Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie

Anyone else get mad pudding cravings on cold rainy nights? Just me? We'd finished dinner and the sweet tooth had set in. But I was out of ice cream, and plain chocolate wasn't going to cut it. I mean, Easter was last weekend, so I was a bit over chocolate... but chocolate chip cookies on the other hand. So you know that feeling when you're craving cookies but can't be bothered dealing with the mess that all that creaming and mixing makes? Well this one pan cookie recipe is literally one pan (plus some measuring utensils), melt, mix and bake all in the same pan. Too Easy. Too delicious. Too dangerous? Depends how much self control you have not to devour the whole thing in one sitting. We nearly did... This recipe could happily serve 8, realistically & gluttonously only 4, maybe 6. 

I used three different chocolates, mainly because I couldn't decide between milk or dark chocolate, and if I'm going to do both, I may as well do all three. Any or all would work, depending on your preference. But the peanut butter is a must. It doesn't overpower it, just a subtle flavour but the fat content of the peanuts helps with the overall dough so if you're unable to have peanut butter, substitute for another nut butter. 

It took me maybe 10 minutes to prep the cookie, fifteen minutes to bake, and then only moments to devour. If you want to serve it in slices you'll need to allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes when it comes out of the oven , but if you're planning to serve it in the pan, load ice-cream on top and serve in the middle of the table and all dig in. But caution as it will be hot. Especially those molten chocolate spots. 

First up, melt the butter in a small heavy based frying pan, cast iron, or another skillet. Don't stir, just swirl, if it bubbles and browns a little don't worry, it actually makes the butter a little sweeter when it browns. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes. While it's cooling you can prep all your other ingredients. Once it's cooled, but still warmed you can add the peanut butter and sugar. These will melt into the butter a little. I suggest half a cup of peanut butter, but basically I just dumped two massive scoops into the pan. Peanut butter is one of those sticky things that's pretty hard to measure. Brown sugar is best also as it's not grainy and gives a richer caramelised flavour, but again, use what you have on hand. The recipe will surely forgive you. 

Mix the rest, bake and like I said serve with ice-cream while hot. We were all out, as I mentioned, so a big dollop of cold vanilla custard also does the trick. Any leftovers (yeah right) are great the next day with a cup of tea or coffee, but it won't last longer than that. 

Ingredients (Serves 4-8): 

• 100 grams butter
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats 
• 3/4 cup of chocolate chunks (white, dark and milk or a mixture) 

Preheat your oven to 180*C. 

Use a small oven proof frying pan to melt your butter. Swirl rather than stir. Once melted take off the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. If it browns, don't worry. 

Once cooled a little, add the peanut butter, sugar and vanilla and gently mix to combine. The peanut butter doesn't need to be completely blended in. 

Crack an egg into the pan also, and mix to combine. 

Add the sifted flour and baking soda, along with the rolled oats. Mix to form a sticky cookie dough. Press the dough down into the pan and pop into the oven for 15 minutes. 

Once removed from the oven allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving, or pile the ice cream on top and eat straight out of the pan! 

Enjoy. 

Chocolate & Peanut Rice Bubble Crunch

There's something insanely delicious about nostalgic foods like this. We would always have these at birthday parties growing up, except mum would make the honey version (she was a health nut), which although tasty, is mighty boring compared to these!

I searched the internet high and low for a recipe for ones which were peanut butter and chocolate - only my favourite flavour combination - but surprisingly the internet failed me. All the recipes I found were either a peanut butter crunch with a chocolate topping, or made using cocoa, not actual chocolate, so instead I made my own up, and (thank goodness) it's a flavour hit! Kind of reminds me of M&M's, a cross between the crispy ones, and the peanut butter ones, good luck finding them in NZ, seems to be more of an American thing.

Best of all this recipe is so so easy. I whipped it up in 15 minutes, plus it's easy for little helpers (just be careful on the melting part). Oh, and be sure to lick the bowl!

Ingredients (Makes 1 large 30 x 20cm tray, about 25 pieces): 

• 6 cups of rice bubbles 
• 250 grams of milk chocolate 
• 250 grams of smooth peanut butter 
• 60 grams of butter
• 60 grams of icing sugar
• extra 30 grams chocolate and 1 tbsp butter for topping - optional

Line a large baking tray with cling film, so that the sides over hang. 

In a large bowl, measure out 6 cups of rice bubbles. 

