Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've made my fair share of vegan cupcakes. They're something I really enjoy making. It's all about the chemistry of ingredients and how they work together to form a light, fluffy and delicious treat. I've not really ventured into vegan cookie baking though. I don't really why, I think I must need to purchase Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar! I'm sure that would push me to make some cookies.

Anyway, I was searching for a simple cookie recipe to start me off. I found all sorts of recipes requiring a range of ingredients that I don't have in my cupboard. I found this recipe on YouTube actually. It struck me as an easy recipe with no unusual ingredients (apart from Blackstrap Molasses but I just left that out). Who can resist a chocolate chip cookie?

The recipe was simple and came together really easily. The cookie came out chewy in the middle and crispy at the edges which was lovely. I was quite generous with the chocolate chips and ended up sticking the stray ones from the bottom of the bowl into the formed cookies.

I think I'd use brown sugar next time to add a bit more of a depth of flavour (maybe that's where the blackstrap comes in?) and have altered the recipe to reflect that. As usual, I've turned the measurements metric.

Ingredients
110g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1⁄2 tsp Baking Soda
50g Soft Brown Sugar
Pinch of Salt
75ml Maple Syrup
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
75ml Vegetable Oil
50g Dairy Free Chocolate Chips

Method
Preheat the oven to 175C and prepare a baking sheet.
Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl.
Add the sugar and salt and mix to combine.
In a seperate bowl or measuring jug, mix together the maple syrup, vanilla and oil.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.
Add the chocolate pieces and stir until distributed evenly through the dough.
Shape the dough into walnut sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Space the cookies about an inch or so apart as they do spread. Flatten the balls slightly.
Bake in the oven for around 11 minutes. Be careful not to overbake as the cookies may dry out.
Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Slow Cooker Recipes: Mexican Hot Chocolate

I'm a little delayed but I'd like to wish you all a happy new year! I hope 2010 brings you lots of delicious food, good health and happiness. I had a lovely christmas and new year, I ate more food than is ever necessary and enjoyed every last bite.

We've had loads of snow here over the holiday period and we've more on the way. It's so cold that the screenwash on my boss' car was freezing as it hit the windscreen yesterday. We had some friends over when the snow was quite deep and decided to treat them to a nice soothing mug of mexican hot chocolate when they arrived. They certanly needed it!

The recipe is really simple and is largely assembly rather than real work. Most of the time is hands off so you're not constantly watching the pan to make sure the milk doesn't boil over. The ingredients are also simple with nothing too exotic so you may have everything you need in your cupboards without having to brave the weather with a trip to the shops.

The hot chocolate is delicious and warming. The gentle spices really lift the flavour and make it something special. I chose to garnish ours with some fresh whipped cream and grated dark chocolate though you could use marshmallows or anything else that you fancied! The drink is smooth and sweet with a good chocolate flavour. Do try to use the best quality dark chocolate you can get as it is the main flavour of the drink. The following recipe is enough for 4-5 people depending on the size of your mugs.

Ingredients
1 litre milk
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
115g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
2-3 drops of almond extract
Whipped cream and grated chocolate to serve

Method
Pour the milk into the cooking pot with the cinnamon and cloves. Cover and switch the slow cooker to high. Heat the milk for an hour or until the milk is almost boiling.
Add the chocolate pieces and almond extract to the milk and stir until melted.
Fish out the spices and then, using a stick blender, whizz the mixture until frothy.
Ladle the hot chocolate into mugs and top with cream and grated chocolate.
Serve immediately.

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Cheesecake Brownies

A good chocolate brownie is one of my favourite things to make and eat. Brownie recipes range from simple cocoa rich treats to complex beasts with more add-ins than you know what to do with but I'd pretty much eat whatever kind of brownie you put in front of me. I like mine more on the fudgey than cakey side. I like chewy edges and sticky middles. I like rich chocolate flavours and simple additions. I am always keen to try new things.

I've been reading for ages about the wonderful mix of cheesecake and chocolate cake. Black bottom cupcakes for example combine a chocolatey cake with a cheesecake centre into a perfectly formed cupcake combination. They are also on my list to try. The combination extends to cheesecake and brownies. There is just something about the combination of dense chocolate brownies with a rich topping of slightly sweetened cream cheese that makes them irresistable. I must emphasise that they are irresistable; I have made 2 batches in the last couple of weeks and they've been snaffled up.

