IF like me, chocolate is the way to your heart, this week's recipes are for you.
The summer holidays are always a good time to try and get kids involved in cooking and baking activities and there is no better way to do this than with chocolate.
Chocolate is an irresistible temptation at the end of every aisle in the shops, and the first thing you see in any coffee shop. It can be hard to resist, but with today's recipes it will give you a chance to save some money and try and make some delicious treats at home.
First on the menu is a tasty chocolate biscotti which we tend to serve in the restaurant as an accompaniment to coffee, and the second is a vegan chocolate brownie.
On August 18 we will be running our teenage and children's cookery workshops at Waterman Cookery School. For more information or to book, visit www.waterman.house
CHOCOLATE & NUT BISCOTTI
125g plain flour
125g caster sugar
1tsp baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
50g dark chocolate, chopped
35g shelled pistachio nuts, chopped
25g almonds, chopped
25g shelled hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 lemon, zest only
1/2 orange, zest only
100g dark chocolate, melted
Icing sugar to dust (optional)
Method
Sieve the flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. In a separate dish, beat the egg and add it to the mix and combine. Add in the nuts, chocolate, lemon, and orange zest and combine.
Flour your work surface and roll out the dough by hand into a long log shape. Place the dough on a sheet of greaseproof paper or a baking mat on a baking tray and place in oven at 150C for 30 minutes.
When fully cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Once cooled, slice and place back into the oven on baking mat for 10 minutes to dry out.
When the biscotti has been removed from oven leave to cool for 10 minutes.
At this stage, melt the chocolate in a bain maire (bowl in a pot of water), until soft, ensuring the water and chocolate do not mix. Drizzle the chocolate over the biscotti and dust with caster sugar.
Store in an airtight box.
VEGAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
20ml rapeseed oil, keep a little for greasing the baking tray
200g diary-free dark chocolate (Valrhona brand is the best)
200g pecan nuts, crushed
4tsp cocoa powder
170g self-raising flour
180g golden caster sugar
Pinch Malden sea salt
1 vanilla pod
230ml soya milk, unsweetened
Method
Start by preheating the oven to 180C. Grease a baking tray with a little rapeseed oil and line with greaseproof paper.
Make a bain maire with a bowl over a pot of boiling water and melt two-thirds of the chocolate, making sure it does not mix with the water. Once melted remove from the heat.
Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl before adding the sugar, salt and the contents of the vanilla pods
Add in all of the wet ingredients including the melted chocolate and combine.
Chop up the remainder of the chocolate and add to mix, including the chopped pecans.
Pour the mixture into a tin and place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove once the mixture will be cooked but the centre will still be a bit soft. Leave to cool in the tin before removing.
Place on rack and slice to serve.