Create a double boiler, in a small saucepan put a little bit of water, place a metallic bowl on top so that it seals the edge. Make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Place this onto a low heat. In the bowl, put the chocolate, butter and peanut butter, stirring frequently until melted and smooth. 

Sift in the icing sugar and mix well to combine. 

Use a spatula to pour all of the peanuty, chocolatey goodness into the bowl with the rice bubbles. Mix well until all the rice bubbles are coated. Then pour it all into the lined baking tray. Use the back of a spoon to press it down into the tin. If you hear some of the rice bubbles crunching, that's fine. Once pressed and smoothed, fold the sides of the cling film over to cover it, and pop it in the fridge for an hour (at least) to set. 

Once set, remove from the fridge. You can add some chocolate drizzle as a topping if you like. Simply use the double boiler method to melt the extra chocolate and butter. Once melted use a spoon to drizzle this over the top of the slice. Give that about 20-30 minutes to set, before using a large knife to cut the slice into pieces. 

This is best stored in the fridge (particularly in hot weather) until required. 

Ginger Caramel and Dark Chocolate Tart

It was my brother's birthday and I wanted to make something that I knew he would love! I remember years ago he ate an entire bag (in one sitting) of my dark chocolate coated crystallised ginger pieces... needless to say I figured this would be a winning flavour combination.

Following the same pastry recipe as my other tarts, this one is instead filled with a fudgey layer of ginger spiced caramel, topped with Whittaker's 62% Dark Chocolate ganache and then pieces of crystallised ginger sprinkled on top. The result, pure delightful decadence. Technically it's a cross between ginger crunch and a chocolate caramel slice.

Ingredients (serves 8-12):  

• 1 pre-baked tart pastry shell

For the Ginger Caramel

• 3 tbsp ground ginger - don't be shy!
• 150 grams butter
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of cream

In a small saucepan melt the sugar, cream, half of the butter and the powdered ginger. Bring to a gentle simmer and keep whisking (5-10 minutes) till thickened into a caramel. I test the thickness by dropping a little bit onto a cold saucer, and tilting it to see how thick it is as it cools. 

Once thick, remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter to form a smooth glossy caramel. Pour over the cooked pastry shell while still warm. 

For the Chocolate Ganache

• 180 grams of Whittaker's 62% Dark Ghana Chocolate, chopped
• 125 ml cream
• 1/2 cup crystallised ginger, roughly chopped

In a small saucepan, gently heat the cream till it is just boiling. Remove from the heat and add the chopped dark chocolate, whisk until all of the chocolate is melted in, thick and glossy. 

Allow to cool a little if necessary before spreading evenly over the cooled ginger caramel layer. Sprinkle with the chopped ginger and gently press this into the chocolate layer before it sets. 

Serve with softly whipped unsweetened cream. 

Peanut Butter Pie

Are you a peanut butter nutter? Does the sound of Reese's Pieces get you drooling? Did you rush out to buy the Whittaker's Peanut Butter chocolate when it first hit shelves? 

If you answered yes to any (or let's face it, probably all) of those questions, then this is the recipe for you. Another delectable dessert treat from my 'tart' collection. I can practically whip up the pastry with my eyes closed these days, and with the use of a food processor it takes hardly any time at all. This recipe uses the same pastry as my rich Salted Caramel Tart, and my often requested After Dinner Mint Tart. 

Despite the three different layers, it's painlessly easy, but profoundly impressive. After the pastry layer is a not-so-sweet creamy peanut butter buttercream frosting, then topped with a luscious chocolate ganache. Then sprinkled with roasted salted peanuts. 


Ingredients (Serves 12):

Pastry  

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

Peanut Butter Layer

• 90 grams butter
• 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup of good quality smooth peanut butter - I used the new Mother Earth range

Chocolate Ganache 

• 150 ml cream
• 75 grams Whittaker's 72% Dark Ghana Chocolate
• 75 grams Whittaker's Creamy Milk Chocolate
• 1/4 cup of roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Make the pastry: 

Put flour, cocoa,  and icing sugar into the blender, pulse a couple times, to 'sieve' and combine. 

Add diced butter, pulse till it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add egg yolk, and 1 tbsp water, pulse. Continue adding two more spoonfuls of water until it starts to come together into a ball (You may only need two spoonfuls depending on the size of your egg yolk). 

Tip pastry onto a floured board and gently knead for a couple of minutes so that it feels smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 30 cm fluted tart tin, or 8 mini fluted tart tins. Remove pastry bake to the floured board, or a piece of greaseproof baking paper. Roll the dough out to form a circle slightly larger than your tin, about 5 mm thick. Use the pin to transfer the dough to your greased tin, press gently and roll over the top to cut the excess from the edges. 

