Recipes

Chocolate Fondue for Valentine’s

Chocolate and strawberry Happy Valentine’s Day!

I think there is nothing more romantic than chocolate, so what better thing to make for your loved on than chocolate fondue? There is something so sensual and luxurious about melted chocolate over fruit and other tasty items, and the very act of dipping and sharing fondue makes it special.

Raspberry in Chocolate FondueAs with all things chocolate, start with quality. Find a good, dark chocolate and there is little chance that the end product won’t be delicious.

I like a bit of Port in my chocolate fondue, especially when you’re dipping fruit. If you want even more of a kick, add an extra teaspoon!

Here’s my recipe…

Chocolate Fondue with Port

Ingredients:

    200 g 70% Chocolate
    200 ml Cream
    2 teaspoons Port

What to do:

  1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
  2. Warm the cream in a saucepan to a low simmer.
  3. Amaretti dipped in chocolateRemove from the heat and stir the cream into the chocolate in small parts, stirring all the time.
  4. Chocolate and RaspberryChocolate and RaspberryThe chocolate will clump at first, then it should become smooth and glossy.
  5. Stir in the Port.
  6. Transfer to a fondue pot and enjoy!

My five favourite things to dip into chocolate fondue:

  1. Strawberries
  2. Bananas
  3. Raspberries
  4. Biscotti
  5. Amaretti biscuits

I’m sure you can think of many other delicious things to dip!

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Beghrir Moroccan Pancakes

Beghrir Pancakes Today is Shrove Tuesday, and while elsewhere in the world people are dancing and singing with Mardi Gras and Carnival, here we eat pancakes. Although I’d much rather be cavorting on the streets of New Orleans or Rio, at least I can console myself with a sweet traditional meal before we head into Lent.

Two years ago at this time, I was in Morocco, and there I came across amazing pancakes called Beghrir. They are served with honey and are oddly pock-marked. Here’s a recipe, in case anyone wants a pancake that’s as tasty as it is unusual.

Beghrir

Ingredients:

  • 125 g semolina
  • 40 g non-rising flour
  • 150 ml warm water (ca 40C)
  • 150 ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried active yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • Pinch of salt

What to do:

  1. Combine the yeast with 50 ml of the warm water and the sugar. Set aside.
  2. Sieve the other dry ingredients.
  3. BeghrirWarm the rest of the water and the milk in a small saucepan to 40 C.
  4. Beat the egg well and add the warm milk and water, stirring all the time.
  5. Add to the yeast and stir until fully combined.
  6. Stir into the dry ingredients in small parts, mixing vigorously until it is combined and free of lumps.
  7. Cover and allow to rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.
  8. Warm a non-stick crepe pan or sauce pan over medium-high heat.
  9. Pour batter into the pan to make a thin, round pancake.
  10. Cook until the top layer is dry – bubbles will form.
  11. Flip the pancake and cook for another 20 seconds.
  12. That’s it! It’s ready to eat.

Yield: About 10 small pancakes.

Note: Traditionally these would be eaten with honey mixed with butter and warmed in a pan. The ratio, if you want to try it, is 1 part butter to 4 parts honey. Simply combine them in a pan and cook over medium heat until the butter melts. Remove immediately from the heat and stir until smooth.

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Chocolate Macaroons with Cognac Ganache

Chocolate Macaroon I have given a recipe for meringues here as a solution for what to do with the egg whites after making ice cream. Another possibility is macaroons. Anyone who has been to Paris is sure to have tasted these amazing confections, which rise in pyramids in bakery windows.

The following recipe is adapted from Pierre Herme, although the ganache (filling) is ours. They aren’t hard to make, although I sometimes have difficulty in getting them to rise properly (here’s a photo of a batch my brother made with a little more height). No matter. They still sure are tasty!

I like a dark cognac ganache filling, and it’s actually adaped from Wiebke’s (my brother’s wife) Sachertorte.

