Gluten Free Chilli Brownies for Halloween

 

 

Story has it that red chilli peppers are associated with the devil, thanks to the hellish heat they leave in one's mouth and the shape of the little peppers curving like devil's horns. These brownies can be as fiery or as subtle as you like, it just depends on the heat of the chilli pepper you use. Even with the hot peppers the crumb of the brownie still tastes sweet, soft and so chocolatey. Devilishly good. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe

Adapted from the one by Cook Vegetarian, for their recipe click here

Serves 7-8

 

 

150g plain chocolate

100g chilli dark chocolate

150g unsalted butter, room temperature

175g caster sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

75g gluten free plain flour

1 small bag dark chocolate chips

half a red chilli pepper, finely chopped and deseeded

 

for decoration:

gluten free coloured icing pens, (I used Dr Oetker)

a little cherry or raspberry jam, optional

gluten free ready rolled white icing, (I used offcuts of Silver Spoon icing), optional

 

 

1. Turn the oven to 170C (150 fan ovens) and grease and line a suitable square or rectangular baking tray.

 

 

2. Break the chocolate bars into small pieces, placing the chilli chocolate chunks in a separate bowl to the plain so that you can tell the two apart.

 

 

3. Heat 100g of the plain chocolate chunks, and all the chilli chocolate, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Stir carefully until the chocolate has melted, then remove the bowl from the heat and put to one side to cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the sugar into the chocolate, then add the eggs one at a time until well combined.

 

 

5. Next sift over the flour, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, the leftover plain chocolate and the finely chopped red chilli. Gently fold these ingredients into the batter.

 

 

6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for approximately half an hour. A skewer should come out pretty clean. Leave brownies to cool in the baking tray, before cutting with a knife into even slices.

 

 

7. Give the brownies spooky style by using coloured icing pens to decorate them with images of witches, bats and spiders' webs. 

 

 

8. If you want to create ghost brownies as above, simply brush a little cherry or raspberry jam over the sides of the brownie and wrap them in cut pieces of ready rolled white icing. Then decorate with coloured icing pens, drawing ghostly eyes and mouths.

 

Serve on Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

These brownies were idly baked while listening to Abbatoir Blues by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

 

 

 

Double Chocolate Brownie Cake

This is a variation of the brownie cake I've blogged before. This particular version has become known as a real crowd pleaser in my family. As my Mum puts it, "it is so intensely gorgeous that you just have to close your eyes and surrender to the experience!" The recipe lends itself to endless adaptations, and using muscovado sugar gives a fudgy texture and rich flavour to the bake.

 

 

Recipe
Adapted from the brilliant recipe at the BBC Good Food website. See their original recipe here
Serves 8

175g unsalted butter, room temperature
175g best quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
50g white chocolate, broken into pieces,
handful dark chocolate chips, optional
65g plain flour
200g light muscovado sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature


1. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan ovens), and grease and line a 20cm cake tin. I used a decorative one, which needed only greasing.


2. Heat the butter, sugar and the 175g broken dark chocolate in a bain mairie, a heat proof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Stir gently until the ingredients have melted together. Take off the heat and leave to cool in the bowl.


3. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture, beating well until combined. Then, using a wooden spoon, gently stir in the flour, white chocolate chunks and dark chocolate chips.

4. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until fluffy, before very gently and briefly folding them into the rest of the ingredients.


5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and bake in the oven for approx 40 minutes, until the top has cracked and bounces back under your finger.


6. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 mins, before placing on a wire rack or plate.


for the topping:
approx 35g white chocolate, broken into pieces


7. Once cool, melt some extra white chocolate over another bain mairie, then pour or flick over the top of the cake, and serve with cream. You'll want a large slice.

 

 

This cake was idly baked while listening to portuguese Fardo by Amalia Rodriugues

 

Gluten Free Mini Orange & Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

For my birthday recently, my dear friend Caroline gave me Claire Ptak's gorgeous Whoopie Pie Book and a mini whoopie pie baking tray, opening my eyes to a world of whoopie deliciousness hitherto untasted and unknown.

Here I've baked a gluten free adaptation of Ptak's chocolate chip whoopie cake recipe - adding my twist of orange zest and juice to the sponges, plus Green & Black's Maya Gold to the delectable marshmallow chocolate icing. The little pies are bite size chunks of chocolate orange. I don't know why they're are called pies - they're sweet little cupcake sandwiches and very addictive. Thanks Caroline!

Recipe
Adapted from Claire Ptak's recipe in The Whoopie Pie Book. Buy the book on Amazon here


Makes 12 mini whoopie pies

for the pie batter:
140g gluten free mix flour (Dove's Farm or M&S recommended)
half a teaspoon gluten free baking powder (Barkart recommended)
pinch of salt
65g unsalted butter, room temperature
50g golden caster sugar
50g light muscovado sugar
half a large egg
30ml milk
30ml natural yoghurt
1 squeeze of a fresh juice from an orange
2 teaspoons of grated orange zest
100g plain chocolate chips

1. Grease a couple of mini whoopie pie baking trays, or grease and line a couple of flat baking trays.

2. Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl for at least 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg, and beat well.

