Chocolate, Hazelnut and Date Caramel Tart with an Almond Crust

This tart is amazing. Seriously gorgeous, and it’s vegan and gluten-free. It tastes like Millionaires Shortbread with nuts in.

There is a crumbly nutty crust made with ground almonds and coconut oil then a layer of date caramel (new favourite thing) filled with toasted hazelnuts. Then it is finished off with a layer of dark and delicious chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of chopped nuts. It’s chewy, sweet, crunchy and crumbly at the same time and it has no butter no refined sugar and no flour. Do you love me?

Be warned though, it is very addictive and quite rich. Like that could be a bad thing. You have to make it just to let your friends and family know how delicious vegan desserts can be. No one would guess and they will all want the recipe.

This is one of the recipes from my Healthy Baking with Chocolate Workshop, the next one of which is on Saturday 2nd March from 5pm – 9pm at the Pepe Kitchen Cookery School in Benalmadena, Malaga.

At this workshop I will be demonstrating how to use olive oil and coconut oil instead of butter in baking as well as showing how to use wholemeal spelt flour and ground almonds instead of bleached white flour. We will also be using honey, maple syrup, molasses and dates instead of sugar for natural sweetness and oat milk replaces cow’s milk and cream.

The chocolate we use is either 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate or pure cocoa powder.

We will be making and tasting:

• Wholemeal Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies made with spelt flour & coconut oil
• Chocolate, Date & Walnut Truffles with Coconut: delicious little bites of energy & protein
• Chocolate Butterfly Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Filling: made with spelt flour & coconut oil
• Moist Chocolate & Orange Cake made with whole oranges & ground almonds
• Chocolate, Hazelnut & Date Caramel Tart with ground almond crust

Vegan Chocolate, Hazelnut & Date Caramel Tart Recipe

Serves 8, Vegan, Gluten-Free. Adapted from Gourmande in the Kitchen

• 250 g (2 cups) ground almonds
• a pinch of salt (Himalayan if possible)
• 4 Tbsp maple syrup or miel de cana
• 4 Tbsp (60 ml) organic unrefined coconut oil, melted

Oil a 9 inch tart tin, loose bottomed if possible. Put the ground almonds & salt in a bowl, add the maple syrup/miel de cana and melted coconut oil and use a fork to blend it together until it is well combined and resembles crumble mix, a few minutes.

Tip this into the tart tin and press it out all over the base and up the sides firmly & evenly with your fingers. Prick all over the base with a fork. Put in the fridge for a t least 20 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 175 C and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden but not too dark. Leave to cool while you make the filling.

• 10 Medjool dates, soaked in 120 ml (1/2 cup) warm water
• 2 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
•  a pinch of salt (Himalayan)
• about 110 g (1 cup) toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Remove the stones and blend the soaked dates with the soaking liquid, melted coconut oil, salt & vanilla until smooth, thick and creamy. Stir through 3/4 of the chopped hazelnuts and then pour/scrape the mixture into the cooled tart case. Spread it out evenly with a spatula. Put in the fridge to set while you make the chocolate layer.

• 120 ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup/miel de cana
• 4 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted
• 50 g raw (1/2 cup) pure cocoa/cacao powder

Blend the maple syrup/miel de cana and melted coconut oil together until well combined. Add the cocoa/cacao powder and blend again, scraping down the sides if necessary, until smooth.

Pour this over the date caramel hazelnut layer and spread out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle over a little sea salt and the remaining chopped hazelnuts.

Put back in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

I thought you might like to see a little YouTube video of my Healthy Baking Workshop (savoury & sweet) that took place on Sunday morning. The next one is on Saturday 23rd March 10-2pm. Just click on the link below…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7tU9pZPNnb4

Chocolate and Lavender Easter Cupcakes

Lavender is the colour of the moment. Everywhere I look when we are out walking the dog I see wild lavender growing out of rocks.

Or the beautiful wisteria that has decided to bloom all at once. Just in time for Easter.

I wanted to make something sweet for Easter and that for me that means chocolate. I had an idea in my head of chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, sprinkled with crumbled up Flake (to look like a nest) and little mini eggs inside the nest.

