Little chocolate cakes

Hello everyone, this is going to be my last posting on this blog. I have been writing it since January 2008 and today's recipe is number 150, which seems a good number at which to conclude. It's funny to look at the list of recipes I have shared - it is a compendium of all the things I love to eat! I could quite happily just rotate through all the recipes here for the rest of my life. Of course I won't, there are always new cookbooks calling me with something different.

I decided to conclude with what would really have to be my most favourite food in the world, chocolate pudding. The recipe comes from Jill Dupleix's Simple Food, a book from which I have cooked nearly every single thing. She calls the dish cakes, but she suggests pulling them out of the oven a little bit early so that you can enjoy the luscious squidgy texture. That's how I cook these cakes and I serve them as puddings with cream, ice-cream and chocolate sauce.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog and provided me with comments and feedback. It made me really happy whenever anyone told me that they had cooked something from the blog, or their family had a favourite recipe from the blog, as that was the original intention. I hope you keep returning to it and find it a useful source of delicious inspiration!

Love from Jane

Little Chocolate Cakes

Makes 12

What you need:

• 200g dark, bitter, top quality chocolate, chopped
• 100g caster sugar
• 120g butter
• 100g ground almonds
• 4 eggs, separated
• Icing sugar for dusting

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a bowl sitting above a simmering pan of water on the stove, combine the chocolate, sugar and butter and stir as they melt into a smooth, glossy sauce.
3. Remove from the heat and cool for five minutes.
4. Add the ground almonds to the chocolate sauce and stir well.
5. Beat in the egg yolks, one by one, until well mixed.
6. Place the egg whites into a large, dry bowl and beat until stiff and peaky.
7. Stir a large spoonful of egg white into the chocolate mix to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining egg white.
8. Spoon the mix into lightly buttered large muffin moulds, or a 12 hole muffin tray lined with doubled muffin paper cases.
9. Bake: if you want a pudding texture check at 15 minutes; if you prefer a cake effect, check at 25 minutes.
10. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing the puddings from their moulds, and serve as you prefer.

Chocolate and cranberry biscuits

Hello everyone, this week's recipe comes from one of my favourite cook books, Epicure Chocolate. These biscuits are lovely and chewy and make a nice big quantity.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xxx

Chocolate and cranberry biscuits

Makes 35-40

What you need:

• 200g butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup condensed milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries (you could substitute raisins)
• 1 cup chocolate bits, dark, milk or white, whichever you prefer (use good quality ones, not compounded chocolate)

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and condensed milk.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Sift the flour and baking soda into the creamed mixture.
5. Stir in the rolled oats, cranberries or raisins and chocolate bits.
6. Place tablespoons on greased oven trays and press down with a fork.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden.

Double chocolate muffins

Hello everyone, this week I heard someone say that the Melbourne Cup is only a few weeks away. Well, that is probably stretching reality somewhat, but it did give my heart a lift and the thought that tomorrow heralds the beginning of the last month of winter for another year is a very good thing. I have tried so hard to not complain about the cold weather this year as I usually do (and have realised how many others do, I must have been drowning out their voices previously) but I will be so glad to welcome back longer, brighter, warmer days.

Having said that, I do love winter cooking and have just popped some fennel with a lovely crunchy topping into the oven to bake for my dinner. It is a recipe in the August edition of delicious and as I love fennel, I was very keen to try out both the baked fennel and a fennel soup from the same article. Another lovely thing to have baking on a cold winter morning, as I did last Sunday, is a batch of muffins for morning tea. Now I have baked my fair share of muffins over the years and I have to say, I think these are the best yet. They are so chocolately (as the name suggests) and very moist. Do make sure you use very good quality chocolate - I have been buying the chocolate buttons from Adora chocolate (in the plaza outside the Sofitel Wentworth in the city) and they are excellent. I'm sure you'll think these muffins are great too when you whip up a batch yourself!

Have a happy week! Love from Jane xxx

Double chocolate muffins

What you need:

• 150g dark chocolate, either buttons or chopped
• 125g unsalted butter, chopped
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 150g white chocolate, either buttons or chopped

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
3. Place the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan over a very low heat and stir until melted and combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.
5. Add the sugar and stir to combine.
6. Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk.
7. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients.
8. Stir in the cooled chocolate and the white chocolate bits, and stir everything together just until combined. DON'T over mix - muffins need a very light hand.
9. Divide the mixture between the prepared cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the muffins shows they are cooked. You might want to leave them slightly under-done in the middle to get a nice fudgy texture.
10. Serve as is or drizzled with a little melted dark chocolate if you wish.

