Coconut brownies

I had virtually no time to bake this weekend but, nonetheless, wanted some home baking.  This is the perfect recipe to have up your sleeve – the work of minutes to get in the oven, very few ingredients, and utterly delicious. 

If I had to pick my favourite things to pair with chocolate coconut would be right at the top of the list, perhaps having to slug it out with pear for who actually had the top spot.  There is just something about coconut that brings out the best in chocolate and vice versa.  I love the damp grainy texture of baked desiccated coconut and that you can find bits of it in your teeth for a while after eating – it’s the ingredient that keeps on giving!

One thing I think it’s important to point out – this recipe didn’t behave like a normal brownie recipe; usually, when you’ve done the melting of the chocolate and butter you end up with quite a liquid mixture right until you add the flour, and even then it’s a runny mix.  This was thicker and only started to loosen when I added the eggs – here’s what it looked like after the initial melting stage (just so you don’t panic that it’s gone wrong if yours looks similar!):

Possibly the only difficult thing about baking brownies is judging when to remove them from the oven.  I work on the assumption that things firm up/set/dry out a little on cooling so try and take them out before they look ‘done’.  This goes against my prudent nature and I feel a bit of a risk-taking daredevil in removing something from the oven before it looks ready, but I force myself, and the momentary stress is worth it!  In my opinion a brownie is better a little underdone, than a little over.

Ingredients

100g cocoa powder
250g unsalted butter
500g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
100g self raising flour
100g desiccated coconut, plus 2 tablespoons extra to sprinkle on top

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan oven 160C/350F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper or non stick foil.

Place the cocoa powder, butter and sugar into a large pan (large enough to accommodate all the additional ingredients) and melt over a gentle heat, stirring all the time so nothing catches on the bottom of the pan.

When everything has combined remove from the heat and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Fold in the flour and coconut.

Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the extra coconut over the top.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the brownie is set but not firm.  Best to start checking after about 30 minutes as ovens vary.  If the top is getting too dark and crusty, cover loosely with foil and continue to bake.

Leave to cool in the tin and, when cool, cut into chunky sized squares.

Serve with a cup of tea, or warm and serve with ice cream for dessert.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Chocolate pecan tart

I suspect this may be the same as a Mississippi mud pie but haven’t called it that in case, like key lime pie, there’s a specific ingredient/aspect that defines it and I’m not aware of it!  These things can be a minefield so I thought I’d avoid causing any offence – in all honesty it was the inclusion of pecan nuts that made me just think, ‘hmm, best not go there!’

It’s a bank holiday weekend so that means the glorious euphoria that only an extra day off work can bring!  I wanted to make something that would last all weekend and provide dessert.  This met the brief and was also a tart that I knew we wouldn’t get bored of – seriously, how you could you ever tire of chocolate tart?

The tart souffled up whilst cooking and sank when cooling.  Don’t panic when this happens; although my outer ring of pecan nuts stood up like sentries and meant the edge couldn’t sink back down giving an ‘interesting’ final look!  Here it is souffled….

….and sunken:

I do admire the design of pecan nuts – they look like shrivelled brains.  Walnuts and pecans have it sewn up regarding ‘interesting looking nuts’.  Most nuts are a bit dull looking – smooth and pale, but these two have raised the bar and always make me pause to look whenever I bake with them.  The complexity in shape that nature can produce is fascinating.  I’ve re-read what I’ve just written and concede that some people may find it weird.  I can assure you that it’s when I say I’ve started talking to the nuts that you should worry (or when I claim that they answer back!)

Ingredients

For the tart base:
225g biscuits – I used hobnobs, but digestives or ginger biscuits would also work
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:
170g plain chocolate
170g unsalted butter
4 eggs
170g dark muscovado sugar
150ml whipping cream
100g pecan nuts

To serve: whipped cream

Method

Start by making the base: blitz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor, then add the butter and blitz again until you have clumpy wet sand.  NB. If you use the food processor there is no need to melt the butter, unlike it you use the old ‘bash the biscuits with a rolling pin’ method!