The thing is that tidy, delicate and uniform is not my forte. Also, if it doesn’t work the first time, it’s never going to happen. So when my first attempt at a mini egg chocolate flake nest looked like a six year old had been let loose in the chocolate cupboard, I actually considered inventing some children and blaming them.

Already bored of the chocolate nest idea I started playing around with the icing and some of the lavender I had picked that morning. It turns out that the lavender ones looked the best, so I spent the next few minutes picking out all of the lavender coloured mini eggs. I don’t know what happened to the other colours, must of been those pesky kids again…

These cupcakes are actually vegan and made with spelt flour. The frosting is also vegan, made with an olive oil spread instead of butter which is why it is a bit softer than proper buttercream icing. As I didn’t know beforehand that I was making lavender chocolate cupcakes I didn’t add any lavender to the cake mix. I have added it into the recipe below but it is up to you whether you do or not.

Chocolate Lavender Easter Cupcakes

Makes 10-12, vegan (without toppings), wheat-free. Adapted fron Oh She Glows

Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 25 mins

• 1 cup oat milk (or any non dairy milk)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup sugar (raw cane if possible)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups spelt (or wholemeal) flour
• 1/3 cup pure cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 tsp dried edible lavender (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170 C and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, beat together the  milk, vinegar, sugar, oil and vanilla with an electric whisk/mixer for a minute ot two.

Sieve the dry ingredients (except the lavender) into the wet and stir well to get rid of any lumps. Then stir through the lavender.

Transfer the mix to a jug and pour it into the cupcake liners about two thirds to three quarters full for each. Bake for about 25 minutes until the top springs back slowly when pressed with a finger. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before adding the frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

• 6 tbsp olive oil spread (or equivalent)
• 3/4 cup pure cocoa powder
• 2+2/3 cups icing sugar
• 1/3 cup oat milk (or other non dairy milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the spread and vanilla together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add 2 tbsp of the milk and whisk again.

Alternate adding the sugar, cocoa and milk a bit at a time until it is all mixed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to get all of it combined well.

Store in the fridge until ready to use. Don’t start icing until the cupcakes are completely cool. Use a palette knife or piping bag to ice the cakes and decorate as you wish.

If it stops raining long enough I should be able to get about and photograph some of the spectacular processions and plays that take place here for Semana Santa. I remember saying the same thing last year and there was a huge electrical storm which blew up my modem and motherboard as well as cancelling all the processions and the crucifixion.

So, fingers crossed!

Happy Easter everyone!!

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

As this is probably my last post before the big day I thought I would share something Christmassy with you. This fudge is really easy to make and makes great gifts. Just wrap it in cellophane and tie up with a ribbon.

It’s actually one of Nigella’s Christmas Recipes. I do love Nigella even though she does come out with the cheesiest waffle sometimes. I’m saving up for her hips, not long to go now, especially after picking at this fudge. You have to trim the edges to get them nice and straight you see. You can’t waste it.

1st Anniversary Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake and A Giveaway!!

It’s my one year blogging anniversary this month so I decided to bake a cake. I actually made a loaf and some cupcake type muffins out of the same recipe and topped them both with a heavenly chocolate ganache.

You may have noticed that I don’t make a lot of sweet things, mainly because I would end up eating them so I try to steer clear as much as possible. This little beauty however is vegan. Can you believe it?

Chocolate, Fig, Almond and Rosewater “Brownies”

There are roses everywhere here at the moment. I am slightly obsessed and take photos every day as you may have noticed. I love all the different colours. I run past these roses most mornings with the dog. There is one particular garden that has loads of different varieties and the lady of the house takes great care of them. She must be so proud, they are all beautiful.

So all these roses made me start thinking about making something with rosewater. Just to celebrate the rose and so I would have an excuse to show a you all the pictures I have been taking.

Following on from the success of my Date, Walnut & Coconut Energy ” Truffles”, I wanted to make something similar using figs instead of dates. There are fig trees where we run too, the figs are not quite ripe yet but it it got me thinking about fig and rosewater together, a classic Arabian combination.