You can also serve these muffins as a pudding for dessert, by warming gently and serving with cream and/or ice-cream and chocolate sauce. In that case you might want to make six larger muffins.

Not-for-the-faint-hearted hot chocolate

Hello everyone, with the freezing cold weather this week I have been drinking more than my fair share of hot chocolate. I have found a source of quite good chilli hot chocolate close to my office, and there really is no better way to defrost early in the morning! I am also enjoying the luscious hot chocolate from Mitra's Chocolates in Mosman. They do a chilli hot chocolate that really packs a punch, and their milk chocolate is very good too.

This week's recipe shows you how to make incredible hot chocolate at home, just perfect for cold winter nights. It is a recipe I cut out from Good Living a few years ago, created by Matthew Evans, and I think it is in his new book, The Real Food Companion.

(Greg, this one is for you!)

Have a happy week! Love from Jane xxx

Not-for-the-faint-hearted hot chocolate

Could serve either one or two - up to you!

What you need:

• 150ml milk
• 100ml cream
• 100g dark chocolate, broken into smallish bits (generally I prefer milk chocolate, but in this recipe dark is definitely preferable; milk is just too sweet)
• 1 tablespoon really good quality cocoa powder, sifted
• 1-2 tablespoons brandy, cognac or whisky

What you do:

1. Heat the milk and cream carefully in a small pan until warm.
2. Whisk in the chocolate and sifted cocoa.
3. Bring to just near the boil, remove from the stove and whisk in the alcohol.
4. Serve in front of a fire or the heater.

Cherry slice

Hello everyone, being such a warm day today I decided to pop over to Glace, an icecream shop in Leichhardt. I can buy their products locally, but thought it would be good to go to the actual shop and view all the possibilities. It certainly is an icecream lover's delight - you can buy single or double scoops to eat on the spot (yes, I indulged, a scoop of Belgian chocolate), tubs in all sorts of luscious flavours and a range of other interesting icecream treats, like the snowball, which is a ball of coconut flavoured icecream enrobed in a coat of chocolate and sprinkled with coconut!

This week's recipe is a sweet treat which caught my eye every time I saw it in my scrapbook of cut out recipes. It's exactly like cherry ripe and so easy to make - a nice treat. Do be very careful with the food colouring - I was a little careless and my cherry slice was very brightly coloured!

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Cherry slice

What you need:

• 600g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• 500g desiccated coconut (buy a good quality one, not the no name version, as you want a nice, moist coconut)
• 100g copha, melted
• 395g can condensed milk
• 150g glace cherries, very finely chopped
• A few drops of pink food colouring

What you do:

1. Prepare a 30cm x 20cm cake tin by lining with foil.
2. Melt half the chocolate and spread evenly over the foil lined tin.
3. Rest, covered, in the fridge, until set.
4. Place coconut, melted copha, condensed milk and cherries in a large bowl and stir together to mix. There will be a moment when you think there is far too much coconut and it will never combine, but it does.
5. Very carefully add a few drops of food colouring and stir through (do it drop by drop).
6. Spoon the coconut mixture over the chocolate base and use the back of a spoon to press evenly.
7. Refrigerate until set.
8. Melt the remaining chocolate and spread evenly over the coconut mix.
9. Return to the fridge until set.
10. Cut into bars with a warm knife. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Coconut apricot slice

Hello everyone, I've mentioned before the great sandwiches I have had from Via Abercrombie in the city. Yesterday I ordered sandwiches from them for a lunch I was having in the office. They were great - they are absolutely huge and a little difficult to eat politely as the fillings are so generous and made on very large slices of bread, but they are yummy and very good value, especially for the city. It's always so good to find a reliable caterer for office things - it's just one less thing to think about next time.

This week's recipe is one of those recipes that on first look I didn't think I'd like, as I don't approve of mixing chocolate with fruit (except for chocolate with coconut). So I can't think what actually made me try this one as it uses dried apricots, but it works! I really liked it. If you bought some coconut to make last week's coconut chicken strips then you can use it up with this slice. I can't even remember from where I found the recipe. Anyway, no matter - it's a good one to take to holiday season parties and barbies.

