Chocolate, orange and pistachio biscotti

These are the biscotti that Ed Burns made on the Comic Relief Great British Bake Off.  They are very moreish!

• 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 100g shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• 3 oranges, zest only
• 115g unsalted butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 large free range eggs at room temperature, beaten
• 275g plain flour
• good pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or use a silicone baking mat on top.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Put sugar and butter in a bowl and mix well (either in electric mixer or by hand) until light and fluffy.

Slowly beat in the eggs, until fully incorporated.  Add the orange zest and mix.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl and mix well forming a soft dough (may be a little sticky).

Add the chocolate and the pistachio nuts and stir until just combined.

Divide the dough into 2 halves and put onto the baking sheet.  Form each half into a long log shape, approximately 25cm in length and 5-8cm wide.

Bake for 25mins.  Remove from oven and leave to cool for 10mins.

Slice up each piece of baked dough into 1-1.5cm slices, a bread knife is usually best as the dough is a little soft.  Gently tip the fragile slices over so they are cut side down on the sheet and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and place to cool on a wire rack.  Make sure they are firm before removing them and putting in an airtight container.  

You can decorate them like in the picture by melting some more dark chocolate and drizzling it over.

Irish Coffee Mousse

This is a lovely but very rich :)  Shown in an irish coffee cup but would work very well in a small wine glass, the old style round 70s ones which they used to use in restaurants for Irish Coffees.  As with liquor coffees, you can pick your own flavour of alcohol, I just like Tia Maria ;)

Needs at least 6hrs chilling, so make night before or early in the morning.

For the coffee/chocolate mousse

• 300g 70% (at least) cocoa dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons espresso coffee made up (can buy instant from supermarkets or really strong coffee)
• 2 tablespoons of your chosen alcohol
• 120g unsalted butter
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoons caster sugar

For the white chocolate topping

• 200g white chocolate
• 1 1/2 gelatine leaves
• 350ml whipping or double cream
• 3 medium egg yolks
• 65g icing sugar
• a little vanilla extract

Bring a pan of water to the boil.  Find a heatproof bowl that will fit in the top of the pan and put the chocolate in this with the coffee, alcohol and the butter and melt it slowly.  Once it has melted remove from the heat and stir.

Mix in the 6 egg yolks until the mixture is very smooth (it may look a little grainy at this point, do not worry).

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff and a bowl can be turned upside down without them moving, slowly add the sugar, tablespoon at a time allowing each one to dissolve in the mix and whisk until it goes stuff and glossy.

Fold a ladleful of the egg mix into the chocolate and then add the rest trying to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.

Spoon carefully into the individual glasses, leaving at least a 1cm gap at the top of the glass and put into the fridge until you have made the next step.

Wash all the bowls you used, you're going to need them again.

Again melt the white chocolate in the bowl over the pan of water.  

Put the gelatine leaves on a plate with a few spoons of the cream and heat in a microwave for a minute or so until dissolved.

In another bowl beat the egg yolks and the sugar with an electric whisk, add the gelatine cream and the melted white chocolate and mix well.

In another bowl whip the remainder of the cream untol thick and then fold into the chocolate and egg yolk mixture.

Get the glasses with the dark mousse in out of the fridge and they will be slightly set.  Add some white chocolate mousse to the tops of the glasses so it looks like the floating cream topping on an irish coffee.

Chill the mousses for at least 6hrs before serving, and then gently dust with cocoa powder before you put them out.

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Chocolate fondants

This is a Gordon Ramsey recipe with some tweeking as always - the first bit is the basic chocolate fondant recipe, the second part is me messing around putting different flavoured centres into them :)

• 50g melted butter , for brushing
• cocoa powder , for dusting
• 200g good-quality dark chocolate , chopped into small pieces
• 200g butter , in small pieces
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs and 4 yolks
• 200g plain flour

Use Darioles or pudding moulds, melt the butter and brush over the inside of the moulds to cover. Place moulds in fridge and let butter set. Bring out and brush another layer of butter over the inside. Then put a teaspoon of cocoa powder inside each mould and cover top with cling film or kitchen roll and shake to cover all of inside with powder. Tip out excess and leave moulds on one side till later.

Place chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of water and leave to melt, remove from heat and stir until smooth, leave to cool for 10 mins.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail. Sift the flour into the eggs, then beat together.

Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition, until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.

Tip the fondant batter into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds.

Either carry on like this for normal chocolate fondants or follow the instructions in italics to add flavoured centres.

I hvae recently tried a number of flavoured centres and all are amazing :) I have used peanut butter, raspberry liqueur truffles (the best) and After Eight mints. Basically the peanut butter and truffles ones are best done from chilled, take a large teaspoon of either and try and mould into a ball in your hand, quickly, then push it into the centre of the mixture in the mould. The After Eight mints chop into 4 smaller sqaures and stack on top of one another and push into the mixture.

The fondants can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen or chill for at least 20 mins or up to the night before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as stated, adding 5 mins more to the cooking time.

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12 mins until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, then leave to sit for 1 min before turning out.

Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds.

