This lovely little bit of sweet velvet debunks the notion that a martini is an aperitif. You won’t need dessert if you opt for one of these chocolate martinis.
30 ml vodka
15 ml frangelico
15 ml white creme de cacao
3 dark chocolate drops
Add the liqueurs to a well iced cocktail shaker, shake, then pour into a chilled martini glass with 3 chocolate drops at the bottom.
For a while I had been fantasising about the Russian Torte “Mashenka” posted on one of my favourite blogs* and I finally succumbed and made myself one. Although mine is not as beautiful to look at as the original, and my lesson learned was to have more layers not less – It’s divine!! I’m enjoying it immensely.
I baked it in the quiet of the evening and by the time I had reached the point of layering the delectably creamy sauce, I was thinking about a nightcap. With about 2 tablespoons of cream left in the mixing bowl, I created a silky smooth white russian cocktail that didn’t seem as heavy as with pure cream.
If you don’t happen to be making the cake at the time, here’s what would achieve the result:
2 tbsp sour cream
¼ tsp caster sugar
30 ml Kahlua
30 ml vodka
½ cup milk
Ice
Combine well and serve with lots of ice.
Thank you Anastasia for a very decadent evening!!
I had some sultanas soaking in rum which were left over from Christmas puddings. The drunken dried grapes had absorbed as much rum as they possibly could and had almost fully re-hydrated. What better to use them up in a very simple, no cook, ganache tart. My supportive man called this one, “freaking awesome!!”
biscuit base:
150 g ‘digestive’ wheat biscuits
30 g butter, melted
ganache:
250 g dark chocolate, broken
200 ml cream
¼ to ½ cup rum soaked raisins/sultanas (either will work and amount is your preference)
Make boozy sultanas by putting them in a clean jam jar, covering the sultanas with rum and leaving for about a week (or more), with the lid on, in the fridge. If you need them in a hurry, warm the rum and let them sit for an hour or so.
Make the base by processing the biscuits until fine then add the butter, combine well.
Line the base of a springform tin with greaseproof paper and press the crumbs into the base and a little way up the sides of the tin. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (an hour is better).
Make the gananche by pouring the cream into a medium sized microwave-proof glass bowl. Heat cream until just below boiling, then add chocolate. Mix until chocolate has melted.
Add the boozey sultanas, mix. (Don’t get too heavy handed with the rum, otherwise your chocolate will struggle to set)
Let the chocolate cool to room temp before pouring into the base.
Then return it to the fridge for 1-2 hours.
I like to eat this in small slices with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a short black espresso.
Tip: Use a hot knife to slice it.
I originally got this is a recipe from my dear friend, modernwomansociety.wordpress.com, but I have added bananas as inspired by frugalfeeding.wordpress.com, the result was something much closer to a caramel [vegan] pudding than a loaf or cake – totally delicious!
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tablespoon margarine (or melted butter if you prefer)
1 pinch salt
1 cup boiling water
1 ¾ cups self raising flour
3 small overripe bananas (optional – if you leave them out, you’ll have a vegan date loaf, bake time is 30 mins)
Preheat oven to 180c
Combine sugar, dates, bicarb, margarine and salt in a bowl.
Then pour 1 cup boiling water over the above, stir and leave to cool. The mixture will become lighter and foamy.
Add flour and bananas then mix until combined and similar to a batter consistency.
Pour into a greased (I used light olive oil spray) and lined loaf tin and bake for 40 mins* in a moderate oven until a skewer comes out clean-ish (the banana will make it like a pudding so don’t over cook it).
* During baking I thought individual puddings would be great, perhaps pour the batter into patty-cases in a muffin tin and reduce the bake time. I haven’t tried this yet myself so I’ll add a cook time retrospectively – unless someone else tries first and lets us all know?!
Serve it warm with honey, ice cream, cream and/or yoghurt – whatever grabs you. Or just a dab of butter is great too.
Carmel ice cream topping
Milk (enough to fill your molds)
Chocolate ice magic or melted chocolate
Tiny Teddy biscuits
Combine the milk with caramel sauce and mix well. Pour into pop maker.
Get about 10 tiny teddies, put them in a small clean plastic bag or between two pieces of kitchen paper and beat them to crumbs with a rolling pin.
Have the chocolate ready to go then remove the ice creams.
You’ll need to work quickly, the chocolate will harden so I just use my finger to spread the ice magic around. If you are using melted chocolate you can just dip the ice cream in, which might be more palatable if the people watching you are older than 2 and about to eat it.
I find coating half is enough but you can go all the way if you like.
While the chocolate is still sticky and not quite frozen hard, dunk it in the biscuit crumbs.
Voila!
I’ve made a few ‘clafouti’ in my time and they have always been well received. Use whatever fruit is in season (peaches, poached pears, plums, etc). You can also successfully use frozen raspberries, blueberries or cherries. Or cherries in a jar work just fine too. Essentially, it’s a bit like a custard batter with fruit baked in, yum! Super easy, super impressive.
Blood plums
200 ml cream
3 eggs
60 g plain flour
⅓ cup vanilla infused caster sugar*
Butter to grease
Preheat oven to 180c
Cut the plums in half, remove seeds.
Grease a baking dish with butter and place the plum halves into the dish, skin down.
Beat the remaining ingredients to form a smooth batter, then pour the batter into the dish. (Pour around the plums so the fruit looks pretty – but some of it will sink anyway, no perfectionists here).
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
* Keep a jar of caster sugar in the cupboard with a vanilla pod in it.
barelypoppins 