Cover the pastry with a piece of greaseproof baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beads/rice and cook for a further 15 minutes (10 for mini tarts). 

The pastry should be pulling away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. 

Make the peanut butter layer:

Place butter and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer till smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter to the bowl and mix again. 

Spread the peanut butter over the cooled tart base. 

Make the chocolate ganache: 

Warm the cream over a low heat in a small saucepan. When it begins to boil, turn the heat off and drop the squares of chocolate in. Stir once then set aside so the heat of the cream melts the chocolate. After 5 minutes stir the chocolate till smooth and glossy. 

Allow to cool a little, but not set. Then pour over the peanut butter layer. 

While still runny sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top. 

Chill for an hour before serving. Will keep in the fridge for up to a week, unless of course you eat it first. 

Try these other delectable treats.

Salted Caramel Tart

After Dinner Mint Tart 

Chocolate Berry Truffles

You know when you make one of those fancy birthday cakes that requires you cutting the big cake into shapes to piece together to make something else... What do you do with all those off cuts of cake? Well this easy and decadent truffle recipe solves that problem. If you don't have 'offcuts' don't worry, any piece of leftover cake would work just as well. 

I'll be making these again for our Easter celebration. 

Ingredients (makes 30 truffles):

• 350 grams (approx) of leftover cake
• 1/4 c coconut cream, or milk
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut 
• 1/4 cup of defrosted raspberries, or dried cranberries, or both
• 160 grams melted dark chocolate - try Whittaker's 72% Dark Ghana 
• 1 cup of desiccated coconut, to coat 

Crumble cake into a bowl and pour over the coconut cream. Add desiccated coconut, berries and melted chocolate. Mix well to combine. 

Put the 1 cup of coconut into a bowl. 

Use wet hands to roll into small balls. Drop each ball into the coconut and use two spoons to toss it to coat completely. 

Chill in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.Will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for one week.

Top: Chocolate Berry Truffles
Bottom Ginger Crunch and Afghans with Chocolate Fudge Icing

Afghans with chocolate fudge icing

Afghans are a classic taste of kiwi baking. They're a crunchy, crumbly, cornflakey cookie, covered in chocolate icing and topped with a walnut. If you're not a walnut fan, you can leave it off or substitute it for a little coconut.  The difference between these afghans and other recipes is that I use a boiled icing. Boiled icing is made similar to how you would cook custard, with milk, icing sugar, cocoa and a little butter. 

Ingredients (makes 36 small biscuits or 16 large):

• 200 grams butter, softened
• 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups of crushed cornflakes

Chocolate Fudge Icing

• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 cups of icing sugar
• 20 grams butter
• 1 cup of milk 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 70 grams of walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

To make the biscuits, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. 

Gently stir in sifted cocoa and flour. Once well combined stir in the crushed cornflakes. 

Use wet hands to roll small balls, arrange on the baking trays and press lightly with a wet fork. 

Bake for 12 minutes; or 18 minutes if making large biscuits. When cooked, cool on a wire rack. 

Once cooled make the icing. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a small saucepan. Pour in 1/4 of the milk and whisk to combine. Make sure their are no dry lumps, then pour in the rest of the milk and butter. 

Put the saucepan on a medium heat and bring the boil, stirring occasionally. Boil rapidly for 1 - 2 minutes till thickened a little. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence. 

Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, you'll notice it thicken more and more as it cools. While still warm spread spoonfuls of icing on top of each cookie. Place a walnut half or a couple of pieces on the top of each cookie. 

Enjoy.

Top: Chocolate Berry Truffles and Spicy Oaty Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Bottom: Ginger Crunch and Afghans with Chocolate Fudge Icing

Salted Caramel Tart

Salted caramel tart with bittersweet chocolate ganache, trust me it tastes about as decadent and luxurious as it sounds. crunchy crumbly chocolate pastry shell, encasing a velvet smooth rich caramel levelled perfectly with fleur de sel (or sea salt, harvested from France), and finished with a blanket of bittersweet chocolate ganache.  

Sounds technical doesn't it? And it is in some respects, but also very very achievable, especially if you've already mastered the art of pastry making in my other tart recipes. Read tips before following the recipe at the bottom of this blogpost. 