Press the crumbs into a 20cm loose bottomed flan tin taking care to come right up the sides.

Place in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 190C/fan oven 170C/375F/gas mark 5.

Melt the chocolate and butter together over a gentle heat.

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes – if the mix is too hot the eggs will scramble when you add them causing a lumpy final texture.

Whisk in the eggs and sugar until smooth and well combined.

Whisk in the cream.

Pour into the chilled biscuit base and place the pecan nuts on top, arranged however you wish.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the chocolate filling looks set.

Leave to cool before de-tinning.  Don’t worry that your tart will settle as it cools – this is normal.

Serve in generous slices with cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat

Mint chocolate biscuits

Long-time readers of my site will remember the anti-mint sentiments included in my TenCommandments.  My feelings to mint can be summed up quite simply – I hate it with a passion, particularly when a sprig finds its way onto my dessert plate for no good reason.  NB.  There is never a good reason. 

There are two exceptions I will happily cite: mint sweets, and mint with chocolate.  It has NO place in anything else – particularly savoury foods.  Bleugh….lamb and mint - whoever thought that was a good idea?  Mad people and mint farmers, that’s who.

Mint tea???  No!  I have tried it on various occasions and never got past two sips before wishing I just had some normal PG Tips in my cup.  The word ‘tea’ brings so much excitement into my life but there’s always such sadness and disappointment when it’s paired with ‘mint’.

This recipe appealed to me because I have a fondness for Matchmakers.  Often minty chocolate features in Christmas recipes and I liked that this is very much an all year round bake.  I also liked that the recipe doesn’t use up the whole box of Matchmakers….so the cook gets some perks!

These biscuits are crisp, thin and buttery; they hold their shape well during baking giving them a smart, uniform appearance.  They are lovely on their own, but would also be nice served with ice cream for dessert.

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
140g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
280g plain flour
100g mint chocolate sticks, finely chopped – I used Matchmakers

Method

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.

Stir in the flour and chopped matchmakers and bring together to form a dough.

Cut the dough in half, flatten each into a fat disc and wrap in clingfilm.

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C/fan oven 170C/375F/gas mark 5.

Line two large baking sheets with baking paper or non stick foil – you may have to use the trays twice i.e. bake in batches.

Take the first disc of dough and roll out between two sheets of clingfilm – aim for about the thickness of a £1 coin (3mm approx).

Using a cutter no bigger than 6cm, cut out the dough.  You need to get 15 biscuits from each half of dough.

Place onto the prepared sheets leaving space around as they will spread when baking.

Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes until golden.

Leave to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Repeat the process with the second half of the dough.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Chocolate Christmas pudding cupcakes

As much as I love daydreaming about having a Nigella-style existence where I can spend days in my perfect kitchen crafting masterpieces the reality is that, if you work full time, and factor in all the other stuff you have to do,  time is short – particularly at Christmas.  I am planning on some projects for Christmas that will be more involved but, for now, I wanted something cute and quick.

I have always loved the look of a traditional Christmas pudding but hate the taste.  Therefore, the concept of these little puds was to achieve the look I covet but made from chocolate chip cupcakes, with the inclusion of almond to ensure that they will keep well for a few days for entertaining over the festive period.  I decorated them with sugar holly leaves but you can let your imagination run wild.

In all honesty, they don’t look like puddings.  There, I’ve said it.  The design in my head didn’t quite manifest itself in the finished item.  Mostly because I went overboard with the ganache – I put on an amount that created the pudding effect, but then had lots left so was faced with the dilemma of not using it all, or adding too much to the cakes.  As Thom Yorke (never) sang: gluttony always wins.