This recipe is from David Lebovitz who has a whole book about chocolate. I trusted him to provide a reliable and easy recipe and I was right to. This recipe is simple to follow and has no complicated/unusual ingredients or instructions. I've reprinted the recipe here using only the metric measures.

Ingredients
85g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
115g dark chocolate, chopped
130g sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
70g plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
80g chocolate chips

200g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
75g sugar
Splash of vanilla extract

Method
Line a 9-inch (23cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the sugar, then the eggs.
Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the brownies feel set in the centre. Allow to cool before peeling the foil off and slicing.

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Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps

Chocolate and coffee are flavours made for each other. Whether mixed together hot into a mocha or enjoyed as simply as a square of chocolate with a cup of hot coffee, the way the flavours complement each other makes for a combination that is hard to beat!

When I was browsing (as I do every year) through Martha's Christmas cookie list, I came across this recipe for Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps. The crackled top caught my eye and the stark contrast between snowy icing sugar and dark chocolate cookie makes for an attractive cookie. I'd never rolled unbaked cookies in icing sugar before so this was a new technique to me. The resulting treat is dark and chocolatey with the complex espresso flavour lingering behind. I made these as part of my Christmas baking but they are suitable as a year round treat.

I've reprinted the recipe with metric conversions.

Ingredients
60g plain flour
35g cocoa powder
4 tsp espresso powder
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter
135g soft light brown sugar
1 large egg
115g dark chocolate (melted and cooled slightly)
1 tbsp milk
Icing sugar, for coating

Method
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg until well combined then mix in cooled chocolate.
With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat in milk until just combined. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Pour icing sugar (about 60g) into a medium bowl and, working in batches, roll balls in sugar two times, letting them sit in sugar between coatings.
Place on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12 to 14 minutes; cookies will still be soft to the touch. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

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Perfect Chocolate Truffles

It's Christmas. I cannot ignore it any longer (though in real life I've been embracing it) on this blog. I've got lots of wonderful things to post about but it's all been about preparation so far. I have rounds and logs of cookie dough in my freezer waiting to be baked, I have things cooling on racks, hiding in tins and wrapped in paper and foil. I'm really not ignoring Christmas... I'm just waiting for the right time.

So I'll begin with these simple chocolate truffles to ease you in gently to the multitude of yummy things soon to be coming your way. Chocolate truffles are deliciously rich and smooth. They have an intense chocolate flavour and they melt as soon as you put them in your mouth. There isn't an easier recipe than this one I assure you.

Ingredients
450g good quality dark chocolate (preferably no higher than 65%)
240ml double cream

Method
Chop the chocolate into small even pieces and place in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
Pour the double cream into a saucepan and warm on a medium heat until it just reaches a boil (this is called "scalding"). You'll need to stir it to prevent it from burning and forming a skin.
When the cream has been scalded, pour it onto the chocolate and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
Stir the cream and chocolate together until smooth and creamy and the chocolate has melted. If the chocolate doesn't melt completely, place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until melted.
Leave the mixture to cool and then place in the fridge until firm.
Once firm, scoop the mixture using a melon baller or two teaspoons and place on greaseproof paper. Roll in cocoa, icing sugar or chocolate strands.

These will keep for a few weeks at room temperature in an airtight container, they can also be frozen for longer term storage.

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Chocolate Custard Muffins

Dan Lepard is an award-winning baker and he publishes many recipe through his Guardian column "How to Bake." I regularly trawl through the archived recipes and bookmark those that look delicious (most of them) and easy to recreate at home. I have had this recipe for chocolate custard muffins bookmarked for ages and, in a desperate need for a chocolate fix, decided to make them to share with my family one evening.

The muffins were delicious and decadent. They had a wonderfully rich chocolate flavour thanks to the cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate. When served warm these were moist and sweet and when cold were still tasty and soft.

