Chocolate and chestnut cake

This is quite a bitter cake, perfect for an after dinner treat. It has quite a moussey texture thanks to the folded egg whites

INGREDIENTS
400g whole cooked chestnuts
250g dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
2 eggs, separated

100g dark chocolate
one orange - zest and juice
icing sugar, to taste
double cream, to taste




It's nearly Christmas already?!

CAKE
Pulse the chestnuts until you have a fine crumb.
Melt the chocolate over a ban marie, and add the butter.




Melted chocolate.

Once melted, leave the chocolate/butter mixture to cool.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and add to the chocolate/butter liquid.
Whisk the egg whites.
Combine the chestnuts with your chocolate mixture, and beat in two tablespoons of the egg whites.
Gently fold the mixture into the rest of the egg whites.




The mixture.

Pour into two lined cake tins and leave to bake for half an hour.
The finished product should have a crumb when a skewer is inserted.

ICING
Melt the chocolate and add orange zest as well as the juice of an orange. I used clementines as I didn't have any oranges, but their flavour was not intense enough to cut through the orange.
Add icing sugar to taste. The cake is bitter, as is dark chocolate, so you need some sweetness!
Add double cream to thin the mixture, and dilute the intensity of the bitterness.

Spread onto the cake.

Serve a slice of cake with crème fraîche.

Banana and salted caramel cake

Yes banana is healthy, but when combined with copious amounts of butter, sugar and cream, the benefits are most probably cancelled out...

100g soft brown sugar
50g soft brown sugar
150g unsalted butter
250g plain flour
one teaspoon of cinnamon
half a teaspoon of ground ginger (optional)
half a teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)
one and a half teaspoons of baking powder
two eggs, beaten
one vanilla pod
three bananas, mashed
50 ml milk
a dash of orange juice

equal weights of butter and soft brown sugar (I used 100g of each and still had enough to fill a jar size 190g)
coarse sea salt - to taste
double cream

Preheat the oven to 200C and line two 18-20cm cake tins.

Lined tins.

Cream together the butter and sugar.
Deseed the vanilla pod, and add to the butter and sugar.
Gradually beat in the eggs to the butter and sugar - if you do it too quickly, the mixture will curdle and separate.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixture and whisk.
Then add all of the milk and orange juice, and whisk.
Once thoroughly combined, add the rest of the dry ingredients.
Add the mashed bananas to the mix and stir together.
Pour into the tins and cook for 30 - 40 minutes.

Cake.



 

Salted caramel sauce.
 



Melt the sugar and butter in a sauce pan over a medium heat.
As soon as they have both fully melted, take off the heat.
Then add the salt and cream, and stir.
Leave aside to cool and thicken.
When lukewarm, drizzle onto the cake.

I topped the cake with extra pieces of cake.

For texture, you could add toasted walnuts to the mixture.

 

Caramel sauce

Some days you just need to indulge. Butter, sugar, butter, sugar, cream... probably not for the fainthearted! This ridiculously rich caramel sauce can be used for banoffee pie, to drizzle over ice cream, or to eat straight out of the jar. Don't tell anyone I said that.

To make 3 small jars:
150g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
half a teaspoon sea salt
a dash of nutmeg
80ml double cream

DUNK!

Aside from the cream, chuck it all in a saucepan and leave on a medium heat to melt.
When the mixture it is about half melted, add the cream.
Stir the mixture every now and then, to make sure everything is melting.
Once you have a glossy mixture, take off the heat and leave to cool.
As it cools the mixture thickens, so place into sterilised jars once the mixture has cooled down a little.
Remember to seal jars, or a skin might form over the mixture.
This can be stored in the fridge for three days

Apple bread and butter pudding

Bread and butter pudding

 

Let be honest, bread and butter pudding is a pretty great thing. It's warming, has custard and is ridiculously versatile - what's not to like? From substituting bread for croissants or brioche, flavouring the custard with coffee or chocolate and adding juicy liquor-soaked raisins, there's something for everyone. So for autumn, why not use up the glut of apples you bought for £1.50? This buttery, fruity recipe is meltingly delicious and perfect for those chilly autumn afternoons.

Buttered bread

APPLE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING
bread* - I used rosemary and potato bread
butter, room temperature
2 egg yolks
150 ml double cream
100ml milk - you're using double cream and butter, so you might as well have full-fat**
100g sugar
2 apples, cored, peeled and evenly sliced
cinnamon
nutmeg
a big handful of raisins
cognac
dried apple, diced
more double cream, to taste
*it's best to use bread which is a couple of days old because it holds it shape hence not becoming soggy. As the Berry says, you don't want a soggy bottom...
**it's important to build up fat to insulate for the winter

The first layer

Soak the raisins overnight in the cognac. Before using, pat the raisins dry to get rid of excess moisture, and set the rest of the cognac aside for later.
Spread the sliced bread generously with butter. Unless you're dairy intolerant, there are no reasons why you should compromise and use margarine.