Ingredients:

  • 150 ml egg whites (from ca. 3 large eggs)
  • 250 g powdered sugar
  • 150 g finely ground almonds
  • 25 g unsweetened cocoa + a bit more for dusting

For the ganache filling:

  • 75 g 70% chocolate
  • 25 g butter
  • 50 g golden syrup
  • 1 teaspoon cognac

What to do:

  1. Pre-heat the oven at 150C.
  2. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (don’t over-whip!)
  3. Sift together all the dry ingredients.
  4. Fold into the egg whites in four additions.
  5. Put a teflon baking mat on the counter, or put a teflon liner (cheap and reusable and should be available at any supermarket) on a baking tray.
  6. Spoon the dough into a piping bag and pipe out half inch to one inch round circles on the baking tray, leaving 1 inch of space around each cookie for them to expand. You can also simply use a spoon.
  7. Try to keep the size of them the same, since you will be using two to make the filled macaroons. I like them small.
  8. Dust with cocoa.
  9. Macaroon CloserBake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are firm but still pliable.
  10. Place on baking racks to cool.
  11. For the ganache filling, melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over (not touching) simmering water.
  12. Remove from the heat and stir in the golden syrup.
  13. Stir in the cognac.
  14. Allow to cool until it is semi-solid, and then either pipe or spoon onto the flat side of a cookie.
  15. Top with a second cookie.
  16. Allow to set before serving, if you have that kind of patience!

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Orange Jaffa (Oráiste) Ice Cream

Orange Jaffa Ice Cream This was one of our very first ice cream formulations and has proven very popular of the the years. In fact, there is a certain little girl whose first word was reportedly “Jaffa” when demanding this flavour from her parents. It’s a crowd-pleaser, with shredded bits of Jaffa cakes as well as another British invention – marmalade.

Marmalade goes way back (the Oxford English Dictionary cites 1480 as the first usage of the word) and is generally made with citrus fruits – orange being the most popular option. As citrus fruits became more available in Britain in the 16th century, marmalade became a choice sweet. In fact, anyone who has travelled in the UK will be hard put upon to remember a traditional breakfast without the option of these preserves and toast.

We like to use the marmalade as a base flavour and freshen it with orange zest. The great thing about orange zest (besides its magnificent taste) is that it uses a part of the fruit one would normally just throw away or compost, and that always is a pleasure.

ORANGE JAFFA (ORÁISTE) ICE CREAM

Ingredients:

  • Jaffa Cakes130g sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 240 ml cream
  • 200 ml milk
  • Zest (grated peel) of half an orange
  • 50 g marmalade
  • 4 Jaffa cakes

What to do:

  1. Add the orange zest to the milk and bring to a simmer.
  2. Remove from the heat.
  3. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
  4. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
  5. Pour the mixture back into the pan, and place over low heat.
  6. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
  7. Immediately remove from the heat. Sieve if you want to remove the orange zest.
  8. Stir in the marmalade.
  9. Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool (5C).
  10. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
  11. Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
  12. Shred the jaffa cakes into small pieces.
  13. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, adding the jaffa cakes when it’s semi-solid. You can also just cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours, and again, add the jaffa cakes when it’s semi-solid.
  14. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Note: To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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Meringues, Take Two

Meringues Given that all of the ice cream recipes I have given here call for egg yolks, I wanted to re-visit meringues, since they are such an obvious solution in terms of what to do with the egg whites. I wrote up a recipe before here, but I think the following is simpler and better.

Meringues are a lovely dessert – crunchy puff of sweetness on the palate. They can be enjoyed on their own, with whipped cream, or with ice cream and fruit. You can shape them into little baskets or simply make little meringue drops. They are, of course, gluten-free.

