The Sweetest Thing

My best friend Kini turned 21.
I made her a birthday cake.
She had only one demand - that it be the most decadently rich cake she's ever eaten.
So, I decided to combine her two loves: Jersey caramels and New York Cheesecake.

She asked. I delivered.

Happy Birthday my beautiful sister!


Jersey Caramel Cheesecake
with Salted Caramel Sauce

For the base:
250g biscuits (I used Chocolate Ripple)
125g butter, melted

For the filling:
3 x 250g packets of cream cheese
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 packet of jersey caramels, sliced in half

For the sauce:
120g sugar
40ml water
55g butter
75ml whipping cream
a few pinches of sea salt (optional)

For the base, process the biscuits in a food processor until they become a fine crumb. Add in the melted butter and stir to combine. Press the mixture on the base and halway up the sides of a small springform pan. Make sure the biscuit is pressed down firmly and there are no gaps or holes. Refridgerate to set for at least an hour.

For the filling, beat the eggs and sugar on high until really pale and quite fluffy. The more you beat the eggs the lighter your finished cake will be, so I tend to mix the eggs and sugar for about 10 minutes. It seems excessive but it really does make a difference. Add in the vanilla, softened cream cheese and lemon juice and mix until smooth and creamy. Grab your caketin from the fridge and pour half of the mixture onto the biscuit base. Place a layer the halved jersey caramels onto the mixture, making sure to cover the whole area. Now pour the rest of the mixture over the top. Spread the mixture out evenly with a spatula and bake in a pre-heated 160 degrees celsius oven for about 45 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and refridgerate overnight to set.

For the caramel sauce, dissolve the sugar in the water in a saucepan on a low heat on the stove. When all the sugar is dissolved, add the butter and bring to the boil. Boil the mixture until it becomes a dark golden colour. Add in a few pinches of sea salt. Pour the cream into the mixture and quickly whisk to incorporate. Remove from the heat and pour into a small jug. Refridgerate overnight.

When ready to serve, remove cake from tin, pour over the caramel sauce and top with a few jersey caramels and eat, if you dare.

They don't call 'em the King of biscuits for nuthin

The other day I read an interesting little fact about humans - although we may be willing to be adventurous with our chocolate and lolly choices, we never stray from our favourite biscuit types.

Groundbreaking? No. Intruiging? Yes.

Personally I will always opt for either Iced Vovos, Scotch Fingers or Monte Carlos. If none are available (which never happens) I just won't buy any, not because I'm stubborn but because I know what I like when it comes to these crumbly treats. And don't even think about trying to get me to eat Lemon Cream Crisps. Yuck.

You see people are very personal about their biscuits. My bother hates dried fruits in baked goods, so if you offer him an Arnott's Fruit Pillow biscuit he will politely decline. My friend Bridget can't stand the combination of mint and chocolate, so she will never be seen tucking into a sneaky Mint Slice. And my sister is often bagged out for her favourite -Chocolate Wheatens; biscuits often found in the cupboards of the elderly.

One biscuit, however, that has remained a staple favourite amongst all young and old is the Kingston, one of Arnotts most loved and recognised baked goodie. Two crunchy, golden, oaty, coconuty biscuits sandwiched together with a layer of milk chocolate icing. Bliss.

Kingstons
Makes about 20 full kingstons (40 separate biscuits)

200g butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup desiccated coconut, plus 2 tablepsoons
100g melted fair trade milk chocolate
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Melt butter and honey together. In a separate bowl add in oats, flour, sugar, and coconut. Add in the melted butter and honey and mix together to form a batter. Using a teaspoon as measurement, spoon little amounts of the mixture into your hand and roll into a small ball. Place on a greaseproof baking tray. Repeat until all of the mixture is used up and try to keep the balls all at a similar size.

Bake in a moderate 180 degree oven for about 10-15 mintues until golden. Leave biscuits on a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with about 2 tablespoons of butter. Add in the cocoa powder and the 2 tablepsoons of desiccated coconut. Mix to form a thick icing. When the biscuits are cooled, spoon a mound onto the centre of the flat bottom of one biscuit. Squish another biscuit, bottom down, onto the icing to form a full kingston biscuit. Don't spread the icing out over the whole base of the biscuit because the pressure from the second biscuit will cause the icing to spread. Repeat until all biscuits are sandwhiched together.

Refridgerate for a few hours to let the icing set and remove. Store in an airtight container for a week but chances are they'll be gone by tomorrow!

