chocolate desserts – My Whisk and I

Chocolate Layer Brownies

May 15, 2023May 4, 2023by Karen Claassen1 Comment

145g butter
250g sugar
80g cocoa powder, sifted
1,2ml salt
7,5ml vanilla
2 eggs
65g flour
75g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
2 x 80g slabs of chocolate

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper.
Add the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and salt to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
Stir the mixture every now and then until the butter has melted and the mixture is amalgamated.
Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the vanilla.
Stir through.
Add the eggs one-by-one and beat to incorporate, with a wooden spoon.
Add the flour and beat again to incorporate.
Add the pecan nuts and stir through.
Spoon half the batter in to the prepared baking tin and spread it out evenly.
Place the chocolate slabs, side-to-side, on the batter and cover with the rest of the brownie batter.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove the brownies from the oven and cool completely.
Slice into 16 squares.

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Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

September 22, 2022September 21, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Base:
200g chocolate biscuits
55g brown sugar
100g butter, melted

Mousse-cheesecake:
120g chocolate, chopped
900g cream cheese, room temperature
15ml cocoa powder, sifted
375ml sugar
10ml vanilla
4 eggs
375ml cream
60ml icing sugar, sifted

Chocolate Ganache:
320g chocolate, chopped
300g cream

For the base:
Place the biscuits in a food processor and process to a fine crumb.
Spoon the biscuit crumbs into a mixing bowl and add the sugar and melted butter.
Mix together until it resembles wet sand.
Spoon the mixture into a 23cm loose-bottom cake tin and press evenly over the base.
Place in the refrigerator.

For the mousse-cheesecake:
Preheat your oven to 150℃.
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt until completely smooth.
Add the cream cheese, chocolate, cocoa powder and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until incorporated.
Add the vanilla and eggs and whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Set aside.
Add the cream to another mixing bowl and sift the icing sugar into the bowl.
Whisk until the cream develops a mousse-y texture and soft peaks form.
Fold the cream into the cream cheese mixture – do this in 3-4 batches. Fold until just incorporated.
Pour the cheesecake mixture into the cake tin with the biscuit base. Smooth the top and give the cake tin a jiggle to let out any air bubbles.
Place the cake tin soon top of a sheet of aluminium foil and fold the foil up the sides on the outside of the tin. Place the cake tin into a roasting pan and fill the pan with 2,5cm of hot water.
Bake the cake for 70 minutes. Check and refill the water in the roasting tin every 20 or so during baking.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven and immediately run a sharp knife around the outside of the cake to release it from the tin.
Allow the cheesecake to cool completely before removing the tin ring.

For the ganache:
Add the cream to a small saucepan and warm it.
Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
Set the cheesecake on a wire cooling rack, inside a baking sheet and pour the ganache over the cake.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

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Chocolate Bread-and-Butter Pudding

July 28, 2021July 18, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is the perfect make-ahead dessert when entertaining as it needs to rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours before baking. With its crunchy outside top and soft, squidgy inside it is best served in small portions as it is very rich. Leftovers are equally good when cold!

10 slices white bread, 0,5cm thick
160g dark chocolate, chopped
75g butter
450ml cream
60ml dark rum
110g caster sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
3 eggs
extra pouring cream for serving

Grease a 18cm X 28cm ovenproof ceramic dish.
Remove the crusts from the bread slices and then cut each slice into 4 triangles. Set aside.
Add the chocolate, butter, cream, rum, sugar and cinnamon to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water.
Stir the mixture every now-and-then until the butter and chocolate has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
Remove the bowl from the heat and give it a good stir to amalgamate the ingredients. Put aside.
Add the eggs to a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
Pour the chocolate mixture over the eggs in a thin stream while whisking continuously. Remember: pour slowly, whisk quickly.
Spoon a 1cm layer of chocolate mixture into the base of the baking dish and arrange half the bread triangles in overlapping rows on this chocolate layer.

Pour half of the remaining chocolate mixture as evenly as you can, over the bread.
Arrange the rest of the triangles on top of this layer, finishing off with a layer of chocolate.

Gently press down the bread with a spoon so that it gets covered evenly with the liquid as it cools.
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and allow to cool completely. Place the dish in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Cooking the pudding:
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Remove the plastic wrap and bake the pudding for 35 minutes.
Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving with pouring cream, custard or ice cream.