4. Next combine the milk and yoghurt in a measuring jug, stirring to make a quasi buttermilk.

5. Pour the buttermilk into the bowl, and then add the orange juice and orange zest. Stir well to combine.

6. Sift the gluten free flour, baking powder and salt into the batter, and beat again.

7. Finally, gently fold in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

8. Place the bowl full of batter into the fridge for half an hour to chill.

9. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan ovens), and leave to come to temperature as the batter is chilling.

10. When ready, place spoonfuls of the chilled batter into the pie baking tray, or dollop small spoonfuls onto the lined baking trays.

11. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes only. You'll know the pies are done when your finger leaves an indent on the top of one of the pies.

12. Pop out of the baking trays and leave to cool on a wire rack or plate.


for the chocolate marshmallow filling:

50g Maya Gold dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 and a half egg whites
75g caster sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup
half a pinch of salt
2-3 drops of orange blossom extract


13. Melt the chocolate pieces in a bain mairie (a heatproof bowl over a pan of just simmering water). Stir gently, and take off the heat to cool when melted.


14. To make the marshmallow, place the pan of water back on the heat and place another larger heatproof bowl over the top. Add the egg white, sugar, syrup, salt and orange blossom water, and whisk the ingredients by hand for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has cohered and froths.


15. Take the bowl off the heat, and beat it hard with an electric beater or whisk. You'll know the filling is ready when it is white, shiny and thickened and holds its shape. Gently stir in the melted chocolate until just combined.


16. When the whoopies are cool, place a heaped teaspoon full of the filling into the centre of a whoopie, and sandwich it gently with another one. You can serve immediately, or leave for half an hour to let the filling firm up.

These whoopie pies were idly baked to the sounds of Henry Purcell's Musique Funebre Pour La Reine Mary

Gluten Free Chocolate Courgette Cake

This moist, dark chocolate cake is gluten free, potentially dairy free if you top with melted chocolate instead of the icing, and most importantly totally delicious. You can't taste the courgette, but it gives the crumb a lovely soft and fluffy texture, the perfect foil for some rich chocolate icing and lots of easter eggs. If you're in any doubt of the health benefits of this cake, just remember that it contains three courgettes, so that's at least 1 of your 5 a day, no?

Recipe
Serves 8-10

Base recipe adapted from the one by Sandy at the All Recipes website, see it here at www.allrecipes.co.uk
Icing recipe adapted from one by Mitzie Wilson and Caroline Russell at delicious. Magazine online. See their recipe here.


175g gluten free plain flour
250g golden caster sugar
50g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
two thirds of a teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 medium eggs
230ml vegetable oil
220g grated courgette



1. Turn oven to 180C (160C fan oven), and grease and line a 20cm spring form cake tin.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl.

3. Add the eggs and the oil, beating well.

4. Fold in the grated courgette, mixing until thoroughly combined.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and bake in the oven for approximately 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

6. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, before placing on a wire rack or plate to cool completely.

for the icing:
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g plain chocolate,
142ml double cream
and/or 100g dark chocolate, optional

for the chocolate mice:
white chocolate bars, milk chocolate bars, dark chocolate bars as below

8. To make the icing, break the plain chocolate into small pieces and melt with the butter in a heat proof bowl over another bain mairie as before.

9. Stir it carefully, then when all melted beat in the double cream with an electric hand whisk. Take off the heat and leave the mixture to cool.

10. When the base and the icing are smooth, spread icing over the top and the sides of the cake. In an optional extra manouevre to make it even more chocolatey I then melted 100g dark chocolate and spooned that over the top of the cake, before leaving to cool. If you want this to be a dairy free cake, then spoon approx 150g-200g dark chocolate over the top of the un-iced cake,

11. When the melted chocolate is totally cool, decorate with eggs and chocolate bunnies and chicks. You can see how to make your own chocolate animals at my white chocolate mouse cake post here
Add sprinkles or anything else you fancy to decorate, the kitscher the better.

HAPPY EASTER!

This cake was baked while listening to Leonard Cohen's new album Old Ideas, and was decorated by Mr Stanley Booth aged nearly 4

Dark Chocolate, Rum & Almond Birthday Cake

Birthday cakes come in all shapes and flavours, so for my younger brother's 30th birthday I decided to make a special boozy variation of his favourite childhood chocolate cake. Laced with rum and almonds, and topped off with a gorgeous rich dark ganache, this is a fabulous cake for any celebration, plus a lot of fun for an idle baker and little helpers to decorate.