The recipe is really rather simple. A warm chocolate custard thickened with cornflour is made in a saucepan and the flour is added to the mix. The batter is then baked and comes out amazingly moist but still light. Dan boasts that this is "the best chocolate muffin you'll ever eat!" and I must say that I'm inclined to agree.

The original recipe is posted here along with links to the whole series. I've reprinted it here for ease of use.
Ingredients
50g cornflour
3 level tbsp cocoa
100g dark soft brown sugar
225ml cold water
75g unsalted butter, cubed
125g dark chocolate, broken small
75ml sunflower oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
125g caster sugar
125g plain flour
2½ tsp baking powder

Method
First make the custard: put the cornflour, cocoa, brown sugar and water into a saucepan and whisk together over a medium heat until boiling, very thick and smooth. Remove from the heat, beat in the butter and chocolate until melted and absorbed, then add the oil, vanilla and one of the eggs, and beat again until combined. Add the remaining egg and the caster sugar, and beat again until smooth and thick.

Measure the flour and baking powder into a bowl, stir together, then sift directly on to the custard and beat through until combined. Spoon into a dozen paper muffin cases sitting in the pockets of a muffin tray; heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and bake for 25 minutes.

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Mocha Cupcakes with Chocolate Kahlua frosting

This is the first of the three cupcake recipes from my brother's birthday. I realise they're a bit late in coming on to the blog but I've been busy with work things and haven't really had a chance to update. While I've got some free time, I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

I've made these cakes before but this is the first time I've been able to use instant espresso powder and get a true mocha flavour. It was amazing. These cakes are actually pretty simple to make and they bake with a flat top so they're extra easy to frost afterwards. The chocolate flavour is rich and deep and the espresso adds a lovely bitter coffee edge. The frosting works perfectly to create a creamy chocolatey and slightly boozey flavour that complements the cupcake perfectly.
The original recipe can still be found here at Culinography, but I halved the batch as I only needed 12 cakes and changed the measurements to metric to make things a little easier.

Ingredients
225g granulated sugar
75g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
120ml natural yogurt
110g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 rounded tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
175ml water
2 tablespoons espresso powder
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 12 cup muffin tin.
On medium speed, cream together the sugar, butter, and eggs until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the yogurt.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt.
In a measuring cup combine the water, coffee and vanilla.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/sour cream mixture with the coffee mixture. Mix thoroughly.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Remove cupcakes to wire rack and cool before frosting.

For the Kahlua Frosting I used this recipe from Group Recipes. This is a half batch with metric measurements.

Ingredients
Pinch ground cinnamon
3 tbsps boiling water
1 tbsps Kahlua
450g confectioners' sugar, sifted
40g cocoa powder
4tbsp butter, softened

Method
Place the cocoa powder In a large-ish mixing bowl & pour in the boiling water & Kahlua.
Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the cocoa comes together into a soft mass.
Add the butter & mix with an electric mixer on lowish speed until the mixture is soft & well mixd, 30 seconds.
Stop the machine.
Add the confectioners' sugar & cinnamon & beat with the mixer on lowish speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 min.
Increase the mixer speed to medium & beat until the frosting lightens & is fluffy, 2 mins more.
Pipe or spread onto cupcakes and enjoy!

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Flourless Chocolate and Pear Cake

Flourless chocolate cakes fascinate me. Soft peaked egg whites give the cake air and structure and the ground almonds create a delicious texture. In this recipe, pears are rested gently on top of the light cake and it is baked in the oven. The cake come out moist and delicious with a good chocolate flavour. The pears bake until soft but still hold their structure well.



I found this recipe on BBC Good Food. We've got a glut of pears at the moment since we harvested them from our pear tree and even though this only uses a couple; every little helps!



Ingredients
85g butter , plus 1 tbsp extra for tin
85g golden caster sugar , plus extra for tin
85g dark chocolate , broken into pieces
1 tbsp Sailor Jerry rum
3 eggs, separated
85g ground almonds
4 pears, peeled, halved and cored (I only used 3 as that's all that would fit)
icing sugar, for dusting

Method
Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of a 25cm loose-bottomed tin. Melt 1 tbsp butter and brush the inside of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with more butter. Spoon in 2 tbsp caster sugar, swirl it around to coat the base and sides, then tip out any excess.