The ganache firmed up a lot quicker than I expected – often ganache can be runny and you have to refrigerate it, but not this one.  It is extremely rich and sweet…but it’s also Christmas so do not feel any guilt!  I read an article stating that the average person consumes an additional 30,000 calories over the Christmas period.  I’m not sure whether I was meant to take that as a target to aim towards, like the 10,000 steps a day goal, but……

Ingredients

For the sponge:

175g unsalted butter, melted and left to cool
150g natural yoghurt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
175g golden caster sugar
140g self raising flour
35g cocoa powder
100g ground almonds
100g chocolate chips

For the ganache:

300g white chocolate
120ml double cream

To decorate: sugar holly leaves

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/ fan oven 170C/ 375F/ gas mark 5.

Grease 1 cupcake trays i.e. 12 holes.  You don’t want paper cases as this will stop the cupcakes having a smooth pudding like finish.

Melt the butter for the sponges and put to one side to cool.

In a jug whisk together the yoghurt, eggs and vanilla.

Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl i.e. the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, ground almonds and chocolate chips.

Pour the yoghurt mix and the melted cooled butter into the dry ingredients and fold together just enough to combine.

Spoon into the greased cupcake pans and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the sponges comes out clean.

Turn the cakes (inverted – so that the domed top is now the bottom) out onto a wire rack straightaway – I find this helps flatten the domed top as the sponges cool.

Leave to cool completely.

Now make the ganache: melt the cream and chocolate together.  There are various ways you can do this – short bursts in the microwave and stirring between each one; melting in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water; or my preferred method: in a saucepan using a gas diffuser ring.

Leave the ganache to cool and set a little.  It might require refrigeration (mine didn’t) to set up enough to spoon over the cakes but don’t forget about it as you want it to stay a bit runny.

Spoon over the top of each cake and let run down the side.

Decorate as required.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Chocolate orange carrot cake

I’ve never baked (or indeed seen, or eaten) a chocolate carrot cake before.  It seemed the perfect cake given the increasingly autumnal feel in the air – soft sponge with chocolate and spice; it would be a good Bonfire Night cake too.  Funny how we associate flavours with seasons/events.

Being a carrot cake this is a very light sponge.  The brown sugar adds a caramel sweetness which always works well with spice.  The cocoa adds a chocolately depth.  The sultanas are entirely optional but, in my world, always make everything better so I added some!  I ‘ummed and aaaaahed’ over whether to make this as a single sponge or to make as a sandwich style cake.  In truth, I think it would work as either, but I was in the mood for a little cream cheese frosting so whipped up an orange one to compliment the zest in the cake.

I like it when bakes evolve like this, with a series of little decisions being made along the way to create the finished item.  This was a very popular cake and something a little bit different which, 8 years into my blog, feels increasingly difficult to achieve!

The flavours of this cake work well together but all remain identifiable because they hit your palate at different times.  The initial hit is the chocolate sweetness; this is cleaned away by the sharp cream cheese frosting and you are left with a fruit orange spice flavour.  It comes in three distinct waves.  Once I spotted this I took my time over each mouthful (unlike me) and ticked the stages of flavour off each time...this is how I entertain myself!

Mr CC was very sceptical about this cake initially.  When I said to him I was making a chocolate orange carrot cake he gave me a look which I can only describe as a ‘what you talking bout Willis?’ look (a reference that you will need to be a certain age to get!) but, when he tasted it, he really liked it!

Ingredients

For the sponge:

280g soft light brown sugar
200g self raising flour
80g cocoa powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Optional: 50g sultanas
zest of 1 orange (save the rest of the orange for the buttercream)
4 eggs
200ml sunflower oil – or any flavourless oil, I used light olive oil suitable for baking
100ml milk
200g carrots, grated – this equates to approx 3 medium carrots

For the buttercream:
350g cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
160g icing sugar
1 -2 tablespoons orange juice

To decorate: chocolate sprinkles

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan oven 160C/350F/gas mark 4.

Line two 20cm loose bottomed round sandwich tins with baking paper.

