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Goats Milk Praline Ice Cream Affogato – De’Longhi Challenge

15 May

This year has been crazily busy for me so far. I started a new job and joined a gym in January and have been training for a half marathon in October in preparation for the London Marathon next year. I’ve been keeping up with this blog a couple of times a week and Jack and I have also been busy looking for and buying furniture for a flat that we bought last year, which we should be moving into within the next couple of months.

As I’ve been so busy I seem to be leaving everything until the very last minute. Take this challenge, for example. Jack and I decided what recipe we were going to do a couple of weeks ago but I only had the chance to buy all of the ingredients to make the ice cream at 9pm last night – so you can imagine what kind of a night and morning I’ve had. Not complaining, though – I did get to eat the most delicious affogato for breakfast.

We used the Flavour Thesaurus by Nikki Segnit for inspiration. If you haven’t been out and bought a copy yet, I highly recommend you do. It is a must have in the kitchen if you want to be a little experimental with your food. I used it for my stint in Britain’s Best Dish and it got me to the semi-final.

This recipe is fantastic for anyone who is dairy intolerant and the best thing is that it tastes just like normal dairy ice cream. The hazlenut praline adds a welcome crunch and sweetness and the coffee, made by the fantastic and utterly beautiful De’Longhi Vintage Icona Bar Pump coffee machine, adds a caffeine punch that is oh so welcome at any time of day.

Ingredients

For the praline
100g golden caster sugar
100g whole hazlenuts

For the ice cream
2 pints of goat’s milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
4 Burford Brown egg yolks
4 oz golden caster sugar
3 tsp cornflour

Method

Ice cream – first make the custard
1. Heat the goat’s milk and the vanilla paste over a low heat until simmering. Do not boil.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar together for a couple of minutes or so until sugar is almost dissolved.

3. When the milk starts to simmer, take it off the stove and pour it in with the egg and sugar mixture, and whisk continually. Return to the pan and stir over low heat with a wooden spoon until thickened.

Now for the praline

4. Heat the sugar and hazlenuts in a pan on a low heat and stir continuously until the sugar begins to caramelise and the nuts are coated. Once you reach this stage, pour out onto a greaseproof paper-covered baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and leave to cool. Once set, smash the praline into pieces with a rolling pin.

5. Once you have a custard, place in the fridge until completely cool. Prepare your ice cream machine, mix the custard and praline together and churn to your machines instructions.

And to finish

6. Scoop the ice cream into a glass. Prepare a shot of espresso and pour over the ice cream straight away.

7. Enjoy!

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Michel Roux chocolate fondant recipe

7 Dec

Everyone loves a good dessert. You’re mad if you don’t. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a sweet and decadent treat at the end of a meal but when it comes to looking for inspiration to create my very own, the first person I turn to is the god of all pastry chef gods, Michel Roux.

I received his newest book, Desserts, to review last week. I flicked through and stopped in my tracks when I arrived at the warm chocolate fondant recipe. There is no doubt about the fact that I’ll always choose this dessert if it is on the menu. No doubt. But for some reason I’ve never attempted making it at home, probably because I thought it would go wrong and I’d end up smashing it up with a fork – yes, this has happened in the past and that little tantrum has become a joke in my household.

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous glug of double cream.

Warm chocolate fondant recipe – serves 10 – 12

Ingredients

200g butter, softened, plus 20g to grease
200g good-quality dark, bitter of Manjari chocolate, preferably Valrhona, finely chopped
200g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust
4 eggs, mixed with an extra 4 egg yolks
55g plain flour
35g dark, bitter cocoa powder

Method

Use a brush to lightly butter the insides of 12 metal rings, 5 cm in diameter and 3.5cm high and line each with a band of greaseproof paper.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees c / gas mark 5. Put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan one-third filled with hot water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. PLace over a gentle heat until the chocolate has melted, then take off the heat and set aside in a warm place.

Using an electric whisk, beat the butter and icing sugar together until pale and aerated, then slowly incorporate the eggs, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Reduce the mixer speed and incorporate the melted chocolate a little at a time. Sift the flour and cocoa together over the mixture and fld in carefully, using large metal spoon.