Jam-packed full of raisins

In a buttered and sugared tin**, layer the buttered bread with thickly sliced apples and raisins, similar to a dauphinoise. Repeat this until your baking tin is about three quarters full.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until your mixture has doubled in volume and become paler.

Heat the cream in a saucepan until it begins to bubble.
When the cream begins bubbling, take it off the heat and add the milk to it.
Once it has cooled down a bit, strain into the yolk/sugar mixture, whisking the whole time.◇◇

Sprinkling with sugar gives a brilliant toffee taste when cooked

When your baking tin is stuffed to the brim, liberally pour over with your custard.
Place in a preheated oven on 200C and bake for fifty-five minutes. When you take the pudding out, it should have puffed up and become golden and firm.
For the sauce, use the ratio of 1 part cognac to 2 parts cream.
In a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat, reduce the cognac until you have a thick glaze.
Add dried the dried apple and double cream to your reduced alcohol and on a low heat, let it cook for half a minute, and take off the heat.

I would suggest that you don't put raisins on top, because they will catc,. And burn.

Sprinkle the pudding with caster sugar and scorch with a blowtorch or grill for a crème brûlée touch.

Serve with lashings of sauce and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

**Butter the tin as you would normally, then sprinkle sugar over. Shake out excess sugar so you have a fine sprinkling on all sides. This helps to caramelise the pudding, and adds to the toffee-apple taste.
◇◇ If your custard becomes scrambled eggs die to the cream being too hot or not whisking enough, strain the mixture through a sieve.

YUM!

Eton Mess

This pud is ridiculously simple but rewarding EVERY time...

ETON MESS

meringues (crispy meringues are better than chewy meringues)
icing sugar, to taste
double cream
strawberries
raspberries

As a general rule, I use 600ml double cream for every 10 meringues.

Whisk the cream, and add icing sugar as soon as it reaches soft peaks, until you get stiff peaks.
Break up the meringues- chunky pieces are good!
Fold in the broken meringues, and then the fruits.
Serve with a sprig of mint.


Variations
Add some Pimms and finely chopped basil when you have whipped the cream.
Use custard instead of cream, and freeze for Eton Mess ice cream.

Banana and butterscotch fool

Bananas, grown in 107 countries (according to Wikipedia), have the 4th highest monetary value in food (after rice, wheat and corn). In 2011, India produced 29.7 million tonnes of bananas (20% of the world's production) (also according to Wikipedia).When I made this dish, it was purely to use up a few overripe bananas, but it became SO much more... It's moreish and indulgent, yet light, as well as tasting just like bannoffee pie - which can only be a good thing. In the highly unlikely possibility that you have butterscotch left over, serve with ice cream for a knickerbocker glory, or with stewed apples.

Banana and butterscotch fool

 BANANA FOOLfour overripe bananas (just because their skin is speckled or brown, it doesn't mean the bananas are too ripe- especially if you're blending them!)
350ml double cream
100g marscapone/ ricotta
a few tablespoons of caster sugar (how much you use depends on the sweetness of the banana)

BUTTERSCOTCH200g soft brown sugar/ caster sugar
150g salted butter, cubed
200ml double cream

Banana and butterscotch fool

Blitz the bananas until smooth and set aside.
Whip the cream into soft peaks, then stir in the sugar until thoroughly combined.
Turn the whisk back on and add the marscapone (be careful the mixture doesn't splash up everywhere, unless you want your kitchen redecorated...)
Mix in the blitzed banana, and set the mixture aside.

Banana and butterscotch fool

In a medium-sized saucepan, put the sugar in on a low-to-medium heat.
If the mixture starts bubbling at the sides, add the butter onto the sugar, and start to stir.
Continue stirring until all the butter has melted, and the sugar has completely dissolved into it.
Take the mixture off the heat, and stir in the cream. Even if it looks like the cream is separating from the mixture, continue stirring until it combines.

In individual ramekins, layer the banana mixture, then the butterscotch, then banana mixture then butterscotch. I layered it up whilst the butterscotch is still warm, though not really hot (so the mixture is liquid enough to drizzle over and set).
Leave in the fridge until ready to be served.
Just before eating, top with flaked almonds.