Recipe
Serves 10-12
Recipe adapted from the Ultimate Chocolate Cake by Angela Nilsen at the BBC Good Food website, see the recipe here

for the 2 cake bases:

300g light muscovado sugar
200g butter, room temperature, chopped into small pieces
4 eggs, room temperature
25g cocoa powder
200g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, broken into small pieces
85g ground almonds
85g self raising flour
quarter of a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons dark rum
75ml half fat creme fraiche



1. Turn the oven to 160C (140C fan ovens), and grease and line two 18cm or 20cm round baking tins.

2. Stir the chocolate pieces, butter, and rum in a pan over a low heat until melted. Put to one side to cool.

3. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa, almonds, bicarb and flour), stirring until combined. Make a well in the centre of the ingredients.

4. In another bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy, before adding the creme fraiche.

5. Next fold in the chocolate mixture and the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring gently until just combined, to create a smooth batter.

6. Pour the batter evenly into the 2 prepared baking tins, and bake in the oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done when a skewer comes out clean and the tops spring back under your thumb.

7. When baked, take the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool for 20 minutes in their tins, before placing on a wire rack or plates to cool further.

for the chocolate ganache icing:

300g dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, broken into small pieces
378ml double cream
3 tablespoons golden caster sugar
180g flaked almonds
Queen white chocolate fudge writing pen to decorate, optional


8. To make the ganache,  place the chocolate pieces in a heat proof bowl.

9. Heat the double cream and caster sugar gently in a pan over low heat until it is about to boil, then quickly pour the mixture over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the ganache has come together smoothly. Cool briefly.

10. Meanwhile, place the flaked almonds in the oven to lightly toast for 10 minutes and then take out to cool.

11. When ready, place the first cake base upside down and spread a quarter of the ganache over it. Then sandwich it with the second cake, before spread the rest of the ganache around the sides and the top of the cake.

12. Press the toasted almond flakes around the sides of the cake, before piping ganache rosettes around the edge of the top using a piping bag. Leave the icing to set. If you want to hurry this process along just place the cake in the fridge for a while.

13. Just before serving, you can use melted white chocolate to write Happy Birthday if you wish to, but I cheated and used a simple writing fudge pen from Queen which I thoroughly recommend to all similarly idle bakers.


14. Serve with whipped cream. Keep any leftover cake in the fridge.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of The Black Keys album El Camino.

Banana & Chocolate Pancakes

Ok, so I could have worked harder to make this dish look more like the pristine, polished pancakes you find in food magazines and restaurants. I could have picked the prettiest pancake to photograph, and folded the banana neatly inside. But let me tell you, it took all my self control to stop myself instantly tucking into this, the last banana and chocolate pancake of the afternoon, and to take any photograph at all. The combination is utterly scrumptious. Warm, soft, caramelised bananas in their syrup, spread over a golden pancake and drizzled with melted dark chocolate. Glorious.

Adapted from a recipe given by Riverford Farm, the brilliant local organic veg & fruit box delivery scheme we use. See the recipe on their website here.

Makes about 6 pancakes

for the pancake batter
100g plain flour
1 large egg
300ml whole milk


1. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour.

2. Break the egg into the well, add a spoonful of milk before beating the mixture. Gradually add the milk and continue beating until smooth. The finished batter should be no thicker than single cream. Cover the bowl with a plate and cool in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, ideally 1 hour.

3. When ready to cook, stir the batter again briefly. Heat a little oil in a large light frying pan over a medium heat, and wait until the oil is just beginning to steam. Stand back as you add a cupful of the batter to the pan, tiping it around the pan to make sure it covers the base in a thin layer.

4. Cook the pancake for about 1 and a half minutes, until the edges are going golden and coming away a little from the pan.

5. Loosen with a spatula, and then flip the pancake over and hold your breath as you catch it! Or if that's too scary an idea, turn it over with a fishslice if you prefer. Cook the pancake for about another minute, until the edges are crisping and both sides are turning golden. The first pancake is normally the most haphazard. Repeat to make as many pancakes as you'd like.


for the banana filling:
3 or 4 ripe bananas, peeled and cut half lengthways
60g unsalted butter
3 tablespoons caster sugar


6. Melt the butter in a low heat in another frying pan, before throwing in the sugar and bananas.

7. Heat until the bananas are starting to caramelise and are soft and golden.



for the melted chocolate:
100g dark chocolate, broken into chunks


8. Gently melt the dark chocolate chunks in a bain maire, a heat proof bowl over a pan of just simmering water.


9. Place a banana with the syrup inside each pancake, before folding the pancake into a half moon. Alternatively do what I do and just lay the bananas and syrup over each pancake. Drizzle each pancake with the melted chocolate. Eat immediately!

These pancakes were idly made while watching the documentary Man On Wire. If you think tossing pancakes is difficult, just you watch Phillippe Petite walking on a wire between the tops of the Twin Towers in 1974.

