Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Dark Chocolate

Quick-Fix Dark Chocolate Pudding (Individual)

Chocolate week or not, sometimes, you need an immediate chocolate fix. This one works! I used lime and chilli chocolate thins, but you can use any flavoured chocolate buttons, or use 4 small squares (or 2 large squares) of good quality dark chocolate.

Quick Chocolate Cake

A chocolate cake in under a minute you say?!

Chocolate Pudding

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Quick-Fix Dark Chocolate Pudding (Individual)

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 1

A super-quick (40-second) microwave pudding - note this makes one ramekin-sized cake. 

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon mild, light olive oil
  • 3 dark chocolate thins, giant buttons or 4 squares of dark chocolate
  • 1 tablespoon self-raising flour
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder 
  • 1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar
  • 4 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions

  1. Take a ramekin dish (or a coffee mug) and lightly grease the bottom and sides with a little olive oil. Place two chocolate thins, or 3 squares of dark chocolate into the bottom of the ramekin.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and milk.
  3. Pour the mixture into the ramekin.
  4. Place a chocolate thin or one square of dark chocolate onto the top.
  5. Microwave for 20 seconds. Wait ten seconds. Microwave for a further 20 seconds.
  6. Eat right away!

Courses Dessert

 

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Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake – Great British Chefs

This cake almost needs no introduction. I called it the ‘Big Daddy’ Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake because we made it for Father’s Day. Four layers of chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream and a chocolate fudge topping. The tallest cake I’ve ever made. Half a jar of Bonne Maman ‘Confiture de Caramel’ left to eat and a cake to feed the whole family. I know at least one ‘daddy’ who will be very happy this Sunday…will you have some time to make this, too?

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake

Find my recipe for the Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake and the full post over on Great British Chefs here.

Here’s your ingredients list –

  • Caster sugar
  • Soft brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • Vanilla bean paste or powder (I use Ndalli)
  • Vegetable oil or mild, light olive oil
  • Self-raising flour
  • Cocoa powder (I use  Green and Blacks)
  • Baking powder
  • Bicarbonate of soda
  • Sea salt (I use Maldon)
  • Plain, natural yoghurt
  • One packet unsalted butter
  • Icing sugar
  • Caramel sauce (I used Bonne Maman Confiture de Caramel from Waitrose or Ocado)
  • 200g good quality dark chocolate (I used Lindt 52%)
  • Double cream
  • Chopped fudge pieces to decorate

Off you pop to the shops!

Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there!

Salted_Caramel_Chocolate_Fudge_Cake

Homemade Mother’s Day Chocolates – Puddles and Lollipops (that Dads can help with!)

 Chocolate Lollipops

I had an idea, to make some homemade Mother’s Day chocolates, which seemed much less messy in my head (although the photos conveniently don’t show the trail of chocolate all over the worktops) to make some chocolate blobs and decorate them. They seemed to work and my three year old enjoyed adding sprinkles and marshmallows, almost as much as she enjoyed licking her fingers and eating the bits as we went along. Still, now we have two boxes of lovely homemade chocolate puddles and lollipops that they children can give to my mummy and to my mother-in-law on Sunday. I got the cook’s treat of eating as I went along, too… 

Chocolate Lollipops

These really are as straightforward as melting some good quality chocolate in a bowl over a gently simmering heatproof bowl of water. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl. I used a pyrex glass bowl and added 200g milk chocolate buttons along with 100g Fairtrade dark chocolate.  You don’t need to go to the bother of tempering, since the chocolate blobs will be covered with sprinkles and sweets so a glossy finish isn’t particularly important. The chocolate barely needs any heat at all to melt, so make sure the water isn’t boiling too rapidly and resist the temptation of stirring it too much.

Once your chocolate has melted, leave it to cool for a little bit. Take a flat surface or a board and lay some clingfilm or another thin board on top. The whole thing will need to fit in your fridge, so make some space in there too.

You can either pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag or just use a teaspoon and carefully pour little blobs, or puddles of chocolate onto the clingfilm or board. It will be quite runny. If you are using a piping bag, just snip a little hole. I tried both piping bag and then pouring the chocolate from a spoon on a second batch and got similar results. The spoon is probably a little less messy.

Chocolate Lollipops

Once you have some blobs or puddles on a flat surface, lay a lollipop stick onto each one. I found some at Lakeland, if you can’t find any sticks you can just make chocolate coins or puddles.

Then sprinkle over some edible treats – we used colourful sprinkles and some mini marshmallows and some edible pearl glitter. You can sprinkle over toffee pieces, chopped up biscuits, bits of fruit and nuts, freeze-dried fruit, whatever you fancy.