Fill the prepared moulds with the fondant mixture to the top of the rings.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. To check to see if they are done, inserts a small skewer into the centre of one; if the centre feels liquid, it is not yet cooked. If it feels soft, and the skewer meets with no resistance, they are done – the centre should be vert slightly runny. Remove from the oven and leave to rest on the baking tray for 30 seconds.

Lift the rings off all the fondants, slide a small palette knife under one, transfer it to a serving plate and remove the band of greaseproof paper. Repeat with the rest of the fondants. Dust the tops with icing sugar and enjoy served with double cream. Serve immediately.

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Jack Daniels truffles – recipe

1 Dec

I was invited to my friends house for dinner this week. It got to Monday and I started to panic. What was I going to take with me?! A bottle of wine is too boring, a dessert too hard to transport, flowers were out of the question as the host is a man and taking nothing is just plain rude. After much deliberation I settled on Jack Daniels truffles for a sweet post meal treat.

Truffles are really fun to make, although pretty messy. I filled the sink with warm water so that I could wash my hands every time they got too chocolatey.

Ingredients Makes 20 – 25 truffles

• 150ml double cream
• Knob of unsalted butter
• 150g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2 tsp Jack Daniels
• 50g chopped hazelnuts, on a plate
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, on a plate

Method

1. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place into a large bowl
2. Heat the cream in a pan until hot, but not boiling. Wait for small bubbles to start appearing. Add the butter and stir until melted
3. Pour over the chocolate pieces and whisk continually until all of the chocolate has melted. Add a pinch of salt, stir and then add the Jack Daniels
4. When the mixture is smooth and all of the chocolate has melted, place in the fridge to set for around two hours
5. When you take it out of the fridge, let it warm up to room temperature before making the truffles
6. Spoon ball sized pieces out of the chocolate and roll in either the chopped hazelnuts or cocoa powder before placing in truffle cases
7. Enjoy!

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Ottolenghi caramel and macadamia cheesecake recipe

17 Nov

A few years ago I found myself exploring an area of London that I had never been before. It was a far cry from the areas that I had been spending so much of my time during university. As I was casually meandering down Upper Street in Islington, I stopped dead in my tracks when I caught glimpse of the biggest meringues I had ever seen out of the corner of my eye. Now, even though I don’t really care much for meringues, what was beyond the mountain of giant white rock like meringues flecked with luscious red raspberry was utterly appealing. I stepped inside, amongst the hustle and bustle and gawped at the array of freshly baked cakes that lay in front of me for a good ten minutes before I decided on which one I wanted to take away with me. I’m not very good at making decisions at the best of times so present me with a huge range of delicious looking cakes and we have a problem.

Stood on a cake stand was a baked cheesecake with a muddle of caramelized macadamia nuts on top. It was the most rustic looking cake out of the bunch – the rest had been so perfectly created and each one stood in uniform like a bunch of neat soldiers on parade. I took it away in a box and shortly after the first bite declared it the best cake I had ever eaten. The café in question is, of course, Ottolenghi in Islington. Co owner and chef Yotam Ottolenghi is, in my eyes, a genius. After going on and on to my friend about the cake, she took note and bought me his first cookbook for my birthday a couple of years ago. The first thing I did was flick through the back pages to see if the cheesecake recipe was featured. And it was. I was so happy. But despite having the book for so long, I had never attempted baking it, until last weekend when I had friends around for a dinner party. It was the perfect opportunity.

You need a lot of time and patience with this cake as there are a few different stages. I would recommend setting a few hours aside at the weekend. I couldn’t believe how well it turned out, particularly as I’ve had a couple of caramel disasters in my time. Another bonus is that it keeps in the fridge for three days afterwards (if you can make it last that long). I urge you to bake this cake. The lucky people who get to eat it will love you forever.