Gluten Free Chocolate & Roasted Hazelnut Brownie Cake

Take no notice of the unassuming cracked exterior of this cake. Inside there lies the most rich and beautiful tasting nutty brownie cake. Moist and soft in the middle with nuggets of chocolate and crunchy slivers of hazel, this is definitely my cake crush of the week. If you're not gluten intolerant then you can use plain flour instead of the gluten free mix. Next time I'm planning on adding an extra egg to make a bigger cake for even more eating potential....

Recipe
Adapted from the brilliant recipe at the BBC Good Food website. See their original recipe here
Serves 8

175g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
65g gluten free plain flour (Dove's Farm or M&S recommended)
200g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
50g hazelnuts

1. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan ovens), and grease and line a 20cm cake tin.


2. When the oven is up to temperature, place the hazels on an oven tray and bake for approx 4 minutes to roast them. Take out of the oven and leave to cool, before removing their skins and cutting the nuts into small pieces.


3. Heat the butter, sugar and 175g of the chocolate in a bain mairie, a heat proof bowl over a pan of just simmering water. Stir gently until the ingredients have melted together. Take off the heat and leave to cool in the bowl.


4. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture, beating well until combined. Then, using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour, chocolate chunks and roasted chopped hazels


5. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until fluffy, before very gently and briefly folding them into the rest of the ingredients.


6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and bake in the oven for approx 40 minutes, until the top has cracked and bounces back under your finger.


7. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 mins, before placing on a wire rack or plate. Once cool, dust liberally with icing sugar and serve with double cream.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus

New Year, New Chocolate & Apricot Tart

Any New Year plans we had were scuppered by coming down with the flu the day before. However, it would've been too depressing not to do ANYTHING vaguely celebratory on New Year's Eve, so in my mildly feverish state I dragged myself into the kitchen and made this delicious tart before hopping back into bed to save my energy for the glass of fizz with Mr Eve at midnight. It's a yummy combination of sweet pastry, apricot jam laced with lemon, and a soft, dark mousseline chocolate topping.

Bear in mind when casting a critical eye over this tart that it was the first time I've ever tried to make pastry, and I had a fever as I made it. So I didn't roll out the pastry thin enough, I overcooked the edges of the tart a little and as I was using a slightly smaller size tart tin I poured a bit too much chocolate filling into the pastry case. But hey, it was my first time at making pastry! And it tasted bloody gorgeous! Happy New Year and here's to a wonderful 2012 all you lovely people!

Recipe
By the talented mistress of tarts, Tamasin Day-Lewis, from her book The Art of the Tart. Buy the book on Amazon here
Serves 8-10

for the sweet pastry:
225g plain flour
75g icing sugar, sifted
2 egg yolks
150g unsalted butter


1. Turn the oven to 200C (180C fan ovens) and get a 25cm or 30cm tart tin.

2. Using a food processor or food mixer, make the pastry by blending the icing sugar, plain flour and butter together.

3. Next add the egg yolks, and blend again until the mixture is well combined.

4. Shape the pastry into a ball and wrap in cling film, before leaving it to cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.

5. When the time is up, flour a rolling board and pin, and roll out the pastry so that it lines the tart tin.

6. To prepare to blind bake the chilled pastry circle, cut a circle of greaseproof paper and place it over the circle base, before covering with ceramic baking beans (or kidney beans or any kind of uncooked bean). Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper.

7. Now prick the base of the pastry with a fork, before putting back in the oven to back for another 5 minutes.

for the filling:
125g apricot jam
juice of half a lemon
180g unsalted butter
180g good dark chocolate
125g caster sugar
4 eggs, room temperature

8. Turn the heat of the oven down to 180C (160C fan ovens) before getting to work on the apricot element. Mix the apricot jam and lemon juice together. Then spread it evenly over the pastry base of the tart.

9. Next, melt the butter and chocolate in a bain mairie, a bowl over a pan of just simmering water. When melted, take the bowl off the heat to allow the mixture to cool a little.

10. Meanwhile, in a larger bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and foamy.

11. Using a wooden or metal spoon gently stir the chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar until just combined.

12. Pour the filling into the pastry case. If your tart case is 25cm as opposed to 30cm, then you won't use all the chocolate filling - more spoonfuls for licking out the bowl I say!

13. Bake the tart for 20 minutes until the chocolate has formed a slight crust.

14. Once baked, leave to cool for a while, before taking out of the tin and scatter flaked almonds ontop if you like. Serve with double cream, creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.

This tart was baked while listening to James Brown, The 40th Anniversary Collection

Spiderweb Cupcakes

I was planning on baking and blogging these delicious halloween cuties earlier in the week, but then a certain little lady came into our lives and took all my attention.

Nico the kitten likes feather teasers, purring loudly, cat milk and having her stomach stroked. Now that she's sleeping I can press on with blogging my halloween cupcakes. but allow me one more photo please before I do. Aaaah the blissful life of a kitten.