Then carefully place the whole board into the fridge to set for around twenty minutes. Once set properly, your lollopops should lift off easily. If you’ve used clingfilm, you can just peel them off.

Chocolate Lollipops

Pop them in a box lined with some tissue paper and then keep them in the fridge if you can until you are ready to give them to your mummy on Mother’s Day!

Chocolate Lollipops

Here are some other simple ideas you can make at home –

Mother’s Day Breakfast/Brunch

Swiss Scrambled Eggs

Asparagus & Mozarella Toasts

Cakes & Bakes

Banana Cinnamon Blondies

Easy Rhubarb Traybake

Raspberry Ripple and Basil Cupcakes

Caramel & Cocoa Cupcakes

Chocolate Lollipops

Have you made any edible gifts for Mother’s Day? Let me know in the comment box below and I’ll pop over and take a look.

 

Review Couture Chocolate – A Masterclass in Chocolate by William Curley (Giveaway now Closed)

Anyone who has a chocolate addiction, as I have, will appreciate a good chocolate book and William Curley’s Couture Chocolate – A Masterclass in Chocolate provides the perfect hit. William Curley is Britain’s top Chocolatier (how I love that word), having won the title of the Academy of Chocolate’s Best British Chocolatier for the last four years running. William has worked in several Michelin-starred establishments, under Pierre Koffmann, Raymond Blanc and Marco Pierre White, before moving to the London Savoy as Chef Patissier where he met his Japanese wife, Suzue. William now owns two chocolate boutiques with Suzue, whom he credits as his inspiration.  He’s a hard man to beat and Couture Chocolate gives us a little glimpse as to why.

This is not a book for the chocolate-shy. This is a book to embrace boldly with both hands as William unveils all the techniques and secrets to creating some of the most stunning chocolate creations. It is very comprehensive. If you were thinking about becomming a Chocolatier, this book would definitely set you on the right track. Think of it as distance learning by chocolate. Having said that, for those of us with nothing more than a mere interest in lovely chocolate, this book is a feast for the eyes and there any many recipes in here which will easily tempt you into tempering and charm you into chocolate-making at home.

Beginning with the essentials, Couture Chocolate explains the Discovery and Origins of Cocoa (wild cacao was originally consumed as long ago as 1500 BC by the Olmecs) with South American countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, as well as the Caribbean growing some of the best cocoa in the world.

There are three types of cocoa tree: the Criollo, the Forastero and the Trinitario and cocoa grows best in high humidity. There is a simple description of the Bean to Bar process, beginning with cocoa pods and ending in Couverture chocolate (cocoa butter is added to the cocoa mass and then processed with sugar and vanilla.) We are also given a breakdown of the main varieties of chocolate (dark, milk, white, powder, nibs) as well as correct storage and the all-important method of tempering. 

There are also step-by-step instructions and photographs for making a basic Ganache (chocolate, cream, sugar and butter)  – the backbone for many of the chocolate recipes throughout the book and then we begin…

The opening chapter of the book covers Truffles (balls of ganache that can also be used to fill chocolate and patisserie) and includes William’s recipes for his House Dark Truffle and House Milk Truffle as well as some more unusual flavours, such as Matcha and Pistachio Truffle and Cassis & Hibiscus.

Onto Couture Chocolates, essentially, the high-end, custom-made chocolates that you can find at William’s boutiques in Richmond and Belgravia. William takes you through the stages, such as making an infused or flavoured ganache chocolate, setting it into a tray, making layers (such as Feuillantine, Pistachio or Marzipan) followed by dipping and decorating. Imagine creating fillings such as Apricot & Wasabi, Sea Salt Caramel, Rosemary & Olive Oil (shown below) or Yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit) at home!

There is also a delightful chapter on Bars & Bites that would suit those wanting to make their own stunning chocolate gifts to giveaway. For example, there are step-by-step photos and instructions for Fruit & Nut Decorated Bars, Infused Bars as well as Chocolate Thins and Chocolate Lollipops.

A chapter on Bouchées (small delights) includes chocolate-coated Cinder Toffee (a childhood favourite of mine), Chocolate Macaroons, beautiful Hazlenut & Feuillantine Cakes (shown below) as well as a posh twist on a marshmallow teacakes, with blackcurrant purée or orange marmalade. I was also particularly taken by the Millionaire’s Shortbread and will be sharing the recipe for that tomorrow, so stay tuned! 

Next, my favourite chapter, Cakes & Biscuits, with recipes for Chocolate Madeleines, adventurous-sounding Chestnut & Sesame Brownies, Chocolate Fig Cakes as well as cookies and sablés.

