Category Archives: chocolate

heston blumenthal’s exploding chocolate gateau

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heston blumenthal's exploding chocolate and passion fruit popping candy cake

AKA Heston’s chocolate and passion fruit popping candy cake.

At New year I treated myself to Heston’s popping candy cake, which costs an absolute fortune, even on half price sale, but the results were amazing: bitter, sweet, chocolatey and of course popping! I was contemplating recreating it when it pops up on How To Cook Like Heston.

With my sister popping over for dinner this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. It had the desired reaction: one mouthful in and my niece squeals with surprise as the popping candy kicks in. The next few minutes are spent with people making ‘o’ shapes with their mouths, allowing the candy to echo round the room. Great fun.

Heston’s version has some crazy paint-gun antics; I skipped that and just shaved some dark chocolate on top instead. There’s also some madness involving rings and baking trays but I strolled past all that using a springform tin instead.

It was really close to the supermarket version. Making it again I would skew the chocolate ratio and add more milk chocolate, it was a shade too bitter. Maybe using better quality passion fruit would help. I’d also modify the base slightly – when I’ve made popping candy cakes before I used hazelnuts and I think they work really well here.

Heston’s original recipe is here

Heston Blumenthal’s exploding chocolate cake (serves 10):

For the base

150g shortbread

30g unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons white caster sugar

25g popping candy

For the chocolate ganache

175g double cream

Pinch of salt

Pulp from 6 passion fruits

50g custard

110g dark chocolate, plus a little more for decoration

50g milk chocolate

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Place the shortbread biscuits on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until golden brown.
  2. Whizz the biscuits in a food processor with melted butter and sugar.
  3. Gently stir in the popping candy. Place the mixture inside a 21cm springform tin. Flatten using the back of a spoon then put in the freezer to set.
  4. Add the cream, salt and passion fruit to a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. When it comes to the boil remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes, then stir in the custard.
  5. Melt the dark and milk chocolate together. Strain the infused cream and add to the bowl of melted chocolate a third at a time, making sure to incorporate the cream thoroughly after each addition. Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature.
  6. Use a pastry brush to spread some of the ganache on top of the biscuit base and around the edges then place in the freezer for 5 minutes. This will ensure that the ganache will not seep through (great tip!). After 5 minutes, pour the remaining ganache into the ring and place the tart in the freezer for 4 hours.
  7. Place a slab of dark chocolate on a chopping board and drag a large knife across it to create shavings. Top the cake with these decorations and return to the freezer.
  8. Remove the cake from the freezer 1 hour before serving.
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white chocolate and blueberry muffins

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white chocolate and blueberry muffins

Oh man, these are so good. Bursts of tartness and then lovely sweet white chocolate… super!

I loved them so much I made another batch the next night. Er- of course I didn’t, that would imply I’d scoffed them all in one evening…

White chocolate and blueberry muffins (makes 8 – 10):

150g plain flour

50g caster sugar

½ tsp baking powder

75g blueberries

75g white chocolate chips

A pinch of vanilla salt

1 beaten egg

50g melted butter

100ml milk

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredients and stir together. Don’t go crazy, a few lumps are fine. Pour into muffin tins / paper cases and bung in the oven for 22 – 25 mins until risen and golden.

chocolate and rosemary ice cream

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chocolate and rosemary ice cream

Heston Blumenthal has recently created a range of ice creams for Waitrose, including chocolate and rosemary ice cream. I got the chance to try this, along with popcorn ice cream at Waitrose’s Summer party held at the V&A. I was mesmerised by the taste, deeply rich and chocolatey, but with a smooth herbal note. It’s reminiscent of choc-mint ice cream as it provides a similar mentholesque flavour, but remains distinctly rosemary-y.

At the event I also realised a big dream of mine – to meet Heston. OK, we didn’t swap phone numbers or make plans to go see Pirates 4. But I did manage to tell him what an inspiration he is to me and how much I enjoy his work. He seemed genuinely appreciative, not merely saying thanks and walking off but keen to express his gratitude.

Gushing aside, I had to try and recreate that ice cream flavour that I’d sampled. I was looking to marry that rich smoothness with a warm herb flavour. After some experimenting I’m confident that I’ve nailed it. It’s chocolatey, creamy and really interesting. It would be a good one to wheel out when friends are over for dinner as all the prep is well beforehand and you only need a little to satisfy. It’s really nice with crushed pistachios. A quick tip – this needs a good twenty minutes defrosting to get smooth and easily scooped, so remove it from the freezer just as you serve the main meal.

Be warned: bring your whisking arm with you.

You can probably make this with an ice cream maker but I’ve never owned one so I can’t help you there. A lot of people go for the ‘ break it up with a fork several times during freezing’ but it’s never made any noticeable improvement to me, so I don’t bother.

Chocolate and rosemary ice cream (makes about 600 ml in volume):

40g cocoa powder

1 large sprig of rosemary

500 ml whole milk

125g dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids)

¼ teaspoon vanilla salt

6 egg yolks

100g caster sugar + 6 tablespoons caster sugar

100ml double cream

  1. Put the milk into a saucepan and pop over a medium heat. Roll up the rosemary but leave it intact (this friction breaks the surface of the herb and causes it to leak more oil). Whisk the cocoa into the milk as it heats, and keep whisking until the milk just reaches the boil. Take off the heat.
  2. Melt the chocolate. You can use a bain marie for this if you like but personally I find it less faff to use a microwave on low power. Zap it for 2 minutes at a time until smooth.
  3. Whisk the egg yolks and 100g sugar together until a pale ivory colour and thick. Add the hot milk to the yolks gradually, whisking all the time. Return the mixture back to the saucepan and put back on a gentle heat. Keep on whisking and add the melted chocolate, and whisk for a further 5 minutes until thickened. Again turn off the heat and leave to one side while you make a caramel.
  4. Melt the 6 tablespoons sugar with 2 tablespoons water over a medium heat. Swirl the saucepan round to combine but do not stir. Keep it going until it turns a lovely amber colour, then add the double cream and keep on swirling. When the caramel is smooth add to the chocolate milk, again with the whisking. Pour through a sieve into a freezable container and freeze at least overnight before serving.

black forest affogato

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black forest affogato

A little treat from 30 Minute Meals: a black forest affogato. If I can’t manage a dessert at an Italian restaurant, I’ll try and make room for an affogato – an espresso tipped over a vanilla ice cream. Simple but tasty. The addition of cherries and chocolate to this makes it brilliant. Give it a try!

