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 and chestnut tart – happy birthday to me!

 

  

It was some time ago that I ate the “best cake ever” (in my opinion).  It was a ‘maronischnitte’ from Café Sacher in Salzburg; a creamy chestnut delight.  My thoughts turned to it recently and I decided to take elements of it for my birthday cake…or birthday tart as it became.

Last weekend Mr CC and I had a spiritual experience: we visited Whole Foods on Kensington High Street.  Never before have we so wanted to dislike a shop yet fallen in love with it so quickly.  I was convinced it would be overpriced hydroponic mung beans being sold to yummy mummies but it wasn’t; it was glorious.  I could’ve spent a grotesque amount of money but limited myself to what I could hold in my hands, which turned out to be a pot of couverture chocolate, a pot of red onion and horseradish stuffing, and three bars of chocolate.  Not to be used in the same dish, I’m sure you’ll appreciate.

I used my couverture in the making of the ganache.  Apart from the pebble shaped pieces looking professional in the pan I didn’t honestly notice much difference in the way it handled. It may have melted a bit quicker, and for milk chocolate had a very strong rich cocoa taste but nothing really stood out as different.

For the chestnut element I used a tin of Clement Faugier chestnut spread as it was sweet and had vanilla added to it.  Ok, and I love the tin it comes in.  The tin has a lot of ribbing to it and a really busy, vintage-y design; I particularly love the fuzzy looking chestnuts.

A biscuit base (I wasn’t in the mood for pastry), chocolate ganache, sweet chestnuts and lashings of whipped cream.  Happy birthday to me!

Ingredients

For the biscuit base:
200g biscuits – hobnobs, digestives or shortbreads will all work
100g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup or honey

For the ganache:
200ml whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g milk chocolate – or dark if you prefer

For the topping:

250g sweetened chestnut puree
300ml whipping cream

To decorate: chocolate flake

Method

Place the biscuits, butter and golden syrup in a food processor and blitz until you have moist crumbs.  If you don’t have a food processor, place the biscuits in a bag and beat to crumbs with a rolling pin.  Then put in a bowl and add the butter (melted) and golden syrup.

Press the crumbs into a 23cm round loose bottomed tart tin (I used a disposable foil tin as we’re in the process of packing up the house for moving – it did make it harder to get out, so use a loose bottomed tin if you can).  Alternatively, you could use a 36cm x 12cm rectangular loose bottomed tart tin.

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Now make the filling: Place the cream in a saucepan and add the vanilla.

Bring the cream to up to boiling point, without actually letting it boil, and then remove from the heat.

Break up the chocolate and add to the cream.

Let it stand for a couple of minutes before going in with your whisk and ensuring that the cream and chocolate are fully combined.

Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes.  Whisk occasionally to thicken up the ganache.

Remove the tart base from the fridge and pour the ganache into it.

Return to the fridge and leave to firm up – once it is firm, wrap it in clingfilm (if you try and do this straightaway you will get a mess and the clingfilm won’t pull away easily).

Spread the chestnut puree over the ganache.

Whip the cream and pipe over the chestnut layer.

Finish with some flaked chocolate.

Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before you wish to serve.

Serve in slices.

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

Eat.

Peanut butter chocolate truffles

These delicious truffles could not be simpler to make but they do require a bit of planning as the ganache needs time to chill properly in the fridge.  I was inspired to make these after Mr CC and I were served them with our tea/coffee at the end of very nice dinner to celebrate Mr CC’s birthday. 

The ones we were served in the restaurant had been rolled in cocoa powder, which I’m not a fan of in its raw form, so I used digestive crumbs instead.  Curses!  I am typing this post at mid point in the process – my ganache is cooling in the fridge.  Unusually, Mr CC is sitting next to me while I’m typing and has noticed that I’ve chosen not to roll them in cocoa....long story short, half will now be in biscuit crumbs, half in cocoa!

I have noticed a curious thing about digestive biscuits: when I buy them to put in my biscuit tin and wish them to stay whole I will open the packet and find several broken, even though I have carefully laid them in the top of one of my bags of shopping and treated them as though they were made of glass.  When I buy digestive biscuits to turn into a cheesecake base or any other recipe that involves smashing them into crumbs I will casually toss them into any of my bags of shopping – in with the potatoes and milk?  Why not? They will be doing the work for me! – and they will come home with not so much as a crumb chipped away. 

Peanut butter and chocolate is a lovely combination for anyone who enjoys that salty/sweet flavour mix.  I challenge anyone to stop at one truffle!  I tried cutting one in half to try and convey the rich, dense texture but it looked a bit crumbly because I cut it straight from the fridge thinking it would give a cleaner cut.  Moral of this story?  When in doubt, bite it in half:

Ganache making is a wonderful process; I never quite trust that the chocolate will mix in but it’s wonderful how it does!

