GODIVA chocolate, hazelnut and salt cookies

A few weeks ago I received a very exciting golden package in the post. It was weighty and shiny and I knew it was stuffed to the gunnels with chocolate. GODIVA chocolate to be precise. For me the best thing to do with a high quality chocolate is cookies. Though they are baked, the flavour is never changed in a cookie or biscuit, unlike in cakes and sponges. It also allows for lots of your own improvisations which is always a bonus. Here I have used two types of their chocolate (why wouldn't you?) and some hazelnuts for added texture (again why the heck not!?). However if you would prefer white chocolate and pecan cookies you can simply substitute like for like. Almonds would also work, as would salted peanuts with milk chocolate. Endless possibilities. I have published a few cookie recipes on here before, always convinced it was the one. But, although I still love my previous one and do recommend it, I would argue this one is fail safe. AND, for an extra bonus, results in a lovely cracked top which I think is very aesthetically pleasing.Happy 90th Birthday GODIVA - long may you cocoa concoctions continue!

GODIVA CHOCOLATE, SEA SALT and HAZELNUT COOKIES

110g unsalted butter

50g dark brown sugar (dark muscavado)

150g caster sugar

210g plain flour

1 large egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g GODIVA 72% dark chocolate

100g GODIVA dark sea salt chocolate

75g hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 180C. In a large saucepan melt the butter gently on a low to medium heat. You don't want it to bubble or spit. Remove from the heat then add the sugars. It will look like its split but don't worry. Stir in the flour and set aside to cool down for 5 to 10 minutes. During this time chop your chocolate roughly. Toast the hazelnuts for a few minutes using either a shallow frying pan or hot oven. They should be golden and fragrant. Chop roughly also. Once your dough has cooled stir in the egg baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, chocolates and hazelnuts. The chocolate will melt if you add this when the dough is still hot so do let it cool properly. Once you have a smooth dough line two large baking sheets or trays. Roll balls of dough, approximately 1-2 tbsp worth of mix. Place the balls on your sheets, well spaced apart and bake for 10-12 minutes of until light golden but still soft in the middle. Allow to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely. Repeat with any excess dough. They will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

pancakes with whipped maple butter

Tomorrow's the day, and yet again I am quite unorganised. We have been feasting on mid week pancakes in the flat quite a lot recently so maybe we could just call the whole thing done? I will try and summon the courage to make some tomorrow, however I cannot guarantee anything… It's been a bit manic my end as I am fast approaching the deadline for the book manuscript. I am spending all hours of the day cooking, testing, scribbling notes, washing the dishes and then come the night sitting on my laptop writing it all down. I really love it, but boy is it time consuming! My inbox is in a very sorry state also and lots of things have fallen off the endless to do list but we are getting there - one final push! And so I leave you with my very trusty "drop scone" recipe, one I have been using for all 20 of my years. The whipped maple butter is a lovely alternative to the hundreds of cheap sugary toppings normally on offer in the shops. It will also keep for ages in the fridge and is delicious on toast and scones. Happy flipping!PS if you are looking for a more savoury version to enjoy tomorrow, I have a Courgette and Poppyseed Pancake recipe up on The Scotsman just now. And for those who like music in the kitchen as much as I do, here is the playlist I have had on repeat for the last month.

PANCAKES WITH WHIPPED MAPLE BUTTER

For the pancakes:

225g self-raising flour

40g caster sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

150ml milk

1 large egg

butter for cooking

For the butter:

150g softened unsalted butter

50g maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

For the whipped butter place the ingredients in a free standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat for five minutes of so until light pale and fluffy. You can use a hand his but it will take longer. Set aside. For the pancakes weigh all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until the batter is smooth. Heat a little butter in a non stick frying pan and use a piece of kitchen roll to make sure the whole pan is covered. Spoon in dollops of the batter, making it as round as possible. The pan should be on a medium heat. Allow to cook for a few minutes or until bubbles start to form on the surface of the pancake. Flip and cook for a further few minutes. Serve warm slathered with the maple butter and more maple syrup if you fancy it. 