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water, remove from the heat, stir in the brandy and leave to cool. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick; fold into the chocolate with the nuts.

In a separate bowl, with a clean whisk, beat the whites until they reach a soft peak (try not to whisk them too stiffly or you'll have trouble folding them in). Stir a spoonful of the whites into the chocolate mix, then carefully fold in the rest of them in 2 additions. Spoon into the prepared tin. Level, then arrange the pears over the mixture, cut-side down.

Bake for 30-40 mins until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked all the way through. Leave to cool in the tin slightly before releasing it, then place on a rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve

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Cowboy Cookies

Bakerella. Oh Bakerella you tease me with such delicious looking, beautifully crafted treats. I really wish I had the time to make cute little sheep shaped cake pops but I just don't. I wish I could take the time out to create tiny little hamburgers from brownies and cupcakes but at the moment I'm pretty pushed. I do however have the time to chuck everything into a bowl and mix it up to make some simple and delicious cowboy cookies.

I'd never heard of them before. They're simple enough with a good mix of chocolate, oats and brown sugar. This particular recipe included M&Ms, chocolate chips and pecans (which I chose to leave out) and were the perfect mixture of chewy and crunchy and were delicious straight out of the oven. I'm amazed that when I open the biscuit tin there are still a few left! They were a real hit. The only problem I had was that my M&Ms didn't maintain their shape at all.

I was actually trying these out as a test run for making the layered mix for christmas gifts. They are definitely worth making and so simple to make. I'll pretty these up in jars just like in the original post and send them out in the holidays.

Ingredients
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
90g cooking oats
100g(ish) M&Ms
150g semi-sweet chocolate chips
50g brown sugar, packed
100g white sugar
A handful chopped pecans (optional)
1 egg
115g softened butter
1tsp vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir until totally combined.
Roll the dough into even balls and place, well spaced, onto baking sheets.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 10-12 minutes.
Leave to cool for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I told you they were easy.

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Vegan Chocolate and Stout cupcakes

I told you to expect more vegan treats. I've got soy milk that needs using up and a baking bug that just wont go away. These cupcake were absolutely delicious. They were springy and soft, deeply chocolatey and would go great with a glass of the milk of your choice. The crumb topping adds a nice bit of texture and dryness to combat the moistness of the cakes. Oh I wish I had one fo these left...
The important thing for this recipe is finding a vegan stout. There are plenty of them available. I'm lucky enough to have the Spectrum Brewery fairly locally. All their bottled beers are totally organic and vegan friendly as are several of their cask ales. I can't really recommend them highly enough.
So once you've found your vegan friendly stout (a Google search should help you if you don't already have a favourite) you will be good to go. As with the last vegan cupcake recipe it looks like there are a lot of ingredients. They all come together very easily and the resulting cupcake is so decadent. Please give these a try. I converted the recipe into metric measures again.

Ingredients
Crumb topping:
30g all purpose flour
30g cocoa powder
55g granulated sugar
2 tbsp sunflower oil

175ml soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
200g all purpose flour
40g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
60ml stout
170g granulated sugar
80ml sunfllower oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla


Method
In a small bowl sift together the cocoa and flour and stir in the sugar. Slowly drizzle the oil in while tossing flour mixture with a fork. Crumbs will form. Stir with fingers and make as many crumbs as possible.
In a large bowl whisk together soy milk and vinegar.
In a seperate bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and mix.
Add stout, sugar, oil, and vanilla to soy milk mixture and beat till foamy.
Add dry ingredients to wet in 2 batches, mix 2 min. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and sprinkle with the crumb mixture. Make sure the crumbs rest on top and don't sink into the batter.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 18-20 minutes and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Once again this recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World which is available from Amazon

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Vegan Chocolate and Coconut Cupcakes

I've been wanting to get into vegan baking for a while. I have no experience of it really but it looked simple enough and had seen loads of promising reviews of vegan recipes. I have a couple of friends who are vegan/strict vegetarian and so I thought I'd help them out and find some recipes that they could appreciate. I must say I had my doubts as I was mixing the cake batter as it looked really wet but they actually came out a treat.