Have a lovely week! Love from Jane xxx

Coconut apricot slice

Makes 16

What you need:
· 125g unsalted butter
· 50ml thick cream
· 200g white chocolate, broken into pieces
· 1 ½ cups chopped dried apricots
· 250g shortbread biscuits, crushed
· 1 cup desiccated coconut

Icing

· 25g unsalted butter, melted
· 2 teaspoons lemon juice
· 2 1/3 cups (350g) icing sugar, sifted

What you do:
1. Line a 3cm deep, 18 x 25cm baking pan with baking paper.
2. Place the butter and cream in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to the boil and then remove from the heat.
3. Add the chocolate and stir until melted, then cool slightly.
4. Stir the apricots, biscuit crumbs and coconut into the chocolate mix.
5. Press the mixture into the baking pan and chill in the fridge for one hour.
6. To make the icing, combine the butter, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of warm water in a large bowl.
7. Stir in the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
8. Spread the icing over the slice and chill again until set.
9. Slice in the pan and serve.

Oat and chocolate slice

Hello everyone, I'd love to say that my failure to post any recipes for the last couple of weeks was because I was out watching endless sessions of Julie and Julia, but it was actually because my computer was away being fixed. Again. Hopefully for the last time. At the same time my washing machine died. Happily I now have a new washing machine, but I think it's very sneaky that while there is a lot of talk about how good front loaders are for the environment, NO-ONE mentions that they take smaller loads and each cycle takes nearly two hours!! That's a well kept secret. I guess one advantage on a warm day is that as I take out each load the last lot is dry and ready to come in again!

This week's recipe is a very easy slice that I found in my Panasonic cookbook that came with my microwave when I bought it about 15 years ago. I have adapted it from the original muesli recipe as I always have buckets of oats in the pantry, and I finish it in the oven as I don't really believe you can substitute the microwave for the baking step. You can add different things that you have to hand to the slice as well, such as nuts and as I have done, chocolate chips.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Oat and chocolate slice

What you need:

• 125g butter
• 1 cup brown sugar (you could halve this quantity if it frightens you)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups oatmeal (or natural muesli if you have it)
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup sultanas
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

What you do:

1. Combine the butter, sugar and honey in a microwave proof dish and cook on high for a minute, stir, then cook for another minute on high.
2. Add the oats/muesli, coconut, sultanas and chocolate chips and mix well.
3. Press firmly into a baking tray.
4. Bake at 200C for about 10 minutes, or until golden.
5. Allow to cool then slice into squares.

Rum raisin caramel bars

Hello everyone, do you ever cook something that you have highly anticipated, only to find that the finished product (and not because of your skills), comes up short? I had this experience this week. I have had a recipe for a chocolate macadamia cheesecake for twenty years, which I have always wanted to make, but could never find the right opportunity. Well, finally, this week I got around to it and was quite sure it was going to be the most delicious thing I had ever done. Sadly, not. It was quite nice and I was assured by those who ate it that it was "up there" with my other efforts, but I felt somewhat let down by it. I think for me it wasn't quite creamy enough - the recipe writer did emphasise that it was created in a search for something lighter than the usual cheesecake. Oh well....cross that one off the list.

This week's recipe is a winner - it is chocolate so you can't go wrong. Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Rum Raisin Caramel Bars

Bars can be made up to four days ahead.

What you need:

Base
· 125g butter
· ½ cup castor sugar
· 1 cup plain flour (you can substitute rice flour)
· 2 tablespoons cocoa
Rum and raisin filling
· 400g can sweetened condensed milk
· 30g unsalted butter
· 1 tablespoon dark rum (actually any colour will do)
· ½ cup chopped raisins (can use sultanas)
· ¼ cup coconut
Topping
· 125g chocolate, melted
· 30g butter, melted

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Grease the base and sides of a 19cm x 29cm lamington pan, cover the base with baking paper and grease the paper.
3. To make the filling, combine the condensed milk and butter in a heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil while stirring constantly and vigorously over heat for about 10 minutes or until golden brown, then remove from the heat.
4. Stir in the rum, raisins and coconut and leave to cool to lukewarm.
5. For the base, combine the butter and the sugar in a small bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
6. Stir in the sifted flour and cocoa.
7. Press the mix evenly over the base of the lamington tin.
8. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until firm.
9. Cool the base for 10 minutes, then spread with filling and cool to room temperature.
10. To make the topping, combine the melted chocolate and butter in a small bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth and spreadable.
11. Spread the topping on the slice and store in the fridge until set, before cutting into bars or slices.