a tart and a catch up

If I am honest the days in between are probably my favourites. Christmas is fun - chaotic, booze fuelled and a lot to juggle and I do really love it - but I love a leftover sandwich more. I hope you are all enjoying an elasticated waistband currently. In the run up to Christmas it all got a bit manic at my end so I forgot to tell you about The Kitchen Cafe, which was on the radio on Christmas Eve. Sorry all. If you want to listen to me talking about the big day, post the big day you can still catch up here. I did, however, think I would share the recipe for my dish on the programme with you (despite it no longer being Christmas) as it will still make for a lovely winter pud or Hogmanay dish. I am really enjoying all of us being home with our crap wifi, disastrous weather and general slow pace lifestyle so I haven't been cooking a huge amount but I will try and get back to you all with some Hogmanay thoughts and a wee look back at whats been a pretty quiet 2015, NOT! Enjoy the leftover chocolates, sherry and day time telly in the mean time.

Also - what I am listening to this month.

CHOCOLATE CHESTNUT TART

For the pastry:

100g cold unsalted butter

150g plain flour

45g cocoa

65g icing sugar

2 tsp cornflour

splash of whole milk

For the filling:

100g cooked and peeled chestnuts (the vacuum packed ones are best)

100g ground almonds

100g softened unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 - 3 large pears

50g dark chocolate chopped roughly

Preheat the oven to 170C. To make the pastry blitz all the in ingredients in a food processor adding the milk at the end to bring the dough together. Alternatively Rub the butter into the flour, cocoa, sugar and cornflour until it all comes together again adding the milk at the end to bind it. Cover and chill for 20 mins at least. During this time make the filling. Grate the cooked chestnuts using your finest grater and add them to a bowl with the almonds, butter and sugar. Mix well until you have a paste like batter then add the eggs baking powder and vanilla. Mix again until smooth. You can add a few tbsp of booze if you want at this stage. Finely slice your pears (skin on). To assemble, roll the chilled pastry out on a floured surface until roughly 3mm thick. Use it to line a 20cm fluted and loose bottomed tart tin. Press thoroughly into the sides then trim off any overhanging pastry. Place the filling into the tart and spread until smooth all over. Fan the pear slices over the top before finishing with the chopped chocolate around the edges. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the chestnuts filling is cooked through (it will not longer be soggy to touch). Enjoy with a big dollop of dairy (or if you have any left over some brandy butter - I won't tell if you don't!) 

gingerbread bundt

A Christmas recipe. Would you believe it? I am very last minute with my Christmas prep. Sure I have a pinterest board started in March and endless lists and table ideas but actually making a mince pie? Decorating the tree? You are talking about the 20th at the earliest. So this year I have jumped the gun. I made a sort of festive cake prior to mid December and for that I believe I need a medal. This makes a lovely alternative to xmas pud, or even a cake to have in the tins for the days in between. You can also get my Golden Christmas Cake recipe here. I will stop now before I explode with too much festivity.

GINGERBREAD BUNDT CAKE

For the cake:

125g golden syrup

125g treacle

125g butter

125g caster sugar

300g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 eggs

100g whole milk

For the icing:

200g butter unsalted

200g icing sugar

200g cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease your bundt tin using melted butter and paint brush. Dust with a little flower and allow to set in the fridge whilst you make the batter. Melt the butter, golden syrup and treacle until just melted. Allow to cool for five minutes then stir in the remaining ingredients. Once smooth pour into your bundt tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a sharp knife comes out the centre clean. Leave the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before trying to turn it out. This is always the moment bundts go wrong so do wait for as long as possible. Allow to cool fully.For the buttercream beat the butter until pale. Add the icing sugar and beat again until almost ice white. It should be light and fluffy. A stand mixer works best but hand held electric whisks will also do it. Beat the cream cheese and vanilla in finally until just mixed. Spread over the cooled cake using a knife to highlight the grooves in the cake. Alternatively you can simply add some icing on top to create a fluffy white crown.Toppings: Decorate with fresh cranberries, lingonberries if you can get them, or red currants, or any other berries you would prefer. Dust with a little icing sugar to finish. 