I bought myself the vegan cupcake book that has been doing the rounds; Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. It's a cute little book with loads of recipes for all kinds of cupcakes and frostings with no animal products. The recipes seem easy to follow and while some contain ingredients you may not have lying around, plenty of them use everyday ingredients or are easy to modify to fit what you have in the cupboards. I actually modified the recipe for these cupcakes as I didn't have a couple of things and they still came out wonderfully. The cupcakes were moist and store really well in an airtight container for several days.

This recipe is based on the Toasted Coconut Cupcakes from VCTOTW book but I will post it here as I made some modifications.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp creamed coconut, grated
1/2 cup desiccated coconut

For the glaze
2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 12 hole muffin pan with liners.
In a medium bowl, soft together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl mix together the coconut milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, creamed coconut and oil. Stir to combine.
Add the flour mixture in batches and beat thoroughly after each addition to ensure the batter is smooth. Fold in the desiccated coconut.
Fill the liners two thirds full and bake for around 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before glazing.
Sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl and add the coconut milk. Mix thoroughly until smooth and then pipe onto the cold cakes using a sandwich bag with a small hole cut from one corner.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World is available from Amazon

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One Bowl Chocolate Brownies

Sometimes only chocolate will do and you can't get much better than a freshly baked brownie. I've never been very good at making brownies. I love to eat them and I've always been a bit too scared to try baking them as I've had a couple of bad attempts. While I was looking through Basically Baked I came across this recipe and just had to try it out. It uses one bowl and makes a small batch (8" square pan) which is perfect if you're not confident with how they'll turn out!


As you can see from the photograph these brownies are quite dark. They don't use melted chocolate but instead get their very rich flavour from cocoa (use good quality) and a little espresso powder. They have a wonderful deep chocolate flavour but aren't overly sweet. I think I slightly underbaked mine (maybe by a couple of minutes) but they were absolutely delicious anyway.

The recipe is originally from here at Epicurious but I followed Sue's directions (leaving out the nuts) so I'll link you to her blog too. These are so easy to make and the recipe is very easy to follow.

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Cupcake decoration

Oh where have I been hiding? Life's been having some dramas recently with various things that needed my attention. I apologise dear readers and am back with some things to show for my time away.

It was my birthday on Tuesday and I decided I needed some really good cakes. Al and I created these shark attack cakes based on those in the Hello Cupcake book that has been doing the rounds for a while now. We had to make some substitutions and cut back on the things we chose but we were really happy with how they turned out and they all got snaffled on our night out.

They weren't perfect but they were good enough and tasted delicious.

I've literally just finished another set of cupcakes that we're taking over to my brother's. I wanted something a little less time consuming and a little more classy (I wont mention that they will be consumed mid beer festival in a pub) and I also wanted something chocolatey. I chose mocha cupcakes with a chocolate kahlua frosting. I halved the recipe for the cupcakes to make only 12 and replaced the sour cream with plain yoghurt. Yum. These are decorated using a large star tip (from my new piping set) and dark chocolate covered coffee beans with a sprinkling of icing sugar to finish. I'm very pleased with the result.

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Edible gifts: Fudge and Coconut Ice

I love to give people home made treats as gifts. I like to be able to say "I made that" and I also like feedback from them too. I made small gift bags of treats for a few friends that came over on Christmas Eve. Along with a large chunk of the tea loaf featured in this post, they got small bags of chocolate fudge and coconut ice.

I love fudge. The chewy and sweet squares of extreme dairyness never fail to comfort me. Having done a little research it seems that in the US fudge is made with chocolate whereas over here in the UK fudge is generally flavoured with just a little vanilla or left plain. Scottish tablet is also plain in flavouring but doesn't have the chewyness of fudge. It's a crumbly sweet treat that is traditional and holds fond memories for many people.

This fudge is none of the above. It's a simple combination of icing sugar, cream cheese and chocolate and while it doesn't really resemble the dairy filled fudge of my dreams it is still quite delicious. It's very simple and this batch made enough for 5 small gift bags with a little left over.

Coconut ice evokes similar warm feelings within me. My dad loves coconut ice and it reminds me of him so much. This simple super-sweet confection has a good coconut flavour and a lot of texture from the coconut. It's really easy to make and again makes enough for about 5 small gift bags.