Caramel and macadamia cheesecake

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

For the cheesecake
400g good quality ricotta cheese, at room temperature
(if it seems too watery, hang it in muslin overnight to drain)
200g good quality cream cheese, at room temperature
120g caster sugar
2/3 vanilla pod
4 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
60ml soured cream
Icing sugar for dusting

For the base
160g dry biscuits
(I used HobNobs, but you can use any digestive biscuits)
40g unsalted butter, melted

For the nut topping
150g macadamia nuts
90g caster sugar

For the caramel sauce
65g unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
100ml whipping (or double) cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 140ºC/Gas Mark 1. Lightly grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

To make the base, whiz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor (or put them in a plastic bag and bash with a mallet or rolling pin). Mix with the melted butter to a wet, sandy consistency. Transfer to the lined tin and flatten with the back of a tablespoon to create a level base.

To make the cake batter, put the sugar and cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Slit the vanilla pod lengthways in half and, using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out into the bowl. Whisk by hand, or more easily with an electric mixer, until smooth. Gradually add the eggs and soured cream, whisking until smooth. Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and place in the oven. Bake for about 60 minutes, until set; a skewer inserted in the centre should come out with a slightly wet crumb attached. Leave to cool at room temperature, then remove the side of the tin. Transfer the cake to a cake board or plate – but you can serve from the tin base if that proves tricky. Now chill the cake for at least a couple of hours.

To prepare the nut topping, scatter the nuts over a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 140ºC/Gas Mark 1 for about 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and set aside. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Place the sugar in a saucepan with a very thick base (it is important that the layer of sugar is not more than 3mm high in the pan, so choose a large one). Heat the sugar gently until it turns into a golden-brown caramel. Do not stir it at any stage. Don’t worry if some small bits of sugar don’t totally dissolve. Carefully add the toasted nuts and mix gently with a wooden spoon. When most of the nuts are coated in caramel, pour them on to the lined tray and leave to set. Break bits off and chop them very roughly with a large knife. It’s nice to leave some of the nuts just halved or even whole.

To make the sauce, put the butter and sugar in a thick-bottomed saucepan and stir constantly over a medium heat with a wooden spoon until it becomes a smooth, dark caramel. The butter and sugar will look as if they have split. Don’t worry; just keep on stirring. Once the desired colour is reached, carefully add the cream while stirring vigourously. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

To finish the cake, dust the edges and sides with plenty of icing sugar. Spoon the sauce in the centre, allowing it to spill over a little. Scatter lots of caramelised nuts on top. The cheesecake will keep in the fridge for 3 days.

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Bill Granger’s coconut bread

28 Sep

Anyone that knows me will be fully aware that brunch is my favourite meal of the day. Why wouldn’t it be – it’s an excuse to eat sweet, sugary, cakey goodness for breakfast. So when I saw Bill Granger’s recent brunch spread in The Times Magazine, I got all excited and put the Coconut Bread recipe STRAIGHT to the test. The results were fabulous, utterly fabulous!

Ingredients

2 eggs
300ml full fat milk
1 vanilla pod
310g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
230g golden caster sugar
150g desiccated coconut
75g unsalted butter, melted
Butter and icing sugar, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add the sugar and coconut, and stir to combine. 3. Make a well in the centre and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined. Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, being careful not to overmix.
4. Pour into a greased and floured 21 x 10cm (8¼ x 4in) loaf tin and bake for 1 hour, or until the bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.
5. Leave in the tin to cool for 5 minutes, then remove to cool further on a wire rack. Serve in thick slices, toasted, buttered and dusted with icing sugar.

ENJOY!!!

This recipe is from Bill Granger’s latest book ‘Best of Bill’, which is published by Murdoch Books.

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tarte au citron recipe

23 Aug

Who doesn’t like a good slice of tarte au citron? The buttery, flakey pastry with the rich, sweet and tangy wobbly middle. Pour some double cream over a big slice and that’s me done. I’ll tuck myself away in a corner for a few minutes so no stray forks can interfere, while I enjoy every last morsel.

But despite there being a few decent shop bought alternatives out there, home made is definitely preferable. Having never made one before, I set out to do just that on Sunday. What I didn’t realise was just how long the process is – I completely understand why people shove one in their supermarket trolley. Not only is it 10 times quicker, it’s also around the same price. But nothing compares to home made (if done well of course) and it is oh so satisfying to see the golden pastry and wobbly lemony filling come out of the oven almost perfect.