pear, coffee and hazelnut: a cake on a whim

My standard Sunday begins as so. I will wake up a little later than planned and spend a horribly long time getting out of bed. I have got better at this however and can normally make it down the stairs before 10am. I am then greeted by Willow and her endless breakfast requests. This morning waffles were on the agenda. After a very slow feast and plenty tea I look at the list I have made for myself to do. Today I had grand plans of packing and organising and matriculating and all the other boring tasks that are involved when moving. I was going to sort my prints, begin the bake off scrapbook I have been threatening to do for the last month and then write up the six blog posts waiting in my drafts. I was then going to top this off with some accounting and general finicial sussing out. Needless to say not a single one of those things happened. Instead I spied to pears, knocked up a cake with a recipe I had never even dreamt of before and photographed it. I also made a million other things and snapped then here. Had it not been for the fact that this cake worked amazingly well for the first time, required next to no tweaking and made my mumma very happy I would have thought this had been a truly unproductive day. But no I made a tasty cake and the sun shone. Happy Sunday all!PS this happiness will slowly fade when I realise early tomorrow morning I still have my long list of things to do, sign my lease, get a haircut blah blah blah. Let me cheery for the remaining wee hours of the night.

PEAR, COFFEE AND HAZELNUT CAKE

250g softened unsalted butter

200g coconut sugar or dark muscavado

50g caster sugar

200g plain wholemeal flour

50g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

100g + 25g roughly chopped hazelnuts

3 tsp instant coffee + 3 tbsp boiling water (or three espresso shots of possible)

3 pears

3 tbsp apple juice

Grease and line a 9" cake tin and set aside. Preheat your oven to 180C.Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the flours, baking powder, eggs and 100g of the hazelnuts and set aside without mixing. Make the coffee and allow to cool slightly in a mug. Finely slice the pears - there is no need to peel them. Place the pears in a bowl with the apple juice to prevent them from browning. Add the cooled coffee to the cake mix and fold it all together until smooth. By mixing it later on (or as close to baking as possible) the baking powder won't activate to soon and you will have a lighter texture when baked. Pour into the lined tin. Working quickly layer the pear on top of the cake mix and sprinkle with the remaining nuts like this. Put into the oven immediately. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a thin knife comes out the centre clean. The majority of the pears will sink slightly into the cake but don't worry as this will provide a little moisture to the cake. Serve with some yoghurt or ice cream while still warm for a great pudding or enjoy once cool with a cup of tea or coffee. 

greengage jam

This is based on a scandinavian style jam - or a "quick jam". It has far less sugar in it compared to the standard 1:1 ratio, or 2:1 ratio I have read about recently which panics me and makes my teeth ache. No quantity of sharp fruit ever requires that much sweetness. This recipe is best for ripe in season fruit and can be knocked up in minutes. It is best kept in the fridge but if you add enough apple will set like a standard jam and can be kept in the cupboard for a decent length of time.

GREENGAGE JAM

Makes two jars

500-600g greengages, chopped and stones removes

200-250g apple, peeled, cored and chopped finely

200-250g caster sugar

100ml apple juice

2 tbsp lemon juice

Bring the fruit and juice to the boil and cook until beginning to soften. Add the sugar and cook until the jam reaches 102C for a soft set and 104.5C for a firm set. Stir continuously.Whilst the jam is cooking sterilise two jam jars. To do this wash the jars very well in hot soapy water. Rinse and add an inch of boiling water to the bottom of each jar. Place in an oven preheated to 180C and bake for 10-15 minutes. Tip out any excess water.Pour the hot jam into the sterilised jars, top with a wax disc (optional) and allow to cool for ten minutes before adding the lids. Allow to cool completely before labelling. Very good simply with softly whipped cream and scones.  