Black-bottom cupcakes

Hello everyone, last night I was very lucky to be invited to dinner at the home of my friends Kirsten and Frank. They are both excellent cooks and they created this beautiful feast for me. While Frank was busy in the kitchen Kirsten and I had a drink at one of their fabulous local Balmain pubs, which was a nice way to start the evening. We then came home to Frank's fabulous rolled roasted pork, stuffed with apricots and ginger, with some beautiful glazed baby carrots and (they know the way to my heart), a lush dish of sliced potato with chopped bacon and brie cheese melted through it. Then this was followed up by a stunning orange tart that Kirsten made. It was all so good and I felt really special having this luscious dinner cooked for me.

This week's recipe is (literally) a really good party trick. I was looking for a cake recipe that I could do ahead and freeze as I wasn't going to be able to bake something fresh. I perused my Belinda Jeffery Mix And Bake and found this cupcake recipe, which I had actually seen Belinda demonstrate at a class some time ago. The cupcakes froze well and in serving them I went one better. I warmed them through in the microwave so that the chocolate melted, and served them with cream, announcing that I had made chocolate puddings. They were very pudding like and a great success for morning tea on a cold and frosty morning, so if you want to go one step beyond cupcakes, this is the recipe for you.

Have a lovely week. Love from Jane xx

Black-bottom cupcakes

Makes 10-12 medium sized cupcakes, or 6 larger ones if you use a 6 hole muffin tin

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa (the better quality cocoa you use, the richer and more velvety your cupcakes will be)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar

Topping

• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 200g good quality chocolate buttons or chocolate chopped into chunks

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Line either a large 6 or regular 12 hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases (I didn't, and had some difficulty getting out the cupcakes, hence the whole pudding inspiration to hide their battered appearance).
3. To make the topping, using electric beaters beat together the cream cheese and sugar for two minutes or until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg and beat until thoroughly mixed in.
5. Stir in the chocolate and set aside the bowl.
6. To make the cupcakes, combine the flour, bicarb soda and salt in a bowl.
7. Sift in the cocoa and whisk using a balloon whisk for a minute.
8. In another bowl, whisk together the warm water, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar.
9. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mix and stir together thoroughly but only until just mixed. If you over stir your cupcakes will be very chewy.
10. Spoon the batter into the cupcake cases so they are about two thirds full.
11. Scoop spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture on top of each cake.
12. Bake the cupcakes for 30-35 minutes (longer if you have done six large ones), or until a skewer inserted into the dark part comes out clean.
13. Cool the muffins in the tin before removing and leave on a cake rack to cool completely.

Chocolate peanut butter fudge sundae

Hello everyone, this week's recipe is something I have wanted to try out for ages. It's a Nigella recipe from the November 2007 copy of delicious, and I marked it at the time and have just taken this long to actually make it. I did plan to serve it when I had friends over for dinner in January, but they thwarted my plans by bringing a cake with them. So in the end I gave my workmates a surprise last week by serving up some ice cream with this sauce one afternoon. Safe to say it was a hit.

One word of warning - Nigella says that this quantity makes enough for four. All I can say is that her guests must be able to pack away an ENORMOUS quantity of sauce. I think it easily makes enough for twice that many.

Have a fabulous week, love from Jane xx

Chocolate peanut butter fudge sundae

What you need:

• 175ml thin cream
• 100g very good quality milk chocolate, chopped
• 100g smooth peanut butter (buy it freshly made from a health food store)
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• Ice cream to serve
• 4 tablespoons roughly chopped salted peanuts

What you do:

1. Place the cream, chocolate, peanut butter and golden syrup into a saucepan and place on a medium heat to melt, stirring occasionally.
2. In about two minutes your sauce should be ready.
3. Pour the warm sauce over the ice cream and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts.

Flourless peach cake

Hello everyone, this was one of those weeks when once again I was reflecting on sandwiches and puzzling yet again over why it's so hard to get good ones. This was prompted by the fact that for three days in a row I happened to have lunch provided in an office in the city (different ones each day) and the sandwiches varied in quality (and none were to die for). I guess the fact that they are done in bulk doesn't help, plus they are probably made some time in advance of being served so inevitably start to sag. I'm also intrigued at some of the combinations of fillings you see. Not all of which I find appealing! Happily today I can go and have the perfect sandwich made up freshly for me at my favourite cafe, accompanied by a beautiful cup of hot chocolate. Thank goodness there are some places that know how to get the basics right!

Today's recipe is for a wonderful cake that I baked recently and brought into the office to share. It is so moist you won't believe it and it went down really, really well, in fact I'd say it's the most popular one so far - the boys in particular really went for it. It's yet another from my favourite Epicure Chocolate book. It doesn't have an icing so I just served it with some thick cream.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Flourless peach cake

What you need:

• 225g ground almonds
• 225g brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons really good quality Dutched cocoa
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1/2 cup milk soured with the juice of one lemon
• 2 eggs
• One handful of chopped dried peach

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 175C.
2. Grease and line a 20cm round baking tin with baking paper.
3. Mix the dry ingredients together.
4. Add the milk and eggs to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
5. Stir in the chopped peach.
   
6. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 45 minutes.
7. Cool in the tin and turn out very, very carefully, then use a second cake rack to flip over so it's the right way around. Because this cake is so moist it's liable to break very easily so be as gentle and careful as you can!

Chocolate ganache

Hello everyone, I was lucky enough this morning to be the "Gifted Gourmet" on Simon Marnie's program on ABC radio. It was a lot of fun. I listened to the suggestions of fresh and seasonal ingredients from the providores, and then gave Simon a menu of dishes that I would cook for my friends using those ingredients. I chose a mixed leaf, zucchini and sashimi salad to start, followed by lamb cutlets cooked on the BBQ and served with a mint pesto and some caponata on the side, with a peach flan to finish. It was really hard to narrow it down to those dishes, as there were so many different recipes I could think of. Anyway, hopefully it will give some home cooks some inspiration in the kitchen! The recipes for the sashimi salad and the lamb cutlets can be found on this blog and if you want to listen to the audio you can find it at this link: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/02/07/2482194.htm?site=sydney

During the week I baked a chocolate coconut cake to share with some friends and iced it with a chocolate ganache, which is so luxurious and much, much better than normal icing. I thought I'd give the recipe for the ganache today (you can find the cake recipe elsewhere on the blog too) as it's a very easy thing to make, very impressive and really versatile. I am pretty sure that the recipe I use is a Belinda Jeffery, always an indicator of something good.

Go and play under the sprinkler - we're allowed to now in NSW!

Love from Jane xx

Chocolate ganache

What you need:

· 1 ¼ cups thickened cream
· 200g good quality dark cooking chocolate, chopped
· 1 teaspoon unsalted butter

What you do:

1. Bring cream to the boil in a saucepan.
2. Reduce heat and mix in chocolate until it has all melted.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in butter. The ganache is now ready to use.

Cakes can be iced with ganache while cooling on a rack. Gently pour the ganache over the cake, letting it spread by itself over and down the sides (use a spatula if necessary). Alternatively, you can allow the ganache to cool and thicken and then spread it on the cake.

Place cake on a plate or a stand and let the icing set. Avoid handling the cake and refrigerate if necessary.

Leftover ganache can be reheated and used later on another cake or warmed very gently to make a lovely chocolate sauce. It also makes great icecream if you stick the leftovers in the freezer.

Nat's Best Ever Brownies

Hello everyone, I went to Sculpture By The Sea yesterday and as usual it was fantastic. Splendid even, particularly as it was a gorgeous sunny day and there was a whale frolicking just off the coast. Unlike other years, there wasn't one sculpture that I thought particularly outstanding and which will stay with me for years, but lots of really good pieces, particularly ones that sculpted single pieces of silver or glass.

On the way over there, with no relevance to the conversation at the time, my niece piped up "Jane, we really like chocolate brownies" which reminded me of this recipe I have made countless times now and for which people always ask. It is so easy as you throw everything into a mixing bowl (not all at the same time) and just keep mixing. As a result, you get a great, smooth texture. This is yet another recipe from my Epicure Chocolate book, and the recipe was contributed by someone called Natalie who is herself a baker.

Enjoy. Love from Jane xxx

Nat’s Best Ever Brownies

What you need:
· 4 large eggs
· 360g castor sugar
· 320g salted butter
· 130g chocolate
· 120g plain flour
· 80g Dutch cocoa
· 160g cream cheese, chilled
· 180g raw walnuts or pecans, chopped roughly (about halves)
· Optional flavours: 2 tablespoons strong espresso or grated zest of one orange

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 160°.
2. Line an 18cm x 28cm lamington tin with baking paper.
3. Using a hand held electric beater, beat the eggs and sugar for two minutes on a low speed.
4. While it is mixing, melt the butter and pour over the chocolate and stir to melt.
5. If you are using the coffee or orange, add to the chocolate butter mix at this point.
6. Scrape the chocolate butter mix into the egg mix and continue to beat on a low speed for two minutes.
7. Sift together the flour and cocoa.
8. Add the flour mix to the mixer bowl and mix for two minutes. At this point the batter should begin to look matte and creamy – if it is still dark and glossy, mix it for longer.
9. Drop marble sized pieces of the cream cheese into the mix and continue to mix. Beating in all of the cream cheese makes a rich, gooey brownie; gently folding in larger pieces gives a slightly different texture but it will still be moist.
10. Stir in the nuts.
11. Pour the mixture into the lamington tin.
12. Bake for about 30 minutes or until fine cracks begin to appear on the surface and the edges are starting to puff a little.

