Category: chocolate

Categories
chocolate food peanut butter

peanut butter cookies

peanut butter cookies

I happened on these totally by accident. The ever-readable Jo of Jo’s Kitchen put out a plaintive Twitter plea for a quick post-work cookie recipe. I was sure Nigella would have the answer, and sure enough, she did. I suggested them, alas peanut butter is not her thing. Bloody is mine though, Reese’s Pieces and Peanut Butter Cups send me giddy with delight – it’s the clash of salt and sweet that makes it.

It’s riotously simple – peanut butter, egg, chocolate, sugar – but the texture is utterly amazing, just like a real cookie. Crisp on the outside, crumbly inside, with the smooth salt-sweet flavour that coats the mouth. I’m definitely doing them again, possibly this week to lift the spirits in the office. THough this time I’d use quite a sweet milk chocolate, perhaps CDM, and make them smaller, and bake them a minute or two less. Gorgeous!

Categories
chocolate food meringue strawberry

strawberry and caramel meringue

I haven’t had meringue in ages. So I had to make some, along with some strawberries left over from my salad. I’d also been given as a recent brithday gift some of Willie Harcourt-Cooze’s 100% cacao Venezuelan Black chocolate; a fruity and nutty delight that is so wonderfully bitter. So after making meringues I dipped the bases in melted chocolate and left them upturned in the fridge to harden. When it came time to serve I knocked up some caramel sauce and drizzled over, finishing with some strawberry slices. In truth some cream would’ve worked wonders here, but I was knackered and just wanted to eat!

Strawberry and caramel meringue:

For the meringue:

3 egg whites

100g golden caster sugar

For the caramel:

100g golden caster sugar

250ml single cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

15g butter

  • To serve:

100g melted dark chocolate

6 strawberries, thinly sliced

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C.
  2. Whisk the egg whites in an absurdly clean bowl until stiff. Add the sugar gradually and keep whisking until firm and glossy.
  3. Spoon into discs on a lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for about an hour until crisp and slightly cracked.
  4. When cool dip the base into melted chcolate and leav upturned in the fridge to set.
  5. For the caramel melt all the ingredients on a low heat until bubbling and golden. You may want to add a blob of golden syrup if it’s either not sweet or dark enough.
  6. Drizzle the sauce over the meringues and top with sliced strawberry.
Categories
chocolate egg food orange

chocolate orange mousse

As a birthday treat for a friend, I decided to make him chocolate mousse with an orangey twist.

It’s a fairly classic recipe; dark chocolate melted over simmering water with a knob of butter. As it cools I stir in three egg yolks, the rind of an orange plus orange juice.

Meanwhile over in the blender I whisk up the egg whites with icing sugar until light and glossy. The whipped egg whites are going to trap thousands of lovely air bubbles that make the velvet finish. Then the chocolate mix is folded in a bit at a time until stirred through. The whole lot is dribbled into pots and left in the fridge overnight to set into a dark, sweet, moreish dessert.

chocolate orange mousse:

150g dark chocolate (lots of cocoa solids please!), broken

knob of butter

1 orange

3 eggs, separated

100g icing sugar

  1. Melt dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water with butter and two teaspoons of juice from the orange.
  2. When the chocolate has cooled, mix in 2 egg yolks.
  3. Meanwhile whisk the egg whites with icing sugar until glossy and soft peaks form.
  4. Fold the chocolate into the egg whites a spoonful at a time until incorporated.
  5. Pour into ramekins and set overnight in the fridge, or for at least 4 hours.
Categories
chocolate food

cornflake cakes

This just reeks of fun. Dark and milk chocolate melted together with golden syrup and a dash of cream, then cornflakes stirred through. Happy Easter!

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