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Chocolate Buttercream

Chocolate, Desserts

Covers a 20cm round cake. Make a smaller batch just for filling.

Ingredients

  • 150g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 0.5tsp vanilla extract
  • 375g icing sugar
  • 75g white/milk chocolate

Method

  • Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a bowl over a saucepan of water.
  • Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar together.
  • Mix in the melted chocolate and leave to cool.

No-Bake Chocolate Strawberry Tart with an Oreo Base

Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, Fruit

Chef’s tip: Serve with ice cream or clotted cream. If you’re feeling fancy, you could melt some extra chocolate and drizzle it on baking paper to make pretty patterns. Once it’s dry, you can use these as toppers to the cake.

Original recipe video can be found here so you can follow along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4fbOGxiFDc

Ingredients (makes 10-12 slices, or halve the ingredients to make 6 slices)

  • 32 (330g) Oreo cookies, whole
  • 110g butter, melted
  • 7 oz/200g milk chocolate
  • 3.5 oz/100g plain/dark chocolate (I use 85%)
  • 200 ml heavy cream
  • 300g fresh strawberries
  • OPTIONAL: chopped nuts

Method

  • Place Oreo cookies (with filling) into a food processor and blend until it turns to crumbs.
  • Pour the melted butter into the crushed Oreos. Process until evenly moistened, or you could mix them with a spoon if you haven’t used a blender.
  • Press cookie mixture with the back of the spoon and your fingers where necessary, into the bottom and edges of a rectangular 5×14 inch (12 x 36 cm) tart pan.
  • Really press it in and up the sides to make a nice edge.
  • Freeze the base while you prepare the filling, just for few minutes.
  • Prepare your strawberries by removing the greenery.
  • Pour the cream into a saucepan and heat on medium-low for a few minutes. No boiling or simmering needed. This doesn’t take very long so keep an eye on it!
  • Remove the cream from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until it has all melted and is smooth. 
  • Pour the chocolate filling into the Oreo crust and make sure it’s level, then get your strawberries and press them gently into the chocolate so that they are half submerged.
  • If you imagine the slices you’ll cut, you can arrange the strawberries alternately in the large part of the slice.
  • Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Flapjacks

Sweets and Biscuits

Makes: 12-16 small squares

Ingredients

  • 150g salted butter
  • 75g light soft brown sugar or golden caster sugar
  • 3tbsp golden syrup
  • 250g porridge oats

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180C (160C fan/Gas Mark 4)
  • Line a shallow 20cm square tin with parchment or greaseproof paper.
  • Put the butter, sugar and Golden Syrup into a medium pan and gently heat until melted.
  • Take off the heat and stir in the oats.
  • Turn into the tin, level and press the mixture evenly and firmly with the back of a spoon.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden around the edges.
  • Remove from the oven and cool completely before turning out onto a board and cutting with a sharp knife.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Starters

Serves: 6-8 people

Chef’s tip: You should taste the soup at various stages once it’s all in the pan. You may want to add more salt/pepper/stock as you go. This is a complicated recipe and should be tailored to your personal taste along the way.

Ingredients

  • 4 large sweet red peppers
  • 3lbs or 1.36kg of plum tomatoes
  • 1tbsp dried basil
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • OPTIONAL: granulated garlic
  • 1/3 tube of tomato puree (add more if you think it needs)
  • 1 shallot peeled and diced
  • 1 clove of garlic, diced
  • 1.1l chicken stock (usually I use less than this to keep the soup a bit thicker)
  • 115ml double cream
  • 1tbsp sugar

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4
  • Cut the tomatoes in half and lay flat side up in an oiled baking tray. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and basil (add granulated garlic if you have).
  • Bake tomatoes in the oven for 1 hour, shaking the pan every 30mins.
  • While the tomatoes are roasting, add 2tbsp of olive oil to a large heavy based pan (not on any heat). Add the diced shallot and chopped garlic. You will cook these later.
  • When the hour is up, turn the oven down to 150C/130C fan/Gas 2 and bake the tomatoes for another hour, again shaking the pan every 30mins.
  • While the tomatoes are still cooking, you can roast the peppers. If you have access to an open flame like a BBQ or gas hob, you can use this to burn the outside of your peppers but I find it much easier to grill them on high. Chop them into quarters, lay skin side up on a baking tray and grill on the highest heat and keep an eye on them until the skins are black.
  • Place the peppers into a bowl and cover with clingfilm for 15mins to cool down.
  • Now it’s time to remove the skins. Run the peppers under cold water while you do this as it makes this easier. Rub the skin and it should come off. Get all of the black parts off, and all bits of unburnt skin.
  • Cut the peppers into small pieces, about 2cm square, and leave in a bowl.
  • When your tomatoes are done, use a potato masher to mash them up. You can do this through a sieve if you want to remove the skins, but they will get whizzed up later anyway.
  • Now cook the shallots and garlic on a medium heat for 2-3mins.
  • Add the peppers, tomatoes, puree and half the stock.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30mins.
  • At this point, use a stick blender or food processor to blend to a smooth soup. If it’s too thick for you at this point, add a bit more stock.
  • Add the cream and the sugar and give it another quick blend.