Huile d'Olive

Olive oil. Where to start? For me olive oil is like garlic... no meal is complete without it. It's like liquid gold; good for the skin, hair, nails, insides.
It's the best dressing around, no need for bottled Kraft crap. Chewy bread dipped in really good extra virgin olive oil is probably one of the best snacks in the world. And a simple sauce made with lots of olive oil, a few chilli flakes, plenty of garlic, a smidge of lemon zest and a bit of parsley is the most amazing thing to have with warm spaghetti.

I've seen so many recipes for olive oil cake and have been wanting to make it for ages, it appeals to me so much. Every cake recipe needs a fat - and this is most commonly butter, but for this recipe olive oil is used instead. The result is a perfectly moist cake, soft, light cake with a lovely aroma of fruity extra virgin olive oil. You can even trick yourself into thinking it's good for you because technically there's no butter involved and olive oil really is a superfood after all...

Olive Oil Cake
(recipe by Mark Hix)

300g caster sugar
3 eggs
300g plain white flour sifted with 1tbsp baking powder
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
120ml extra-virgin olive oil
100ml milk

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Whisk the sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy - in a food mixer if you prefer. Add the juice and zest of the orange and the lemon zest and then stir in the olive oil and milk. Gently fold in the flour and transfer to a lightly greased (you can use olive oil if you wish) round tin about 20-24 cms in diameter (you can use a square or a loaf tin of similar size).

Bake for 40-45 minutes. You can test by inserting a skewer or something similar and it should come out clean. Leave to cool in the tin then turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool. Eat for tea or as a dessert with mascarpone, whipped cream, crème fraîche or ice cream, and raspberries.

*And on an entirely different note...
I spend a lot of money/time online shopping. I have decided this needs to stop, since Europe is calling me. So instead, I have been wasting a lot of time on this website...so much fun, but so little reward. You can make collages of things you want to buy... or in my case, not buy. Ahh if money were no object! Santa, take note:

Oldie but a Goodie

If I was to choose a dish that epitomises my childhood dinners, it has got to be zucchini slice. My mum is a complete gun at making it, and us kids never fail to enjoy it. It's one of those simple staples that, although has evolved and changed over the years through my mum's experimentation, the fundamental deliciousness has stayed the same.

The original recipe is from an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook. These books are still being produced now, but we have a huge collection of editions from the 1980s/90s and I absolutely love them. Each cookbook is usually to a theme, 'Easy Italian', 'Christmas Food and Craft', 'Dinner Party Entertaining' etc etc. They really give insight into the food trends and eating habits of times even before I was born and to me that's the most fascinating bit.

The styling and recipes are quite humorously dated, and are only maybe 100 or so pages long, full to the brim of kitchy photos exotic boeuf bourguignons, oversized lamingtons, and fancy peach melbas. Every single birthday cake my mum made for me and my 3 siblings growing up were fashioned on ideas from the 'Children's Birthday Cake' edition. I still vividly remember eating a pale pink birthday cake that was covered in thinly sliced up pink and white marshmallows which were made to resemble pretty frangipani petals. Looking through the book now, I can even see bits of dried up cake batter on the pages, remnants of a celebration years ago. The Biscuits and Slices Edition has been doggy-eared and rumpled through that many times that it is falling apart. I cooked my first batch of choc-chip cookies from that book, accidently burning them since I didn't realise biscuits harden once out of the oven. I ended up baking them for 40 minutes before the smokey smell became too strong and I admitted defeat. Granted, I still ate them because one should never waste precious chocolate chips.

In fact, nearly all of our Women's Weekly cookbooks are crumbling, because the recipes are good - heart warming and crowd pleasing recipes that are familiar, straight forward, with ingredients that are in everyone's pantries. So straightforward are the recipes that they usually only take up a paragraph on the page and often don't even state exact oven temperatures or cooking times. This little feature only contributes to my fondness for these funny books. Therefore, when mum made her famous zucchini slice for dinner the other night I couldn't resist in taking a photo and sharing it with you, because even though simple and rather modest, I hope it is one of those recipes that you will try and eventually cherish as much as I do (not that I think it's possible...seriously).


Zucchini Slice
(recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly 'Best Recipes from the Weekly' - no idea of publication date but judging by the cover price and photo quality it's from the very early 90s.)

