A gift of a recipe from baking whizz Amy, these cookies are squidgy, chocolate-y and just sweet enough without being sickly. This is a great recipe for making with children, as long as you’re prepared for the constant demands to lick the bowl/spoon/beaters/chopping board. These cookies are my go-to for bringing as a gift when we visit people.
115g softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g brown sugar
2 eggs
270g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g unsweetened desiccated coconut
180g dark chocolate, cut into small chunks
Pre-heat oven to 170C fan (190C)
In a big bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until lighter and fluffy
Beat in the eggs, one at a time
Stir through the flour, baking powder, coconut and chocolate to make a sticky, soft dough
Roll into golfball-sized balls, flatten slightly with your fingertips and place on, spaced out, on a lined baking tray
Bake for 15 mins until lightly browned and smelling amazing
Flipping lush poured over vanilla ice cream. No actual ferrero rocher were harmed in the making of this delicious chocolate hazelnut sauce. But serving some real ones alongside is definitely ok!
100g blanched hazelnuts
65g condensed milk
90ml double cream
1 tbsp hazelnut oil
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
40g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp frangelico
Heat the oven to 120C fan (140C) and spread out the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Roast for 15-20 mins until golden-brown and toasty
Remove the nuts and allow to cool. Transfer half the nuts to a mini food processor and blitz fine. Roughly chop the other half of the nuts
Put the condensed milk and cream in a small pan on a medium heat
Cook, stirring, for 2 mins until it starts to steam. Don’t let it boil! Take off the heat and stir in the oil and chocolate
Once everything is melted, add the ground hazelnuts, half the chopped nuts, the milk and frangelico. Stir together
Return to a low heat for 2 mins and then serve warm over vanilla icecream with the remaining chopped nuts sprinkled over the top
The fluffiest of desserts, this 80s dinner party classic is surely ready for a revival. Scrunchies are back, so this definitely deserves another chance. This was the first recipe I ever made on my own and I was so proud of it! Serve with cream and fresh raspberries. Makes 6
6 eggs
180g dark chocolate
2 tbsp sugar
Melt the chocolate and cool slightly
Separate the eggs
In a scrupulously clean bowl, whisk the whites into soft peaks. Then add the sugar a tsp at a time, whisking all the while, until stiff and glossy
Beat the yolks into the melted chocolate until smooth
Whisk in a third of the egg white to the chocolate mixture to loosen it up, then carefully fold in the rest
For full retro points, spoon gently into individual glasses and chill to set
A delectable pudding where a combination of cocoa powder, hot water and sugar poured over the top of a chocolate sponge batter magically sinks below the surface while it bakes to make a rich sauce underneath. Serve the hot pudding with vanilla ice cream and everyone will be your friend!
175g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
300g soft light brown sugar
3 large free-range eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g plain flour
40g cocoa powder, plus 2 tbsp
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch salt
3 tbsp milk
Pre-heat the oven to 150C fan (170C)
Grease the inside of an ovenproof dish with a butter
Cream the butter with 225g of the soft light brown sugar until pale and light, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time to make sure you catch it all
Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and then add the vanilla extract and mix again to combine
Sift the flour, 40g cocoa, bicarb and a pinch of salt into the mixture and mix again until just combined
Add the milk and mix again until smooth
Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and level with the back of a spoon
Now for the sauce! In a small bowl mix together the remaining 75g soft light brown sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa powder and 6 tbsp hot water
Spoon this chocolatey syrup over the chocolate sponge mixture and place the dish in a large, deep roasting tin.
Boil the kettle and pour boiling water into the tin, around the dish so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the dish.
Carefully slide the roasting tin into the oven on the middle shelf.
Bake for about 40 mins, or until the pudding is well-risen, the top is nicely cracked and a skewer inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out with a moist crumb.
My granddad used to call these hash because he was an innocent and that was the most addictive thing he could think of. I wouldn’t go as far as to say addictive, but I would place a substantial bet against anyone being able to eat just one of them. This is another family Christmas tradition, combining chewy, deeply orange flavoured, crystallised peel with deep, dark chocolate. They are genuinely sublime and much greater than the sum of their parts. AND they use a bit of the fruit which normally gets thrown away, so it’s a double-win.
I’m not going to lie, this is a slightly more complicated process than most of my recipes. It’s a labour of love. Not difficult at all, but there are quite a few steps (all though 3 of them are just ‘change the water’) and it takes at least a week. Also, one of your saucepans will be occupied for 4 days.
