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.
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with cooking spray. Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and baking powder to a mixing bowl and stir together with a whisk. Add the egg, melted butter, milk and vanilla to a jug and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry ingredients. Add the chopped chocolate and nuts and stir to mix. Spoon the batter in to the prepared baking tin. Add the 80ml granulated and brown sugar and the cocoa powder, to a bowl and mix. Sprinkle the mixture over the cake batter. Pour the coffee over and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve the chocolate pudding cake with cream or ice cream.
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Give the pan a shake halfway through baking time. Spread the warm nuts between two tea towels and rub them so that the skins come off. Turn your oven temperature down to 180℃ and spray a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper. Add 200g of the cooled hazelnuts to a food processor and blitz until fine – a similar texture to that of breadcrumbs. Add the butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt. Remove from the heat and stir in the ground hazelnuts. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Add the egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat for 4 minutes with an electric whisk. Add it to the hazelnut mixture and stir by hand until well combined. Pour in the orange juice and stir through. Add the egg whites to a clean bowl and whisk to stiff peaks. Spoon a third of the whites into the hazelnut mixture and stir through to loosen. Now add the remaining whites and gently fold through. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the cake and leave to cool in the baking tin for 30 minutes. Unclip the outside ring and invert the cake on a serving plate. Pull off the baking paper and leave the cake to cool completely. Melt about 80g of hazelnut chocolate, pour on the cake and sprinkle over the remaining hazelnuts.
You can top these cupcakes with a chocolate ganache icing or leave them plain – I prefer plain as they are sweet and gooey with the melted Easter egg on the inside.
200g butter, room temperature 200g sugar 200g flour 83ml cocoa powder, sifted 7,5ml baking powder 1,2ml bicarbonate of soda 2,5ml salt 150ml sour cream 2 eggs, lightly beaten 7,5ml vanilla 12 small, filled chocolate eggs
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cups. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together on high speed, scrape down the bowl and mix again on high speed. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and add the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Stir through by hand until just incorporated. Divide the batter between the 12 paper cups and insert a filled chocolate egg in each. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
160g Orange flavoured De Villiers Chocolate 160g cream 12 De Villiers Chocolate hollow easter eggs
Chop the chocolate finely and add it to a mixing bowl. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and allow it to warm up – it should be hot when you stick your finger in it but it should not boil. Pour the warm cream on the chopped chocolate and stir until all the chocolate has melted. Set the bowl somewhere in your kitchen and stir every time you walk past. The ganache will take about 40 minutes to come to piping consistency, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. In the meantime, slice the top off the Easter eggs. I warm the bottoms of the eggs and then stick them on to a spoon so that they sit upright. Spoon the ganache into a piping bag and fill the eggs. Scatter some orange zest over to serve.
250g dark chocolate, chopped 250g biscuits, something like ginger biscuits, finger biscuits, Marie biscuits or digestives 100g soft butter 150g caster sugar 3 eggs 30ml vanilla 30ml cocoa powder 75g almond nuts, chopped 75g pecan nuts, chopped 50g pistachio nuts, chopped 30ml icing sugar, sifted, to decorate twine, to decorate
Add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water and allow to melt until completely smooth. Set aside to cool. Bash the biscuits in a plastic bag but keep it chunky. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together. Gradually, and one by one, add the eggs – do not worry if it looks as though it has curdled at this stage. Add the vanilla and mix until blended. Sift the cocoa powder into the cooled chocolate and mix through. Now add the chocolate to the egg mixture and mix through on low speed. Take the bowl from the mixer and add the crushed biscuits and all of the nuts. Mix well. Refrigerate the mixture (in the bowl is fine) for about 30 minutes. Cover your working surface with plastic wrap. Roll the mixture into a log shape with your hands until it resembles a fat salami, about 30cm long. Cover the log with the plastic wrap and roll it, as if it were a rolling pin, to create a smooth cylinder. Twist the ends and make a knot. Refrigerate the log for at least 6 hours. Take the salami out of the fridge and lay it on baking paper. Rub some icing sugar over and tie with string to give it an authentic look. Slice into discs to serve.
A parfait is a cream-based, frozen dessert. The difference between and ice cream and parfait is that an ice cream has air whipped into it while it freezes and a parfait has air whipped into it and only then is it frozen!! It is a bit of a cheffy dessert but follow the instructions closely and you are guaranteed a very popular dessert!!