I got my recipe from Lindsey Bareham, who wrote a piece about the delightful dessert after being inspired by Marco Pierre White’s 1987 ‘Harveys’ version, back when he was head chef. However, it wasn’t Marco that introduced us Brits to the queen of tarts, it was no other than the Roux brothers at the beginning of the 80′s. Who better to introduce this than the masters of pastry themselves. I have tried the tart both cold and at room temperature and I definitely prefer the latter. The flavours shine out more – but you can always add a drizzle of cold double cream.

If you’re thinking of making a dessert soon, I can’t recommend this enough. But it’s not for the time conscious. This dessert is one that needs love, care, attention and a good few hours. I thoroughly enjoyed my therapeutic time in the kitchen, but I enjoyed my slice smothered in cream much more.

Serves 6 to 8
Prep 35 min plus 1 hr chilling
Cook 1 hr plus 1 hr cooling

Ingredients

For the pastry:
250g plain flour plus extra for dusting
Pinch of salt
150g butter plus an extra knob, cubed
75g icing sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk

For the filling:
4 large unwaxed lemons
5 large eggs
150g caster sugar
200ml double cream
Double cream

Method

For the pastry:
1. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt
2. Add the butter and rub it into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
3. Sift the icing sugar over the crumbs and mix
4. Lightly whisk the whole egg and egg yolk and add to the crumbs
5. Bring everything together and knead slightly. You can add more flour if needed
6. Form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 1 hour
7. Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4
8. Grease a 22cm by 2.5cm deep flan ring with the knob of butter and dust with flour. Shake the excess flour out and place on a baking tray, lined with a baking sheet
9. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to make a 28cm circle
10.Roll the pastry over the rolling pin and place over the prepared flan ring, pressing to neatly line the ring, leaving a 1cm overhang
11.Roll your rolling pin over the flan case to cut off the excess. Cover with graseproof paper and fill with ceramic baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes
12.Separate one of the eggs required for the filling and lightly whisk the egg white with 1 tbsp water. Paint the cooked pastry case with beaten egg white to seal. Plug any holes with leftover pastry. Return to the oven, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Lower heat to 150C/gas mark 2.

Filling:
1. Juice the lemons through a sieve to make approx 175ml and stir in the zest
2. Whisk 4 eggs and the reserved egg yolk with 150g caster sugar, continuing until the sugar disappears
3. Lightly whip the cream and stir it into the eggs. Add the lemon juice and zest.
4. Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for 45-60 minutes until the tart is just set but still slightly wobbly in the middle.
5. Leave to cool for an hour before removing from the tin
6. Dust with icing sugar and serve with double cream!

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Melt in mouth meringue recipe

11 Aug

If you have read my blog in the last few months, you will know that I have three gorgeous chickens on my roof who provide me with fresh and delicious eggs daily.

Since only two of us in the house eat eggs, we sometimes get a bit of a glut, as you can see.

Eggs

So we’re forever having to come up with ways to use more than just one or two eggs at a time. Someone suggested I make meringue but I wasn’t keen on the idea at first – I would rather tuck into a big slab of cake or a delicious brownie than a light and fluffy meringue. Then again, I had never made them before so decided to give them a go.

As our eggs are very small, I would recommend using Bantam eggs. If you are using hens eggs, use two less than I have stated. I was so pleased with how they turned out – they have a beautiful golden colour due to the fact that I used unrefined golden caster sugar and unrefined golden icing sugar.

Eat them with fresh and cream berries, or be naughty and sandwich two together with Nutella (that’s what my boyfriend did!)

Ingredients

4 bantam eggs, separated and at room temperature (you can either discard the yolk or add them as extra to scrambled eggs)
75g unrefined golden caster sugar
75g unrefined golden icing sugar

Method – Pre-heat the oven to 100degrees Celsius

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper
2. Place the egg whites in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, whisk on a medium speed until soft peaks form
3. Turn the speed up and gradually add the cater sugar, bit by bit
4. Sift the icing sugar in bit by bit and fold in gently with a spatula or large metal spoon
5. Spoon onto the baking sheet in equal portions and place in the oven. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes
6. Enjoy how you wish!