I used a small melon baller to scoop the ganache into individual truffles.  You can tidy the balls up by rolling them in your hands but don’t waste a lot of time on this because, once they are rolled in cocoa or crumbs they look smooth and round anyway.  I made mine quite small – I like a truffle that you pop into your mouth whole and treat like a shot!  This mixture made me over 60 truffles....hurray!  Don't limit yourself to serving them as chocolates - how about using them as decadent cupcake toppers, or cheesecake decorations....in fact, any chocolate dessert?

Ingredients

300ml double cream
6-8 tablespoons smooth peanut butter – depending how peanutty you want it
200g dark chocolate, broken into squares
100g milk chocolate, broken into squares
8 digestive biscuits
6 tablespoons cocoa powder, you may need more

Method

Place the cream and peanut butter in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil.

Remove from the heat and add both the dark and milk chocolate.

Leave to stand for a couple of minutes before gently stirring to combine into a thick, glossy ganache.

Pour into a heat proof dish and leave to cool before refrigerating until set (at least 4 hours – I left it overnight).

Blitz the digestive biscuits to crumbs either in the food processor or by placing in a bag and bashing with a rolling pin.

Take a melon baller scoop (or a  teaspoon if you don’t have a melon baller) of ganache and roll into a ball.

Repeat until all the ganache is used up.  If the ganache in the dish or the rolled balls start to get too soft return to the fridge for 10 minutes before resuming.

When all the balls are rolled, roll them individually in the biscuit crumbs or the cocoa powder.

Place in a petit four paper case and refrigerate until you wish to serve.  I got over 60 truffles...which made me very popular with everyone!

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

Eat.

Chocolate sandwich cake

This recipe came about as I was thinking how I could make a classic Victoria sponge but dress it up differently enough so it felt like a new cake.  Making it into a chocolate cake was an obvious idea – most sponges will adapt to a chocolate sponge by replacing some of the flour with cocoa; as long as the flour and cocoa equal the original flour weight it should work.

The sponge manages to be rich and intensely flavoured whilst light in texture.  I opted for a three rather than four egg mix as the thick layer of ganache adds some height to the cake and I wanted a slice to fit on a plate!  I know the sensible option would’ve been to stick with a bigger sponge and just serve it on dinner plates but I had a rare moment of restraint and downsized my mix!

I love the classic method for making a Victoria sponge as it’s so simple: weigh the eggs in their shells and whatever they weigh is the amount for the other ingredients i.e. butter, sugar and flour (or flour + cocoa if making a chocolate sponge).  It guarantees a perfect sponge every time and is satisfyingly old fashioned.

The whipped cream is a lovely filling for the cake as it lightens what could otherwise be rather too much richness.  OK, you’ll know me well enough by now to understand that I don’t ever think anything can be too rich, but I’m trying to sound like a normal person and that’s the sort of thing I hear people say!

Ingredients

For the sponge:
3 eggs – weighed in their shells.  Mine were 218g therefore the remaining ingredients should all be 218g:
218g Unsalted butter
218g Caster sugar
180g Self raising flour – 180g +38g cocoa = 218g
38g Cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk

For the ganache filling:
90ml double cream
175g milk or dark chocolate, or a mix of both, chopped
25g unsalted butter

For filling:
150ml double cream

Method

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

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

Weigh the eggs in their shells and note the weight.  Mine weighed 218g.

Weigh out the butter so it equals the weight of the eggs and beat in a bowl.

Weigh out the same amount of sugar and add to the butter, beating until the mix is light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Fold in the flour and cocoa (which should, as a total, equal the egg weight).

Stir in enough milk to ensure the sponge batter is of dropping consistency.

Spoon into the prepared tins and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the sponges comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tins for about 20 minutes, then de-tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

You can make the cakes a day in advance and store in an airtight container overnight.

Now make the ganache: heat the cream until it is bubbling but not boiling.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate.

Stir until you have a smooth melted chocolate, then stir in the butter.

Leave to cool and thicken – this may take a little while, so I put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

When it is thick enough to spread and hold its position, spread over the bottom layer of sponge cake.

Whip the cream until it holds in peaks and spread over the ganache.

Top with the other layer of sponge.

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

Eat.

No-bake chocolate tart

Seriously – this recipe only requires the hob, no oven at all!  I know it’s hard to believe.  This is an incredibly rich and indulgent dessert and is so simple to make I predict it will become a much loved and trusted recipe to fall back on when you need to rustle up something special at speed.