Recipe
Cupcake base recipe my own.
Chocolate icing adapted from the recipe Death By Chocolate Cupcake by Lisa Harris at Good Food Channel, see the recipe online here.
Spiderweb topper idea and design by Jessica Dodell-Fedder at countryliving.com, see it here.
Makes 12 large cupcakes.

for the batter:
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
200g self raising flour
half a teaspoon baking powder
200g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100ml milk
80g dark chocolate (70% solids)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1. Turn oven to 180C (160C fan ovens). Fill a 12 hole muffin pan with medium sized cupcake cases.

2. In a large bowl, throw in all the batter ingredients except the milk, chocolate, and cocoa powder, and beat well until combined.

3. Next add the milk, and stir again.

4. Melt the chocolate over a low heat in a saucepan before leaving to cool for a moment. Add the cocoa powder and stir carefully. Then pour in the melted chocolate and continuing stirring gently until the batter is smooth and combined. 

5. Spoon the chocolate batter into the cases. Fill until they are two thirds full.

6. Put the muffin tray in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. You'll know they're done when a skewer comes out clean.

7. When done, leave the cupcakes for a couple of minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool, and you can get on with the icing.

for the chocolate icing: 

50g cocoa powder

325g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp whole milk

225g unsalted butter, room temperature

8. Mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl. When combined, beat in the butter.

9. Add the milk, and whisk briskly for at least 2 minutes until smooth and the colour has lightened.

10. Use a palette knife or the back of a spoon to spread the icing over the cupcakes, before adding the spiderweb toppers.

for the spiderweb toppers:

150g white chocolate, broken into small pieces

11. Melt the white chocolate gently over a bain mairie (a bowl placed over a pan of almost simmering water). Once melted, take off the heat and pour into a piping bag with the smallest circle nozzle. If you don't have this you can make a piping bag by snipping a hole in the corner of a freezer bag.

12. Print out the spiderweb toppers template that you'll find here. Next line a baking sheet or tray with parchment or baking paper, and slip the spiderweb template underneath the paper. Pipe white chocolate onto the paper over each template, making sure that all the lines join up. It's worth practising this, if like me you've never made chocolate toppers before, as the first few may be a disaster. Continue until you're created 12 toppers, then place the sheet into the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

13. Using a spatula, gently lift the toppers from the paper, and place one atop each iced cupcake.

These cupcakes were idly baked while listening to the Kings of Leon album Only By The Night.

Toffee & Hazel Loaf

Moist dense and nutty heaven, this loaf cake is delicious served hot or cold. The delicate toffee flavour works brilliantly with those rich and smokey roasted hazels to make the loaf taste extra special.

Recipe
Adapted from the Toffee Cake recipe by Aaron Maree in his wonderful book from the early 1990s, Cakes, Tortes & Gateaux of the World. Buy the book on Amazon here.
Serves 8

250g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g light muscovado sugar
1 and a half teaspoons vanilla extract
200g self raising flour
3 eggs
125g hazelnuts
125g dark chocolate
for decoration: 1 tablespoon cocoa powder & 1 tablespoon icing sugar

1. Turn the oven to 190C (170C fan ovens), and grease and line a 1lb loaf tin.

2. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake in the oven for approx 4 minutes to roast them. Take out of the oven and leave to cool, before removing their skins and cutting the nuts into small pieces.

3. While the hazels are roasting, break the chocolate into small chunks and melt gently over a low heat hob. Take off the heat as soon as all the chocolate is melted, and leave to cool slightly.

4. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, before adding the vanilla extract.
5. Beat in the first egg, beating until well combined. Add the 2nd egg, plus a third of the sifted flour, and combine. Beat in the 3rd egg.

6. Then pour in the cooled melted chocolate, stirring it into the batter quickly.

7. Add the rest of the sifted flour, stirring gently to combine, before finally throwing in the chopped hazelnuts and mixing them into the batter with a wooden spoon.

8. Pour the batter into the tin until it reaches the top (you may find you have a few spoonfuls leftover as a cook's perk!) and bake for 40-50 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

9. Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.

10. When cooled, remove the cake from the tin and place on a plate. Dust with cocoa powder and icing sugar to decorate.

This cake was idly baked while listening to Lauren Laverne's radio show on BBC 6 Music

Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

I was a fussy eater as a little girl, for many years the only cake I would eat was Chocolate Fudge Cake. This rich scrumptious cake tastes of a chocoholic's paradise. Here's my easy gluten free adaptation of the classic recipe, and it remains one of my favourite cakes. If you're not gluten intolerant and would like to bake it with normal flour, just swop the the gluten free flour mix for the regular stuff. To my mind, the directional flicking of melted chocolate could be a favourite past time for kids and adults alike, just don't wear your best clothes!

