MAXIMUM CHOCOLATE
Too much chocolate is never enough at Easter, and we’ve worked its magic on everything from hotcakes to hot-cross buns.
Too much chocolate is never enough at Easter, and we’ve worked its magic on everything from hotcakes to hot-cross buns.
Rhubarb and chocolate tart
The tang of rhubarb is a great match for rich, slightly bitter chocolate. This very easy tart can be whipped up fast if you have shortcrust pastry on hand. The recipe here can be made ahead and frozen; otherwise use a good shop-bought pastry such as Carême vanilla bean shortcrust.
Prep time 15 mins, cook 30 mins (plus resting, standing)
Serves 8-10
120 gm blanched almonds
90 gm raw caster sugar
70 gm dark chocolate (58%-66% cocoa solids) 4 rhubarb stalks (about ½ bunch), trimmed and thinly sliced diagonally
Crème fraîche, or ice-cream (optional), to serve
Shortcrust pastry
330 gm plain flour, sieved
40 gm pure icing sugar, sieved Scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean 150 gm chilled butter, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 For shortcrust pastry, pulse flour, icing sugar, vanilla seeds and a pinch of salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and process to just combine, then add egg and pulse to just combine. Turn out onto a work surface and bring dough together. Pat into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.
2 Roll out pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a 27cm x 42cm rectangle, place on an oven tray, still between paper, and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes to rest.
3 Preheat oven to 190C. Take pastry out of refrigerator and remove top sheet of baking paper. Process almonds, sugar and chocolate in a food processor to coarse crumbs, then scatter mixture over pastry, leaving a 1cm-2cm border. Scatter rhubarb over chocolate mixture, then fold in sides of pastry to form an edge and bake until pastry is golden brown (25-35 minutes). Stand to cool (about 20 minutes), then serve with crème fraîche or ice-cream.
Chocolate scrolls
These scrolls are best eaten warm while the chocolate is still melty. Make them ahead and gently reheat them in a low oven when you’re ready to serve them. Make them as sticky as you like by upping the quantity of the glaze mixture.
Prep time 25 mins, cook 30 mins (plus proving)
Makes 7
200 ml lukewarm milk
1½ tsp dried yeast
400 gm plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 egg, at room temperature
120 gm softened butter, plus extra for greasing 100 gm brown sugar mixed with ½ tsp ground cinnamon
70 gm dark chocolate (66%-70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
Sticky glaze
90 ml pouring cream 2½ tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp butter
1 Stir milk and yeast in a bowl until yeast dissolves. Combine flour, egg and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add yeast mixture and knead until a soft elastic dough forms (2-3 minutes). Transfer to a lightly buttered bowl, rub butter lightly over the top, cover with plastic wrap and stand to prove until doubled in size (1 hour).
2 For sticky glaze, bring ingredients to the boil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
3 Line a 22cm-diameter springform tin with baking paper. Knock back dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 35cm square, dusting lightly with flour if needed to prevent sticking. Spread butter evenly over dough and scatter with brown sugar mixture, then chocolate and roll away from you into a cylinder. Trim ends, then cut into 5cm-thick pieces and space scrolls evenly, cut-side up, in prepared tin, cover with a tea towel and stand to prove until the sides of the scrolls are touching (45 minutes to 1 hour).
4 Preheat oven to 190C and bake scrolls until golden brown (25-30 minutes). Stand for 5 minutes, then carefully invert onto a wire rack and turn scrolls upright. Brush with glaze, stand for 15 minutes, then serve warm. Scrolls are best eaten on the day they’re made, but can be stored in an airtight container for 1-2 days and warmed to serve.>
Chocolate and salted macadamia cookies
Topping these cookies with salted roasted macadamia nuts adds a moreish salty-sweet element and extra crunch. Try salted peanuts or pistachio nuts for a bit of variety.
Prep time 15 mins, cook 15 mins (plus cooling)
Makes about 22
130 gm plain flour
20 gm Dutch-process cocoa
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
150 gm brown sugar
90 gm butter, at room temperature
1 small egg, lightly beaten
100 gm dark chocolate (54%-58% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
60 gm salted roasted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped 1 Preheat oven to 180C and line baking trays with baking paper. Sieve flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Beat sugar and butter in an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and stir to just combine, then stir in a third of the chocolate.
2 Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough and place on baking trays, pressing to flatten slightly, leaving a 5cm gap between each. Dot tops with macadamias and remaining chocolate and bake, turning trays partway through cooking, until cookies are set and becoming firm at the edges (12-15 minutes). Cool until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack, then cool completely (25-30 minutes). Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Chocolate soufflés
The magic of chocolate soufflés is that they’re both rich and light. The chocolate mixture can be prepared two or three days ahead, and the ramekins a day; whisk the eggwhites and fold them into the chocolate mixture just before the soufflés go in the oven.
Prep time 20 mins, cook 20 mins
Makes 6
Butter, softened for greasing
70 gm caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 6 eggwhites
Chocolate or vanilla-bean ice-cream, to serve
Chocolate cream
1 egg, at room temperature
2 egg yolks
3 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp Dutch-process cocoa, plus extra
for dusting
150 ml milk
Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla bean
50 gm dark chocolate (64%-70% cocoa solids) 1 tbsp dark sweet dessert wine, such as Pedro Ximénez or topaque
Chocolate ice-cream, to serve
1 Generously butter six 125ml ramekins; it’s important to butter the sides all the way to the rim to help the soufflés rise. Refrigerate ramekins until butter is set (15 minutes), then dust liberally with caster sugar.
2 For chocolate cream, whisk egg, egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Add cornflour and cocoa and whisk to combine. Bring milk and vanilla seeds to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour into egg mixture, whisking to combine, then return to a clean saucepan and stir vigorously over high heat until mixture thickly coats the spoon (2-4 minutes). Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, cover directly with plastic wrap and stand to cool (1 hour). Add wine and beat with a wooden spoon to a smooth cream, then stand at room temperature.
3 Preheat oven to 200C. If chocolate cream has been made ahead, bring it to room temperature and whisk until smooth. Whisk eggwhite with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form, then gradually add sugar, whisking until smooth, firm peaks form. Fold a third of the eggwhite mixture into the chocolate cream until evenly combined, then repeat with remaining eggwhite mixture.
4 Spoon mixture into prepared moulds to the top. Level tops with a knife, then run your finger just around tops of rims to remove excess soufflé mixture (to prevent soufflés sticking). Bake until puffed (13-15 minutes), dust with cocoa and serve with chocolate ice-cream.>