balsamic and salted caramel chocolates. After I made them I had some of the caramel left over and so I was inspired to work it into a dessert somehow. I  decided to use the caramel to flavour an ice cream and to decorate the plate, and then I put it with chunks of honeycomb, a hazelnut cake and chocolate shards.

This combo of flavours, textures and temperatures makes for a really decadent dessert. It’s a bit complicated and will take some time to make, but it’s all well worth the effort. However, if you want a slightly unique pudding with as little effort as possible the ice cream is also very good on its own!

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

For the Caramel

  • 125ml Orange juice
  • 45ml Whipping cream
  • 1/2 tbsp Vanilla bean paste
  • 150g Caster sugar
  • 20g Liquid glucose
  • 100g Salted butter
  • 7 ml Balsamic vinegar

For the Ice cream

  • 2 tbsp Vanilla bean paste
  • 600ml Double cream
  • 80g Sugar
  • 3 Egg yolks

For the Cake

  • 100g Butter
  • 75ml Semi-skimmed milk
  • 300g Light brown sugar
  • 6 Large eggs
  • 2 tbsp Cornflour
  • 180g Plain flour
  • 200g Chopped hazelnuts

For the Honeycomb

  • 100g Caster sugar
  • 40g Golden syrup
  • 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

For the Shards

  • 100g White chocolate
  • 200g Dark chocolate

To decorate

  • Chopped Hazelnuts
  • 50g Dark chocolate

Method

  1. Begin by making the caramel for the ice cream. Put the orange juice into a pan with the vanilla and gently simmer over a medium heat until it’s reduced by half.
  2. Meanwhile put the cream in a pan over a low heat and start to warm through.
  3. Then put the sugar and glucose into a pan and heat gently whilst stirring until the sugar crystals dissolve. Then leave the mixture to boil until it becomes a deep amber caramel.
  4. Take the caramel off the heat and add the warmed cream, stand well back when you do this as the mixture will spit a LOT. Mix the cream in and then do the same with the reduced orange juice.
  5. Cut the butter into cubes and then stir them into the caramel, a few chunks at a time. Then leave the mixture to cool before stirring in the vinegar. Transfer the caramel to a pot and leave in the fridge for 2 hours to set a little.
  6. Then start making the ice cream base. Put the vanilla and cream into a pan and bring slowly to the boil.
  7. In a bowl put the sugar and egg yolks and whisk until pale. Then slowly pour in the hot cream mixture whilst continuously whisking. Keep whisking until the mixture starts to cool.
  8. Then put the mixture through a sieve before whisking in most of the caramel, keeping a little aside for plating later. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and leave to churn. Once starting to set pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container and leave in the freezer to set completely.
  9. Next make the hazelnut cake. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Then grease a 20x20cm square tin with butter and baking paper.
  10. Put the butter and milk into a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Set to one side.
  11. Put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until thick, pale and fluffy.
  12. Sift the flour and cornflour and then fold them into the mix with a large metal spoon or spatula. Add the chopped hazelnuts and fold them into the mix. Finally pour the milk and butter mixture into the main bowl and fold this in until fully combined.
  13. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and then bake in the pre-heated oven until risen and springy to the touch, about 30 minutes. Check if it’s done by inserting a skewer, it should come out clean. Then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
  14. Meanwhile move onto the honeycomb. Put the sugar and golden syrup into a pan. Put over a medium heat and cook, whilst stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then stop stirring and leave to boil until it reaches a deep amber colour.
  15. Take the mixture off the heat and quickly tip in the bicarb. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon and then turn it out onto a baking sheet and leave to set completely.
  16. Then make the chocolate shards. Put the white and dark chocolates into separate heat-proof bowls over pans of simmering water. Leave to melt gently.
  17. Spoon the white chocolate into a pipping bag with a small nozzle and drizzle over a sheet of acetate, or if you don’t have acetate you can use baking paper, to make a doodle-pattern. Leave to set completely.
  18. Then take the slightly cooled, melted dark chocolate and pour it over the white chocolate. Smooth the layer over with a palette knife to make a smooth sheet of chocolate and then leave to set.
  19. Now plate up! Slice the hazelnut cake into rectangles. Place one of these onto your plate on an angle. Drizzle with a little melted chocolate and top with a hazelnut at one end.
  20. Take a scoop of your icecream and place it on the plate next to the cake. Then decorate the plate with your honeycomb and chopped hazelnuts. Then cut your chocolate sheet into triangles and gently peel them off and place them around the plate. Finish with a few blobs of the caramel!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x