Pear, pistachio and chocolate cake

Hello everyone, I'm very excited as I have just booked a bundle of tickets for the Sydney Writers Festival which takes place next month. I attended the launch of the program on Thursday night and was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of the program, so have now been through it and picked out about ten events I plan to attend. Many are free, some you have to buy tickets, but they are not expensive at all and it's such a great way to enjoy books, writers and reading!

Apologies to those of you who have asked me to sign you up for automatic delivery of my postings where this isn't working. I am obviously doing something wrong and need to find some time to work out the problem.

In the meantime, here is a recipe for a delicious cake that would be perfect for morning or afternoon tea. I do find it takes quite a long time to cook whenever I bake it, I guess because it's so dense with the fruit and the nuts and the chocolate. But well worth it and delicious served with thick cream! It is inspired by the beautiful home grown pears given to me yesterday by my darling friend Gianni.

Have a wonderful week, love from Jane xx

Pear, pistachio and chocolate cake

Makes one loaf

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and flour a 22cm x 11.5cm x 7cm loaf tin. Put 150g plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 150g caster sugar, a pinch of salt, 150g softened unsalted butter and 3 eggs in the bowl of a food processor and process until just combined (about 1 minute – do not over-process). Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl and stir in 200g good quality chopped milk chocolate, 1 peeled, cored and diced pear, ¾ cup pistachio nuts and the finely chopped zest of 1 orange until evenly distributed. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean (I found it took quite a bit longer in my oven). Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate bread and butter pudding

Hello everyone, isn't it nice to have that little bit of autumnal crispness in the air, while still enjoying lovely warm sunny days? You know that Easter must be around the corner when the weather is like this and I have the perfect dessert for you to cook for Easter feasts - an indulgent and totally delicious chocolate bread and butter pudding. Speaking of chocolate, I think there is a conspiracy among health professionals to break the spirit of chocolate addicts like me. Last year I mentioned to my GP that I thought my chocolate consumption was just slightly out of control and she threatened me with all sorts of behaviour modification techniques. Fortunately a friend gave me a tip that craving chocolate can be a sign of a magnesium deficiency. So I have been popping magnesium capsules this year and I must say it has made a huge difference. However, yesterday I was discussing this treatment in a health food shop and the nutritionist to whom I was speaking told me very firmly that "Of course, willpower has a big part to play in overcoming your chocolate habit." These people obviously just don't get it.

So,whatever health professionals think about the delights or evils of chocolate, this dish is a Bill Granger recipe from an April 2003 delicious magazine. I have cooked this pudding many times and it always disappears rapidly. It is super easy to make - you can prepare it in five minutes and then bake it while enjoying the main meal. I've heard that any leftovers of this pudding make a great breakfast the next morning. Not that I can speak from personal experience on that one.

My photos of this dish aren't great (clearly my skills only lie in limited areas), but you will get the idea.

Have a happy week! Love from Jane xx

Chocolate bread and butter pudding

Serves 8

What you need:
· 3 eggs
· 375ml/1 ½ cups thin cream
· 375ml/1 ½ cups milk
· 110g/ ½ cup caster sugar
· 2 tsp vanilla extract
· 6 butter croissants
· 200g chocolate, roughly chopped (Lindt milk chocolate is very good)

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 160C.
2. Place eggs, cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Cut the croissants into small pieces and arrange half the pieces in an ovenproof baking dish.
4. Scatter the croissants with chocolate and top with the remaining croissants.
5. Pour the custard over the croissants and set aside for 15 minutes to soak, pressing down occasionally so that croissants soak.
6. Bake in an oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the custard is set and the top is puffed and golden.

Serve with cream and/or icecream if you want to be super indulgent.

Chocolate mousse + chocolate crisps

Hello everyone, I had a funny experience last night. I thought I was running late for a party that started at 5.00 when I arrived at the front door of my host's place at 5.45. Turned out that she had changed the start time of the party to 7.00, and had told everyone else but me! So I was put to work immediately and to my great delight I got to help the caterer when she arrived. I also spotted some beautiful home grown cherry tomatoes in the kitchen, sitting by a lovely looking jar of home made pesto, so I made myself useful by cutting off the tops of the tomatoes, scooping out the flesh and turning them upside down to drain before delicately filling them with the pesto. That's a really easy and effective plate to take next time you are wondering what food to contribute to a party!