PASTRY 

Pastry can be made by hand, rubbing the butter and flour together to form a breadcrumb-like texture, before gently working in the egg and water. Or by simply popping the butter and flour into a food processor, mixing briefly, then using the 'pulse' feature to add the egg yolk and liquids. By using the latter method the pastry only needs a minute or so of light kneading, before wrapping and chilling in the fridge. 

Pastry must always be chilled before rolling. This makes it more likely to stick to itself, and not your bench or rolling pin. Also, just as you dust the bench with flour, do the same to your rolling pin. And if you don't have a rolling pin - a wine bottle will suffice. When rolling be sure to rotate the dough frequently, adding a dust of flour as necessary, this makes sure that it is rolling evenly, and not sticking to the bench. 

Once you've rolled the pastry to the desired thickness and size gently fold it over the pin to help you transfer it to the dish. Then once it is pressed into the dish, simply roll the pin over the top of the tart or pie dish to cut the edges evenly. Baking Blind is a technique using baking beads or uncooked rice which holds the pastry in place while it begins to bake, without it the butter in the pastry can cause it to ooze down the sides of your tin - not so pretty!

CARAMEL 

This was actually my first time making authentic caramel. Usually I do the 'cheat' version of sweetened condensed milk with butter and golden syrup. Today I made the real deal, and trust me the flavour result is well worth the effort. Before heating the sugar I brought the cream, butter and salt to the boil (obviously omit the salt if you want plain caramel), then removed it from the heat to set aside. 

Next, I mixed the water and sugar over a high heat till dissolved then left, without stirring for 8 - 15 minutes (depending on the heat of your element). Here it bubbles up, and will eventually turn a deep golden colour, that's when it is ready. At this point, remove it from the heat, and carefully, slowly add the melted butter and cream mixture while whisking. It will create quite the reaction and bubble up, but persevere, the result will be silky smooth. 

I like to pour the caramel into the tart case while still warm, otherwise you risk it getting to firm to easily work with. 

CHOCOLATE

Melting chocolate is easy right? Well, not always, and is very sensitive to high heat, over heat it, and it becomes grainy and unpleasant. The easiest way I find to melt chocolate is to keep an eye on it, in a double boiler. A metal or glass bowl, rested upon a small saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. 

I put the cream for the ganache into the bowl, and when it begins to warm, add the cubes of chocolate. I stir this for a minute or two, then turn the element off and leave it for a few more minutes. Now whisk or stir well, and the chocolate will continue to melt with the heat of the cream. Eventually becoming silky smooth. Again work with it while it's still warm (not hot as it may melt the caramel). 

Ingredients (serves 16): 

Pastry 

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of cocoa
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp chilled water

Caramel 

• 3/4 cup of cream 
• 90 grams of butter
• 300 grams of white sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2-1 tsp fleur de sel, sea salt

Chocolate Ganache 

• 1/2 cup of cream
• 150 grams Whittaker's Dark Ghana 72% Chocolate

Method: 

Make the pastry: 

Put flour, cocoa,  and icing sugar into the blender, pulse a couple times, to 'sieve' and combine. 

Add diced butter, pulse till it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add egg yolk, and 1 tbsp water, pulse. Continue adding two more spoonfuls of water until it starts to come together into a ball (You may only need two spoonfuls depending on the size of your egg yolk). 

Tip pastry onto a floured board and gently knead for a couple of minutes so that it feels smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 30 cm fluted tart tin, or 8 mini fluted tart tins. Remove pastry bake to the floured board, or a piece of greaseproof baking paper. Roll the dough out to form a circle slightly larger than your tin, about 5 mm thick. Use the pin to transfer the dough to your greased tin, press gently and roll over the top to cut the excess from the edges. 

Cover the pastry with a piece of greaseproof baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beads/rice and cook for a further 15 minutes (10 for mini tarts). 

The pastry should be pulling away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin while you make the caramel. 

Make the caramel:  

In a small saucepan, measure cream, salt and butter. Heat till nearly boiling, and butter is completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly. 

In another heavy based saucepan, measure water and sugar. Bring to the boil on a high heat, stirring until the sugar is completely melted. Continue boiling without stirring for approximately 10 minutes till it turns a golden caramel colour, it will also start to smell delicious. 

Once the colour has changed, remove from the heat and carefully (it will boil up like a crazed science experiment - fun for the kids to watch), whisk while slowly adding the melted cream and butter. Keep stirring till you get the silky smooth caramel. Taste to check the salt, you may wish to add more, you want the salt to balance with the sweet of the caramel so that you taste both, but neither overpowers the other. 