Rosewater is the flavouring in Turkish Delight. When I was little there was a chocolate bar called Fry’s Turkish Delight. It may still be out there, I don’t know. It had a very exotic advert and a bright pink metallic wrapper. Inside, the rose coloured Turkish Delight was coated in chocolate. At the time it seemed very mysterious and grown-up probably because my dad used to eat it all and not give me any (only joking dad)!

So I definitely wanted to use chocolate with the figs and rosewater.  I found a recipe for chocolate, cashew & almond energy bars  that I adapted to suit my requirements,very successfully indeed.

I am positive that my dad (my biggest fan) will approve. In fact I know he will be making them as soon as he can. The date, walnut and coconut energy truffles are now the “petit fours” of choice on all the best dining tables in Cape Town thanks to my dad. He has little production line going. People are requesting them.

I have to say that, in his version, rather than soaking the dates in water for an hour he soaks them in Frangelico or Amaretto. That could definitely be part of the reason for their popularity, it sounds amazing. So feel free to do that with the figs in this recipe too. I know of two food bloggers who will approve wholeheartedly of this little  “twist”. (Rufus & Caroline!)

These “brownies” are in fact, raw, vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and totally delicious. Please don’t be suspicious of their virtue. They have all the chewy, stickiness of a brownie with none of the bad things. Never has healthy tasted so naughty. Dad, I think you’re going to need a bigger kitchen…!

Chocolate, Fig, Almond & Rosewater “Brownies”

makes about 16. Adapted from Sea Salt With Food

• 300 gr (2 cups) dried figs, soaked in water (or Frangelico/Amaretto) for an hour
• 250gr (2 cups) almonds (no skin), roughly chopped
• 60 gr (1/2 cup) hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 75 gr (3/4 cup) pure unsweetened cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 40 gr (1/2 cup) dessicated coconut
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4-6 tbsp rose water 
• cold water

Remove the figs from the soaking liquid after about an hour and put them in a food processor with the roughly chopped nuts, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt.

Process until it starts to come together then add the coconut, process again then add the vanilla extract and the rose water a tablespoon at a time. The amount of rosewater you add depends on how strong the flavour is so taste as you go and stop when you are happy with the flavour.If you need to add more liquid to get it to a sticky mouldable dough consistency add a tablespoon of water at a time.

Line a brownie pan or baking tin with baking paper and tip the dough mix in and press it out evenly with a rubber spatula. Put another piece of baking paper on top and use a book or ice cream tub to press it down and make it flat. I made mine about 1 cm thick but you can make them thicker if you like.

Put in the fridge for about an hour before cutting into about 16 pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge layered with baking paper.

Serve some after dinner with coffee as elegant petit fours or take them to work as an afternoon snack bar. Or do like my dad and take them as a gift for the host of a dinner party. They also keep really well in the fridge. If they should last that long…

Buen Provecho!

Father’s Day Florentines with Chocolate, Ginger and Cranberries

Today is Father’s Day in Spain. Even though I live in Spain and my Dad lives in Cape Town I still do the British father’s day in June for some reason. My Dad loves Florentines and I found this recipe with some beautiful photos here this week and just had to have a go at them.

Today we went to see our friends Andrew & Rafa. It was Andrew’s birthday this week so I took him some of these Florentines as a gift. I think they really liked them because we managed to eat them all and he posted a photo of them on Facebook.  Andrew writes a blog called Manana- The Andalucia Diary which is  a really informative insider’s guide to Andalucia and beyond. It includes loads of invaluable information about, where to stay, where to eat and places to visit as well as information about living and working in Southern Spain.

So Dad, here is your virtual Spanish Father’s Day gift, you would have really enjoyed them, but we ate them all sorry. I don’t think they would travel very well but you will be pleased to know that I was thinking of you as we were shoving them down our necks….!!

I have adapted the original recipe to include dried cranberries rather than dried cherries and I used crystallised ginger instead of candied peel as that was what I had (and my dad loves ginger). I used greek yoghurt rather than whipping cream, because I didn’t have any, and wholemeal rather than plain Italian 00 flour.

