Chocolate Fondant

One of my favourite TV shows is 'Masterchef', a BBC program whereby amateur chefs have a chance to show off their talent in a series of cooking challenges. After completing these challenges, the person who has demonstrated the best technique, presentation, and of course the best tasting food, is the winner. Having watched several series of Masterchef, there seems to be one dish that can either make or break a contestant - chocolate fondant. The key to chocolate fondant is that the outside should be cakey in consistency, while the inside should be gooey, molten chocolate. The stumbling block for many of the contestants on Masterchef is that they either undercook it, such that it collapses into a runny mess, or overcook it so that it is cakey all the way through. After seeing so many people fail to prepare a proper chocolate fondant, I was curious to see how difficult it is to make. Funnily enough, this month's edition of the Dutch delicious. magazine has a recipe for Chocolate Fondant, so I thought I would give this recipe a try. Upon looking at the list of ingredients, I was skeptical as to whether it would work. However, to my surprise, the puddings were a success! Compared to the contestants on Masterchef, I had the advantage of time. I could leave the puddings in the fridge for several hours, which seems to help to maintain a liquid centre upon cooking. I was very pleased with the result and will definitely be preparing this chocolate fondant recipe again sometime...

Chocolate Fondant (serves 6)

200g high quality dark chocolate
240g unsalted butter, in blocks
4 eggs
90g caster sugar
30g flour, sifted
powder sugar

Break the chocolate into pieces. Put the chocolate and butter into a heat-resistant bowl and melt in the microwave on medium power for about 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir to make sure the mixture is smooth and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar until the mixture is light and foamy. Fold in the chocolate mixture and sifted flour. Spoon the mixture in to 6 greased and floured souffle ramekins of 185ml or 3/4 of a cup in volume. Place the ramekins in to the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and bake the puddings for 10 to 12 minutes until they have a cakey surface. Take the ramekins out of the oven and leave for a minute to rest. With a knife, carefully run around the outside of the pudding and turn out on to a plate. Sprinkle with powder sugar and serve with berries, cream or icecream.

Raspberry Tiramisu

One of my favourite desserts is Raspberry Tiramisu, the recipe of which comes from Donna Hay's 'The Instant Cook' book. It is so simple, yet so yummy, that it is difficult to refuse a second helping. A perfect dessert for almost any occasion!

1 3/4 cups of cream
500g mascarpone
1 cup of dessert wine (I use Port)
600g defrosted frozen raspberries
1 pkt sponge finger biscuits (10-20 biscuits, depending on the size)

Place the cream in a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Fold through the mascarpone and set aside. Place the dessert wine into a shallow dish. Quickly dip both sides of half of the biscuits into the dessert wine and place them in a single layer in the base of a 10 cup (2.5L) serving dish (such as a lasagna dish). Distribute half of the raspberries over the biscuits followed by half of the cream mixture. Dip the remaining biscuits into the wine and place on top of the cream layer. Distribute the remaining raspberries over the biscuits and spread over the remaining cream mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving, although best made the day before. Serves 8-10.

delicious.

Australians enjoy good food, and the availability of produce and the variety of restaurants in Australia is testament to this. But what I am noticing more frequently is that Australian chefs are also receiving recognition on the international stage. Out of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, two are located in Sydney. In my local bookstore in Rotterdam, there are recipe books by Donna Hay and Bill Granger - translated into Dutch! Donna Hay's magazine (English version) is also now available at some Dutch newsagents. Even the delicious. magazine, established in Australia, is now published in the UK and the Netherlands, with both issues including recipes from Australian chefs. As the Dutch are not known for their cuisine, it is so exciting to think that Australians may be helping to bring about a gastronomic revolution here in the Netherlands. And with kangaroo meat being stocked in the local supermarket, it almost feels like I am dining in Melbourne again...

Melt-and-mix Chocolate Coconut Cake

Looking for a quick and simple chocolate cake recipe? Try this one from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2.

250g melted butter
3/4 cup sifted cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups caster (superfine) sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
1 1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour into a greased 24-cm round cake time lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 50 minutes. Dust with cocoa and serve warm or cold with thick (double) cream. Serves 8-10.

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

One of my all time favourite recipes is another from Nigella's 'Forever Summer' book - Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova. Arguably the most quintessential Australian dessert, pavlova consists of a meringue base topped with whipped cream and fruit. While pavlova is usually a crowd pleaser, this chocolate variety is guaranteed to impress even the toughest critic.

For the chocolate meringue base:

6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the topping:

500ml double cream
500g raspberries
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound on to a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150 degrees Celsius and cook for about one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top, but when you touch the centre you should feel slightly soft. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue cool completely.

When you are ready to serve, place on to a large, flat-bottomed plate. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries. Coarsely grate the chocolate into curls and sprinkle over the top.

