Feb 13, 2018
Photography by Darren Bester
Say ‘I love you’ with this decadent chocolate dessert made for two !
Featured on The Pretty Blog for Valentines Day back in 2016, this chocolate pot of yumminess seems to have made a lasting impression.
Go on, give it a go … after all, ‘sharing is caring’
xxx
Yield: 2 large chocolate pots or 1 x 30cm quiche pan
Ingredients:
2 Packets of Oreo Biscuits – blitzed in a food processor to form a crumb like consistency
5 tbsp Salted Butter, melted
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
500g Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Double Thick Cream
1/2 Cup Caster Sugar
x 1 350g jar of Nutella
2 tbsp Cocoa
1 Cup Fresh Raspberries
For the Topping: 3 Ferrero Rocher Chocolates crushed & extra fresh Raspberries
Method:
Combine the Oreo crumbs with the melted butter and pour into bottom of your jar, pressing up the sides, I like to be quite generous with the biscuit base vs. filling ratio. Press with the back of a spoon to smooth down the mixture before refrigerating while you prepare the filling. In a mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder and Nutella until smooth. Add the cream and beat until just combined. Add the raspberries and stir by hand before gently pouring the mixture onto the Oreo base. Refrigerate for approximately 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, top with the crushed Ferrero Rocher and fresh raspberries. Serve with 2 spoons.
Mar 18, 2016
Photography by Darren Bester
I’ve always loved Chocolate Mousse … light and airy, you can just about feel the air bubbles pop in your mouth and then there’s the tasty moorish decadence of dark chocolate – Heaven! It is rich though, which makes over indulging very easy to do, which is why this time round, I opted to serve them in cute little espresso cups. You can of course, serve yours anyway you want … just don’t pair large portions with a very heavy meal.
Quick and easy to prepare, it can be made a few days ahead of time thereby eliminating any stress when entertaining. Perfect end to an Easter Lunch, I’m sure even the Easter Bunny would agree.
Yield: 4 standard ramekin portions
Ingredients:
170g dark good quality chocolate (70% cocoa solids) – Lindt is a good option
80ml full fat milk
1 egg yolk
4 egg whites
20g caster sugar
Method:
Roughly chop the chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Stir until chocolate has completely melted and remove from the heat.
Bring the milk to the boil and pour onto the melted chocolate, stirring with a whisk to combine. Add the egg yolk and mix well to combine. Set aside to cool.
Whisk the egg whites to firm peaks, adding the sugar bit by bit. Using a spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Whisk briskly, before folding in the rest of the whites (fold from the middle of the bowl up and outwards, using your other hand to steady and turn the bowl as you go). Ensure the egg whites are well incorporated but be careful to not over work the mixture.
Pour the mousse into individual ramekins or 1 large bowl. If you want to serve in espresso cups or another dainty cup, use a piping bag to fill the cups neatly. Chill for at least an hour.
Decorate with whipped cream and chocolate curls, if desired.
Cooks Notes:
The eggs should be very fresh. Use them cold but not icy and not at room temperature.
Oct 15, 2015
Who doesn’t perk up when they hear that chocolate brownies are on the menu? It is a fail safe people pleaser … So if you are having friends round & need a quick, easy and delicious dessert … This is it ! WARNING: These brownies are addictive !!!
Yield: 25 – 30 Brownies
Chocolate Brownie Ingredients:
500grms Unsalted Butter
600grms Dark Chocolate (chopped)
200grms White Chocolate (chopped)
200grms Blanched Almonds (chopped)
3 Cups Brown Sugar
8 Eggs
70grms Cocoa Powder
370grms Cake Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
Method:
Measure out & prepare all your ingredients before getting started
Grease 2 x 22cm square cake tins with butter / ‘Spray & Cook’ and line with non-stick baking paper – Set aside
Preheat the oven to 150ºc
On a low heat, melt the butter and 400grms of the dark chocolate in a small pot, stirring continuously until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, stir the eggs and sugar to combine. Now add the melted chocolate and mix again. Sift in the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder and stir gently to combine. Fold in the remaining 200grms of dark chocolate, white chocolate and almonds.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 20 – 30 minutes. The brownies should be set on the outside and still slightly gooey on the inside, so keep your eye on them and touch them to get a feel for how firm they are towards the end of the cooking time. Once out the oven, you can allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and cutting into squares. Allow to cool on a cooling rack if not serving immediately.
CLICK HERE FOR STRAWBERRY COULIS RECIPE
Mar 9, 2014
Photography by Darren Bester
Yield: 10
For the Fondants
Ingredients
450grms Good Quality Dark Chocolate
450 grms Butter
500grms Eggs (1 egg equates to more or less 60grms but best to use a scale to measure this out)
160grms Egg Yolks
400 grms Sugar
200 grms Flour
Pinch of Salt
Method
Melt the chocolate and butter gently in a double boiler, being careful to ensure no water touches the chocolate mixture. Mix the eggs & yolk together lightly. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture while stirring continuously. Add to this the sugar and flour and stir until completely combined and you no longer see any white but be careful to not over mix. Grease your dariole moulds (100ml moulds or so) with butter and fill just over half way with the mixture. Bake at 180 degrees for 9 or 10 minutes. Remove and allow to rest for a few minutes before un-moulding and plating.
Notes: This mixture can be made and poured into your moulds in advance and freezed for weeks ahead of your dinner party. On the day of your dinner party, take them out the freezer and allow to come to room temperature before baking.
Raspberry Gel
5ml Agar Agar (Vegetarian supplement for gelatine, available at Health Stores)
350grms fresh Raspberries (keep 3 aside per guest for plating)
200ml Berry Fruit Juice
Method
Blend your fresh raspberries in a blender / food processor with a little water until it is liquid
Strain with a sieve into a pot, leaving behind all the seeds. Add the berry juice to the raspberry liquid in the pot and add the 5ml’s agar agar (1ml agar agar to every 100ml liquid), stir continuously for 2 – 3 minutes, pour into a glass dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. It should form a solid jelly. If it hasn’t, simply put back into the pot add another ml or 2 of agar agar and repeat the process. Once you have your solid jelly, put it back into the blender and blend for 30 – 40 seconds (do not over blend). Decant into a squeeze bottle and refrigerate until needed. It should have a gel like consistency now.
For plating – squeeze a blob of the gel on one end of the plate – using the tip of the backside of a spoon, drag the gel across the length of the plate – this creates a fancy restaurant type design that will impress ! Place the Fondant at the end of this gel line, with a scoop of ice-cream (store bought! Sorry, this chef doesn’t mind the shortcuts), Garnish with 3 raspberries per plate (always work in uneven numbers – more plating tips to follow in a separate blog post) and if you have some, a sprig of mint.