375g zucchini
1 large brown onion
3 rashers bacon
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup olive oil
5 eggs
salt and pepper
plus my mum generally adds:
+100g or so of feta cheese if you like
+a lot of extra grated cheese, a mix of parmesan and cheddar, to add on top for an extra crunchy crunch, if you like

Grate unpeeled zucchini coarsely, finedly chop onion and bacon. Combine zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese, sifted flour, oil and lightly beaten eggs, season with salt and pepper. Crumble in some feta and stir. Pour mixture into well-greased baking dish, cover with extra grated cheese and bake in moderate oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until browned. Serves 4-6.

Ginger Fail or Ginger Yay-Ale?

Ginger ale is one of those drinks that is a joy and a pain to consume (one might liken this to drinking warm vodka). Although it's a refreshing beverage because it is so carbonated, and contains the delicious flavour of ginger, I hate that weird cough you get if you inhale too close to sipping. And for that sole reason I haven't drunk much ginger ale over the years (oh and because diet coke is so good).

However, and there is always a however, a rather trendy looking cordial company that makes interesting flavour combos, such as elderflower and ginger and lemongrass, caught my eye. Even though I have never really had much interest in cordial, the deep green bottle and enticing aroma made me take one home.

Alas, I am now a ginger ale convert, because this cordial is awesome. The old flavours of traditional ginger ale are lifted up by a hint of lemongrass, giving it even more bite and personality. Even though it's nice enough mixed with soda water and ice, I decided that since it is a little bit left of centre itself, I wanted to do something different and cook with it. I thought of using this cordial in place of a simple sugar syrup, because after all that's all cordial is - sugar dissolved in water with some flavourings added. Sugar syrups are used in everything, from cocktails to deserts to lollies so I decided to make little syrup cakes. Add on some crunchy macadamias, and the result is a simple cupcake that's just a little bit more interesting to have with tea (or ginger ale...maybe...) for your next afternoontea party... if you happen to do those sorts of things (in which case, I really like you).

Lemongrass and Ginger Syrup Cakes with Macadamia Toffee

For the cakes:
125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup natural yoghurt

For the macadamia toffee:
1/3 cup whole macadamias
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water

For the syrup:
1/2 cup 'Bottle Green Cordial' Ginger and Lemongrass Cordial (for more info on this product click here)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup caster sugar

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract until pale and creamy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating to fully incoporate each egg. Spoon in the yoghurt and coconut and mix through with a wooden spoon. Sift in flours and fold to incoporate. Spoon mixture into greased muffin tins (this mixture makes about 12). Bake in a pre-heated oven set to 180 degress celsius for 15-20 minutes.

To make the macadamia toffe, roughly chop the macadamias and spread out on a piece of baking paper on a tray (you want a very rough chop so there are still sizeable pieces of macadamias). Put the sugar and water in a pan and warm over a low heat on the stovetop. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and turn the heat up to medium high until the sugar water turns a medium to dark brown and is starting to bubble. Pour the toffee mixture over the macadamias and put aside in a cool place to set. Once set, break up the toffee into smaller shards, ready to place ontop of the cakes.

Now onto the syrup. Put 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup caster sugar in a pan and heat over a low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the cordial and remove from heat. Set aside.

Once the cakes are cooled, remove from pan and pour over the lemongrass and ginger syrup(about 2 tablespoons per cake). Top with crumbled macadamia toffee and enjoy.

Ye Olde Power Shortage

A few weeks back we had a power shortage. Although I didn't know what to do with myself, I found the few hours of no electricity kind of great.

I finished the book I was reading (by early morning candlelight). I made porridge the old school way on the stove (everyone else resorted to dry bread, but we all know my feelings towards a proper breakfast). I went for a jog (with an ipod, thankgod it was charged). I attempted some pretty rookie pilates moves (since I can't remember how to do it properly without the aid of a DVD). I took some photos of some pretty flowers to pass the time. I rugged up in a blanket and painted my nails (granted, this can be done with or without electricity).

The power eventually came on by midday, but I continued the old timely tasks through to the afternoon by roasting some chestnuts. I lovingly cut X's into the shells and roasted them in the oven, reveling in the slow pace the morning had set for the rest of the day. I felt very Jane Austen-ish. After roasting, I shelled the nuts and blended them in a food processor to make a puree (I really want to say I pureed them by hand but then I would be lying). At some point, I think I may have accidentally started talking to my mum with a posh British accent. I admit, the task probably would have been more satisfying had I been wearing a bonnet and fine lace gloves, but either way I enjoyed doing things the long way.
I didn't really have a recipe in mind for the pureed chestnuts, so I poured the mixture into a container and froze it, waiting for an appropriate time to whip them out.