Serve with cream or ice-cream.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

• 4oz/120g golden syrup
• 4oz/120g soft brown sugar
• 4oz/120g margarine
• 6oz/180g self raising flour
• 2oz/60g cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 1/4 pint/145ml milk

For the icing

• 2oz/60g margarine
• 7oz/150g icing sugar
• 1oz/30g cocoa powder
• 2 tblsp boiling water
• 1 tblsp milk

Melt the sugar, syrup, margarine in the microwave (start off on high for 30 seconds and see how it goes).

Once all melted together, mix well and then slowly add rest of ingredients, adding the flour and cocoa powder bit by bit and mixing well.

Once cake mix is smooth and combined pour into a greased plastic/silicone mould (I use a tupperware ring mould which is ace but this kind of thing would work as well, a ring mould is the best shape for it).

Cook in microwave for 4 1/4 mins on high, until the cake mix is just cooked, don't overcook it as the cake will carry on cooking even when you remove it from the microwave.

Let the cake stand for at least 10 minutes, until it starts to shrink away from the mould sides. The turn out onto a plate and leave to cool.

Whilst cake is cooling put all icing ingredients into a jug and melt in microwave for 15 seconds, then mix together and give 10 seconds more in the microwave. Mix again and allow to cool.

Once cake cool, ice with fudge frosting.

When eating, either serve hot or cold, for hot, cut a chunk and put in microwave for 20 seconds on high and icing will turn into fudge sauce.

Italian Amaretto Profiteroles

WARNING this is not the easiest recipe, and not for the impatient ;) Choux recipe taken from the Kenwood Chef cookbook

• 225ml cold water
• 75g/3oz butter (unsalted)
• 115g/4oz plain flour
• pinch of sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 600ml cream
• 500g fresh custard
• 2 tablespoons Amaretto (or your favourite liquour, Tia Maria would be good too)
• 100g Green and Blacks dark chocolate
• Icing sugar
• 1oz butter
  

Set up food processor with blade attachment. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Place a shallow swiss roll tin or dish full of water in the bottom to create steam.

Place water and butter in the saucepan and heat gently until the butter melts and then bring to the boil.

Remove from heat and tip in the flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Return to the heat and cook over a low heat for a few seconds until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan to form a ball (looks kind of like play-doh). Do not over-heat.

Transfer to food processor. Turn on at minimum speed and gradually pour eggs through tube. Process until just mixed and the pastry forms a stiff, glossy paste. Do not over process as will become too thin.

Brush 3 baking trays with a thin layer of water (do not use oil or greaseproof paper, or a tray with holes in! I have learnt) to dampen.

Either put pastry in piping bag, or use a teaspoon (I use teaspoon) and place small mounds on baking sheets (usually put 10 on a baking sheet, leave room cos they expand).

Bake for 20-25mins until puffed up and golden. Reduce the oven to 190 degrees.

Pull buns out of oven and make a small hole in each one with the end of a wooden spoon (I pick the place the pastry is thinest for this) and then return the buns to the oven (can all be on same tray now) for 5 mins to dry out. Transfer to wire rack and leave to cool.

Whip cream and add custard to make creme patisserie. Add alcohol and mix well. Fill piping bag with cream and fill the buns through their holes.

Melt chocolate in dish with butter (either on hob over a pan with water or in microwave carefully), add enough icing sugar to make a slightly runny icing (should be runny enough to dunk the profiteroles in, but thick enough to set). Dip each bun into the chocolate and arrange on a serving place. Chill until served.

5 a day chocolate brownies aka the ones with the courgettes

From a recipe adapted from Ottolenghi cookbook (with my own special addition!)

• 100g pecan nuts (bashed)
• 200g unsalted butter
• 280g plain butter
• 300g dark chocolate (Green and Blacks cooking chocolate is ace)
• 2 eggs
• 230g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 100g chocolate chips (or I used a Green and Black's chocolate bar bashed up)
• 40g mini marshmallows (I used Dr. Oetker Mini mini marshmallows and they dissolved)
• 300g grated courgette (honest, I'm not kidding, makes the brownies healthy and moist!)
• Tub Betty Crocker Fudge Icing

Brush a baking tin with melted butter (swiss roll tin) and preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Put a pan of water on the hob to boil. Put butter and chocolate in a heatproof glass dish and balance on top of pan of water so water is heating bowl gently, stir from time to time. Keep pan on a low simmer and allow butter and chocolate to melt but not get too hot. Once melted remove bowl from pan.

In large bowl whisk together sugar, eggs and vanilla just until they are combined, then add melted chocolate mix and flour and mix. Finally add all other ingredients nuts, marshmallows, chocolate pieces and courgette (I promise you can't taste the courgette, it dissolves completely and makes the brownies stay really moist) and mix well.

Empty mixture out into tray, bake on centre shelf of oven for about 25mins (don't be afraid to cook for longer), brownie is ready when you put a knife in centre and pull out and some mix is on the knife but it looks a little cooked and not raw. Take out of oven and allow to cool (will keep cooking).

Once cooled spread icing on top (if required), then cut into pieces (I usually do around 18 pieces) and don't tell people they have courgettes in until they have eaten them, then watch their faces!!