Banana and butterscotch fool

Or, you could...

crumble amaretti or gingernut biscuits on top just before serving.

add a bottom of espresso-soaked biscuits.

Banana and coconut ice cream

This recipe is so delicious and simple that you could have it as a milkshake instead (minus the coconut)!

ICE CREAM6 spotted bananas - the overrripeness gives lots of sweetness so you don't have to add too much sugar
600ml double cream
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 egg yolks
150g desiccated coconut

Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until fully combined.
In a small saucepan, gently heat the cream on medium heat.
When the cream starts to bubble, take it off the heat and pour into the egg/sugar mixture slowly, whisking at the same time. Never pour the egg mixture into the pan as the direct heat will cook the eggs, giving sweet scrambled eggs but not custard.
In a separate bowl, mash the bananas until you get a smooth purée.
Add the bananas to the custard, mix together, and strain through a sieve into your ice-cream maker.
Add the coconut and leave to churn.
If you don't have an ice cream maker, stir the coconut into the banana custard and leave in a tub to freeze. After an hour, stir it up so you get a smooth mixture, not one with ice in.

Notes
You could use chocolate or toffee instead of coconut, or tequila or pineapple instead of banana. Be careful with freezing alcohol... Alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water, and the higher the proof, the lower the temperature. So by diluting the alcohol or using a lower strength, alcohol should freeze.

An alternative way of making ice cream is the Victorian way of getting a huge bag of ice and some rock salt.
As soon as salt is added to ice, they react (doing something of which i'm not quite sure)
So pour the ice cream mixture into a sealed bag, and put this bag into the bag of ice. When you add the salt to the ice, close the bag up, and shake for anywhere from 5-15 minutes until the ice cream sets.

Cardamom poached plum jelly

A very light dessert, perfect to end a rich meal.

Cardamom poached plum jelly

6 plums

8 cardamom pods, crushed

half still water, half fizzy water

60g sugar

gelatine leaves/ powder

Over a medium heat, dissolve sugar in water until you get a syrup.

Add the cardamom and plums to the liquid, turn to a low heat, and leave covered for 20 minutes.

Strain the plums and cardamom (keep the liquid for the jelly), and immediately put the plums into a bowl of iced water for 5 minutes.

Pat the plums dry and dice into thumb-sizes pieces.

Soak the gelatine in cold water, then add to the hot syrup, whisking, to make sure all the gelatine is dissolved.

Put the plums into the jelly mould(s) and cover with the jelly mixture. Leave in the fridge to set.

Serve with a quinelle of orange blossom cream, or chantilly.

Cardamom poached plum jelly

You can peel the plums, but I find the skin adds texture.

Rosemary Apple Charlotte and Milk ice-cream

4 small apples (washed and peeled -with the skins set aside for later- and diced)
dark brown sugar, or muscavado sugar (for a toffee, nutty taste)
100ml double cream
400ml milk (goat's milk or hazlenut milk would also work really well)
3 egg yolks (you could use the egg whites for a meringue or accompanying apple souflées
a few sprigs of rosemary
2 well-toasted (BURNT) pieces of toast.
a few speculos (speculos are french biscuits which you'd normally have with your coffee- they have a toffee-like sweetness yet the texture of a biscotti meets digestive)

Preheat the oven to 160C.
In a saucepan, add the diced apples, the rosemary, and a splash of water (or calvados if you want alcohol). Keep on a low heat and leave to soften.
In another pan, heat the milk until it begins to boil, then turn the heat down and add the sugar (stirring continuously). Then whisk in the egg yolks, constantly so you don't get scrambled egg. When it is all combined, add the cream and thoroughly stir. Pour the custard into the ice-cream maker (or into a covered tub and put in the freezer).
The apple should be softened by now, so take the rosemary out and add the speculos. Mush it a bit to get a thick consitency, but not too much as it's nice to have the odd lump. Pour the apple mixture into the ice-cream maker, or generously drizzle into your tub to achieve a ripple effect.
On a lightly oiled baking tray, put on the apple skin and leave in the oven until the moisture has started to evaporate. Then, turn the grill on to maximum, and keeping an eye on them (like I should have done better) wait for them to harden and crisp up a bit. It should take a minute at maximum. When they are perfectly coiffed, gently pat them dry with a piece of kitchen towel to get rid of excess grease.
In the toaster put in two slices of toast, and when they are reasonably charred, take them out and generously slice them so you get reasonable diamonds/slithers/any other pretty shape .
The custard should have solidified quite a bit by now, so add the toast to it, and then leave it in the freezer to set.

Serve with the apple crisps and perhaps a dark-chocolate sauce.