And yesterday that time came, as it was my lovely mum's birthday. I decided to make a ridiculously rich, dense and boozy Dark Chocolate and Chestnut Torte, that definitely would have favoured Mr. Darcy's affections...

Dark Chocolate and Chestnut Torte
(adapted from Gourmet 1990)

2 cups roasted chestnuts, blended together with water to form a paste (or use a can of chestnut puree)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons frangelico liquer (optional, but encouraged)
4 tablespoons dark rum (optional, but again, encouraged)
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
280g dark, fairtrade chocolate, chopped and melted
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted


In a food processor, blend chestnuts, butter, frangelico, and rum together to form a smooth puree. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. To this, add the vanilla essence and the melted chocolate and mix with an electirc handmixer to combine. While the mixer is on, add the egg yolks one at a time (yolks only).

In another bowl, beat the egg whites and salt together until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and cocoa slowly to the eggwhites, while the beaters are still going. Beat for a few more minutes until the egg whites are glossy and form stiff peaks.

Scoop half of the egg whites into the chestnut mixture, and lightly stir to break up and lighten the batter. Now fold in the rest of the egg whites, using a light hand but combining well. Pour the batter into a lined and greased 9-inch sprinform cake tin. Smooth out the top of the cake and bake for 50 minutes in a preheated 180 degrees celsius oven.

After 50 minutes, leave the cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan and leave the torte to cool further, with the bottom of the pan still on. After it has cooled for another 10 minutes, remove the bottom of the cake tin and leave to set. When ready to serve, drizzle melted chocolate over the top and sprinkle some icing sugar and cocoa. Yum.

The half demolished cake last night....

What A Tart!

Today's lesson: Passionfruits that are well past their use by date sure have a lot of zing.

This morning I found five shrivelled up passionfruits in my fruit bowl. I wasn't sure how long they'd been sitting in the deep dark depths of the abyss that is my fruitbowl for...my calculations arrive at about 3 to 4 months.
Although they were looking pretty sad and sorry, they had no mold growing on them so I figured surely they must be edible. Instead of chucking the poor, ugly things away, I decided to cut 'em open and turn them into something worth noticing; a passionfruit curd, to be exact.

But, what to do with this luscious zingy delight?

...Well that thought brought me to my new madeleine tin (see below). I had been searching for an excuse to make the pretty little things and here it was. I'd decided to finally make madeleines, with a burst of tangy curd in the centre. Since I had never made madeleines before, and knew they had to be light and springy. Apprehensive of how the curd might affect the rise of the petite cakes, I went ahead with it anyways because when I get something in my head I can't resist (this is a bad attribute especially in relation to expensive shoes).

And just because I had some extra curd leftover, I decided to use up some butter puff pastry which was taking up too much room in the freezer, and make easy mini passionfruit and coconut pastries.

Passionfruit and Lemon Curd
(this makes enough to fill the madeleines and for the pastries - triple the recipe for a more substantial amount)

1/3 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 passionfruits (preferably 6 months old, like mine...joooooking)
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth, light, and fluffy. Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and melted butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute, on a medium heat. Remove from microwave and stir thoroughly. Repear this a few times until the mixture has thickened and can coat the back of a spoon. Leave in the fridge to set and cool.

Rosewater Madeleines with Passionfruit Centre

2 eggs
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup self raising flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon rosewater (optional)
1/2 cup passionfruit curd

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a 12 hole madeleine tin well with butter. Place eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk until thick, creamy and mousse-like. Add the rosewater. Fold in the flour and butter alternately until you end with a smooth batter.

Dollop a small amount of mixture into each madeleine hole, then dollop in a small teaspoon of passionfruit curd. Top each with the rest of the madeleine mixture until each hole is just full. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, taking them out when they are golden and puffed up high.



Passionfruit and Coconut Pastries

1 sheet butter puff pastry
1/2 cup desicated coconut
1 cup passionfruit and lemon curd
icing sugar

Cut out 4 squares of pastry. On each of the four squares, trace a smaller square inside, to make a 1cm border on each pastry base. Lightly toast the coconut in a hot pan. Sprinkle an even amount of coconut inside the area of the smaller square and top with a fair amount of passionfruit curd. Spread the curd evenly to the border of the pastry base.