Florentines with Chocolate, Ginger & Cranberries

makes about 24, vegetarian. Adapted from Catalina Bakes

• 50 gr butter
• 65 ml whipping cream (I used greek yoghurt)
• 115 gr sugar
• 55 gr honey
• 120 gr flaked almonds
• 60 gr dried cranberries (or dried cherries, quartered)
• 30 gr crystallised ginger chopped finely(or candied peel)
• 40 gr wholemeal (or plain) flour
• about 250 gr good quality dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Soak the cranberries in boiling water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile put the butter, cream/yoghurt, sugar & honey in a  small saucepan over a low heat and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 – 7 minutes, stirring constantly until a light golden butterscotch colour. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond flakes, chopped ginger and the soaked cranberries that have been dried with a clean tea towel.  Mix well then stir in the flour. You should have a sticky batter.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and drop teaspoons full of the mix on the sheets about 7 cm apart (They spread a lot).  Flatten them out a little with a spatula.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes until the edges are turning golden brown (the top sheet will cook quicker than the bottom sheet) then turn the oven down to 150C and bake for a further 4 or 5 minutes until the centre is golden as well (Don’t let the edges burn). Remove the top sheet of Florentines from the oven and swap the bottom sheet to the top if they need to brown a bit more but keep an eye on them.

Move the cooked Florentines on their baking paper to cool completely on a wire rack while you repeat with the rest of the mix.

When all the Florentines are cooked & cooled. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water. Spoon a tablespoon of chocolate on the flat back of each Florentine and spread it out to reach the edges.  Leave to cool chocolate side up while you do the rest. After a few minutes make wavy patterns in the chocolate with a fork and leave to cool completely.

Feliz Dia del Padre Dad! I promise I’ll make you some when I come over…..xx

Wholemeal Chocolate Chunk and Hazelnut Cookies at The Lakes

Wholemeal cookies taste really good and they are healthier. Don’t kid yourself though there’s still butter and sugar in there but chocolate is an antioxidant so that makes up for it – sort of!!  These were part of a picnic we took the lakes at El Chorro yesterday.

 Half an hour away at  Malaga Airport, millions of tourists arrive every year and get on a coach to Marbella or Fuengirola to spend a week or two on the Costa del Sol and fly home again completely unaware that this exists. Whether this is a great oversight by the Andalucian Tourist Board or whether they are purposefully keeping it a secret I don’t know. I wouldn’t blame them. At this time of year it is all but deserted except at the weekends when a few Malaguenos bring a picnic or some meat to barbeque.

It does get busier in the summer when we all escape the heat of the city or towns to swim in these freshwater lakes. There are campsites, picnic areas, public barbeques, canoeing, pedalos, and fantastic walks. It is great for kids and adults alike there’s something for everyone. Whether you like to do a lot or very little,  you can find your perfect spot here……

The colours are amazing. The bright turquoise of the lakes contrasting with the dusky pink terracotta soil and green patchwork landscape take your breath away every time you come. You never quite believe it’s real. 

The geology is stunning too. The Washer Up tells me this is sandstone (he studied Geology at university). Is it just me or does this (above) remind you of the Gaudi buildings in Barcelona? You know the curved balconies?

The thing is they are not actually lakes. They are man-made reservoirs. Franco flooded the whole area, including some villages, to create the water reservoirs for Malaga. How something so beautiful can be man-made doesn’t make sense to me. Especially made by that man. It must have been the best thing he ever did…..

Anyway we found our picnic table with a view (above) and sat down to make our egg salad sandwiches…

If you want to know how to make a perfectly soft-boiled egg see my instructions here…..

Then we shared a cookie before going for walk around the lake and finding a sheltered sunny spot to read the paper. Does a Sunday get any better than that? I don’t think so, the cookies are pretty near perfect too….