160g dark chocolate, chopped (I use DeVilliers chocolate that has a 70% cocoa solid content!!) 6 egg yolks (make meringue/pavlova with the whites) 250g caster sugar 30ml cocoa powder 400ml double cream
300g fresh berries 30ml icing sugar
Prepare a 20cm x 11cm loaf tin by lining it with baking paper. Add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow the chocolate to melt completely. Take it from the heat and set aside to cool slightly but leave the saucepan of water at a very low simmer. Add the egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat together until combined. Pour the egg mixture into the cooled melted chocolate and put the bowl back over the saucepan with simmering water. This is the tricky part: Beat the mixture with an electric whisk for 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved completely and you are left with a very thick mixture. You have to keep beating the mixture or the egg will cook or even worse, the chocolate will seize!! Dont despair….if you whisk continuously the mixture will be fine. Remove from the heat and sift in the cocoa powder. Fold in with a metal spoon. Pour the cream into a clean mixing bowl and whip to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the chocolate mixture in three batches. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. Remove the parfait from the freezer about 20 minutes before you want to serve it. Turn it out onto a serving platter, remove the paper and heap the berries on top. Sift with icing sugar to serve.
These biscuits have a crackly crust and a heavenly chewy, fudge centre and will become one of your favourite chocolate treats! Make sure to bake these with a good quality chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids.
220g dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used coffee flavoured chocolate, you don’t have to but do make sure that your chocolate has at least 70% cocoa solids) 90ml butter, melted 190ml brown sugar 62ml white sugar 2 eggs 190ml flour 60ml cocoa powder, sifted 10ml espresso coffee powder 1,2ml salt
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Add the chocolate and butter to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir every now and then until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has amalgamated. Take the bowl from the heat and set aside. Add the eggs, brown sugar and white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the mixture together at high speed for 3 – 4 minutes. Turn the mixer speed down to low and pour in the chocolate mixture with the machine running. Add the flour, sifted cocoa powder, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl and stir together until well mixed. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and add the dry ingredients. Fold through with a spatula. Spoon about 15ml of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving room for the biscuits to spread. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool the biscuits on the baking sheet before storing/serving.
If you long for slightly warm pain au chocolat directly from a Paris pâtisserie, long no more! This chocolate bread offers real competition! If you battle to understand the finishing instructions, go to my instagram account (karen_claassen) or my YouTube channel, for a demonstration video.
300ml milk
30ml butter
10g instant yeast
80ml sugar
a pinch of salt
850ml cake flour
2 egg yolks
350g chocolate spread
2 egg whites
Put a small saucepan onto the heat and warm the milk in it.
Stir the butter into the milk so that it can melt.
Allow the milk to come to a temperature where you can comfortably keep your finger in it without feeling it is hot.
Sprinkle the yeast onto the milk and give it a good stir. Set aside for 5 minutes or so.
Add the sugar, salt and flour to a large mixing bowl.
Add the yeast mixture as well as the egg yolks and mix to form a rough dough.
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to stand until doubled in volume.
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide it into four equal pieces.
Roll the first portion of dough into a circle – I like to measure my circle with the loose-bottom of a 22cm cake tin. This is a real help in getting all the circles/discs to the same size.
Transfer this dough circle onto your prepared baking sheet and spread a third of the chocolate spread as evenly as you can over the dough.
Repeat this process with the other three portions of dough.
Once the last dough circle has been placed onto the stack, you are ready to cut and shape your bread. If you have difficulty in following this process, go to my instagram account or my YouTube channel for demonstration video.
Finishing instructions:
Imagine a 5cm diameter circle as the centrepiece of your dough circles – DO NOT cut through this circle.
Now, if the dough circles were a clock, make an incision from the centre circle on 12 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock.
Half each of the four triangles you have so that you are left with 8 pieces.
Lastly, cut through each of the 8 pieces to end up with 16.
Now lift two pieces that are next to each other, one in each hand, and make two twists in opposite directions. Carefully place these pieces down. Keep going until all of the bread pieces have been twisted and your have a beautifully patterned bread.
Cover the bread with a clean tea towel and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
Whisk the two egg whites with a fork and glaze the bread with it.
My Whisk and I 