Ingredients

• 2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour, sifted
• ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder, sifted
• 1½ cups (330g) caster (superfine) sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1½ cups (375ml) milk
• 250g unsalted butter, melted
• 200g dark chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Quick milk chocolate ganache

• 1 cup (240g) cream cheese Philadelphia
• 400g milk chocolate, melted
• a few droplets of Rum essence

Method

1. Melt the dark chocolate and let it cool.

2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 x 20cm round cake tins with non-stick baking paper. Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, chocolate and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 40–45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

3. Melt the milk chocolate and let it cool.

4. To make the quick milk chocolate ganache, place the cream cheese and chocolate in a large bowl. Add the Rum essence and mix well. The ganache will quickly start to harden.

5. Place 1 of the cakes on a cake stand or plate. Spread with half the ganache. Top with the remaining cake and ganache.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 250ml coffee (cold)
• 1 tbsp cognac
• 250g powder sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp instant coffee Expresso
• 300g butter, softened on room temperature
• 38 (300g) petit-beurre cookies

For the chocolate mirror glaze:

• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup cream
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp white sugar
• 3 gelatine leaves

Method

1. Make a big cup of coffee. Let the coffee cool in an oven dish or large mixing bowl. Add a splash of cognac.

2. Place the powder sugar and eggs in the mixing bowl. Beat both ingredients until smooth and foamy.

3. Brew a small cup of extra strong coffee. Use instant coffee for this.

4. Cut the soft butter into cubes. Beat the butter little by little into the egg-sugar mixture. Add a spoonful of the strong coffee. Beat well until you get a smooth buttercream.

5. Place a layer of dry biscuits on a serving dish for a crispy bottom. Spread a layer of crème au beurre on top. Then build another layer of cookies, but dip them first in the baking dish with cooled coffee. Spread another layer of butter cream on top. Repeat these steps until you have a nice stacked cake. Brush the sides of the cake with the butter mixture as well. Let the petit beurre cake rest for an hour in the fridge.

6. In the meantime, place cold water and the gelatine leaves in a small bowl. Leave for 5 minutes. Place cocoa and water in a medium saucepan then mix until virtually lump-free. Add a splash of cream to the cocoa mix and stir. It will loosen up. Add remaining cream and sugar, then gently continue to mix to combine. Turn stove onto medium high heat. As soon as it comes to the boil, remove from the stove. Add the gelatine leaves, then stir until they dissolve and you have a smooth glossy glaze. Cool on the counter for 2 hours. Just before pouring over the cake, strain the glaze into a jug.

7. Remove the cake from the fridge, transfer onto a rack. Starting at the end of the cake, pour the glaze on, moving towards the other end of the cake, to make the glaze spread across the surface and drape like curtain down the sides. For the most perfect surface, try to do it in one motion without breaking the pour. Ensure all sides are fully coated – if not, quickly do a little pour down the sides to coat the naked patches. Let the mirror glaze set for around 10 minutes, before moving the cake to a cake platter. Leave in the fridge overnight then serve.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cherries, halved and pitted
• 150 ml coconut oil, melted (or 150g butter – not melted)
• 150g coconut sugar
• Zest from one lime
• 8g vanilla sugar
• ½ tsp cherry-liquor extract, optional
• 2 eggs
• 110g flour
• 3 tbsp almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt

Method

But enough about the healthy part. Let’s talk about the delicious part. What makes these muffins special is the use of good quality cacao powder. Rich, velvety and aromatic it really gives the impression of using high quality chocolate instead. I am adding pecan nuts to the mixture for extra texture and crunch, as pecans and chocolate go well together, but you may add other nuts if you wish. To make the muffins meltingly delicious you may wish you make them for 20 minutes, five minutes less then the official instructions in the recipe. They will be firm from the outside but slightly soft and melting in the middle. Making them for 25 minutes will give you the familiar muffin texture all way through. As I am writing a delicious muffin sits next to my cup of tea. So, is there anything better than some nutritious and healthy zucchini chocolate muffins to eat as a snack or have at breakfast? Try them, I think they will dumbfound you!