The chocolate filling is basically a thick ganache that has been allowed to set in the fridge.  It is so creamy and rich that even I couldn’t manage a huge slice...trust me, I tried!

The biscuit base is similar to the traditional cheesecake biscuit base but with a twist – the addition of golden syrup; this adds a sweet note and works well with the unsweetened ganache.

This is one of my rare recipes where everyone in the family had a second slice – it seemed to suit all tastes, preferences, age groups!

Ingredients

For the biscuit base:
200g biscuits – hobnobs, digestives or shortbreads will all work
100g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup or honey

For the ganache:
200ml whipping cream, plus a further 200ml for whipping and piping on top
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate

To decorate: raspberries or chocolates – I used Twirl pieces

Method

Place the biscuits, butter and golden syrup in a food processor and blitz until you have moist crumbs.  If you don’t have a food processor, place the biscuits in a bag and beat to crumbs with a rolling pin.  Then put in a bowl and add the butter (melted) and golden syrup.

Press the crumbs into a 36cm x 12cm rectangular loose bottomed tart tin.  Alternatively, you could use a 23cm round loose bottomed tart tin.

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Now make the filling: Place the cream in a saucepan and add the vanilla.

Bring the cream to up to boiling point, without actually letting it boil, and then remove from the heat.

Break up the chocolate and add to the cream.

Let it stand for a couple of minutes before going in with your whisk and ensuring that the cream and chocolate are fully combined.

Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes.  Whisk occasionally to thicken up the ganache.

Remove the tart base from the fridge and pour the ganache into it.

Return to the fridge and leave to firm up – once it is firm, wrap it in clingfilm (if you try and do this straightaway you will get a mess and the clingfilm won’t pull away easily).

Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before you wish to serve and decorate with whipped cream and either raspberries or chocolates.

Serve in slices.

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

Eat.

Tunis cake

If, like me, you watched the Christmas Bake Off special on TV you will have spotted this cake as the one made by Mary Berry.  It got Mr CC’s attention and within seconds of that thick ganache topping going on I was made to promise it would appear in our household at some point over Christmas!  Mr CC can never resist a good chocolate cake.

This is a deceptively simple cake to make and tastes of luxury.  The ganache topping tastes like the richest, most delicious truffle and works so well with the soft, crumbly Madeira-like sponge. 

I made one tweak in that I turned the sponge into a vanilla one rather than Mary’s lemon version.  This was an act of selfishness on my part! 

The sponge was so good I will use it for other cakes – I think it would take sultanas well, or be nice topped with cream and fruit in the summer.

The origin of Tunis cake seems uncertain.  It was mass produced by McVities in the 1970s but it is thought the recipe dates back to Edwardian times.  However, the reason for the name perhaps dates back a lot further to the days of Carthage’s wars with the Roman Empire.   After a victory the Tunis warriors would celebrate with cake and wine, which is why Tunis cake is made for celebrations.  I think a victorious warrior would be very pleased with a slice of this cake named after him!

Ingredients

For the sponge:
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used this instead of the recommended grated zest of 1 lemon)
225g self raising flour
70g ground almonds

For the ganache:
300ml double cream
400g chocolate – I used half dark, half milk – broken into squares

To decorate: sprinkles of your choice

Method

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

Line a 20cm round springform tin with baking paper, making sure the paper comes up above the height of the tin.

Beat together the butter and sugar until whippy and pale.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding some of the flour if it looks like it might curdle.

Beat in the vanilla.

Fold in the flour and almonds.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, although it’s best to check the cake after 45 minutes in case it is browning too quickly.  If it is, loosely cover the top with foil, and carry on baking.  Mine didn’t need this, but all ovens are different.

Leave the cake to cool – do not remove from the tin.  This is of vital importance!

Now make the ganache topping: heat the cream until just starting to bubble but not boiling.

Remove from the heat and add the chocolate.

Stir gently to help the chocolate melt.  At first it will look a bit of a mess but gradually the mix will turn into a smooth, glossy ganache.

Leave to cool, but not set.

If your cake has a peak – and you can do it without de-tinning the cake – level it as best you can.

Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and put aside to set.  It’s best not to refrigerate at this point as it keeps the chocolate glossy.

When the ganache has set, decorate however you wish.

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

Eat.

Birthday cheesecake and cake pops

 

It’s my nephew, the Boy Wonder’s, 16^th birthday this weekend (16????  Where does the time go?) and, knowing he’s a cheese cake fiend, I wracked my brains to come up with an original twist on his favourite dessert. (Sorry about the photos being dark – it was one of those gloomy days where nothing seemed to work!)