Let the caramel cool a bit, so it's still warm and flowing, but not hot. Pour it into the tart shell and tilt to spread evenly. Chill in the refrigerator to set for at least two hours. 

Make the chocolate ganache: 

Create a double boiler (see above), and pour the cream into the bowl. Allow to heat then add cubed chocolate. When chocolate begins to melt, turn the heat off, and leave the bowl sitting over the hot water for a few minutes. After waiting stir/whisk till the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat, and just like the caramel, allow to cool a little. Gently pour over the caramel, and return to the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool completely. 

To serve, use a hot knife (rest it in a mug of boiling water) to slice the tart into pieces. 

If you liked this recipe, you may also like: Chocolate peppermint tart, Banoffee Tart, Rhubarb Frangipane Tart, Pina Colada Tart

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart

Pina Colada Tart

Banoffee Tart

Chocolate Peppermint Tart

Chocolate Pastry for Tarts

Chocolate Pastry 

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of cocoa
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp chilled water

Make the pastry: 

Put flour, cocoa,  and icing sugar into the blender, pulse a couple times, to 'sieve' and combine. 

Add diced butter, pulse till it resembles breadcrumbs. 

Add egg yolk, and 1 tbsp water, pulse. Continue adding two more spoonfuls of water until it starts to come together into a ball (You may only need two spoonfuls depending on the size of your egg yolk). 

Tip pastry onto a floured board and gently knead for a couple of minutes so that it feels smooth. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and grease a 30 cm fluted tart tin, or 8 mini fluted tart tins. Remove pastry bake to the floured board, or a piece of greaseproof baking paper. Roll the dough out to form a circle slightly larger than your tin, about 5 mm thick. Use the pin to transfer the dough to your greased tin, press gently and roll over the top to cut the excess from the edges. 

Cover the pastry with a piece of greaseproof baking paper and fill with baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and baking beads/rice and cook for a further 15 minutes (10 for mini tarts). 

The pastry should be pulling away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin

This pastry works well with the following recipes: 

Salted Caramel Tart

Chocolate Peppermint Tart

Walnut Chocolate Brownies

The new year is often a time for resolutions and healthy feel good goals, which are usually too extreme to maintain, like no junk food - yeah right. As far as I'm concerned there is no good or bad food. Sure some things we should eat more of than others, but restricting something is only going to make you want it more!! 

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like chocolate brownies  - except maybe me. However for some reason I had a craving, and the only way to satisfy a craving is to have the thing which one craves, these brownies are rich and chocolates, the addition of walnuts adds a delightful crunchy texture and the subtle aroma of olive oil cuts through the sweetness. Making these chewy chocolates morsels quite devine. They're also rediculously easy to prepare.

Ingredients (makes 12 - 16):

• 220 grams dark chocolate
• 170 grams walnut pieces
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 

Method

Grease a 20cm square baking dish and line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. 

Over a double boiler, gently melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly. 

Use an electric beater to beat eggs with sugar and oil. Slowly poor in the melted chocolate while still beating. Doing this slowly makes sure that you don't scramble the eggs in the residual heat of the chocolate. 

Next sift the dry ingredients, flour, cocoa, and baking powder over the chocolate mix. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold together till combined. Finally fold in the walnuts. 

Spread into the prepared baking dish and bake for 35 minutes. The top will start to crack a little. 

Cool in the tin, before removing and gently peeling off the baking paper. Cut and serve with cream or ice cream. 

After Dinner Mint Tart

Are you a lover of mint slice biscuits? After dinner mints? Whittaker's Dark Ghana 72% peppermint chocolate? 

If so, then this is the tart for you. 

Yes, it looks mightily impressive, and tastes even better. Even though there are a few steps involved, it is actually ridiculously easy to prepare: Especially if you have a food processor to take the hard work out of the pastry. If you don't have a food processor just rub the butter into the sifted ingredients using your fingers. 

Do make sure you have plenty of time up your sleeve though. You need to wait for the pastry to chill, bake, chill, then for each layer of ganache to set. Ideally, you want to prepare this the night or morning before you want to eat it. 

Ingredients (serves 12-16): 

Pastry

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk (reserve white for brushing) 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

White chocolate ganache 

• 200 g white chocolate 
• 100 ml cream 
• 2 tsp peppermint essence

Dark chocolate ganache 

• 200 g good quality dark chocolate - Whittaker's 72% is perfect for this
• 140 ml cream 
• 3 tsp peppermint essence

Step 1: Make Pastry

Sieve flour, cocoa and icing sugar together. Put into your food processor with the diced butter and pulse for a few minutes till all of the butter is mixed in and it becomes a breadcrumb texture. 