To thank my host I made a batch of these chocolate crisps. Again, this is a really quick and easy thing you can whip up to take to a dinner party to go with coffee, or as a gift for someone wrapped in clear cellophane. The recipe comes from the September 2007 edition of delicious magazine, in which they are paired with chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse you ask? I'll also give you my favourite chocolate mousse recipe this week. It has been around for years so I don't know its provenance. It's the kind of recipe that people pass around to each other as it's so delicious and always a hit whenever I make it.

Have a lovely week, love from Jane xx

Chocolate crisps

What you need:

• 3 tablespoons Nutella
• 100g white chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cornflakes, crumbled into rough crumbs

What you do:

1. Carefully melt together the Nutella and white chocolate in the microwave (do it on medium heat in one minute bursts, so you don't burn the chocolate)
2. Stir in the cornflake crumbs.
3. Pour the mixture onto a 30cm sheet of baking paper, top with another sheet of baking paper and use a rolling pin to gently roll out the mixture until it's quite thin (about 2-3mm thick).
4. Place on a tray in the fridge to harden for two hours and then break into shards.
5. If you like, you can carefully warm up some more white chocolate and some cream in a saucepan on top of the stove, and when it's runny, drizzle over the crisp to decorate. Return to the fridge so it can harden before breaking into shards.

Chocolate mousse
Serves four (and can easily be doubled or tripled)

What you need:

· 2 eggs (separated)
· 200 ml/1 cup whipping cream
· ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
· 1 x 100g Toblerone

What you do:

1. Melt Toblerone in the microwave – be careful not to burn it.
2. Mix in the egg yolks and the vanilla. Let it cool slightly.
3. Whip cream until stiff. Fold into chocolate mixture.
4. Whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into mixture.
5. Set in the fridge – overnight if possible.

Chocolate coconut cake

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great week. I was out every night last week, including two evenings at the Night Noodle Markets which are on as part of Good Food Month, so I didn’t do any cooking at all! But I did promise you that great chocolate cake recipe so here it is. I made it a couple of weeks ago and it was a hit. It is so easy, as you will see when you read the recipe, that I think I will be whipping up this one fairly regularly. It comes from a book I absolutely love, called Epicure Chocolate. If you like cooking, or if you know someone who does, you should definitely snap up this book if you see it. It is quite difficult to get so I now buy a copy whenever I do see it to give to friends. I have cooked heaps of things from it and every one has been a winner. I’m sure you are going to love this cake.

Have a good week!

Love from Jane x

Chocolate coconut cake

(from Epicure Chocolate, edited by Kylie Walker)

What you need:
· 250g butter, melted
· ½ cup Dutch cocoa powder
· 1 1/3 cups castor sugar
· 3 eggs
· 1 ½ cups desiccated coconut
· 1 ½ cups self raising flour
· ¾ cup milk

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well until smooth. You can mix by hand, you don’t need to use beaters. Don’t panic when you add the milk and the mix seems too runny, as you stir the ingredients together it will be alright.
3. Pour the mixture into a lined 24cm round cake tin and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked through. I must have a really, really slow oven because I ended up cooking it for probably another 30 minutes on top of this – so keep testing it and keep baking till you are sure it is cooked through. (It will be lovely and moist from the coconut).
4. Cool on a wire rack.
5. To serve the cake you can spread it with chocolate icing, serve it with thick cream and a dusting of cocoa powder, or even serve it with lovely thick Greek yoghurt and raspberries.

Hot fudge sauce

Hello everyone, I hope you have had a good week. I was excused from jury duty (“for now” were the ominous words) so that was a big plus in my week. But I fear that they will not let me go until I have done my civic duty, so I guess this will hang over me for a while!

Anyway, this week’s recipe is a fantastic and super easy chocolate fudge sauce that is really yummy over icecream. It’s sensational if you use it straight away or warm it in the microwave just before serving.

I also thought that I would include my list of top 10 hot chocolate providers for you this week. I am happy to say that after extensive research I have expanded the list to 15! After number 6 they are in no particular order, they all meet my standards, but the top 6 are in order and are outstanding!

Have a lovely week.