For those with a real interest in creating stunning desserts, flick straight through to the chapter on Patisserie, where you’ll find all the secrets to decorating with chocolate (how to make hoops, curls, waves and curls) before moving onto a classic Chocolate Mousse, stunning Chocolate Tarts (shown below) a Chocolate Mille-Feuille, or William’s Black Forest sponge with white chocolate and kirsch mousse. You’ll also find a recipe for Chocolate Tiramisu Caskets, shown on the cover of the book.

 

In case you haven’t had your fair share of chocolate by now, the final chapter reveals Ice-Cream, Sauces and Drinks. The Chocolate and Peanut ice-cream is firmly bookmarked for the summer along with William’s Chocolate Sauce and of course, I’ve spotted the Chocolate and Praline Spread (homemade Nutella!) as well as a very seductive White Chocolate Martini.

At the very back you’ll find a Directory of Stockists for all your chocolate needs, as well as an A-Z of Ingreditents and Equipment. 

All in all, a veritable feast in chocolate. Is there anything missing? I haven’t spotted a recipe for William’s Signature Hot Chocolate so I’ll have to force myself to visit William’s shop in Richmond for that!

William Curley’s Couture Chocolate is Published by Jacqui Small LLP (An imprint of Aurum Press) with an RRP of £30.00 – currently £19.07 on Amazon.

Photography Credit: Jose Lasheras

Giveaway NOW CLOSED

Closing date: Wednesday 15th February 2012 The winner will be announced the next day.

Giveaway winner: Vicky Haddock.

 
Thank you to Jacqui Small Publishing for my review copy and for the giveaway prize.

Good Luck!

 

Chocolate Snowflakes and Fairy Cakes

I love following food blogs and one of the very best things about the explosion of food blogging is the wealth of inspiration from all over the world, with individual perspectives, styles and ideas. Whilst I don’t usually use or buy silcone baking moulds, when I saw these peppermint snowflake chocolates on one of my favourite American blogs, Baked by Rachel, I had to try making them.  This is definitely a recipe and a task to bookmark for next year, as these chocolates would make beautiful gifts and there are endless variations and possibilities.

I made these at my friend Jessica’s house and we made the peppermint bark to Rachel’s recipe (she has step-by-step photos on an older post here), but then experimented by adding orange oil to plain chocolate and sprinkling a few hazelnuts over the top. By just making one layer, they obviously turn out thinner too. Dark chocolate and pistachio would work well and perhaps white chocolate with rose petals or lavender flecks too. They came out of the moulds really easily and they tasted delicious!

I managed to find my ‘snowflake silicone mold tray’ on Amazon.co.uk but I am sure you could find them in many independent cookery shops, particularly at this time of the year.

I also made little chocolate cupcakes in the moulds too, which made the perfect after-school snack for the kids. If you have some silicone moulds handy, you might even have time to try making these yourselves before Christmas. Let me know if you do!

Today I’m looking forward to being a guest again on Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen where I will be talking about a traditional Polish Christmas, with wild mushroom soup, pierogi (filled dumplings) and a baked Polish cheesecake. Tune in or listen on iplayer if you can!

The Best Chocolate Cake I’ve Ever Made!

 

Chocolate Week has definitely been my favourite week of the year so far! A good excuse to eat even more chocolate than normal.  In the meantime, I need to tell you about this chocolate cake that I recently made for my little girl who turned two (and is in love with Peppa Pig). I had actually been wanting to make this cake for a while, the recipe is by Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, and it is called Beattie’s Chocolate Cake. The recipe is featured in Ina’s Book ‘Barefoot Contessa At Home’ and as you can also find it here on the internet.

As well as having the recipe at home, I stumbled across a brilliant video on Edd Kimber’s site The Boy Who Bakes . I couldn’t believe how easy Edd made making this cake look when he made it for his own birthday and how tidy his kitchen was after making it! My kitchen looked like a chocolate bomb had exploded but it was certainly worth the effort. I would also add that my four year old wanted to decorate it, but obviously you could make it look much more sophisticated if you wanted too.

I would go as far as to say that this was THE BEST chocolate cake I have ever made or eaten and it has now become my ultimate chocolate cake recipe (Ina Garten recipes never let me down!) Having said that, the very first recipe in Edd’s new book called The Boy Who Bakes (review to follow) is his Ultimate Chocolate Cake so I will try that one too and compare…

 

This cake is everything a chocolate cake should be, not too difficult to make, moist, super chocolatey, the perfect crumb, a slight kick  from the shot of coffee in both the cake and the icing, basically you just want to eat the whole thing on one go. The kids did love it, but I would probably say it was more suited to the adult palate as I used 70% dark chocolate, but you could try a milkier chocolate and use de-caff coffee or swap the coffee for hot water and a few drops or orange oil.  