Serves 8-10.

Killer Chocolate Mousse

A friend of mine loves chocolate and so when she and her husband came for dinner last weekend, I knew that a dessert with chocolate should be on the menu. After considering a number of options, I decided to prepare the Mint Chocolate Mousse from Nigella's 'Forever Summer' book. In my desperate search for mint flavoured chocolate, I stumbled across New Tree chocolates from Belgium. These milk or dark blocks of chocolate are flavoured with lavender, blackcurrant, ginger, lemon, bitter orange, cinnamon, coffee, lime blossoms, cactus and guarana (but no mint). In particular, the blackcurrant chocolate caught my eye. The idea of a rich, berry flavoured chocolate mousse sounded like a truly exquisite dessert. Rather than overpowering the mousse with the blackcurrants, I combined this chocolate with normal dark cooking chocolate. The resultant berry flavour was subtle, but with a touch of decadence. I think even Nigella would have been impressed. Here is the recipe:

300g chocolate (mint, blackcurrant or whatever you desire)
2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
6 eggs
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
garnish (mint leaves, fresh blackcurrants, etc)

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl along with the butter. Heat in the microwave on medium until melted (approximately 3 minutes). Set aside and allow to cool. Separate the eggs and put the yolks and sugar into one bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until it resembles stiff snow (but not dry) and set aside. Beat the yolks and sugar together then pour into the chocolate. Fold through until thoroughly combined. Add a quarter of the egg whites and beat vigorously until incorporated. Then gently added the remaining egg whites in small amounts and fold them into the chocolate mixture. Pour into a glass bowl (or 6 individual dishes), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Garnish before serving. Serves 6 - and is extremely rich!

Culinary Chemistry

Although I had originally intended to post about science on this blog, it wasn't long before I digressed to posting recipes. I enjoy cooking, especially desserts (as you can see), and when you think about it, there is actually a lot of science in cooking. In salad dressing, oil droplets are dispersed in water to form an emulsion. Marinating meat in an acid (fruit juice, wine or vinegar) breaks down the proteins, making the meat more tender. When boiling an egg, the protein molecules interact with one another (coagulate) to form a gel. Jan Groenewold, a physical chemist and former colleague of mine, has recently released a book with chef, Eke Marien, called 'Cook and Chemist'. They explain the scientific principles behind cooking techniques and how they influence texture and taste. Admittedly, it does take away some of the mysticism of cooking, but definitely intrigues the scientist in me. But can science help me to make the perfect souffle? Well, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating!

Coffee and chocolate self-saucing pudding

Another dinner party at our place meant another opportunity to try a new dessert recipe. This time it was a coffee and chocolate self-saucing pudding from the Donna Hay magazine (Issue 32). The recipe is from the 'Skillet Desserts' article, where each dessert is prepared in a skillet or frying pan. Although I did use a small frying pan, I think it should also be possible to make this pudding in another dish with some minor adjustment to the cooking time. Here is the recipe:

Coffee and Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding

For the pudding batter, you need:
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
35g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1/2 cup (150g) plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted
1 tablespoon instant coffee, sifted
1/4 cup (27.5g) almond meal (ground almonds)
1/4 cup (27.5g) brown sugar

For the sauce, you need:
1/2 cup (55g) brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup (250ml) water

For serving, you need:
thick (double) cream or ice cream

Preheat the over to 180 degrees Celsius (355 degrees Fahrenheit). For the pudding batter, place the milk, butter, egg and vanilla in a bowl and whisk to combine. Place the flour, baking powder, coffee, almond meal and sugar in another bowl and mix. Gradually add the milk mixture and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

For the sauce, place the sugar, cocoa powder and water in a 15cm 4 cup (1 litre) capacity non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Pour the pudding batter to the frying pan containing the sauce. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until firm to touch.

Serve with cream or ice cream. Serves 4 people.

Summer Pudding

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner and I decided to prepare Summer Pudding for dessert. Unfortunately, I don't have this recipe in any of my cookbooks, but found a simple one by James Martin, who hosts Sweet Baby James and Saturday Kitchen on the BBC. Using his recipe for Quick Basil and Summer Fruit Pudding, I made four individual puddings, although I think it could easily be made into one large pudding. During preparation, I had to make some minor adjustments: I ran out of the sauce in which the bread was dipped (I think I used too much for the first few pieces). So I made some extra sauce from the fresh berries I had. Also, we forgot to get the basil, but I don't think it was missed. The recipe says to add enough sugar to taste - the puddings were slightly tart, so I think it needs to be at least a tablespoon in each case. Although the puddings were mostly pink on the outside (the areas that weren't, I covered with the extra sauce), the juices had not soaked completely through. However, the final product was very pretty and still delicious!