 

Custard

Desserts

Ingredients

  • 575ml of milk
  • 1-2tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 2tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour

Method

  • Pour the milk into a saucepan and put on a low heat so that it comes to a gentle simmer
  • In the mean time, beat the eggs, sugar and cornflour together in a large heatproof bowl.
  • When the milk is hot and simmering, take it off the heat and add the vanilla essence.
  • Pour the milk onto the egg mixture and make sure you keep stirring it (or whisking)
  • Put the mixture back into the saucepan and back on a low heat.
  • Keep stirring until it thickens.

Apple Crumble

Desserts, Fruit

Serves 4-6 people

Chef’s Tip: Try my custard recipe which goes perfectly with this crumble!

Ingredients

For the filling:

  • 3-4 cooking apples
  • 75g golden caster sugar
  • A small knob of butter
  • Ground cinnamon

For the crumble:

  • 50g golden caster sugar 
  • 100g plain flour
  • 80g butter
  • Optional: 1tbsp soft brown sugar
  • Optional: 2tbsp ground almonds

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6
  • Peel and chop the apples into small cubes.
  • Put them in a large saucepan with a little bit of butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and 75g of sugar, on a low-medium heat.
  • Cook until the apples are soft, remove from the heat and transfer to your oven dish.
  • Now to make the topping. Mix together 50g caster sugar, the flour and butter. 
  • At this point you can also add the optional ingredients which I highly recommend!
  • Use your hands to combine the ingredients until they are crumbly. 
  • Sprinkle the topping over your apples and bake for 10mins or until golden and crunchy on top.

 

Soft Fluffy Dumplings

Sides

Jamie Oliver’s recipe – serves 6 so I usually make half a batch for 2-4 people. This recipe is the full batch so just halve the ingredients if you need.

Ingredients

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 125g cold unsalted butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Method

  • Add the flour to a mixing bowl and then grate the butter into it
  • Add a pinch of salt and pepper
  • Use your fingers to rub the mixture together until it forms breadcrumbs
  • Add a splash of water to help bind it together
  • Roll the mixture into dumplings of your desired size
  • Place the dumplings on top of your fully cooked stew and press down lightly so that they’re half submerged
  • Cook for 20-30mins at 190C/170C Fan with a lid on

Creamy Chicken Pasta

Chicken, Mains, Pasta and Rice

This is sort of my twist on a carbonara. It’s creamy and delicious 🙂

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1 large chicken breast (or 2 small)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • Half a red chilli (or half a teaspoon of chilli powder) – this is optional to add a bit of spice but you can leave it out
  • 2 slices of smoked bacon
  • 100ml white wine – drink the rest of the bottle with the food 😉
  • 200ml cream (single or double, whichever your prefer)
  • 200g spaghetti
  • Parmesan to serve

Optional Extras

  • Try adding some red or green pesto after the cream.
  • Try adding a squidge of tomato puree before the cream.
  • Try adding a handful of spinach just before the cream.

Method

  • Get a large frying pan on a medium heat with some olive oil.
  • Get everything prepped so that you’re ready to get cooking. Chop your onion, mince or chop your garlic, chop the chilli into tiny pieces, slice the bacon into small strips and dice your chicken.
  • Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft and starting to brown.
  • Add the garlic and chilli to cook for 1 minute. Don’t let the garlic brown.
  • Add the bacon and stir until it’s cooked.
  • Now add your chicken with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper and stir it around.
  • At this point, put a pan of water on to boil for spaghetti if you’re using dried. Cook as you normally would while doing the rest.
  • Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add the wine and turn the heat down a bit so it can simmer for 5-10mins. This will allow the alcohol to cook away and leave you with the flavour.
  • If you are using fresh pasta, get it going now.
  • Now turn the pan down to a low heat and add your cream. Make sure you don’t add the cream until the pan has cooled down a bit or it will go lumpy.
  • Drain your pasta and add it to the pan. You can turn the heat off at this point as it will stay hot enough.
  • Serve and sprinkle with parmesan 🙂

Chocolate Ganache (smooth frosting)

Chocolate, Desserts

This recipe covers a 20cm cake.

Ingredients

  • 200ml double cream
  • 200g plain chocolate

Method

  • Heat the double cream in a saucepan until it’s boiling.
  • Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate has all melted and it’s smooth.
  • Leave it to cool.
  • For a rougher textured finish, you can whip the mixture slightly once it’s cooled down.

Moist Chocolate Fudge Cake

Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts

Ingredients

  • 225g/8oz plain flour
  • 350g/12½oz caster sugar
  • 85g/3oz cocoa powder
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp instant coffee
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 250ml/9fl oz milk
  • 125ml/4½fl oz vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 200ml/9fl oz boiling water
  • 1x dark chocolate ganache

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins. If you only have springform tins, make sure you line the bases with a double layer of baking paper which is too big so comes out the sides. The mixture is very liquidy so will spill out otherwise.
  • Place all of the cake ingredients, except the boiling water, into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, or electric whisk, beat the mixture until smooth and well combined.
  • Add the boiling water to the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth. (The cake mixture will now be very liquid.)
  • Divide the cake batter between the sandwich tins and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  • While the cakes are in the oven, make your ganache so that it can sit and cool alongside the cakes.
  • Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely, still in their tins, before icing.
  • Spread a thin layer of the frosting on top of one cake and sandwich the other one on top.
  • Transfer to a plate or a board and top the cake with the remaining ganache.