Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondants

Posted on 29/03/2014 by Anna

I love a good chocolate fondant and wasn’t convinced there was any need to gild the lily but this salted caramel idea just wouldn’t go away and I knew I had to have a go at making it. Just out of interest you understand……. So this is the pudding I teased you with around Valentine’s and I thought it would be perfect for Mothering Sunday should you still be without a pudding or as an early Easter treat.

These puddings are sublime, honestly beyond fabulous. A crisp chocolate outer gives way to a soft chocolate pudding containing molten caramel sauce within. They are so good. Surprisingly they also very easy to make and sit happily in the fridge until you want to cook them. As long as the oven is at 200 and you cook them for exactly 12 minutes they will be perfect. I am no expert baker but if I can do them then anyone can.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondants

I am all for quick and easy and although these puds fit that bill you will need to make the caramel ahead of time so it can set firm. This only takes a few hours but I made it a day ahead so I could forget about it. You can also make the puddings the day ahead and keep in the fridge. If you remember put the caramel in the freezer when you start making the puddings just to give them an extra chill – this keeps the sauce together rather than it melting straight into the puddings. Miss the salt out if you think you or your children would prefer Caramel Chocolate Fondants.

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons double cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sea salt

85g butter, plus a little extra for greasing

85g chocolate, I used 50/50 dark and milk

85g golden caster sugar

1 teaspoon cocoa

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon coffee

45g plain flour

Pinch of salt

Heat the butter, sugar and cream in a pan and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and a good pinch of salt. When it is cold enough to taste try it, you may want more salt then put this caramel in a small bowl in the fridge to set. Grease 4 metal pudding tins with the melted butter then dust each one with cocoa. Put in the fridge until you need them. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale, frothy and at least doubled in volume. Mix the chocolate mixture into the eggs, add the coffee and then gently fold in the flour along with a pinch of salt. Half fill each greased tin with the chocolate mixture then add a teaspoonful of the cold caramel, it may sink a bit but don’t worry. Pour the remaining mix over the caramel to fill the tins. Put the puddings into the fridge for at least half an hour whilst you preheat the oven to 200. Cook the puddings for exactly 12 minutes, then remove from the oven, turn out onto plates and serve with cream or ice cream. This makes four but it is up to you how many it serves…..

Mint Chocolate Drops

Posted on 26/03/2014 by Anna

Chocolate and Mint is a match (Matchstick) made in heaven, a truly great combination. For as long as I can remember I have loved that marriage of fresh, clean, cool mint and rich, smooth melty chocolate. From After Eights liberated on the quiet from their box in the dining room to that crazy Ice Breaker of the 70’s – ludicrously sharp little peppermint shards incased in chocolate – remember that one? I loved the look of Bendicts Bittermints and though I tried them regularly, desperate to enjoy their sophistication, the super bitter dark chocolate proved an effective barrier between the young me and the soft mint patty within. Fry’s Peppermint Cream, Mintolas and Mint Aero – don’t believe I’ve ever turned my nose up at any of the above. Continuing the theme, my parents even had a bottle of Royal Mint Chocolate Liquer – very racy.

So I thought I’d make my own and could it be any easier? Melt some chocolate, add a little peppermint extract, drop spoonfuls on parchment, let it cool.

Can that be called a recipe? No, honestly it is just too ridiculously simple but that is pretty much it. My children love making (and eating) these and they are superb as a present when you go to someone’s house for lunch or supper. Fun to make during the Easter holidays or afterwards if you need something to do with the surfeit of chocolate that often lingers after the children have gone back to school.

Finally, if like me you have given up chocolate for Lent, I suggest you stockpile some of these, then set your alarm early on Easter Day and tuck in.

Mint Chocolate Drops

I use a combination of milk and plain chocolate as that is what we prefer either in the ratio of 50/50 which the children like or 70 plain 30 milk if you want something a little darker and more bitter to serve after dinner. All plain chocolate is too bitter for me but, as ever, it is up to you.

For every 65g of chocolate use 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract

Melt the chocolate with the peppermint. I do this in a bowl over barely simmering water but I believe a microwave is an even better way to melt chocolate (I don’t have one). Either way do it very gently so the chocolate doesn’t seize. Drop teaspoonfuls onto parchment and leave to cool. Don’t put it in the fridge as this makes the chocolate go a little dull. This amount of chocolate yields about 10 drops.