Next add the egg yolk and chilled water. Pulse again. When it begins to come together, tip out onto a lightly floured board and lightly knead until you have a smooth dough. 

Flatten into a 15cm disc. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Pastry is much easier to work with when it is cold. 

Step 2: Bake Pastry 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a 30cm loose-based fluted tart tin with butter. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a piece of greaseproof paper large enough to fit the tart tin. 

Gently lay the pastry over the tin and press into the edges. Use the rolling pin to roll across the top of the tin to cut off any excess pastry. 

Place the greaseproof paper over the pastry and fill the tin with baking beads or uncooked rice (less than a kilo of rice will fill it - reserve the rice afterwards for using again the next time you bake pastry). This holds the pastry in place and stops it both puffing up and from sinking down the sides. Chill again for 10 minutes. 

Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove tart from oven and take off the baking paper and rice. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes to finish cooking through. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

Step 3: White Chocolate Ganache 

Once cooled, you can make the white chocolate ganache. In a small saucepan, gently heat the 100ml of cream. Just as it begins to boil, remove it from the heat and add the white chocolate. Leave it to sit for a few minutes. Then stir till all of the chocolate is melted in and you have a smooth mixture. Add 2 tsp of peppermint essence. 

Once cooled to nearly room temperature, pour into the pastry tilt to spread evenly. Leave it in the fridge, uncovered, to chill for an hour or two. I left it overnight and finished it off the next day. If you want to smooth it more, wait till it is completely chilled first. Then heat a large metal spoon in a glass of boiling water. Dry the spoon off (make sure it is dry - water and chocolate are not friends) and use the back of it to gently smooth out any rough areas of chocolate. 

Step 4: Dark Chocolate Ganache 

Make the dark chocolate ganache, as you did with the white chocolate ganache, heat the 140ml cream to nearly boiling point. Add the chopped chocolate and leave for two minutes. Stir till smooth. Add peppermint essence. Once cooled pour over the white chocolate ganache. Leave in the refrigerator to set for 2 hours. 

Step 5: Share and Devour

Remove the tart from the fridge 15-30 minutes before serving. Fill a mug with boiling water and heat a small sharp knife in the water. Dry the knife on a clean cloth and gently cut small wedges of the tart, reheating the knife as required. 

Heating the knife will give you clean cuts and avoid the chocolate cracking. 

Depending how decadent you are feeling you'll easily get 12 - 16 slices out of this tart as it's rather rich. 

Serve with lightly whipped cream if desired. 

Beetroot Cake

Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables. It's sweet, spicy and often under-rated at how versatile it can be. One of the best uses for it, is of course in a rich chocolate cake! Dense, fudgey and decadent.
If you like red velvet cake or chocolate cake then this is for you, except it's even better, instead of food colouring, using the beetroot to naturally colour the cake and icing. 


Ingredients (serves 8-12**):

• 2/3 cup light flavoured vegetable oil (rice bran, canola, or light olive oil)
• 50 g dark chocolate - Whittaker's 72% is great to cook with
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups) packed grated raw beetroot
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cup self-raising flour
• 5 tbsp cocoa
• 1/4 tsp salt

Icing

• 125g tub of cream cheese
• 1/2 a cup of icing sugar
• 2 - 3 tbsp of reserved beetroot juice

Method 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Line the base of a springform 20cm cake tin, then oil and lightly dust with flour to prevent sticking. Shake excess flour from the tin.

In a small saucepan, gently heat oil and chocolate so the chocolate begins to melt. Remove from heat and stir till completely melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Grate beetroot (a food processor can be good here), squeeze 2-3 tablespoons of liquid from the beetroot, and set aside for the icing. Mix beetroot with eggs and sugar. Stir in chocolate and oil, before adding sifted flour, cocoa and salt.

Mix all together to form a smooth batter, and pour into your prepared tin.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes till top is a little cracked, but set. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile make the icing by mixing the beetroot juice and cream cheese till smooth, and no lumps are present. Then stir in the sifted icing till well combined. Pour and spread the icing over the cooled cake.

Due to the cream cheese icing, this cake will need to be stored in the fridge.

** You can make this as a cake, or as cupcakes. To make cupcakes line a muffin tray with paper cases and bake only 25 minutes.