Meringues are said to have been invented in the 15th Century in the Swiss town of Meiringen by an Italian chef named Gasparini. They are made simply by beating egg whites, adding sugar and other ingredients, and then baking them. I like mine with a little hint of lemon. This recipe makes quite a lot of meringue, but since the ice creams mostly call for 5 egg yolks, it seems useful to use the 5 egg whites!

Ingredients:

  • 5 egg whites
  • 350 g caster sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

What to Do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 150C.
  2. Butter two large baking sheets.
  3. Beat the egg whites in a dry glass or stainless steel bowl (if using an electric mixer, do this at medium speed rather than high speed, which will take a bit longer but give the meringues more strength) until fairly stiff.
  4. Meringue BatterBeat in the sugar in a slow stream, and then add the lemon juice, mixing all the time.
  5. Beat until very stiff and shiny.
  6. Using two spoons, place on the baking sheet. It should make 18 large meringues, so divide accordingly, leaving space around the meringues to allow them to expand.
  7. You can shape them as you wish!
  8. Bake for 45 minutes.
  9. Cool on wire racks.

Notes:

  1. If you want to make meringue nests, the easiest way is with a piping bag. Start in the centre, work out in a tight spiral, then build up the sides. Make them smaller that you might think, for the baked meringues will expand!
  2. There are many of things you can add to meringues in terms of flavouring – vanilla essence, almond essence, and cocoa for chocolate meringues are just a few examples. If you do add flavouring, always add it at the end, once the meringues are stiff.

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Banana Ice Cream with Chocolate Shavings

Banana Ice Cream Here in Kerry, there are some fruits that are hard to get in the depth of Winter, but you can always find bananas. They might not always be ripe, and most of the time I will pass them by when in the supermarket, discouraged at the green peel. For, as bananas ripen, the starches turn to sugar, and once they do so, this sweet, complex, rich, and velvety fruit can boost energy and give any occasion a lift, especially when it’s in ice cream.

BananaCustomers in our shops often taste our banana ice cream and say, accusingly, “This tastes like real banana!” Yes, indeed. If the only banana ice cream you have ever eaten was bright yellow and tasted only of flavouring, you will be surprised by the decadence of this recipe. Needless to say, there’s no food colouring (and why would there be? Not only do we never touch the stuff, but yellow banana ice cream doesn’t even make sense. Banana peels are yellow, not the fruit!)

All fruits in ice cream should be ripe, and with bananas there is hardly such a thing as too ripe. If you have bananas left over with brown spots on the skin, perhaps ones that the kids wont touch or that even strike you as too soft, then they are perfect for ice cream. We have used bananas when the skin had turned completely brown, and the result was delicious. Bananas, oddly enough, ripen best off the vine, and if all you can find are greenish bananas, please wait to make this ice cream and let them ripen.

I have added some chocolate shavings because I love the bitter bite of dark chocolate with banana.

MURPHYS BANANA ICE CREAM WITH CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS

Ingredients:

  • 130g sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 240 ml cream
  • 200 ml milk
  • 15 ml (1 tablespoon) fresh lemon juice
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 20 g good quality, dark chocolate

What to do:

  1. Combine the bananas with the lemon juice and blend or mash until smooth.
  2. Place in a small saucepan, add 30 g (two tablespoons) sugar, and cook over low heat, stirring all the time.
  3. Don’t over-cook. Once it has warmed, it should release a strong banana aroma, and that’s enough!
  4. Beat the rest of the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow.
  5. Bring the milk to a low simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat.
  6. Beat the milk into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream.
  7. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat.
  8. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
  9. Immediately remove from the heat.
  10. Mix in the bananas.
  11. Transfer the custard into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until cool (5C). 12. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
  12. Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
  13. Banana Ice Cream Close-upFreeze using a domestic ice cream machine until it has a semi-solid consistency, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring occasionally to break up the ice crystals.
  14. Use a vegetable peeler to create the chocolate shavings, and add them to the ice cream once it is reasonably solid, or they will all sink to the bottom.
  15. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Yield: 8 servings

Notes:

  1. Of course, you don’t have to add chocolate shavings if it’s not to your taste.
  2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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Chocolate Ganache Cake

Chocolate Ganache Cake I ended 2007 with a chocolate recipe (Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream), and given my chocoholic predilection, I think my first recipe for 2008 has to be a chocolate one as well.

