Delicious, soft, crumbly muffiny concoctions here, with a splodge of coffee icing. I enjoyed them a lot – more coffee flavour next time though.
Mocha cupcakes (makes about 12):
250ml water
250g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons instant coffee
225g self-raising flour
2 eggs, beaten
For the icing:
100g icing sugar
50g butter
2 tablespoons instant coffee
Melt the sugar and water together in a saucepan. Stir in the butter, cocoa, bicarb and coffee and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Beat the flour and eggs into the mixture until smooth. Divide into cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes until firm. Allow to cool.
Whip the icing ingredients together until smooth and use it to sandwich cut halves of the cupcake together.
Cakes and baking isn’t really my thing. I don’t know why, but batter rarely sets, sponge goes leathery and it ends up being a fantastic waste of time. Well, not this year. I will become Ace of Cakes.
Attempt #1 this year is true to form. I blindly followed an Olive magazine recipe, much to my peril. When I was assembling it I knew something was wrong but couldn’t put my finger on it. Out came two dry, flat cakes of sponge, bland and weird. My wife quite astutely spotted it: no raising agent. I double-checked the recipe and I followed it perfectly. Plain flour, beaten egg yolks and sugar. That was it. The maddening thing is, I’ve seen this recipe printed more than once, and I’m certain there were no differences.
That aside, the icing was pretty great – but then melting chocolate and butter together is hardly going to result in a disaster, is it?!
When leftovers stare at me from the back of the cupboard, I have to use them. I was fortunate enough to get hold of both a cherry panettone and a chocolate-chip panettone this Christmas, used both in bombes, and naturally had a fair chunk of each left over. I have fond memories of black forest gateau and often default to it in times of sugary need. Cherry and chocolate bread? How can I turn it into anything else?! In just a few minutes you get this dark, sweet jammy delight which fills you with gooey indulgence. Yummy. You could make this with a traditional custard, but I find the caramel-style base gives a rich and satisfying finish.
Of course I wouldn’t usually have these two types of bread available, so I imagine normal bread / sponge dotted with chunks of dark chocolate and tinned cherries would likely achieve just as tasty results.
Black forest bread pudding:
4 slices cherry panettone
4 slices chocolate-chip panettone
2 tablespoons black cherry jam
100g sugar
2 tablespoons water
300ml milk (I used semi)
125g dark chocolate, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons kirsch
Icing sugar to serve
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Layer the bread in a casserole dish. Spread the jam on the underside of the bread as you do this.
Melt the water and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat and allow to bubble. Meanwhile melt the milk and chocolate together in a separate pan and add a tiny pinch of salt.
When the sugar syrup starts to turn golden and the chocolate has melted into the milk, add the milk to the syrup. It will splutter and spit so be careful. After a minute’s bubbling turn the heat off and add the eggs and kirsch. Whisk vigorously to ensure the egg doesn’t scramble, and once it is incorporated pour the mixture over the bread. If the bread is a little stale you may want to leave it to steep for a few minutes to moisten it.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the top starts to turn crisp. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
I really enjoyed Jamie Oliver’s Family Christmas, a programme which dealt with making Christmas as easy and stress-free as possible. There was plenty to enjoy and loads of bits that I took from it, such as his roast potatoes. However I was drooling at the sight of his winter pudding bombe, and thought it looked absolutely fantastic. I had to make my own. It’s a spin on Summer pudding, with panettone as the bread base, filled with ice cream and preserved fruit, then topped with melted chocolate.
I didn’t fancy faffing with glacé fruits and went straight to a shortcut: leftover Christmas pudding. I used Sainsbury’s Basics Christmas pudding, which sounds absolutely rotten but I’ve used them before and been completely happy with them. I wasn’t disappointed. I also managed to find a chocolate chip panettone which was a really nice touch; chunky bits of choc punctuating the beautifully bland ice-cream. But to my surprise it’s the jam that makes this. Such a vibrant flavour sings out loud when you’re chewing through it, it’s quite exciting. If you have any of these bits laying around, I really recommend you make one – takes no time at all and can be left quite happy in the freezer until required.
Winter Christmas pudding bombe:
5 – 6 slices panettone (I used a chocolate chip one)
500ml good vanilla ice cream
300 – 500g Christmas pudding (I used 4 x Sainsbury’s Basics ones)
3 – 4 tablespoons fruity jam (I used raspberry)
Some good splashes of marsala wine
125g melted dark chocolate
Leave your ice cream out of the freezer for 30 mins beforehand to let it soften.
Lay some clingfilm in a bowl with plenty of overhang so you’ll be able to cover it over the top afterwards. Layer the panettone in a mixing bowl, overlapping slightly but don’t let it get too thick. (Make sure your bowl can fit in your fridge!)
Spread a thin layer of jam all around the bread.
Spoon in half the ice cream, then top with broken up Christmas pudding. Add the remaining ice cream.
Top with more panettone, then drizzle marsala all over the base and down the sides for a little Christmas cheer.
Wrap the cling film over the top, then cling film again. Take a plate and press down on it to squish it all together. Leave in the freezer until needed.
When serving, remove to the fridge for an hour to let the ice cream soften. melt some chocolate in a bain marie and pour over the top.