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together e.g. light brown sugar, self raising flour, cocoa, bicarb, mixed spice, cinnamon and – if using - sultanas.

Place all the wet ingredients in a large jug e.g. orange zest, eggs, oil, milk and carrots and beat together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together.

Divide equally between the cake pans.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes (start checking after 30 minutes) or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tins, on a wire rack, for about 30 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely.

Now make the filling: Beat the cream cheese and butter until soft, light and whippy.

Add the icing sugar and beat well.

Add the orange juice – start with just one tablespoon – and beat until you have a light, spreadable buttercream.  Add more orange juice if required.

Place one sponge on the serving plate and spread about 1/3 of the buttercream over the top.

Place the remaining sponge on top.

Cover the top and sides with the frosting.

Cover the top with chocolate sprinkles.

Refrigerate until about 20 minutes before serving.

Serve in generous slices with a cup of tea.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Banana and sour cream cake

  

Normally, when I decide to make a banana cake, I never have time to let the bananas fully ripen and I’m left with the Herculean labour of trying to mash rock-hard fruit.  Not this time!  For once I actually managed to mash the bananas without breaking my wrist.

What attracted me to this recipe was the addition of sour cream as it cuts through the richness of the banana.  Often banana cake can be dense and heavy in texture but, like yoghurt, sour cream produces a lovely moist soft sponge. The thin layer of buttercream added a rich, sweetness which was just enough.

The smell of the raw cake mix, and while baking was divine – it was so intensely banana.  The addition of the chocolate chips adds little naughty pockets of sweetness; I used milk chocolate as my palate always favours sweet over bitter.

Ingredients

For the cake:

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
180g caster sugar
3 eggs
4 medium size very ripe bananas, mashed
120ml sour cream
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g chocolate chips

For the buttercream:

60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g icing sugar
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon golden syrup – you could use maple syrup or honey if you prefer

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/ fan oven 160C/ 350F/ gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – don’t skimp on this stage.  The mix will turn pale and look almost like whipped cream.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Mix in the mashed bananas and sour cream.

Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and chocolate chips.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake for approximately an hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out cleanly.  

It is worth checking the cake after 40 minutes as ovens vary greatly.  Mine actually took over an hour and after an hour I covered the top loosely with foil to stop it over-browning.

Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before de-tinning and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Now make the buttercream: beat the butter until it is pale, light and whippy looking.

Add the icing sugar, sour cream and golden syrup and beat until well incorporated – if it looks too thin add an extra tablespoon of icing sugar.

Spread the buttercream over the top of the cooled cake.

Cut into thick slices.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Chocolate biscuits

 

I have never liked bourbon biscuits.  I don’t know why, because I should like them – chocolate biscuit and a chocolate filling…there’s nothing to dislike, and yet we’ve just never bonded.  I’ve always found them a bit stale and musty tasting, like they pretend they’re chocolate but they’re not really.  For me they are the biscuit equivalent of that person who your friend builds up saying, ‘you must meet X, they’re hilarious and you have so much in common.  You will become such great friends’, and indeed it sounds so promising and – of course - you trust your friend’s judgement but, when you meet them, you take against them so violently that you wonder if faking a seizure will get you out of the situation quicker.  Not that that’s ever happened to me.  Obviously....

The reason I chose this recipe is that the comments on the BBC Good Food website noted that the biscuit was like a bourbon.  Mr CC is rather partial to a bourbon but I’m not altruistic enough to make a batch of biscuits I don’t like.  This seemed a good middle ground as I suspected that the decoration being actual chocolate would add flavour, plus the fact that the biscuits weren’t sandwiched would make them a lighter eat (I know, I know....I’ve changed).  Plus, I’ve been sorting out my biscuit cutters and found this adorable sausage dog cutter and I’ve been so desperate to use it!

