Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

Possibly the most amazing dessert ever...

50g soft unsalted butter

extra butter

150g caster sugar

50g plain flour

4 eggs

1 pinch salt

1 tsp. vanilla

350g luxury dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F) and grease 6 pudding moulds, then line the bases with baking parchment.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or makeshift pot-scheme as I have done) and then let it cool slightly.

In the meantime, cream together the butter and sugar until you've reached a uniform consistency.  If the mixture looks a bit too sugary and not buttery enough, add a bit more butter - maybe another 15g or so to make it seem a bit less grainy.

Mix the eggs in a bowl with the salt, then gradually combine the egg mixture with the butter mixture.  Add the vanilla and keep mixing until well combined.  Gradually stir in the flour.  The batter will still be quite runny at this stage.  Scrape in the cooled chocolate and give it a good stir - it will turn thicker and more elastic.
Divide the mixture amoung the moulds.

Now you have two options:

1. Place on baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.  Cakes are ready when the tops have puffed up and cracked a bit.

2. Refrigerate until ready to bake.  These cakes only 'work' when they are served fresh from the oven, but they can be stored in your fridge for up to 24 hours prior to baking.  If you refrigerate your cakes prior to baking, make sure your oven is preheated and then bake for approximately 12 minutes (instead of 10).

Turn out and serve hot with ice cream or whipped cream.

Pavlova

I'd never heard of this dessert before moving to the UK.  It's elegant, light and heavenly.  Possibly the best thing I've ever tasted.  Best of all, it's simple to make. Perfect for a summertime treat.

A Pavlova consists of three layers:

Bottom: meringue nest

Middle: whipped cream

Top: berries of your choice

Chocolate sauce, optional.

Slice and serve.

BYU Brownies

Fudgy brownies with nuts, a creme-de-menthe icing, and chocolate frosting.  These babies are served at every BYU event from dances to banquets.

1 cup margarine (227g)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 Tbsp. honey

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

 1 cup chopped walnuts

12 oz. chocolate icing

Mint topping:

5 Tbsp margarine (2.5 oz)

dash of salt

3 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

2 1/3 cups icing sugar

1/2 tsp. mint extract

green food colouring

Melt margarine and mix in cocoa.  Allow to cool.  Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well. 

Add nuts.  Pour batter into a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 F (180 C) for 25 minutes or till cooked through.  Cool.

Prepare mint icing: soften margarine.  Add salt, corn syrup, and icing sugar.  Beat until smooth and fluffy.  Add mint extract and food colouring.  Mix.  Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

Spread mint icing over brownies.  Place brownies in the freezer a short time to stiffen the icing.  Remove from the freezer and carefully  add a layer of your favourite chocolate icing.

Chocolate Crème Brûlée

After the demise of the ice cream maker, I had to find a use for the extra cream before it expired.  If there's anything I love as much as ice cream, it's this.  In fact, it may even be better than ice cream!

Ingredients:

2 cups whipping cream

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

5 slightly beaten egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

fine sugar for topping

In a medium heavy saucepan, heat and stir 1/3 cup of the whipping cream and the chocolate over low heat until chocolate is melted.  Remove from heat.  Using a whisk, gradually add the remaining cream.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, the 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla and salt. 

Gradually whisk the cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. 

Transfer egg/cream mixture into a pourable container.  Place six 3/4-cup ramekins in a baking pan.  Set pan on the oven rack.  Pour the egg/cream mixture into the ramekins.  Pour enough boiling water into the baking pan around the ramekins to cover the bottom half of the dishes. 

Bake in a 325 F oven for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Transfer dishes from pan with water to a wire rack.  Allow to cool. 

To serve: top with about 1 Tablespoon of fine, granulated sugar and gently melt using a Chef's torch until sugar is a lovely golden-brown color.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Making homemade ice cream during the Christmas holiday is a tradition in our family. This year we tried a Butter-Pecan recipe - from the Better Homes and Gardens: Test Kitchen book - for a change from plain vanilla.  I must say, you just can't buy ice cream like this, not even with today's gourmet brands.  Try it and you'll see what I mean...

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp butter
4 cups half-and-half (or light cream)
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
4 cups whipping cream









1.  In a heavy 8-inch skillet, combine pecans, granulated sugar and butter.

Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 6 to 8 minutes or until sugar melts and turns a rich brown colour.

Remove from heat and spread nuts on a buttered baking sheet or foil; separate into clusters and cool.  Break clusters into small chunks.

In a large bowl, combine light cream, brown sugar, and vanilla; stir until sugar is dissolved.  Stir in the whipping cream.  Pour cream mixture into a  4- to 5-quart ice cream mixer and blend/freeze according to manufacturer's directions. 

Then, stir in pecan mixture.* Ripen 4 hours (if you can resist that long!)

*Note: Stirring the pecan mixture into the thickened ice cream mixture just before ripening prevents the nuts from wrapping around the paddle.

Apple-Berry Cobbler

Super easy and super quick to mix up... Make it ahead in your crockpot or bake in your oven.


You can vary this recipe to suit whatever ingredients you have on hand. A fun variation is to use a chocolate cake mix with strawberries or cherries, and serve with Neopolitan ice cream. In this case I used a yellow cake mix with some apples and blackberries we had picked fresh from our village.


Ingredients:

cake mix of your choice
1 stick of butter or margarine (in UK - half a package)
assortment of fruit (fresh, frozen or canned works fine)


Prepare fruit and place into crockpot. Sweeten if desired.

Melt butter, then blend with cake mix.

Spread cake mixture on top of fruit. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for about 2 hours or until set and bubbly. Alternatively, layer fruit in a baking dish, cover with cake mixture and bake in a 350 F (180 C) oven for about 40 minutes or till topping is golden and fruit is tender/bubbly.

Serve with cold vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.