Add the chopped chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan with barely simmering water to melt. Stir every now-and-then until completely melted. Take from the heat. Line a small-hole muffin tin with paper cups. Spoon about half a teaspoon chocolate into each cup and give it a swirl so that the chocolate covers the base of the paper cup. Add about three blueberries and two pistachio nuts to the cups and then drizzle with another half teaspoonful of melted chocolate. Place some more blueberries and nuts on each cluster and give each a final drizzle of chocolate. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes. Gently remove the clusters from the paper cups and serve. Do not keep the clusters in the refrigerator.
These biscuits do not look like much but they are soooo good! They have a wonderful snap and the chopped chocolate adds a sharp and delicious chocolatey fabulousness!!
125g butter 175g caster sugar 225g flour 10ml baking powder 80g dark chocolate, finely chopped BUT NOT SHAVED the grated zest of 2 oranges 15ml fresh orange juice
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line two baking sheets with baking paper. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat together on high speed. The mixture should be fluffy and airy. Remove the bowl from the mixer and sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Stir together. Add the chopped chocolate, orange zest and orange juice to the mixture and mix together with a spatula. Flour a work surface and roll the dough to a 0,5cm thickness. Cut out with a biscuit cutter of your choice and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the biscuits for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and leave the biscuits on the sheets for 5 minutes before cooling it completely on a cooling rack. Store the biscuits in an airtight glass jar.
I love to bake snacks that can be kept in a glass jar for a few weeks (very optimistic!) and biscotti has a place of honour amongst them. The recipe yields about 36 slices and can be kept for 3-4 weeks when stored in a sealed glass container.
Preheat your oven to 160℃ and line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Add the oil and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed until well blended. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for another 2 minutes. Set aside. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a large mixing bowl and give it a stir to mix. Run the mixer on the lowest speed and gradually add the flour mixture, allowing time to incorporate between additions. Remove the bowl from the mixer, add the cranberries and pistachios and mix through with a spatula. Divide the dough in half. Wet your hands (the dough is extremely sticky) and shape each half portion of the dough into a log shape about 25cm in length. The logs won’t look wide enough to “become” biscotti, but the mixture will spread during baking and end up being wider than the shaped log. Place the logs onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the biscotti logs from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Turn the oven setting down to 130℃. Slice the logs diagonally into 1cm thick slices. Lay the slices flat onto the same baking sheets and dry in the oven for about 50 minutes. Feel the biscotti – it should be hard and shouldn’t give when you press it between your fingers. Cool the biscotti on a cooling rack before packing them into a glass jar.
Who can say no to an espresso and pain à la crème on a sidewalk in Paris? I assure you, you might be in your own home but your tastebuds will be fooled into believing you were there….
For the buns: Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and put aside. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Warm the milk until tepid and pour it into a mixing bowl. Add the butter, instant yeast and sugar to the milk and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the mixer on to a low speed and add the liquids. Mix/knead for about 3 minutes. The dough will be very sticky! Turn the mixer to medium speed and knead for another 6 minutes. You are aiming for a soft, smooth, elastic dough. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces – weigh them on a scale, they should be around 60g each. Roll each portion into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the dough ball slightly with your hand. Now make an indent with a small cup/glass, pushing down onto the dough. Spray some plastic wrap with cooking spray and cover the buns lightly. Set aside in a warm place for 90 minutes.
For the crème pâtissière: Add the corn flour to a small bowl and pour a small amount of milk in to the bowl while stirring. You want to make a slurry, which is basically a runny, pourable paste. Put aside. Add the egg yolks and 50g caster sugar to a mixing bowl. Stir the corn flour slurry into the egg mixture. Set aside. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and add the other 50g caster sugar. Place the saucepan on medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Take the saucepan from the heat as soon as tiny bubbles start to appear around the edges of the pan. Drizzle the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking vigorously. Pour slowly, whisk quickly! Now pour the mixture from the mixing bowl, back into the saucepan and place it on a medium-low heat. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened. Allow to cook for 30 seconds before removing it from the heat. Add the vanilla and stir to mix. Pour the crème pâtissière into a shallow bowl and place some plastic wrap directly on the surface. This will prevent a skin from forming while the custard cools down. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely.
Preheat your oven to 180℃. Take the same cup/glass that you used to make the indents in the buns, and press down onto the exact same area again. Brush the buns with egg wash. Whisk the cold créme pâtissière to soften it. Spoon about 20ml or more if you can, of crème pâtissière into each round indent you have made. Bake the custard buns for 20 minutes. The custard filling will rise up as it bakes but do not panic, it will fall back on itself once it cools. Cool the buns to room temperature. Sieve with icing sugar and serve with coffee.
The best of two worlds!! A delicious chocolatey brownie base with a velvet baked cheesecake topping!
For the brownie base: 115g butter 115g dark chocolate, chopped 200g caster sugar 2 eggs 50ml milk 115g flour
For the cheesecake topping: 500g cream cheese, room temperature 125g caster sugar 3 eggs 5ml vanilla 125ml Greek yoghurt
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and grease a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin. Add the butter and chopped chocolate to a heatproof mixing bowl and place it over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir every now and then until melted. Remove the bowl from the head and add the sugar. Whisk until the ingredients are amalgamated. Add the eggs and milk and whisk to mix. Add the flour and stir through until the mixture is just blended. Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake tin and even it out with a spatula. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove and set aside. Lower the oven temperature to 160℃. Add the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat together on high speed until you have a smooth mixture. Scrape the bowl down once or twice in between mixing. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the yoghurt. Stir the yoghurt through the cheesecake mixture. Pour the mixture onto the baked brownie base. Place in the oven and bake for 55 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight. Run a knife around the edge of the cake before removing the sides of the cake tin. Cut into slices and drizzle with melted chocolate to serve.