Wholemeal Chocolate Chunk & Hazelnut Cookies

makes 18 – 24, vegetarian.  Adapted from a Culinate recipe

• 380 gr wholemeal flour (I used self-raising because that was all I had and 1 tsp baking powder)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 225 gr cold unsalted butter, chopped
• 140 gr brown sugar
• 200 gr caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 125 gr plain chocolate (70%) roughly chopped into 1 cm chunks
• 100 gr hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 175 C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sieve the flour, baking powders and salt into a large bowl. In another large bowl or food processor on low whisk/mix together the butter & sugars until blended, about 2 minutes. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl to get it all combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each one is combined. Mix in the vanilla, then slowly add the flour mixture until just combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides again.

Add 3/4 of the chopped chocolate & hazelnuts to the mix saving the rest for the tops. Mix until evenly distributed.  Take a heaped tablespoon of the batter and put it onto the lined baking sheet, pressing it down slightly. Leave about a 3 inch gap between each cookie, they spread like mad. You should only have about 6 cookies per sheet or they will all blend into each other. Sprinkle a little of the leftover chocolate & hazelnuts on top of each cookie and press in lightly. Put one sheet in the top third of the oven and the other in the bottom third. Bake for 10 minutes then swap the baking sheets around (top to bottom etc) and cook for another 10 minutes or until the cookies are a deep golden brown colour. Remove from the oven & leave to cool on a rack on the baking paper. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

These cookies are deliciously special enough to serve as a dessert, warm and chewy, straight out of the oven with a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream melting on top. Or leave to cool, store in an airtight container and they will firm up to a more crunchy everyday cookie.

Share them with friends or do like the Andalucian Tourist Board and make them your best kept secret……

Buen Provecho!

Panforte- Italian Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Cake

I know I’ve shown you pictures of the almond blossom before but I couldn’t resist showing you this one with the snow on the Sierra de las Nieves in the background. Sierra de las Nieves means  The Snowy Mountains…..

This picture was taken in Guaro while we were checking on a friend’s house there. This is the view from the end of the drive. Spectacular isn’t it. You can see why it’s called Cortijo de las Nieves with that view….

These beautiful almond trees are everywhere you look at the moment. They reminded me of a recipe I found at Corridor Kitchen that I have been meaning to make since Christmas. Panforte is an Italian chocolate, fruit & nut cake served in little squares with espresso coffee at breakfast, in the afternoon or after dinner. It’s kind of like a dense nutty brownie fruit cake combination. Rich, sticky, chewy and delicious- it’s a grown up thing and you need to try it…

Lauren’s recipe included crystallised pineapple as her Aussie twist on the classic. In the absence of pineapple I used crystallised ginger which goes really well with the chocolate and orange zest and gives it more of that grown up feeling. If you don’t like ginger leave it out. The dried cranberries were another addition of mine just because I had some in the cupboard and they work with the other flavours….

Panforte Recipe

makes about 12 -14 small squares/slices, vegetarian

• 125 gr almonds, roughly chopped
• 125 gr hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 60 gr stem ginger (crystallised or not) finely chopped
• 60 gr dried cranberries (soaked for 15 minutes in boiling water) roughly chopped
• 60 gr chopped mixed peel (I use the zest of 1 lemon & 1 orange)
• 100 gr plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder (good cocoa not hot chocolate powder)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or mixed spice)
• 60 gr dark chocolate, chopped
• 75 gr sugar
• 175 gr honey

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Toast the almonds and hazelnuts in a dry pan if they are not toasted and coarsely chop. Sieve the flour, cinnamon and cocoa in to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add in the nuts, fruit, zest and ginger and stir again.

Melt the honey and sugar over a medium low heat, when just about to boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes until thick and syrupy, Take it off the heat, leave for one minute then tip in the chopped chocolate and stir until melted. Pour this over the dry ingredients and mix everything together very well. It is a very stiff, sticky mass and quite hard on the arms but keep going it comes together eventually!

Line a 20cm cake tin or small baking tray with parchment paper, and cut another circle of parchment the same size as the tin. Tip the mixture into the tin, put the extra piece of parchment on top and press it down and spread it out until it is flat and even. Leave the parchment on the top and bake for about 35 minutes or until it has just lost its sheen.

Leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices or squares with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container.

 Feel free to substitute the cranberries for sultanas or use glace cherries instead. She recommends glace apricot as well as the glace pineapple. I think glace mango would be amazing with the chocolate too maybe with some macadamia nuts as well……….