This is a dense, intense chocolate experience. There’s a bit of cognac in it for kick, and a topping of fresh raspberry puree. There’s no flour, so it’s gluten-free. It’s not for the meek or chocolate-ambivalent. It’s a chocolate lover’s dream.

Ingredients:

  • 500 g dark (70%) chocolate
  • Chocolate Ganache500 ml cream
  • 60 g butter
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 2 tablespoons cognac

For the raspberry puree:

  • 200 g raspberries
  • 50 g sugar

What to do:

  1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water or a in a microwave. Take care – chocolate melts at a low temperature (ca. 37C) and it burns easily, so once it’s melted, remove from the heat!
  2. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and place with the cream in a small saucepan.
  3. Cook over medium heat to a simmer.
  4. Remove the vanilla beans and scrape out the vanilla seeds with a spoon or knife. Whisk in to the cream, and discard the beans.
  5. Add the cream to the melted chocolate in small parts and mix thoroughly until smooth and velvety.
  6. Stir in the cognac.
  7. Pour into a 9 inch baking spring form or shallow, medium-sized metal bowl and refrigerate until hard.
  8. Heat the raspberries and sugar in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved.
  9. Press through a sieve with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to remove the seeds.
  10. Allow to cool.
  11. Chocolate Raspberry Ganache CakeIf you have used a metal bowl, use a cloth soaked in hot water to heat the bowl enough to free the cake. Invert the bowl onto a plate and top with the raspberry puree.
  12. Refrigerate until set.
  13. If you have used a baking form, top with the raspberry puree and refrigerate until set.
  14. Use a cloth soaked in hot water to heat the form enough to free the cake.
  15. Slide it onto a plate.
  16. Serve at room temperature with vanilla ice cream and a bit of chocolate sauce.

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Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream

Chocolate Whiskey Ice Cream There seems to be some disagreement as to whether the Irish or the Scots invented whiskey, although the first written account (in 1405) is Irish – a monk happily distilling away. It’s very likely that whiskey pre-dates this record, and there are even some who say that none other than St. Patrick brought the method of distilling when he arrived on this island.

We’re happy to claim it, and there are few better uses than with chocolate. The earthy flavour and alcoholic tang of a strong whiskey add a great deal to chocolate, whether it be in truffles, in a sauce or in ice cream. We call this flavour “Fuisce.”

I think it is especially great at this time of year, when the weather is cold and the body craves comfort. This is my brother’s favourite flavour, and I do hope you enjoy it as well, especially over the holidays.

Ingredients:

  • 100 g sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 220 ml milk
  • 200 ml cream
  • 150 g dark (70%) chocolate
  • 45 ml (3 tablespoons) whiskey (we use Paddy because it has a strong flavour)

What to do:

  1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water or a in a microwave. Take care – chocolate melts at a low temperature (ca. 37C) and it burns easily, so once it’s melted, remove from the heat!
  2. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until pale yellow.
  3. Bring the milk to a low simmer.
  4. Remove from the heat and beat the milk into the egg and sugar mixture in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat.
  5. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs! Immediately remove from the heat.
  6. Add to the melted chocolate in small parts and mix thoroughly until smooth and velvety.
  7. Cover the chocolate custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.
  8. Whiskey with ice creamStir in the whiskey.
  9. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
  10. Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard.
  11. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals.
  12. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.

Yield: 8 servings.

Notes:

  1. The chocolate and the custard must both be warm when you mix them, or you wont get a good emulsion. It’s also important to add the custard to the chocolate in small parts, incorporating it each time by stirring.
  2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.

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