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 23cm X 13cm loaf tin. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon to a mixing bowl and mix together with a whisk. Add the buttermilk, egg and vegetable oil to a wide-mouth jug and whisk together until blended. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until all the flour has been incorporated and you are left with a shaggy, wet batter. Add the chopped apple and nuts and stir through. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and pat it into the corners. Place the loaf in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
These pancakes are not cocoa-chocolatey-looking but actually contain real chocolate in the batter!! Whether you serve them with ice-cream, fresh fruit and Chantilly cream or plain, from-the-pan, you will love them! Yields about 12 pancakes depending on the size of your pan.
80g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa 250ml + 100ml milk 90ml caster sugar 200g cake flour 100ml water 3 eggs 2,5ml vanilla butter for frying
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add it to a small saucepan. Pour in 100ml milk and place on a very low heat. Stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted completely and remove from the heat. Add the 250ml milk and caster sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Pour the water, eggs and vanilla into a jug and whisk it together. Pour the egg mixture into the flour in a very thin stream while whisking. Pour slowly, whisk quickly …. you don’t want lumps in your batter! Now whisk in the chocolate mixture in the same way. Cover the batter with a tea towel and allow to stand for one hour.
Heat a frying/crêpe pan until it is very hot. Add a knob of butter and swirl it around so that it covers the surface of the pan. Pour in a ladleful of batter and swirl again to evenly distribute in the pan. Turn the heat down slightly and cook the pancake for 1 minute. Turn the pancake over with a spatula and cook for another 30 seconds. (The combination of sugar and chocolate burns really easy!!) Keep going with the rest of the batter until you have a heavily stack of chocolate pancakes. Serve warm.
Few things beat an aromatic cinnamon roll on a cold day and these rolls are no exception! I like to hero the yeasty bread and therefore the sugar glaze is toned done in this recipe. Yields 20 rolls but may easily be halved.
30ml butter 30ml white sugar 30ml brown sugar 10ml cinnamon
Add the flour, salt and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the butter and milk to a jug and warm it in the microwave oven. Stir until the butter has melted and the milk is tepid and NOT hot. Add the sugar and yeast to the milk mixture and stir to dissolve. Turn the mixer onto low speed and add the milk mixture. Mix/knead for 2 minutes. Now turn the speed to medium and knead for a further 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with a plastic bag and a tea towel. Set aside to proof for 1 hour or until doubled in volume. Line an overproof baking dish/baking tray of about 25cm X 35cm with baking paper. Dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough into a large rectangle. About 65cm X 30cm. Melt the 30ml butter and brush an even layer onto the rolled dough. Mix together the sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly onto the dough. Roll into a sausage, in the length. Cut the sausage of dough into 20 even pieces. I do this by halving the sausage, and again halving the half sections and then simply slicing it into five more-or-less equal pieces. Arrange the dough spirals in the prepared baking dish, cut side facing up and about 1 – 2 cm between them, or as evenly spaced as you can manage. Slip the baking dish into a plastic bag and leave to proof for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180℃. Bake the rolls for 30 minutes.
For the glaze: 500ml icing sugar 30ml butter 10ml vanilla 60ml milk
Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Melt the butter and add the vanilla and milk to it. Pour the wet ingredients into the icing sugar while stirring.
Remove the cinnamon rolls from the oven and immediately drizzle the glaze onto the rolls. Serve warm or cooled down.
l make these truffles from cake off-cuts and sometimes from a slice or two of left-over cake. They are somewhere between a cake-pop and a traditional chocolate truffle but believe me, they are delicious and very more-ish!
160g De Villiers chocolate, chopped 5ml butter 30ml milk 80ml desiccated coconut 330ml cake crumbs (blitz two slices of cake in a food processor) 62ml icing sugar 20g almonds, chopped
For rolling the truffles: A handful of the following almonds, very finely chopped desiccated coconut cocoa powder dried rose petals icing sugar
Add the chocolate, butter and milk to a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan with simmering water to melt. Stir every now and then until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture amalgamated. Take the chocolate mixture from the heat and stir in the coconut, cake crumbs, icing sugar and chopped nuts. Keep mixing until all the ingredients are completely covered with chocolate. Roll the mixture into balls the size of walnuts and then roll them through the almonds/coconut/cocoa/rose petals/icing sugar. Keep the truffles in a sealed container at room temperature.
These mini cupcakes are little bites of pure happiness and comfort! The recipe yields 24 mouthfuls.
45ml + 125ml sugar 250ml flour 5ml baking powder 2,5ml bicarbonate of soda 1,2ml salt 190ml cultured buttermilk 5ml vanilla 30g + 75g butter, melted 1 egg 5ml cinnamon
Preheat your oven to 180℃, NO FAN! Grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin and put aside. Add the 45ml sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, 30g melted butter and egg to another bowl and whisk together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in a thin stream while whisking to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 12 minutes. Take the puffs from the oven and leave to stand for about 5 minutes before removing them from the tin. Pour the 75g melted butter into a small bowl and have a pastry brush ready. Mix the 125ml sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl and mix through. Brush each puff with the butter and then roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.
My Whisk and I 