Light Chocolate Pudding

Light Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
6 egg whites
5 tab caster sugar
3 tab cocoa
2 tab Grand Marnier or brandy
butter
icing sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 180C (place 23cm shallow casserole or cake pan in oven to heat while making mixture)

Beat egg yolks and 2 tab caster sugar until fluffy.
Sift cocoa on top and mix through with brandy or liqueur.
Beat egg whites until stiff then gradually add remaining 3 tab caster sugar, beating after each addition.
Put a quarter of egg white mixture into yoke mixture then fold through half the remaining white mixture, then the rest of the white mixture.
The aim is to retain the air incorporated into the whites - as you would for a souffle.
Grease the hot casserole or cake pan with butter. Pour in the chocolate mixture, leaving the top rough.
Return pan to the oven and cook for about 12-15 minutes until it is puffy and just firm to the touch.
Quickly sift icing sugar on top and spoon into serving bowls.

This pudding needs to be served as soon as it comes out of the oven, to retain its light texture.
Serve with a scoop of ice-cream or whipped cream.

Quick Chocolate Pudding

Quick Chocolate Pudding

Makes 6 puddings

Ingredients
185g dark chocolate (break into small pieces)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup day-old cake crumbs
60g butter
2 tab caster sugar
3 eggs (separated)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 teas vanilla essence

Method
Preheat oven to 170C.
Melt chocolate (in a bowl over hot water or in a microwave, stirring every 10 secs or so), stirring until it melts.
Place cake crumbs in basin and pour over melted chocolate. Set aside for about 30 minutes to allow crumbs to absorb chocolate.
In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, mix well.
Stir in chocolate crumb mix, nuts (if using) and vanilla.
Beat egg whites until stiff and fold through chocolate mixture.
Grease 6 small oven-proof dishes (about 3/4 cup capacity) with butter.
Spoon chocolate mixture into greased dishes.
Place dishes in baking dish and add water to come halfway up sides of pudding dishes.
Cover loosely with foil and bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until puddings puff up and are set on top.
Cool for about two minutes then run a knife around the edge of each pudding and invert onto plates.
Serve with chocolate sauce and a scoop of ice-cream or whipped cream.

A blueberry twist on Eton Mess

Sometimes the best desserts are a combination of serendipity, history and inspiration. Unexpected visitors brightened the day pre-Christmas but upset the cooking schedule. I had promised to bring a berry dessert to a family get-together and decided to make a blueberry cheesecake.
By the time the visitors left it was too late to bake a cheesecake so I decided to try a blueberry version of something resembling Eton Mess instead.
I recently discovered a vanilla bean grinder at my local supermarket - a bit like a bottle of peppercorns that is also a grinder but this one contained vanilla pods/beans - so this recipe proved a good one for putting the grinder to use.
This recipe was enough for about 8-10 people but it can easily be reduced for a smaller number.

Ingredients:
1 punnet of blueberries
1 punnet strawberries
1 punnet raspberries
250g creme fraiche
250g mascapone
2 tablespoons caster sugar
vanilla bean (grated) or vanilla extract (about 1 teaspoon)
1 packet of chocolate ripple biscuits (a crisp shortbready type of commercial biscuit - 1 packet = about 200-250g)

Method:
Crush biscuits (can be done in a blender but I prefer the rougher texture obtained by crushing them with a rolling pin or similar after placing them inside a folded piece of baking paper)
Wash berries. Hull and slice strawberries (keeping a few aside for decorating the top of the completed dessert).
Mix creme fraiche, mascapone and caster sugar well. Add a sprinkling of ground vanilla bean (see above) or teaspoon of vanilla essence (or to taste). Combine well - a good brisk stir will help make the creamy mixture light and fluffy.

Now comes the fun bit. I combined the ingredients in a large glass bowl (salad dish) but they could also be layered in individual dishes/glasses instead, in the following order:
Place 1/4 of the crushed biscuits in the bottom of the large bowl (or small bowls/glasses)
Top with 1/3 of the berries, then 1/3 of the creamy mix.
Repeat as above, ending with the last 1/4 of the crushed biscuits.
Swirl the top biscuit and creamy layers together slightly and top with a few whole berries.
Refrigerate.

The dessert is delicious on the day it is made but even better the next day, when the tastes and textures have had a chance to meld a bit more.

Beautiful following a barbeque on a hot summer's night.

PS Next time I make it I'll try to take a photo before it's all gone!

Choc-orange creme caramel

Anything chocolate goes down a treat in this kitchen, particularly at dessert time.
This recipe combines two favourites - chocolate and baked custard. It's not quick to make - but it is simple if you follow the steps carefully and take you time and the results are worth waiting for.
What could be better on a hot summer's day. Come to think of it, this creamy delight makes a cool treat in winter as well. When is not the right time for chocolate?

Ingredients:
1 orange (including finely grated zest)
160g good dark chocolate
600ml milk
250g caster sugar - plus another 3 tablespoons
120ml water
4 large eggs
3 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 160C (fan-forced) or 180C (conventional oven)

Method:
Combine orange zest and chocolate (broken) in a small bowl.
Bring milk to a simmer in a small saucepan and pour over chocolate. Stir until the mixture is smooth then set aside for 5 minutes. (Note: This step can be done in a microwave - place milk and chocolate in a microwave-proof bowl. Heat on medium until chocolate melts, checking and stirring every 30 secs or so to avoid overcooking the chocolate. When the mixture is smooth, stir in the orange zest and set aside for 5 minutes, then proceed as below).