Cook in a hot oven for 15-2o mins until golden brown and serve sprinkled with icing sugar and vanilla ice-cream. So easy and yum.

Un-Portugese Custard Tarts

I am impatient. I like to get things done quickly. This is not good when you're a very messy cook like me, and have to spend half an hour after making something wiping various liquids that have somehow splashed all around the kitchen walls. My mum likens this character flaw to "a bull at a gate". I think it's quite fitting.

And for that reason I have found it very hard to make anything that requires a lot of attention. I tried to make caramels one day and got impatient halfway through after staring intently at the candy thermometer for about 15 minutes, waiting for it to reach the perfect temperature. I hardly ever boil eggs, nope takes way too long, I prefer a quick poach. I tried to make ice-cream one day, and instead of lovingly hand churning the ice-cream every half an hour for 3 hours, I left it alone for an hour or so and tucked right in as soon as it was slightly frozen. And I have always, always avoided making desserts which require eggs to be slowly incorporated into a warm liquid. I can't do slow. Scrambled eggs have always ensued.


However...

Yesterday I decided it was time. It was time that I got out my ingredients prior to cooking, instead of fossicking through the pantry while a hot pan sizzles and burns on the side. It was time that I had everything prepared and ready to cook with at hand. That I could, no I would, make a successful custard that wasn't full of cooked egg lumps. And so I made Chocolate Mandarin Custard Tarts and finally learnt that slow and steady sometimes wins the race.

Chocolate Mandarin Custard Tarts
(adapted from Bill Granger)


For the custard:
55g caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour
150g fairtrade chocolate (dark or milk)
3 large egg yolks
185ml pouring cream
125ml water
2 tablespoons coca powder
1 tablespoon mandarin juice
1 teaspoon grated and finely chopped mandarin zest


In a deep cooking pot combine eggs, cornflour and cocoa and whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the cream, water, mandarin juice and zest and stir to combine. Place the pot over a medium to low heat on the stove. Whisk continuously for about 5-8 minutes until the mixture is thick and creamy but still a bit runny.


If you think the heat is too much, turn it down and keep whisking throughout the whole process because if not you will end up with lumps of scrambled eggs and have to start again. When the custard is thick enough, take it off the heat and remove immediately into a cool bowl to stop the cooking process. Leave to cool in the fridge.


For the tarts:
2 sheets of all butter puff pastry, defrosted slightly
1 tablespoon cocoa
+leftover chopped up pieces of mandarin peel


Lay the two sheets of pastry on top of each other and roll over a few times with a rolling pin. Now carefully roll the two sheets up into one tight, long, log. Cut the log widthways into 16 individual portions. You should end up with 16 round circles of pastry.


Roll out each portion with the rolling pin into a circle with a diameter of about 10cm. Place into muffin tins, being careful to softly push the pastry down to knock out any airbubbles. Don't worry if there are folds in the sides of the pastry shells, just smooth them out roughly.


When all 16 pastry shells are in the muffin tins, rub down the pastry with the skin of a mandarin to help distribute the flavour into the pastry. Dollop tablespoons of the custard into each pastry shell. Cook in a pre-heated oven (220 degress celsius, fan forced) for about 15 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove tarts from the tins and leave to cool (the custard will puff up while baking and sink into the pastry when cooled). Sprinkle cocoa and mandarin zest over the top of the tarts and enjoy.

Hey Shorty

Last year I made rosemary shortbread. It sounds strange, but tastes really interestingly good.

Tonight I had a sporadic desire to make shortbread...and this time, while I reached for the rosemary, I changed my mind. Simply because a few weeks ago I read a recipe from Karen Martini for sweet fennel and orange biscuits, and so I decided to take inspiration from that to make fennel seed shortbread instead. The fennel seeds are an awesome aniseed-y suprise when biting into the soft, sweet biscuit. Again it's an odd combination but really addictive.

So who knows what will come next... roast lamb shortbread, anyone?