I found the following recipes in a book called "Chocolates and Sweets to Make" by Rebecca Gilpin. It's a kids book but that just makes things more fun!



Easy Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:
75g full-fat cream cheese
350g icing sugar
1tbsp cocoa powder
75g plain chocolate
40g butter

Method:
1. Grease and line a 15cm square tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the cream cheese into a bowl and sift in the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix together well (Note: this can tak a while but persevere!)
3. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler and stir in a tbsp of the cream cheese mixture.
4. Pour the chocolate into the the cheese mixture and beat them together until creamy.
5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and push it into the corners (you may need to use your fingers). Smooth with the back of a spoon and place in the fridge for 2 hours or until firm.
6. Turn the fudge onto a chopping board and cut into squares. Let the squares harden in the fridge for a further 2 hours and store in the fridge in an airtight container.


Coconut Ice

Ingredients:
2 egg whites mixed from dried egg white (according to package instructionss)
450g icing sugar - sifted
175g desiccated coconut
4tsp water
Food colouring

Method:
1. Grease and line an 18cm tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a large bowl, stir the egg whites with a fork until frothy. Stir in 2 tbsp of the sugar.
3. Add the rest of the sugar a little at a time until all combined.
4. Add the coconut and water and stir to mix everything well.
5. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and press down with your fingers.
6. Add a few drops of food colouring inti the rest of the mixture in the bowl and stir until coloured evenly.
7. Spoon the dyed mixture on top of the white layer and leave to set overnight. Cut into squares and leave those to harden for two hours. Store in an airtight container.

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Cherry Chocolate Roulade - Alternative to Christmas Pudding

We had my brother and his girlfriend over for Christmas this year and I spent some time planning the meal so that the shopping and cooking of it was as stress-free as possible. I decided against the traditional christmas pudding as I know that Al doesn't like it and I'm not a huge fan of having it straight after a big fat roast dinner. The house was already full of food and drink and so something a bit lighter than christmas pudding but still a bit special was necessary to round off the meal.

I eventually decided on a roulade. A roulade is made from a fat free sponge that is baked in a large, shallow pan. When cool, the filling is added (I chose whipped bream and a jar of cherries) and the sponge is rolled up like a swiss roll.

I'd never tried making this before (what is it with me and new recipes this christmas?) but I figured it wouldn't be too tough. I found a recipe that could be made ahead because, let's face it, who wants the hassle of dessert on Christmas day? The sponge was made on the 23rd December and filled on Christmas eve for us to enjoy on Christmas day.

And enjoy it we did! It was a bit of a hassle to roll but I think I should have maybe cooked it for a little bit longer. It was delicious though. Moist and chocolatey with a rich cream filling and juicy cherries. I'd definitely make this again but I'd probably make it for more people. I had to throw some of it away as it didn't all get eaten despite how yummy it was.

I used this recipe for the sponge cake and general idea. I left out the cherry conserve, swapped the kirsch for the syrup the cherries came in, didn't bother with the chocolate decorations and didn't dredge the finished product with icing sugar as it was already sweet enough.

Ingredients:
For the sponge:
6 large eggs, separated
175g (6oz) caster sugar
200g (7oz) plain chocolate, melted
2-3 tbsp juice or syrup from the cherries

For the filling:
300ml double cream
1 jar or tin of cherries in juice or syrup
3-4 tbsp reserved juice or syrup.

Method:
1. Set the oven to gas mark 4 or 180°C.

2. To make the roulade, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, until the mixture leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted out from mixture. Fold chocolate into the egg-yolk mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into the egg-yolk mixture, then turn out into the Swiss roll tin. Use a palette knife to spread the mixture out to the edges, taking care not to knock out too much of the air. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 mins, until the mixture has set. Remove from oven and turn the roulade out on to a board that has a sheet of baking parchment on it. Leave the lining paper on the roulade sponge and then cover with a damp, clean tea-towel and leave to cool for at least 4 hrs, or overnight.