Lemon Posset

Posted on 20/03/2014 by Anna

Out for a walk one morning last week there were signs of Spring everywhere. Catkins and pussy willow, primroses, tiny wobbly lambs, the first shoots heralding the wild garlic and even some weeny tadpoles. There is still a nip in the air, the sort that whilst fresh and invigorating to breathe in still makes you wish you’d worn a hat. Anyway, it was glorious to be out and about and it got me thinking about lemons. Of course, lemons.

Now I know that however good the Spring weather here we are unlikely to be surrounded by lemon groves anytime soon but there is something about their zesty, fresh sharpness than is perfect for Spring. Awakening tired tastebuds which have been spoilt with rich stews and hearty puddings and paving the way for the abundance of crisp, green salad leaves that is Summer.

I must confess to always having lemons in the larder, I know we don’t grow them here but they are an essential in my kitchen and barely a day goes by without the squeezing of a lemon.

This pudding then is the very essence of Spring. Retaining a little richness to bolster against the cold but with enough zip and zing to put a spring in your step. Unbelievably easy, simply a combination of three ingredients which, through some culinary alchemy produce this creamy treat. I like to serve it with some little crisp biscuits, perhaps the vanilla ones in Biscuits du Jour (November 2012). These possets would make a great pud after last weeks’ Chicken with Peppers and Onions, and what an easy supper that would be.

Lemon Possets

450ml double cream

100g golden caster sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

Put the cream and sugar into a pan. Heat to dissolve the sugar and bring to the boil, simmer gently for 3 minutes, add the lemon juice stir well, then pour into 6 x 100ml ramekins or glasses and leave to set. Serve with crunchy little biscuits.

By the way these are neither too rich nor too sharp for children, my two hovered around whilst I was taking these pictures and happily scoffed one each.

Chicken with Peppers and Onions

Posted on 05/03/2014 by Anna

I look through cook books and magazines checking out the new recipes or twists on classics and whilst I love some of the ideas and promise myself I will try this or that, what I really want is a simple idea for supper. What to cook for supper. How many times do you ask yourself that in a week? Well presumably 7 but add to that some children’s teas or a supper party for friends and it become a highly repetitive question. What I would rather not have however, is highly repetitive suppers – you know, chicken on Mondays, sausages on Tuesdays etc.

So we need more supper dishes. Something stress free that won’t demand too much attention or time at the end of the day, won’t break the bank and is properly lip smacking delicious.

This then, ticks all those boxes. A few ingredients bunged in a pan and roasted in the oven. What a testimony to the sum being so much greater than the parts. Crispy skin on the chicken, soft sweet peppers and onions with a winey sauce that is nothing short of divine. This cooks itself whilst you pour yourself a glass of wine and get on with something else, or better still, with nothing at all.

Chicken with Peppers and Onions

I serve this with something green, usually wilted spinach or green beans and new or waxy potatoes, roasted in the oven at the same time as the chicken. It’s a great, easy, weekday supper but also something I would happily serve to friends. You can up the amount of chilli flakes if you like, I usually leave them out if the children are eating this with us.

2 medium onions, peeled and cut into sixths

1 large pepper, red, orange or yellow, cut into slices

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 desertspoon olive oil

2 chicken legs (or 4 chicken thighs in which case reduce the cooking time a little)

Salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (optional)

100ml white wine

Fresh parsley or oregano, a small handful chopped

Preheat the oven to 200. Put the onion, pepper and garlic in a baking pan and turn in the olive oil. Put the chicken legs on top, give it a good sprinkle of salt and pepper and the chilli flakes if using. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes then pour in the wine and give it a further 15 minutes. If your chicken legs are large you may need a little more time. When the chicken is bronzed and cooked and the vegetables soft remove from the oven, sprinkle over the herbs. Serves 2 but easily double or tripled.

For some other fab supper ideas try Claypot Chicken (May 2013 and no, you don’t need a clay pot) which still reigns supreme in top spot. Nipping at its heels though is Chicken with Harissa (October 2012)…. one of my very early recipes and one still without a photograph I’m afraid but well worth a try.

Anna May, everyday…

Monthly Archives: March 2014

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondants

Mint Chocolate Drops

Lemon Posset

Chicken with Peppers and Onions