You need to spend a couple of weeks (depending on how many oranges you eat) beforehand peeling oranges carefully with a knife and collecting the peel in a box. You need at least 4-6 oranges-worth to make it worthwhile. You can also use grapefruit or lemons. Not satsumas or limes though, because the skin is too thin.
Before you start, the peel should be in pieces like the pic below. (I know, a picture, what a treat!)
Day 1: Cut the peel into long strips 1-2 cm at their widest point. Then slice off half the pith from each strip (so you’re cutting the top layer of the white bit off each piece). This is easiest if you hold the peel down flat on a chopping board with one hand, orange side down, and use a very sharp knife in the other hand to slice a thin strip of the pith off the top. (It’s ok if you go deeper by accident.) Then put the strips into a big bowl, cover generously with cold water, stick a plate or something on top so nothing falls in it and leave to soak for 24 hours
Day 2: Drain and change the water
Day 3: Drain and change the water
Day 4: Drain and put the wet peel into a saucepan. Cover with new cold water and bring to the boil. Drain and then weigh the peel. In a separate bowl, measure out the same weight of sugar as peel. Then, in a jug, measure out the same ml of water as grams of sugar. Put the sugar and water into the empty pan and heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the peel, stir in and leave to cool in the pan
Day 5: Bring to the boil, stirring gently, then leave to cool
Day 6: Bring to the boil, stirring gently, then leave to cool
Day 7: Bring to the boil very slowly, stirring occasionally, until the syrup begins to crystallise. Turn the heat down very low and stir gently and continuously until there’s no liquid left. Remove the crystallised peel (not using your fingers) to cool onto a lined baking sheet. Make sure they’re not touching or they’ll stick together
Day 8: Melt dark chocolate in a bowl. The chocolate can be as dark and as fancy as you like. Although I’m a big fan of a Dairy Milk button or two, you should not use milk chocolate here. Dip each piece of peel into the chocolate to cover the whole thing except for the tinest finger-hold at one end. Place, not touching, on a lined tray and leave to harden in the fridge
They will keep well in a tin or airtight container in a cool place for weeks if you can stop everyone in your life from hoovering them up before you put them away.
A favourite with all children ever. And quite a lot of grown-ups. The perfect topping for an ice cream sundae, banana pancakes or – the ultimate retro pudding – a banana split.
150g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
50ml single cream
2 tbsp golden syrup
Put all the ingredients into a small, heavy-based saucepan and heat it gently – if this goes over it’s impossible to rescue, so keep stirring and whip it off the heat as soon as everything is melted into a beautiful, glossy, pourable sauce.
Our family’s birthday cake recipe. It’s quick, incredibly easy and makes a cake that is moist, chocolatey and satisfying without being heavy or overly rich. It also doesn’t involve creaming butter and sugar which is a huge point in its favour for me! I’ve given this recipe out probably more than any other.
60g dark chocolate
110g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
125ml milk
120g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
Pre-heat oven to 170C fan (190C)
Grease and line 2 identical baking tins (or 1 big one if you don’t want to make a sandwich cake)
Melt together the chocolate and butter. I used to use a bain marie, now I just melt in the microwave – 40 seconds at a time, stir and check
Pour the melted chocolate and butter into a mixing bowl
Beat in the sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla
Tip in the flour and baking powder, and a pinch of salt
Mix until just combined – don’t over-beat it
Pour (yes, it’s that liquid, don’t worry) into the lined tins and bake for 25-30 mins until well risen and cooked through. If cooking in 1 tin, bake for about 10 mins longer)
You can also use the same recipe to fill cupcake cases and cook for just 15 mins. Or 4 times the recipes fills a deep roasting tin, which will need about 40 mins but makes an excellent option for large numbers.
Ice once cool with the chocolate glaze below. It’s the best chocolate icing ever. And no clouds of icing sugar to contend with. This quantity will ice the cake above, with enough to sandwich between the 2 cakes as well as coating the top and sides.
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp caster sugar
30g unsalted butter
85g dark chocolate
A drop of veg oil
Break the chocolate into a bowl and add the other ingredients. You won’t believe it will turn into a beautiful, glossy, smooth icing, but trust me, it will.
Melt together in a bowl over some hot water or in short bursts in the microwave. It will look terrible until it suddenly doesn’t
Once the icing has cooled slightly, use a spoon to spread over the top and sides of the cake. Top with chocolate sprinkles/maltesers/candles. The cooled icing will set so it’s not crunchy but will hold its shape.
Sophie cooks 