fennel ice cream sandwiches

Fennel is an interesting one. For as long as I can remember a huge fennel plant has grown at the top of the vegetable patch and for many years avoided by Hebe and I like the plague. It was a funny texture with "feathery" bits mum sneaked into salads - I still recall the sense of betrayal when picking through leaves. It also had a strange flavour we couldn't identify but reminded us of brushing out teeth with off toothpaste. So yes fennel didn't have a lot going for it when I was wee. Recently however whilst exploring a bizarre corner of the internet I discovered that fennel was traditionally used to 'awake' people, or open their eyes, and for this reason was including in many Italian wedding treats symbolising that the married couple were now meeting the world with open eyes. I had at this point forgotten about my fennel phobia and thought it was such a lovely notion I such bake with it. on further research I found a cantuccini recipe in one of my books and adapted it slightly before falling head over heels myself. They were so fragrant with the fennel that all dodgy off mint connotation vanished. I then began including it in everything, from savoury dished to these perfect summer sarnies. And now that fennel and I l have made our peace its green fronds have found their way into every salad I have made this year, all senses of betrayal vanished.Notes: I have been using fennel seeds for most of my sweet fennel recipes as they are far easier to incorporate into baking, but for the ice cream you can of course infuse the cream with the fronds, but bear in mind you will need a lot more than stated for the seeds. Add to taste but be aware that the longer the cream is cooled for the stronger the flavour will get.

FENNEL ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Adapted from Jamie Magazine issue no. 60

For the ice cream:

200ml double cream

2 tsp fennel seeds, finely ground in a spice bender or pestle and mortar

350ml whole milk

150g caster sugar

2 large eggs

10g cornflour

For the biscuits:

150g ground almonds

200g unsalted butter, softened

120g caster sugar

200g plain flour

1 tsp fennel seeds, again finely crushed as before

1/2 tsp salt

50g flaked almonds (optional)

Begin by making the ice cream. Crush you seeds as stated above and heat them with cream until nearly boiling. Set aside to cool, leaving the seeds to infuse. For the custard heat the milk until boiling. Whilst this is happening whisk together the eggs, sugar and cornflour until a smooth paste forms. Pour the hot milk on top and whisk constantly. Return the custard to the pan and stir continuously on a medium heat until thickened and coating the back of a spoon. Do not allow to boil as this will cause the eggs to scramble. Again set aside to cool. If you are pushed for time, fill a sink with ice and cold water and add the pan of custard submerging it so the water covers half of the sides of the pan. Stir constantly until cold to touch - roughly 4-5 minutes. Strain in the cold cream into the custard, discarding the fennel seeds, and stir until smooth and fully combined. Churn the cold mix in an ice cream maker following the manufactures instructions. Once ready to be frozen pour into a small square roasting or brownie tin and spread level. Freeze for at least 2 hours. In the meantime, begin the biscuits. The easiest way the make the dough is by blitzing all ingredients in a food processor (except for the flaked almonds) until smooth. You can then add the flaked almonds and knead until combined. If you don't have a processor however it is no bother to cream the butter and sugar together until light then adding the ground almonds, fennel, salt and flour. Again mix until smooth before adding the flaked almonds if using. Roll out to approximately 5mm thick then cut out 6cm rounds (or whatever size you prefer). Bake at 170C for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool for ten minutes on the tray, then transfer onto a cooling rack. Using the same round cutter as for the biscuits cut out discs of the solid ice cream. Keep the ice cream discs in the freezer until ready to sandwich the cooled biscuits together. Before serving place a biscuit on the bottom and top of each ice cream disc and wrap in greaseproof if you want. You can then store them in a sealed tub in the freezer until required.

a blood orange loaf cake with curd

Another of this weekends blood orange creations. There is nothing better than seasonal fruit, despite my attempts to use strawberries in December and radishes in February. There is no comparison. 

BLOOD ORANGE LOAF CAKE

For the loaf:

250g softened butter

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

juice of 1 large blood orange and zest of 2

1 tsp baking powder

50g ground almonds

280g plain flour

Beat the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs, juice, zest, baking powder, almonds and flour and beat until smooth. Do not over beat however, just until combined. Pour into a lined and greased 2lb loaf tin and bake for around 35 minutes a 180C or until a knife or skewer comes out the centre clean. Allow to cool.

For the curd:

juice of 1 large blood orange

175g caster sugar

2 eggs

110g butter

Place all the ingredients in a heavy based saucepan and gently whisk over a low heat continuously. Do this until the mixture becomes thick and holds its shape when whisked in the pan. It is important to take your time about this and not crack up the heat as the eggs will scramble resulting in a citrus egg dish that will NOT be tasty on toast. Pour into sterilised jars or a tub and keep in the fridge until required.

Serve your cake with some of the curd, chopped mint leaves and sheet or crushed meringue.