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My Britain’s Best Dish journey plus recipe

1 Jun

I can finally write my post now. I was a semi finalist on this years Britain’s Best Dish. The process started at the end of last year when a girl that I used to work with told me that she had been a contestant a couple of years ago. She had won £500 by getting through to the regional finals and recommended that I auditioned – so I did.

I didn’t really take it seriously at first – I had never seen the programme before but had heard through the grapevine that it was a ‘poor mans Masterchef‘. Hmmm – nevertheless, I went for it because I love cooking and I wanted a bit of a challenge.

I made it through the producer auditions to be a contestant on the show and I represented the Midlands because of my Nottingham roots. I won the regional heat and the regional final (hello £500) to get to Hackney Catering college where I went head to head with the other 6 regional finalists in the dessert category. Much to my surprise I came in the top 2 that day and got through to the semi-finals, which meant cooking in the kitchen at The Savoy Hotel.

15 year old Conor McLean beat me to go through to the final and eventually win the whole show. He didn’t just win the £10,000 prize and his dish on the menu at The Savoy Hotel – Executive Chef Bernard Mayer was so impressed that he offered Conor a training apprenticeship at Westminster college.

My dish changed throughout the series. In the first heat I made an almond panna cotta with poached peach and grape sorbet but, after the comments that the elements of the dish didn’t marry well together, I changed it to almond panna cotta with a spiced granola topping, spiced peach coulis and grappa soaked grapes (thanks to Edd Kimber for the grape inspiration!)

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the show – it was a bit weird watching myself back on the TV but I couldn’t be happier that I got to cook in the Savoy Hotel kitchen and that executive chef Bernard Mayer liked my dish and said that there were ‘no negatives’.

Almond panna cotta with spiced granola topping, spiced peach coulis and grappa soaked grapes recipe

Ingredients Serves 2

Almond panna cotta

½ a vanilla pod, split and deseeded
125ml full fat milk
125ml double cream
2 gelatine leaves
25g golden caster sugar
A few drops of almond extract

Grappa soaked grapes

200g red concord grapes
15ml grappa
15ml lemon juice
15g golden caster sugar

Peach coulis

4 peaches
300g golden caster sugar
1 star anise
2 tsp runny honey
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod
Juice of 1 lemon

Spiced granola

20g unsalted butter
30g whole rolled oats
20g ground cinnamon
20g golden caster sugar
20g sliced almonds

Method

Almond panna cotta

1. Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds.
2. Add the vanilla seeds and split pod to a pan with the milk and cream. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat.
3. Take out the split pod and add the gelatine leaves and sugar. Return to a low heat and stir until the leaves and sugar have fully dissolved.
4. Add the almond extract and stir through.
5. Pour the mixture into small pudding basins and chill in the fridge until set (this takes approximately 1½ hours).

Grappa soaked grapes

1. Peel the grapes and chop in half.
2. Gently heat the grappa, lemon juice and sugar in a pan until all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Place the grapes and grappa sauce into a small bowl and leave to soak in the fridge.

Peach coulis

1. Fill a large bowl with ice-cold water.
2. Fill a separate bowl with boiling water and blanch the peaches for 30 seconds.
3. Plunge into the bowl of cold water with a slotted spoon and then peel off the skins.
4. Slice the peaches in half, leaving the stones in and place in a large pan with the sugar, star anise, runny honey, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon juice.
5. Cover with 800ml of water and gently bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until the peaches are soft.
6. Remove the stones then pour the peaches into a blender. Retain some of the syrup. Blend the peaches until smooth, adding more syrup if necessary.
7. Transfer into a squeezy bottle and leave to cool in the fridge.

Spiced granola

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Melt the butter in a pan.
3. Add the oats, cinnamon, sugar and sliced almonds to a baking tray and mix in the melted butter.
4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

To serve

Dip the base of the panna cotta pudding basin into a bowl of boiling water (this will help to free the pudding) and turn out onto the plate. Carefully layer the crunchy granola on top. Squeeze three circles of peach coulis around the plate, adding a grappa soaked grape in the centre of each circle.