Black forest affogato:

1 tablespoon of instant coffee

3 teaspoons sugar

Some shortbread, crumbled

A big scoop of good vanilla ice cream per person

A tin of cherries, drained

Some dark chocolate, chopped or grated

  1. Put some shortbread at the bottom of the bowl. Plop some ice cream on top, dot with cherries and scatter liberally with chocolate.
  2. Mix the coffee and sugar with boiling water, and splash over enough coffee to get things melting.

chocolate and caramel macarons

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chocolate and caramel macarons

Apologies for the dishevelled appearance in the photo, sadly the decent ones went immediately!

I have attempted macarons before; often problem-laden and unpredictable. The worst part was trying to let them set to achieve the mythical ‘foot’; the gluey bit on the bottom that forms that crusty ring. So when I was invited to a pre-launch macaron class at the Waitrose Cookery School I jumped at the chance.

The training kitchens, situated in Goldhurst Terrace, London, are immaculate. Warm, open and inviting, it’s difficult not to feel completely welcome and at ease. Lots of bright lighting and muted wood tones give a relaxing feel to the lobby, giving way to the pristine whites of the actual cooking area. There’s also a TV studio-style lecture theatre.

James Campbell

James Campbell piping like a ninja

Headed up by Gordon McDermott the brigade are full to the brim with chefs fresh from Michelin-starred kitchens to train and teach. Our main chef-tutor for the evening was James Campbell, a confident and engaging Scot of undoubted skill. He took us through the recipe effortlessly before dispatching us to give it a whirl. Paired with the affable Craig of London Food Detective, we set to with jolly expensive food mixers and brand-new ovens to macaron like we had never macaron before. We had a whale of a time.

We made a few mistakes, in timings and piping, but then where better to make a mistake than under the guidance of someone who use to churn out 300 desserts a night for Gary Rhodes? James pointed out the errors of our ways and set us on the right path. His techniques in instructing me how to pipe were fascinating and obvious at the same time. It’s those pro tips that you only get from doing the job for years at a professional level that makes it all worthwhile. We’d made some cracking (no pun intended) bitter orange macarons. There was also some cocktail instruction going on but I had to get our confections out of the oven! Some mulled wine macarons were also passed around and they were sensational. Filled with a boozy buttercream and a hit of syrupy reduced mulled wine, they are sure to be a hit this Winter.

If you’re considering a cookery class, or looking for a gift for the foodie in your life, try the Waitrose Cookery School. The facilities and tuition are top-notch. As a former trainer myself, I can spot a decent coach and everyone there was great.

For these chocolate and caramel macarons (known as Makka-Pakka-Roons in our house for their beige colouring) I adapted a recipe James provided. And how delightful they were. Crisp shells with chewy interiors, and sweet gooey fillings, these were a real hit. The key trick is to make them with an Italian meringue, that is made with a syrup rather than adding caster sugar while whisking. This means you don’t have to leave them to sit which is the real trick to awesome macarons.

Chocolate and caramel macarons (makes about 30):

For the meringue:

4 egg whites

187g caster sugar

75ml water

162g ground almonds

25g cocoa powder

187g icing sugar

For the chocolate:

160g double cream

200g dark chocolate

40g butter

For the caramel:

300g sugar

75ml water

250g cream

25g butter

  1. Preheat the oven to 140°C.
  2. Get the caster sugar and water in a pan and heat it up. It needs to reach 114°C.
  3. While the syrup heats, whisk the egg whites gently in a mixer. When the syrup is the right temperature slowly trickle it into the eggs so it is incorporated gently and without hitting the whisk if possible. Turn it up to max and let it whisk for 5 minutes until thick, glossy and that you-can-hold-it-over-your-headness.
  4. While that whisks, mix the almonds, cocoa and icing sugar together and then mix in the egg whites. It will be a really tough paste.
  5. Mix the egg white into the paste a third at a time. Try not to whack the hell out of it. Spoon it into a piping bag and line a tray with baking parchment (stick it down with a dab of meringue mix if you like).
  6. Pipe the mix on to the tray, leaving a gap between each one. When piping, keep the bag at 2cm over the tray and squeeze gently until you have s mall blob about 4cm in diameter on the tray. To prevent the meringue getting a wispy ‘nipple’ on top, pull away from the tray with a swirl and a flick. This needs practice!
  7. Bake in the oven for exactly 12 minutes. While that happens, make the fillings.
  8. For the chocolate, bring the cream to the simmer and add the chocolate. When melted add the butter, stir and allow to cool.
  9. For the caramel, melt the sugar and water together until golden, then slowly add the cream. When that’s blended add the butter, stir and allow to cool.
  10. When the meringues have cooled for a few minutes, pull the parchment up and peel the macaron away from the paper. Pipe some chocolate ganache around the rim and drop a few spots of caramel in the middle. Sandwich together and watch them disappear.