I always have a fondness for biscuit dough made with icing sugar; it is the smoothest, softest loveliest feeling dough you will ever handle.  It rolls like a dream and re-rolls patiently.  The biscuits held their shape well during baking too and, as they bake quickly, it’s a good recipe for fiddly cutters that produce details that might burn during a longer bake time.

The chocolate vermicelli and sugar balls added a nice crunch of texture to the biscuit but, more importantly, makes the dogs look like they’re wearing little jumpers!  It’s a hard hearted person who doesn’t smile at a tiny dog in knitwear.

Ingredients

For the biscuits:
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
85g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon milk
175g plain flour
55g cocoa powder

For the decoration:
100g milk or dark chocolate
Chocolate vermicelli or crumbled flake
Sugar paste eyes

Method

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and whippy.

Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla and milk.

Add the plain flour and cocoa powder and mix gently to bring together into a ball of dough – it will be very soft because of the icing sugar.

Shape into a fat disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan oven 160C/350F/gas mark 4.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper of non stick foil (the latter is always my preferred option).

Roll out the dough between two sheets of clingfilm – this stops you having to flour a work top and risk changing the consistency of the biscuits.

Once the dough is about the thickness of a £1 coin take your chosen cutter and cut out; the dough re-rolls well so don’t waste anything!

Place the biscuits on the prepared sheet, leaving a little room for spreading whilst baking, although they don’t spread much.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the biscuits feel sandy to the touch.

Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before attempting to move to a wire rack, as they will be fragile straight from the oven.

Once cool, melt the chocolate – either in the microwave, in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in a pan using a gas diffuser ring (my preferred option these days).

Using a pastry brush pain the chocolate over the part of your biscuit you wish to decorate and then sprinkle over the chocolate flakes.

Decorate further as required.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Chocolate and vanilla marble madeira bundt

  

I’ve had my square bundt tin for a while now and have frequently stopped to admire it, even giving it an appreciative pat every now and then (you think I’m joking……!).  What I haven’t done with it is bake.  Realising that this could not continue I decided to pick a simple cake that required no icing as I wanted to showcase the beauty of the tin.

The cake is based on the madeira cake recipe on the BBC Good Food website.  I find denser crumbed sponges work better in bundt tins than lighter ones and also retain better definition when baked, which is important when using a finely detailed tin.

Like a more domesticated Sir Mix-A-Lot, I like big bundts and I cannot lie (I may have made this joke before, apologies if I have, but it still made me laugh).  This is a 10 cup capacity bundt...it’s a big one!

I decided to make the sponges separately as it’s a big cake and wanted to avoid worrying about whether I’d divided the creamed mixture evenly; I know you can weigh it to ensure evenness but I couldn’t be bothered.  When the batter is quick to make like this one, there is no detriment to one batter sitting to one side and waiting for its compadre to be born.

For those who watch the Great British Bake Off, I am pleased to report that I got a crack on the top of my Madeira.  Sadly, being a bundt, this became the bottom on turning out so the world at large never got to see my glorious crack!

Ingredients

For the chocolate sponge:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon chocolate extract - optional
170g self raising flour
30g cocoa powder
50g ground almonds

For the vanilla sponge:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g golden caster sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g self raising flour
50g ground almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/fan oven 150C/340F/gas mark 3.

Generously grease a large bundt tin – I used cake release spray.

Start by making the chocolate sponge: beat together the butter and sugar until light and whippy.  Don’t skimp on this stage.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Beat in the chocolate extract, if using.

Beat in the flour, cocoa powder and ground almonds.

Put to one side.

Now make the vanilla sponge following the same method but using vanilla extract instead of chocolate, and the adjusted amount of flour (it will be more in the vanilla cake – per the ingredients above – as there is no cocoa).

Spoon the batters alternately into the tin, then use a skewer to swirl them together.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before taking a bread knife (or other big knife) and levelling the top – I use the tin as a guide. This will ensure the base will be level when you turn it out.

Turn out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve in generous slices.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.