I’d bought these Wilton cake pop pans in John Lewis and thought their shape made them great candidates for coring and filling:

If you don’t have them I suspect a mini cupcake pan would work just as well.  For this cheesecake I made chocolate sponges...

...cored them...

... and filled them with chocolate cheesecake mix:

Cook’s perks...always the tastiest bit of cooking!

Half of my pops were submerged in the cheesecake (along with the leftover chocolate cheesecake mix), the other half put on sticks as a decoration...well, they sure beat sparklers for something I’d like to see ‘prettying up’ a cake!

The cake balls looked mighty fine once I’d dipped them in ganache.  I was proud of them.  Until the CCD (Caked Crusader’s Da) referred to them as ‘chew balls’ which made them sound like something you should give to a dog!

I scaled up my normal cheesecake quantities to go up a tin size for this one – I wanted plenty of slices so everyone could indulge on the day and also take slices home to enjoy at a later date.  There’s only one thing better than birthday cheesecake, and that’s post-birthday cheesecake...the gift that keeps on giving!

This might be another example of a ‘just me then?’ moment, but when I am tipping the entire contents of the Philly cream cheese out the tub I see it as a mark of failure to use a spoon or knife.  Instead, I invert the pot and gently squeeze it tempting the cheese to slide out whole.  I view myself as some sort of cheese whisperer and take it personally when the cheese doesn’t act on my encouragement.

Ingredients

For the cheesecake:
375g chocolate digestive biscuits
150g unsalted butter
1 vanilla pod
900g cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
150g icing sugar
450ml double cream

For the chocolate sponge(this made 24 pops):
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk
Optional: 50g chocolate chips

Chocolate cheesecake filling:
300g chocolate cream cheese – I used Philadelphia
50g icing sugar
150ml double cream

For the ganache glaze:

140ml whipping cream
2 tablespoon caster sugar
130g dark chocolate

To decorate: sprinkles

Method

Place the ring from a 23cm round springform tin on the plate you’ll server the cheesecake from. Wrap the ring in either clingfilm or greaseproof paper to ensure that you can free the cheesecake easily.

Break the biscuits into crumbs – either in a food processor or with the bag and rolling pin method (i.e. place biscuits in a bag. Secure end. Bash with rolling pin)

If using the food processor method add the butter to the crumbs and pulse it until the butter is distributed. If using the bag method, melt the butter and stir in.

Use the crumbs to line the base of the cheesecake. Press them down onto the plate but not so hard that you create biscuity concrete!

Refrigerate.

Now make the sponges: Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Spray your pan with cake release or grease using your preferred ingredient i.e. butter.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, flour, cocoa and milk.

When the mixture is smooth and well combined, stir in the chocolate chips, if using.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.

Remove from the tin as soon as possible and leave to cool on a wire rack – removing from the tin is important, as the heat of the tin will mean that the tiny sponges continue to (over)cook.

When cool use a cupcake corer (or apple corer) to remove some of the sponge.

Using the same method for the cheesecake topping below (basically beat all the ingredients together until thick!), make the chocolate cheesecake and pipe into the hollowed out sponges. 

Pipe any leftover chocolate cheesecake mix onto the biscuit base.

Refrigerate for an hour.

Stand half of the chocolate sponges on the cheesecake base, leave the other half to make into cake pops.

Now make the main body of the cheesecake: Slice the vanilla pod in half and remove the seeds.

Place seeds in a bowl along with the cream cheese and icing sugar and beat until smooth and well combined.

Pour in the cream and beat until the mixture is completely combined.

Spoon over the biscuit base and level.  Make sure you press the cheesecake into the crevices between the chocolate sponges.

Leave to set overnight in the refrigerator.

Now make the ganache: Place the cream and sugar in a saucepan and bring to almost boiling point.

Remove from the heat and add the chocolate.

Leave it to stand for a minute before stirring and bringing the chocolate and cream together.  At first it will look runny but keep stirring and it will become thick and glossy.

Leave to cool for ten minutes or more, or the glaze might be too runny to hold on the cakes.

Dip the top of the cakes into the glaze, add sprinkle of choice, and then put them back on the cooling tray to set.  The glaze will cover the top of the cake but the sides should remain clean so you can see the sponge....of course, the odd drip or spill is not going to offend anyone!

Remove the cheese cake from the fridge and pour the remaining ganache over the top.

Return to the refrigerator.

Remove the cheesecake from the fridge about 30 minutes (depending on your weather conditions!) before you wish to serve and remove the ring from the edge.

Place your mini cakes on sticks and insert into the cheesecake.

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

Eat.