Combine 250g caster sugar and water in medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil and cook without stirring until mixture turns a caramel colour.

Pour caramel into 20cm ovenproof dish (I prefer to use a Pyrex glass dish) and swirl to cover the sides of the dish with caramel.

Whisk egg yolks and 3 tablespoons caster sugar in a medium bowl until well combined.
Add milk mixture, stir until smooth and pour into the caramel-lined dish.
Place dish on a baking tray and pour hot water in the tray until it comes halfway up the sides of the dish (forming a bain marie).
Bake for about 75 minutes or until the creme caramel is just set.
Remove from oven. Cool then refrigerate for at least six hours or overnight.

To serve, run a warm dry knife around the edge of the dish and invert onto a plate.
For a stronger orange flavour, try replacing some of the water with orange juice.

Choc Chip Cookies

Baking together is one of the pleasure of family life and I have fond memories of my older and younger children gathered around the kitchen bench taking turns stirring the ingredients for this recipe and turning lumps of biscuit dough into balls.

The size of the balls varied a lot - some favour very big biscuits, others lots of small ones - but this is one recipe that is always a hit, whether cooked till crisp (my choice) or removed from the oven when lightly browned and still slightly squishy (tops with the younger members of the family).

Many of their friends have tucked in to a box of these biscuits at bring-a-plate functions and the box always seems to come home empty.

Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

125g butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
185g chocolate chips

(My favourite is a mix of dark chocolate bits, milk chocolate bits and some dark chocolate buttons but any mix will do, although most need to be the smaller choc bits rather than buttons to aid even mixing).

Method: 

Cream butter and sugars, add vanilla essence. Add egg and beat well (mixture should become paler). Mix in sifted flour and salt. Add choc chips and mix well.

Shape teaspoons of mixture into small balls (about the size of a walnut). Place on a lightly greased tray, leaving room between the balls to allow for spreading (so about 12 on a typical small tray, 15 on a larger one). Bake in a moderate oven for 12 minutes. Makes about 36-40 biscuits.

(The spoons of mixture my children use end up more like golf balls than walnuts and need to be placed further apart on the tray as they spread while cooking - and they never seem to end up with more than about 24-30 biscuits).

Whatever the size, the biscuits are ready when the tops are lightly browned. The biscuits become crisper when they cool down so do not need cooking till crisp. Experiment with cooking time to find your favourite degree of doneness. Experimenting when cooking is half the fun - the other half is eating the results.

PS I'll try to add a photo next time I make a batch.

Chocolate and Almond Cake

The first time I baked Elizabeth David's ``chocolate and almond cake'' I was hooked.

The cake is simple to make, oh-so-rich in flavour and texture, and the perfect accompaniment to summer berries and cream.

This is a cake for special occasions and a decadent delight for breakfast. Waiting until afternoon tea time to eat the leftovers is a recipe for disappointment. Someone will have beaten you to it.

I first saw the recipe in a column food writer Jill Dupleix contributed to a series called ``My Favourite Chocolate Cake'' in Melbourne newspaper The Age in the 1990s.

But the recipe is much older than that.

It comes from David's book French Provincial Cooking, first published in 1960.

The cake's richness is the direct opposite of the ``bigger than Texas'' blight that has driven the obesity epidemic in much of the western world. It has none of the blandness that makes it easy to eat more than you should.

Like much French cooking it relies on the flavour and texture of fresh and rich ingredients to sate the senses.

A thin slice of this cake is heaven; a thick wedge would be sickening.

My much-loved newspaper cutting is yellow and creased after more than a decade in my ``Little Black Box''.

But last year I went in search of the original book, after hearing television foodie Rick Stein sing David's praises during a radio interview on ABC FM.

David travelled extensively through the Mediterranean countries, particularly Italy and France. Her books include both recipes and experiences collected on her travels. She has also written about cooking in England.

I have seen secondhand copies of many of her titles listed for a few dollars on Amazon. Copies are harder to find in Australia but it's worth keeping an eye out in secondhand bookshops.

So here is my favourite chocolate cake.

NB In this recipe I have given the quantities from Elizabeth David's original recipe in brackets. These are in imperial measures - in this case weights in ounces (oz) and temperature in Fahrenheit.

The metric measures are from Jill Dupleix's version, as this is the one I have always made.

I hope soon to try the original, which has slightly less chocolate and is baked in a slightly cooler oven, and will let you know which I prefer. I have changed the method slightly to reflect the way I usually make the cake.

Elizabeth David's Chocolate and Almond Cake

Ingredients

200g (4 oz) bitter chocolate

100g (3 oz) butter

100g (3 oz) caster sugar

100g (3 oz) ground almonds

3 eggs (separated)

1 tab rum or brandy

1 tab black coffee

icing sugar (optional)

Method

Break chocolate into small pieces, add the rum (or brandy) and coffee and melt in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water, or in a microwave.

Stir until the chocolate is melted. Add the butter, sugar and ground almonds and stir over low heat for a few minutes until all the ingredients are blended smoothly together.

Remove from the heat and add well-beaten egg yolks. Fold in the stiffly-beaten egg whites.

Turn into a lightly-buttered shallow sponge-cake tin, 18-20cm in diameter (7 or 8 inches) or a tart tin with a removable base.

[I use a sponge tin and line the base with baking paper.]

Stand the tin on a baking sheet and bake in a very low oven, 160C (290F) for about 45 minutes.

Allow to cool in the tin. Turn out carefully.

Serve it as it is or dust with a little icing sugar.

Perfect as a dessert with summer berries, cream or icecream.