Recipe
Serves 10-12
Adapted from the lovely recipe by Mitzie Wilson and Caroline Russell at delicious. Magazine online. See their recipe here.
I've turned their recipe gluten free, and added the gorgeous triple chocolate topping.


1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
250ml milk
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g plain chocolate
20g cocoa powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
225g caster sugar
300g gluten free self raising flour (Dove's Farm recommended)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1. Turn the oven to 180C (160 fan), and butter and line a 20cm springform cake tin.

2. Break the plain chocolate into small pieces and heat gently in a heat proof bowl over a bain mairie ( a small pan of slightly simmering water). Once melted cover the bowl of chocolate with a plate and put to one side.

3. Combine the milk and red wine vinegar in a small bowl.

4. In a larger bowl mix the butter, eggs and sugar together. Sift in the flour, bicarb of soda and cocoa powder, and then stir in the melted chocolate.

5. Beat in the milk and vinegar, until the batter is well combined and smooth.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake for an hour. You'll know the cake's done when the top springs back under your finger, and a skewer comes out clean.

7. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before transferring onto a wire rack or plate to cool further.

for the icing:
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g plain chocolate
142ml double cream
70g milk chocolate
70g white chocolate

8. To make the icing, break the plain chocolate into small pieces and melt with the butter in a heat proof bowl over another bain mairie as before.

9. Stir it carefully, then when all melted beat in the double cream with an electric hand whisk. Take off the heat and leave the mixture to cool.

10. To make this a layer cake, halve the cake when it's totally cool (I forgot to because I had to finish this cake in a rush before our friends arrived), and spread a quarter of the icing over one half of the cake. Top with the second half of the cake, and cover the top and sides with the rest of the icing.

11. To triple the chocolate decoration, break the white and milk chocolate up into small chunks. Melt in 2 separate bowls the 2 types of chocolate one after the other over the bain mairie. Flick first the melted white chocolate, and then the melted milk chocolate over the top of the iced cake using the end of a spoon. The wilder the flicking, the more Jackson Pollock style arty the topping. Enjoy licking out the leftovers.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Tom Waits' album Real Gone.

Double Chocolate Biscuits

If you're looking for a gorgeous rich and chewy chocolate biscuit, then this is the recipe for you. These beauties are the Rolls Royce of choccy biccies, but cheap and easy to make, and can be tasty presents piled up ontop of eachother and wrapped in ribbon. So very moreish.

Recipe

Makes 25-30, so serves a greedy 8 if you ask me!

Adapted from a recipe from a tiny book by Marks and Spencer called Easy Baking.

Buy the book online at Marks & Spencer here.

140g caster sugar

225g plain flour

225g unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

55g cocoa powder

200g dark chocolate, 70% solids

pinch of salt

90g sugar sprinkles or chocolate vermicelli

1. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.

2. Next sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into the creamed mixture. Mix until well combined.

3. Split the dough in half, before wrapping each part in cling film and placing in the fridge for an hour.

4. Meanwhile turn the oven to 190C (170C fan ovens), and get out 2 large baking sheets (or if you're like me and don't have any, normal baking trays will do). Butter the sheets and line with baking paper.

5. After an hour, take out the biscuit dough. Place the dough between 2 sheets of greaseproof or baking paper (this stops the rolling pin from the touching the dough therefore preventing tearing), and roll out to about a quarter of an inch thick. Using a two and a quarter inch round cookie cutter, carefully cut out about 30 biscuits.

6. Place the dough biscuits onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave plenty of space between them to allow them to spread.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then leave to cool on the sheets for another 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

8. When the biscuits are completely cool, break up the dark chocolate into small pieces and melt carefully in a bain mairie, a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.

9. Once the chocolate is melted, remove it quickly from the heat, and spread a spoonful over the middle of each biscuit. Let the spread chocolate cool briefly on the biscuit, before sprinkling the sugar sprinkles or chocolate vermicelli ontop. Leave to set for half an hour.

These biscuits were idly baked to the sounds of Wild Beasts' brilliant album Smother

Mini Cupcakes - Chocolate and Rose Flavours

There is something absolutely addictive about these mini cupcakes. Perhaps it's because they taste soooo good and each one is just a mouthful, prompting the thought 'well there's no harm in having just one more'. Perhaps it's because they look so daintily pretty, like something out of a 1950's tea party with their little buttercream tops resembling flowers or sweet sea anemones. Whatever the reason, these little babies are extremely popular. When I served them for a 60th birthday party this week they didn't last long!