I also couldn’t resist sharing this photo of another amazing chocolate cake made by a family friend with vanilla sponge, chocolate butter cream, cherry jam and lashings of Kirsch! This is a traditional Polish gateaux and I have asked her to show me how to make it…so look out for future posts.

Hope you’ve all had fun during National Chocolate Week, eating as much chocolate as I have. Let me know what you’ve been up to!

Hotel Chocolat The Purist Collection (Giveaway Closed)

This is my second giveaway of National Chocolate Week 2011 and if you are a chocolate fan (as I think you might have guessed I am) then this hamper is a pretty special treat.

The lovely folks at Hotel Chocolat  sent me The Purist Collection hamper to review and my goodness, what a lovely selection of chocolates we have here.

 

The Purist Collection

The chocolate in The Purist range is rare and unique because it is made from fine cocoa.  This is different to bulk cocoa which is what over 95% of the world’s chocolate is made from. Whilst very good chocolate can be produced from bulk cocoa, fine cocoa has a real finesse; each bean could be uniquely influenced by factors such as the soil, location, heat, tropical rain – just like grape vines and fine wines are affected by the different growing conditions around the world. Since fine cocoa is also rarer, this collection is really something to get excited about. Also worth noting is the conch time – the longer the conch time (96 hours, 120 hours) the finer the chocolate will be, resulting in a really pure, melt in the mouth experience.

The full Purist range includes 70g Purist bars, as well as Purist caramels and pralines and ‘super boosters’ which are ‘nibbly pieces of pure Saint Lucian Trinitario cocoa simply sealed in 70% cocoa dark chocolate’.

Since Hotel Chocolat tell us that cocoa is an “official superfood, packed full of natural antioxidants, mood-lifting compounds, trace minerals and a caffeine kick” – who wouldn’t want to work their way through the goodness inside this hamper?!

The Purist Collection hamper includes:

Dark Super Boosters  (nibbly pieces of pure Saint Lucian Trinitario cocoa taken from the heart of the bean – sealed in 70% cocoa dark chocolate)

Intense Dark Purist Praline Tray (65% Dark Island Growers with Piedmont hazelnuts in praline)

65% Dark 96 Hour Conch Island Growers 70g Bar Saint Lucia (winner of a 2010 Great Taste Gold Award) 

50% Milk Island Growers 35g Bar (sits midway between milk and a classic dark bar)

100% Dark Hacienda Iara Bar 35g Bar (an immediate and intense cocoa hit made from Arriba Nacional cocoa beans)

As I sampled my way through this hamper I felt as though someone had given me a box of contraband – this is chocolate that is simply too good to be sitting in the high street. Because the chocolate hit is so intense, you don’t need to gorge yourself on it, which made a nice change for me and also meant that the box lasted a good while.

My favourite pieces from this whole collection were the pralines, just something else altogether, though the little dark chocolate coated cocoa nibs sitting on my desk as I type are also providing a useful energy boost! I’m off to the Hotel Chocolat shop on my high street now to buy some of the Purist Dark Caramel Pralines too. I also note that Judith from Mostly About Chocolate in her guest post yesterday chose the Hotel Chocolat 120h Conch Purist 65% Chocolate Bar as her second favourite high street chocolate bar…so I’m off to buy one of those too to sample.

Try this collection for yourself:

TO ENTER

1. “Like” the Hotel Chocolat Facebook Page and then come back to me to let me know that you have done so by leaving a comment on this post

2. Follow @HotelChocolat on Twitter and then come back to me to let me know that you have done so, again by leaving a comment on this post.

3. Tweet this post using the button below and leave a comment telling me that you have done so including your Twitter username.
 
4. Follow me @RenBehan on Twitter and again leave a comment in the box below to tell me that you have done so, including your Twitter username.
 
5. Visit the Fabulicious Food on Facebook and “Like” and leave a wall post to tell me you have done so.
 
You can enter this competition via any or all of the five ways described above but you must leave me a separate comment for each time you have entered. 
 
No details of any of the entrants will be passed onto anyone else. The winner will be chosen by an online randomiser.  I will be able to see your email and contact you if you have won, but your email will not be visible to the public and will NOT be passed on.

This giveaway is open to UK residents only 

Closing date: Friday 14th October 2011 at 3pm

The winner will be announced in a subsequent post on Saturday 15th October 2011 

Image Credit: Hotel Chocolat

Many thanks to Hotel Chocolat for sending me one of these hampers for review.