4. To make the filling, whisk the cream until it starts to form soft peaks and stir in the reserved syrup

5. Remove the tea towel and lining paper from the roulade sponge and brush the syrup over the surface. Then spread over the cream and then scatter over the cherries. Use the base sheet of baking parchment to help roll the roulade up from the longest side. Transfer roulade to a serving dish.

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Loaf cake recipes

Okay so I'm going to start going through the backlog of recipes from the christmas period. I made a few gift packages of baked goods and bravely tried all new recipes. I had a lot of luck really and made my first real foray into loaf cakes.

I chose loaves as they're easy to fit into a box for shipping, tend to keep well, are easily customisable and are easy to make. This season I chose a traditional tea loaf and a chocolate banana bread. Absolutely delicious.

The tea loaf was from a recipe by Simon Rimmer. It's very easy but does require you to soak the fruit overnight and bake the cake the next day. I found the original recipe here [note: there is a mistake in that the recipe doesn't mention what to do with the sugar - I add it in with the flour etc.] but I made my own changes.

Ingredients:
225g mixed dried fruit (chopped dates, raisins, sultanas, cranberries all work well)
300ml/½ pint tepid Earl Grey tea
250g/9oz self-raising flour
200g/7oz soft light brown sugar
1 free-range egg, beaten
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Method:
1. Place the dried fruit and tea into a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave to soak overnight.
2. The next day, preheat the oven to 175C/325F/Gas 3.
3. Add the flour, sugar, egg and spices to the bowl with the fruit and mix well.
4. Grease two 1lb loaf tins and carefully share the mixture equally between the two.
5. Transfer to the oven and bake for one and a quarter hours, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

It is suggested that this loaf be served with butter and jam but I find it moist and quite sweet enough without. It goes nicely with a cup of tea and a natter with friends. Feel free to use whatever fruit you like and spice according to your own tastes.

The second loaf cake I went for was a banana bread from Nigella. I had some bananas that were at the perfect banana bread stage (black skinned, soft and sweet) and I had someone in mind when making this one. I had seen this recipe mentioned on Dressing for Dinner and again it seemed like an easy one to customise as necessary. I left out the dried fruit and booze soaking (though I will soon try it with these steps left in) and added cocoa powder and a packet of chocolate chips as I had them sitting around.

This cake was delicious and moist and chocolatey. Seriously, it was amazing. You could taste the banana sweetness and the cocoa powder complimented this with a slightly bitter chocolate flavour. The chocolate chips were yummy in the way that chocolate chips always are. I used two 1lb loaf tins again and divided the batter between the two.

The recipe for this can be found here.

I think I have now decided that loaf cakes are the perfect sweet treat for sending to friends. I'm sure I will continue to make them in various combinations as they are endlessly variable.

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Chocolate Fridge Cake

Okay, I know, it's another sweet dish but at the moment, with all the stress of university, it's all that's keeping me sane.

This one was pretty simple to be honest. Anyone who hasn't had a chocolate fridge cake is relaly missing out. This no-bake treat is one of the easiest things to make and packs a really yummy chocolate hit and has lots of goodies inside to keep it interesting.

I'll get straight on with the recipe...

Ingredients

250g Digestive biscuits

200g Dark chocolate

100g Butter

100g Golden Syrup

A handful each of;

Raisins

Marshmallows, chopped
Glacé cherries, chopped

We also had a secret ingredient of a little bit of finely chopped up lime flesh. You can basically add anything you like to the base of biscuits, chocolate, butter and syrup. Experiment with whatever you have and whatever you like!

Method

Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin with cling film and set aside (make sure the cling film hangs over the edges a little).

Melt the chocolate, butter and syrup in a double boiler (a glass bowl over a saucepan with a little simmering water in it will do fine) stiring gently.

Crush the biscuits up. I use a rolling pin and a big bowl or sandwich bag. I wouldn't however, use a food processor as you need to maintain a little bit of crunch.

Add all your yummy additions to the biscuits and pour the chocolate mixture over.

Stir gently, but thoroughly to ensure everything is coated with the chocolate.

Pour the mixture into the tin and pack down firmly, wrap the over hanging clingfilm over the top and leave in the fridge to set. Give it a couple of hours at least.

Turn the cake out onto a plate and slice.

That's really all there is to it but it's delicious.

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