Recipe
Makes 35, so serves approx 15 (2 or 3 mini cupcakes per person)
Base and icing recipe adapted from the one given on website Forkd by the intruigingly named lukkie_shipwreck. See her recipe online here. 
Chocolate icing recipe adapted from Xanthe Milton's one for Easter Nest Cupcakes in her gorgeous book Eat Me. Buy the book on Amazon.

for the batter:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
125g self raising flour
125g golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk

for the chocolate batter flavour:
30g dark chocolate (70% solids)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

for the rose batter flavour:
half a teaspoon rose water
grated zest of half a small unwaxed lemon

1. Turn oven to 190C (170C fan ovens). Fill several mini muffin pans with mini cupcake cases.

2. In a large bowl, throw in all the batter ingredients except the milk, and beat well until combined.

3. Next add the milk, and stir again.

4. To make the two flavours, place half the batter into a second large mixing bowl.

5. To make the chocolate batter, melt the chocolate over a low heat in a saucepan before leaving to cool for a moment. Add the cocoa powder to the batter in the first bowl, and stir carefully. Then pour in the melted chocolate and continuing stirring gently until the batter is smooth and combined.

6. To make the rose batter, stir the rose water and grated lemon zest into the batter in the second bowl.

7. Use a teaspoon to carefully spoon the chocolate batter into the cases, and then the rose batter. Fill the cases until they are two thirds full. My 2 mini muffin trays hold 12 cupcakes each, so I filled them and baked the cupcakes in several batches, covering the leftover batters under plates and cooking the final batch when the first had come out of the oven.

8. Place the mini muffin trays into the oven and bake for 14-15 minutes. You'll know they're done when a skewer comes out clean.

9. When done, leave the cupcakes for a couple of minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool, and put the next batch of cupcakes to bake in the oven. When all are baked, leave them to cool on the rack and you can get on with the icing.

for the rose icing:

300g icing sugar, sifted 

150g unsalted butter, room temperature

half a teaspoon rose water

pink food colouring tint paste

7. Combine the butter and icing sugar. Stir in the rose water and mix together. Add a pin prick of colour tint (I used Dusky Pink by SugarFlair), and gently stir it in.

8.  Get a pint glass. Place a piping bag with a star nozzle inside the glass, so that the nozzle is on the bottom of the glass. Fold the piping bag edges over the glass rim. Spoon the rose icing into the piping bag, then carefully take the bag out of the glass and twist the end of the bag so that the icing is well contained.

9. Pipe the icing over the rose cupcakes and add any sprinkles or sugar flowers you fancy to decorate.

for the chocolate icing:

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

42g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

142g icing sugar, sifted

half a teaspoon vanilla extract

60ml double cream

170g unsalted butter, room temperature

10. Melt the chocolate over a low heat, and then leave to cool.

11. Mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl. When combined, beat in the butter.

12. Add the vanilla extract, cream and melted chocolate to the icing, and whisk briskly for at least 3 minutes until smooth and the colour has lightened.

13. Follow the same method as before for icing the cupcakes, using a second piping bag, and piping the icing onto the chocolate cupcakes before adding any decoration you like.

These mini cupcakes were idly baked while listening to Roberta Flack's album Killing Me Softly

Flourless Dark Chocolate & Almond Torte

This is the most gorgeous sophisticated dessert cake, dense and rich but not so decadent that you can't manage several slices. It is flourless and therefore gluten free, and it rises nicely in the oven without any need for a glutenous raising agent such as baking powder. I can't begin to describe how heavenly it smells when it's in the oven. Mmmmmmm chocolate.

Recipe

Serves 8-10

Adapted from the recipe by Jane Hornby at BBC Good Food Online, see the recipe here. 

I've taken the flour out of her recipe and replaced it with more ground almonds, to give a lovely nutty sweetness that works with the darkness of the chocolate brilliantly.

200g unsalted butter, room temperature

200g caster sugar

200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids (Green & Blacks recommended)

100g ground almonds

4 large eggs

quarter tsp salt

cocoa powder, for decoration

1. Turn oven to 180C (160 fan ovens), and line and grease a 20 or 23cm size cake tin.

2. Chop the chocolate and butter into small pieces and warm them in a pan over a gentle heat, until melted.

3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes until smooth and combined.

4. Add the melted chocolate and butter to the egg and sugar mixture, lightly stirring them together with a metal spoon.

5. Next throw in the ground almonds and a tiny bit of salt and very gently fold them into the batter.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, and bake in the oven for approx 40 minutes, perhaps a little longer. You'll know it's done when the top bounces back under your finger. Don't be peturbed if the skewer hasn't come out clean, it's a dense, truffle sort of cake.

7. Leave in the tin to cool for 15 minutes. Then remove cake from the tin and dust with cocoa powder. It can be served still warm or when completely cool at room temperature. Serve with fruit, cream, whatever you fancy.

This torte was baked while idly listening to Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service on BBC 6 Music. 

Chocolate & Blackberry Cake

We know that green foods such as spinach and brocolli are vital to our diets, but it's sometimes forgotten that the purple ones are just as important and often more fun to eat! Purple berries like blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants are high in antioxidants which guard against ageing, joint inflammation, eyestrain, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Dark chocolate, too, contains antioxidants which are supposed to help diabetes and blood pressure.