Enjoy!!

Christmas Gift Biscotti with Chocolate and Cranberries

 

We’ve just been loaned a Nespresso coffee machine which is very exciting! We only drink decaf as caffeine sends The Washer Up a bit loopy but the decaf options are great. We are trying the Intenso the Lungo and the normal decaffeinato. They are all good but the Intenso is a bit Intenso for me…

All this coffee drinking gives me a really good excuse to make some biscotti. You have to have a biscotti with a coffee and they also make fantastic Christmas gifts. I thought I’d “Christmas” up the original recipe by adding chocolate and cranberries but you can leave them out or add chestnuts or hazelnuts instead. Don’t be scared this is a really easy recipe that you can impress all your friends with when they pop round for coffee….

Christmas Biscotti Recipe

makes about 25- 30 biscotti vegetarian

• 25o gr plain flour
•  1/2 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 250 gr caster sugar
•  2 eggs , beaten
• grated zest of 1 mandarin
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a few drops of almond extract
• 110 gr toasted almonds, chopped (you can toast them in a dry pan or in the oven)
• 65 gr dried cranberries
• 65 gr dark chocolate, chopped



Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and toast the almonds if necessary.  Leave to cool and chop roughly. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, add the sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla & almond extracts, the nuts, cranberries & chocolate. Mix everything together well with a wooden spoon. Flour your hands and the worksurface well and divide the mixture into two. Roll the first half of the mixture into a long sausage/log with your hands. (Start with both hands together in the middle and work your way out rolling). Roll the sausage to the length of your baking sheet and transfer it over to the lined baking sheet, flattening it out slightly. Repeat with the other half of the mixture. Make sure you leave space in between the two logs for them to spread.

Cook in the preheated oven for 25 -30 minutes until firm. Remove the tray from the oven, lower the heat to 150 degrees and leave them to cool slightly.

Remove the biscotti loaves from the tray and cut them into diagonal fingers about 2cm wide, put them back on the tray, cut side up and back in the oven for about 15 minutes to dry out completely.

You can also serve these after dinner with coffee or a glass of dessert wine (classically vin santo) to dip them in…

A great way to wrap homemade gifts is in clear cellophane (sometimes printed with snowflakes etc) which you can buy in most “euro” shops here in Spain. I rolled up 6 biscotti in the cellophane then tied each end with raffia (to make a christmas cracker shape). I tucked a few sprigs of lavender in the rafia bow because we have some growing on our roof terrace that smells lovely…..

I also wrapped my Mandarin jam( See recipe here) gifts in cellophane with a pink gingham napkin tied around the lid!!

I love it!!!

Hot Chocolate Melting Centre Puddings

Okay this is the easiest most delicious dessert you will ever make. Your friends will adore you and moan with pleasure when they eat it. The top is cooked and underneath is a molten chocolate pool of heaven. Honestly it is the best reaction I have ever had from a dessert and it’ sooo easy….

Hot Chocolate Melting Centre Puddings Recipe

Serves 4 Vegetarian

• 130gr plain chocolate 70%
• 125gr butter
• 3 large eggs
• a few drops of almond extract (optional)
• 175 gr sugar
• 40 gr plain flour

Chop the chocolate and butter and put it in a bowl over a saucepan with 5 cm simmering water in the bottom. (Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). Whisk occassionally until melted.

Meanwhile in large bowl whisk the eggs with the almond extract (If using) then whisk in the sugar and flour until just blended. Then whisk in the melted chocolate gradually.

Grease four small ramekins with butter then add a little  flour to cover the butter & shake out the excess. Pour the chocolate mixture into the ramekins. You can keep them in a cool place now until you need to cook them.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and cook them for 10 – 12 minutes until the tops are firm & slightly cracking.

Serve immediately with a scoop of  chocolate chip ice cream on top that will ooze into the hot chocolate centre when you break into the pudding. This really is the best…

As you can see I didn’t have time to take a photo I was somewhat distracted and too slow! This is the best I could do, you will have to try it for yourself………