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/4 cup (135 gr) buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup (20 gr) Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons (85 gr) Coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup (75 gr) Coconut oil
• 1 Egg
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1 cup (140 gr) Grated zucchini
• 1/2 cup (40 gr) pecan nuts

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix egg, coconut oil, coconut sugar and vanilla until combined.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix until combined (do not overmix).
5. Fold grated zucchini and pecan nuts.
6. Add the batter to a muffin tin, fill each cup 3/4.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let them cool.

Ingredients

Serves 9

• 125g butter at room temperature (I always use salted even though the recipe calls for unsalted)
• 100g caster sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (1tsp)
• 3 large egg yolks
• 125g plain flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 20g desiccated coconut
• 80ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 tbs strawberry jam

Meringue

• 60g flaked almonds
• 140g egg whites (I used 4 ½ egg whites but it all depends on the size of your eggs)
• 1/8^th tsp salt
• 185g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp cornflour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170c/150C fan.
2. Spread the almonds out on a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.
3. Increase the oven temp to 185C /165C fan and line your 23 cm cake tin with baking paper or 20cm high sided square tin with removable base).
4. Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer with a balloon whisk until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolks while the mixer is running one at a time making sire they are well incorporated before adding the next one.
5. In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt and baking powder together.
6. With the mixer on a low speed add the coconut and then add the flour and milk in alternating parts and mix briefly to combine. Do not over mix.
7. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom. Decant this into your lined cake tin and spread to even out the surface. Bake for 25 minutes and until its firm to the touch, light golden and when a skewer is inserted into the middle it comes out clean.
8. Cover the cake with strawberry jam.
9. Turn the oven temp up to 200C. To make the meringue ensure your bowl and whisk are spotlessly clean. Beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peak stage, about a minute. Add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time and then continue to beat for about 5 – 6 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the meringue is glossy. Add the vanilla, vinegar, and cornflour and mix to combine.
10. Fold the almonds through by hand and then pile this on top of the cake with the jam layer. Return to the oven, immediately lower the temperature to 150C and bake for 35 minutes and until the meringue has formed a hard crust. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for at least half an hour before removing it from the tin and peeling off the paper. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve when cool.

Making a frangipane tart could be made even more easy by buying a ready-made crust pastry. Just roll out the dough, press it gently into a round tart form and spoon in the almond filling. The filling itself is just almond flour with some sugar and eggs – easy! The topping could be a world of adventure where you are the Master Chef. Spicy nuts, melting cinnamon apples, fresh rhubarb and raspberries or a French classic sweet, delicious pears. The choice is entirely yours.

Once baked, the tart could be served cold or warm. Some prefer it with dollop of vanilla ice-cream or a special fruity strop. For me, the tart is perfect as it is. We cut a slice. But, for expert tart lovers one slice could never be enough. We happily reach for second helpings and all is bright and right with the world.

Ingredients

Method

Pastry:

1. Blitz the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until a bread-crumb like texture forms. Add the lemon, vanilla and egg and pulse 10 times. The mixture will still be pretty dry and crumbly. Turn out onto a clean surface and gather and press together. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and ideally overnight.
2. Grease a 26-28cm tart tin. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured bench to about 3mm thick and line the tart tin, pressing firmly into the sides of the tin. The pastry will be hard to roll out at first but don’t worry, it will soften as you go. Think of it as an arm workout! If it rips at all or you find that one edge is too thin, it is easy to use the leftover pastry scraps to patch it back together.
3. Trim the pastry to form a neat edge – I usually just roll my rolling pin over the edge to cut through the pastry. It normally leaves enough extra pastry scraps to line another mini tart tin as well, but this is totally up to you.
4. Rest the lined tart tin in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.