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Lime friand recipe

31 May

I have two sources of inspiration for this recipe. The first is 15 year old Conor McLean who beat me to win Britain’s Best Dish. He made a fantastic vanilla friand dessert and during the process, I realised that I had never made one. The second inspiration is The Flavour Thesaurus by Nikki Segnit. This book gave me the idea for my dessert on Britain’s Best Dish. I love it. Literally weeks before it was released, I was wishing that I could have a book that would tell me what flavours go together. Then, voila, it appeared.

The complete idea for my dessert was lime friand with lemon and ginger sorbet, candied ginger and a tuille biscuit. In reality, making such a dish for two people isn’t really worth it but its an idea that i’ll hold onto for future dinner parties!

I started making the elements of the dessert about a month ago. First was the candied ginger, then the lemon and ginger sorbet. I never got around to making the friand, much to my boyfriends annoyance – he has asked me at least twice a week over the last month where his friand is. I couldn’t make any more excuses so I set to work in the kitchen and I’m so glad to say that it was easier and took less time than expected. It was one of the best things I have baked in a long time!

Unfortunately, I didn’t store the candied ginger in a good enough air tight container so I had to throw it away and I didn’t make the tuille biscuit. But, the friand and sorbet dessert was a delicious end to dinner.

Lime Friand

Lime friand

Ingredients (Makes 6)

2 egg whites
60g butter, melted
65g ground almond
40g icing sugar
20g plain flour
1 tsp lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
6 blanched almonds

Method

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees and grease a small cupcake pan

1. Whisk the egg whites until slightly stiff and foamy
2. Add melted butter and ground almonds
Sift the icing sugar and flour into the bowl, add the lime juice and zest and mix until just combined
3. Pour the mixture into the moulds and place an almond on the top of each cake
4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the top has browned. Make sure that a skewer comes out clean when inserted

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The most AMAZING fudgey chocolate brownies

24 Apr

About three and a half years ago, I found myself at a loose end so decided to try something that I had never really done before. That something was baking – chocolate brownies to be precise.

Since the moment I took that gooey, chocolatey tray of naughtiness out of the oven and slid a spoonful into my mouth, I became hooked. Absolutely, totally and utterly hooked. I can’t remember ever being a massive cake fan but that was the turning point in my life.

There’s only one regret I have about that batch of brownies and that is not remembering what recipe I used. Really, I am THAT stupid.

Since then I have made countless trays of brownies with a different recipe each time, trying my hardest to either recreate the first batch or better them. I came close the bettering them with a pecan and caramel version but I have to say that this recipe probably tops it.

The brownie debate can often get heated and seemingly everyone likes them a different way. I used to think that the gooeyer the brownie, the better. I don’t like them too cakey but fudgey is always a winner. So how about chewy, sweet, slightly gooey and crunchy on top. Doesn’t that sound like heaven?

I went to the Drapers Invasion last week and saw chocolate brownies on the dessert menu. I was happy about this but didn’t realise how happy until I popped one of Lizzie’s creations into my mouth. The brownie was chewy, sweet, slightly gooey, fudgey and crunchy on top. A couple of diners around me said that they weren’t chocolatey enough but to me that didn’t matter so much. This brownie is the rebirth of my brownie obsession and so I had to get the recipe to try them myself.

I baked them when I was down at my boyfriends parents house – his dad and little brother are chocolate brownie fiends so I knew that this was a good audience to try them out on. His brother has a nut allergy and requested white chocolate chips so I obliged and threw in some chopped Milky Bar. I also added in another tablespoon of cocoa powder for that extra chocolatey hit. I tried to leave them to cool when they came out of the oven but, as I expected, half of the tray was demolished pretty quickly.

I thank Lizzie and a BBC message board user called Sue_L for potentially supplying me with my brownie recipe for life.


Ingredients

200g salted butter
600g golden caster sugar
200g dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%)
250g strong white flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp cocoa
1 large Milky Bar, chopped into chunks

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180degrees

1. Chop the butter into cubes and break up the chocolate. Place into a bowl and place over a pan of simmering water to melt – make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water

2. Take the bowl off the hot water once melted and set aside for 10 minutes. Add the sugar and stir (it will look VERY grainy but do not be deterred). Add the eggs one by one and beat as you go

3. Seive in the flour and cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Add in the Milky Bar chunks

4. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out almost clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before cutting into squares

Enjoy!

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