Fennel Seed Shortbread

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

pinch of salt

1/4 cup icing sugar

125g butter

3 tablespoons whole fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift together the flour, cornflour, salt, cinnamon and sugar into a bowl. Chop the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour mixture with fingertips until it is dispersed and the dough starts coming together in heavy lumps. Turn onto a board and knead lightly, don't worry if it crumbles instantly, this is a good! Press into a greased baking tray. Prick the surface with a fork and bake in a 160 degrees celsius oven for around 20-25 minutes until golden around the edges. The shortbread will harden when it comes out of the oven so don't go by feel on this one. Let to sit in tray for 10 minutes, slice up and cool on a rack. Then, enjoy.

Another day, another brownie

Hi,
Remember me?
Probably not, but I'll continue to talk anyways.

I work at a cafe (not surprising to hear from a uni student's mouth). I make coffee for grumpy middle aged men and women (and also nice, friendly people but they are much harder to come by). I "assemble" sandwiches. I clean...a lot. And I also screw up customer's scrambled eggs because we all know everyone has their own preference for their googies yet contine to order these while out, only to be sourly disappointed and wish they'd stayed at home and made it themselves. Now I could lie and say I solely do this job for the money...but to be honest I do it for the brownies.

I am constantly on the lookout for the God of all brownie recipes - the one recipe that epitomises what brownies should be - gooey, melt in your mouthingly and intensely chocolately...WITHOUT walnuts. Although I love walnuts, which seem to feature heavily in most brownie recipes, but let's not kid ourselves here into trying to make a ridiculously indulgent piece of artwork somewhat healthy.

I've been searching for brownie utopia for multiple years. And I can happily now declare I have reached my final destination after awkwardly questioning (some would say interrogating) the brownie delivery lady each week as she drops off the warm gooey packages of goodness to my work. I don't know whether it is the gluten free flour used or the dark cocoa added or even the use of brown sugar instead of white, but oh my these brownies are the best things I've ever tasted. Embarrassingly I tell this to every customer considering the cake display fridge. If they foolishly opt for the coconut raspberry muffins instead I sink a little inside - one less person in the world is going to experience the brownie euphoria brought on by this amazing 5cm squared baked delight...

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies (no nuts required)

200g unsalted butter softened and chopped into small pieces
200g dark chocolate (more than 70% cocoa) broken into bits
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 gluten free plain flour (or use normal regular flour - don't use self-raising because the mixture will rise too much and become too crumbly)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (the darker the better)
Pinch of salt

Melt butter and chocolate with the sugar in a heatproof dish (I do this over hot water) until all is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat to cool slightly.

Add eggs and vanilla to the mixture and stir well. Sift in the flour, cocoa and salt. Stir to combine.

Pour into a well buttered or lined brownie cake pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Let it cool in the pan first, then lift out and wrap in plastic and leave in fridge overnight (I know it's hard but refrain from tearing into it straight away - it will be too soft and crumbly to eat until set in fridge).

Chestnuts, Cherries and Chocolates

When my mum and I went to indulge in some retail therapy a few months ago, we were happy to stumble across a local farmers market set up outside the shopping centre. One particular stall was selling little plastic packages of dried fruits - including dried, sweet cherries, which they were offering taste testers.

Now, I love it when summer rolls around each year, because for me that means eating endless bowls of fresh cherries so naturally I was quite excited to find them in dried form. And let me tell you, they definitely do not disappoint. They are like tiny little morsels of intensely sweet cherry goodness - it's like eating really really good lollies (and I mean even better than starburst cherry fruitchews). I stupidly didn't buy a packet so unfortunately for me and mum it was a very fleeting love affair...

...Until now! I recently found them at the fruit shop up the road from my house, and so begins the start of a long, maybe not-so-healthy relationship. Do try them, I know you'll get hooked too.

I tried them in Jamie Oliver's deliciously dense, Chocolate Brownies with Chestnuts and Cherries

175g unsalted butter

200g good quality dark chocolate (the darker the better in my opinion)
75g dried cherries
75g whole roasted chestnuts chopped (I used tinned chestnuts as they aren't readily available)
75g cocoa powder, sifted
75g natural, roasted almonds (I added these to the recipe for added crunch)
100g plain flour, sifted

1tsp baking powder

300g caster sugar
4 large eggs

*Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water.

Remove from heat, stir in chestnuts, cherries and almonds. In a separate bowl mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar. Add this to the melted chocolate mixture until it's all combined and beat eggs into mixture too.

Pour batter into a lined and greased tin (20cm by 30cm) and place in oven for 15-20 mins. The outside will be crunchy but the middle should be gooey and soft, but still cooked.

Allow to cool in tin for 30 mins, and then cut into squares.