Love from Jane xx

Top 10 hot chocolate providers

1. Koko Black, Melbourne CBD
2. Bathers Pavilion, Balmoral
3. Jellyfish, Manly
4. Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills/Broadway/Chippendale
5. Bill’s, Woollahra/Darlinghurst/Surry Hills
6. Salon, Sydney CBD
7. Max Brenner (many places)
8. Young Alfred, Sydney CBD
9. Bellefleur at Flower Power, Warriewood/Terrey Hills
10. Gelato Messina, Darlinghurst
11. Danks Street Depot, Woollahra
12. The Source, Mosman
13. Jones The Grocer, Woollahra

Hot fudge sauce

Serves 8 over icecream

What you need:
· 2 tablespoons butter
· 2 tablespoons golden syrup
· ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
· 150g good chocolate, chopped

What you do:
1. Combine butter, golden syrup and condensed milk in a saucepan and stir over a low heat for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture thickens and is light golden.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.

That’s it!

To reheat the sauce, put it in the microwave on medium for 1-2 minutes, until warm and melted.

Another hedgehog slice and Roasted vegetable couscous with lemon hummus

Hello everyone,

Sometimes I am reminded that not everyone is as into food and eating as I am. I heard two comments this week that really stopped me in my tracks. One was from a guy who said "I'm not really a cafe kind of person. I don't go to cafes." Does he exist on take away coffee?

The other one was from a woman in her mid fifties who had me over for lunch. She commented "I've never had anyone over for lunch before. I wasn't really sure what to do." I assured her that putting food on plates and taking the plates to the table pretty much covered it.

This week's recipe is a fabulous roasted vegetable dish. Great way to make sure you are eating lots of vegetables, and non-vegetarians could serve it with meat or fish (it's fabulous on its own though, I can eat this in buckets). Of course, use the vegetables you like, you don't have to stick to what is specified in the recipe.

By special request I am also including a recipe for a hedgehog slice that I made earlier this year for our community dinners in Narraweena. I realised that I already had one hedgehog recipe on my files,so I have called this one "another hedgehog slice". You can rename it however you wish!
Have a good week - hopefully we will see the sun soon.

Love from Jane xx

Another hedgehog slice

(From the Epicure Chocolate book, published by The Age – if you like chocolate you should have this book in your collection, it is excellent).

What you need:
· 2 x 250g packet of plain sweet biscuits
· 1 cup walnuts
· 300g butter
· ¾ cup Dutch cocoa (much better than normal cocoa powder – you can find it in delis and speciality food stores. The “Dutch” refers to the way the cocoa is processed, not country of origin)
· 1 ¼ cups castor sugar
· 3 eggs
· Icing
· 250g good chocolate
· 2 tablespoons of a light tasting oil (not extra virgin)

What you do:
1. Put biscuits and nuts in a food processor and whiz until roughly chopped.
2. Melt the butter, then add the sugar and cocoa and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and when cooled a little (so it’s warm, not hot), beat the eggs into the mix with a whisk or a Bamix type implement until thick and glossy.
4. Mix in the nut mixture and press into a lamington tin (about 19cm x 30cm). Cover and refrigerate.
5. Make the icing by melting the chocolate and oil in a saucepan on a very low heat and then pour on top of the cooled hedgehog. Tap the tray on your kitchen bench to get all the air bubbles out. Refrigerate again until set and then cut into fingers or squares.

Roasted vegetable couscous with lemon hummus

Serves two

What you need:
· 1 red and 1 yellow capsicum, seeded and cut into squares
· 1 large zucchini, sliced
· 1 small eggplant, sliced
· 1 large red onion, sliced
· ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
· Handful of fresh basil leaves
· 120g hummus
· ¼ cup Greek yoghurt
· Juice of 1 lemon
· 200g couscous

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Place a large roasting pan in it as it gets close to temperature to warm up.
2. Place the vegetables in a large bowl and drizzle over half the oil, tossing to coat them evenly, then tip the lot into your heated roasting pan. Season generously with salt and pepper and roast for about half an hour, until the vegetables are completely tender and lightly caramelised.
3. From time to time toss the vegetables around to ensure they cook evenly.
4. About five minutes before the vegetables are ready, scatter the chopped basil over them, tossing to combine, then return the pan to the oven to finish cooking.
5. While the vegetables are cooking, place the hummus in a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and half the lemon juice. Season to taste and chill until needed.
6. Place the couscous in a large bowl and drizzle over the remaining oil and lemon juice, stirring to combine. Pour over one cup of boiling water, stir well, cover and leave for five minutes. When ready, fluff up the couscous with a fork.
7. Serve the roasted vegetables on top of the couscous with the hummus and yoghurt drizzled over the top.