My dad has some health issues, so when it came to celebrating Father's day this sunday, I decided to make a special cake which would combine the healthiness of the purple berry with the deliciousness of chocolate. This chocolate and blackberry cake was born. It's a wonderful concoction that can be decorated in a number of ways using different fruit, flowers or candles, and would work well as a celebratory cake for birthdays and any special occasions.

Recipe
Serves 8-10

Adapted from the Easy Chocolate Cake recipe by Rachel Manley given on the BBC Food website

For the cake:
2 medium eggs
250ml milk
125ml vegetable oil
225g plain flour
350g caster sugar
85g cocoa powder
1 & a half tsp baking powder
1 & a half tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
250ml boiling water

1. Grease and line 2 loose-bottomed sandwich tins (20x8). Turn the oven to 180C (160 fan ovens).

2. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the boiling water, and beat the batter with an electric whisk until well combined.

3. Add the boiling water gradually, a little at a time, until the batter is smooth and runny.

4. Pour the mixture evenly into the 2 prepared cake tins, and put in the oven to bake for 25-35 mins. You'll know it's done when the top is firm and a skewer comes out clean.

5. Leave the cakes in their tins to cool completely.

For the icing:
200g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
200ml double cream
2 or 3 punnets blackberries
icing sugar to dust
wafer butterflies

6. Warm the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over a low heat hob and stir until the chocolate melts.

7. Remove from the saucepan and beat the mixture in a bowl so that it becomes thick and glossy.

8. Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it to rest and cool for 1-2 hours, or until it's thick enough to be spread on the cake.

9. When the cakes are cool and the icing rested, carefully take the cakes out of their tins, peel off the baking paper and place them on a wire rack or a couple of plates.

10. Spread half the icing over the underside of one cake, and sprinkle it with blackberries and a little sieved icing sugar before sandwiching the second cake on top. Ice the top of the second cake, then add the rest of the blackberries, lightly dusted with a little icing sugar. Finally scatter with wafer butterflies or any other decoration. Once made, it's worth keeping this cake in the fridge to keep the blackberries fresh.

This cake was idly baked to Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs

Harry Eastwood's Dairy & Gluten Free Chocolate Heartache Cake

This gorgeous dairy and gluten-free recipe was devised by the very talented Harry Eastwood, who specialises in inventing cakes from unassuming vegetables. It makes a cake that I believe tastes just as good when you're happy as when you're sad. And if you're sad when you make it you'll be happy by the time you taste it. Who'd have thought something so sweet could be made from aubergine!

Recipe
Adapted from Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood
Buy the book on Amazon
Serves 8-10

2 whole aubergines (weighing roughly 400g)
300g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids essential, broken into squares) I used Green & Blacks cooking chocolate - or use a dairy free chocolate
50g good quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting (Green & Blacks again)
60g ground almonds
3 medium or large free-range eggs
200g clear honey
2tsp baking powder (gluten free if necessary)
quarter tsp salt
1 tbsp good brandy
a handful of sweet local strawberries

1. Turn the oven to 180C (or 160C if using a fan oven like me). Line a 23cm x 7cm loose bottomed tin with baking parchment, grease and flour it so that the cake won't stick.

2. Randomly puncture the aubergines' skins erratically with a skewer, then place them in a bowl covered with cling film. Microwave on high for 8 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Get rid of any water left over. Place the aubergines in a bowl.
Alternatively, if you don't have a microwave, peel the aubergines with a potato peeler or knife, and cut them into small cubes and cook them with a tablespoon or so of water. That's what I did and it worked well. Once they're soft tip any leftover water out.

3. Then puree the aubergines in the blender. Once the warm aubergine is soft and smooth, add the chocolate, which will mingle and melt slowly. Set aside, covered once again in cling film, until all the chocolate has melted.
Or if like me you don't have a blender then mash the cooked aubergine with a potato masher until smooth. Add the chocolate chunks to the warm aubergine and stir/mash until all has melted.

4. Next stir all the other ingredients in a bowl until they're well mixed. Pour the melted chocolate and aubergine into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

5. Pour the mixture into the greased and lined tin and place it in the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes.
An idle note: for some reason when I made it the cake cooked so slowly it took more like 50 minutes to bake, and that was with the cake on the middle shelf - I suggest you check it after 30 minutes and then every 5 minutes or so.

6. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for at least a quarter of an hour before very carefully placing it out on a wire rack. It may be a bit cracked, accept that as part of it's charm. Sieving cocoa powder over the top once the cake is cooled hides all the cracks and adds to the dark dense chocolate flavour, and some fresh strawberries on top contrast with the bitter grownup taste of the cake delightfully. This cake keeps best in the fridge, and is a delicious torte when eaten cold with or without cream. Enjoy!

 

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Kate Bush's album The Red Shoes