I never get tired of trialling new ways to jazz up the faithful brownie, and this devilish little recipe is no exception. Using my favourite soft and fudgey brownie recipe, I’ve swirled slatherings of salty and crunchy peanut butter through the batter; the result is a bloody irresistible black and gold masterpiece.
Happy Easter friends! I was strolling through the quaint little country town by my house this morning, and turned a corner to be met by the warm, spicy smell of fresh hot cross buns floating through the crisp air from the bakery nearby. My gosh it was lovely. For me, the start of Autumn is marked by dark and misty mornings, gentle forest rain and a warm hot cross bun, dripping with melted butter, aside a tall steaming mug of tea.
Before you raise your eyebrows in suspicion of this cake’s unusual secret ingredient, let me argue its case. I was served this Dark Chocolate and Beetroot Cake upon arrival in London last year. It was baked lovingly by my cousins, drizzled with dark chocolate ganache and intricately decorated with a white chocolate welcome message. I was so taken aback by how incredibly rich and velvety the first bite was. The idea is not to actually taste the beetroot, but there is a dark, seductive, earthy tone to the cake that is utterly delicious.
Here is a slab of joy that I’m smitten to share with you; I’ve re-incarnated Cadbury’s gift to the world in slice form, and it is destined to unite cherry ripe lovers and convert cherry ripe haters. Is there such a thing as a cherry ripe hater? What a sad soul. Let’s not dwell on such pitiful things, back to this swanky ol’ Cherry, Chocolate and Coconut slice! A crunchy chocolate biscuit base sets the stage, and is a worthy foundation for the soft, sweet, chewy coconut and cherry filling, bursting with juicy chunks of cherry. Atop all that lies a silky layer of chocolate and coconut ganache, that catches clouds of coconut flakes.
This is no ordinary chocolate cake; the four layered tower is held together by a rich and velvety dark chocolate buttercream, laced with cinnamon and chilli, and topped with toasted fluffy marshmallows. The result is a subtle, intriguing and devilishly delicious combination of sugar, spice and heat. A Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake that promises seduction, fascination and admiration. On a separate note, it’s ridiculously fun setting fire to the marshmallows just prior to serving. Technically you should hold a flame torch/match over the marshmallows until they just start to toast. But obviously I got a bit overexcited by my new toy, and ended up frantically blowing out the flames that threatened to engulf my latest creation! Not sure I’m old enough to play with fire without supervision.
Fancy a batch of these pillowy-soft centred, crispy edged, slightly salted, honey-laced cookies? Packed with generous chunks of dark chocolate, crunchy pistachios and the promise of that perfect chewy texture, they’re a little exotic and utterly seductive. Perfect for late night snacking with a cup of tea, I used whole wheat flour for thicker cookies, and dark brown sugar for an almost caramel-like flavour. These devilish darlings don’t disappoint.
Hello you. Yes, you. I know you can’t take your eyes off me. I’m rich, warm and utterly irresistible, and I’m begging you to just take a bite…I’m certainly not a treat for the faint-hearted. If you allow yourself to indulge, you’ll first encounter a trace of salt that just touches your lips as your discover a drizzle of thick, velvety caramel nestled on my surface. Then, your teeth will overcome gentle resistance from my crisp surface before collapsing into a deep, thick, chocolatey mouthful of brownie bliss. The room will become hazy as a seductive combination of sugar and salt enrapture your senses, and you’ll be licking your lips and gazing longingly at your second bite before you’ve finished your first. And that’s ok, because there’s plenty of me to enjoy. I can be yours, tonight, if you’ll just whip out that apron and mixing bowl and spend a sweet hour in the kitchen. Oh, and any leftover salted caramel sauce can by drizzled generously over icecream… Tempting?
What a week! I woke up last Saturday to a hefty looking spike in my stats, and after doing some sleuthing, I was absolutely giddy to see that visitors were being directed from the wonderful Frankie Magazine website! They ever so kindly published my Raspberry, Coconut and White Chocolate Celebration Cake, and it quite literally made my heart soar. You can see what they had to say about it here. Frankie provide an utter haven for the craft/food/music/DIY minded, and also offer very thought provoking and progressive journalism regarding life, love and other important matters. So I cannot thank them enough for sharing some of my baking with their loyal league of followers.
7000 views later and a small but swanky little creation to celebrate; three layers of fudgey, rich, chocolate buttermilk cake, stacked between slatherings of silky chocolate swiss meringue buttercream. If there’s one thing I enjoy more than chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, it’s a collaboration of white, milk and dark chocolate swiss meringue buttercream all in the one cake. The buttermilk cake is soft and moist, and has very little sugar and lots of cocoa so is quite intense, perfectly offsetting the sweetness of the frosting.
This is a wickedly decadent little cookie, all crunchy and sweet and salty and sinful. The kind that leaves a few moist, chocolatey crumbs on your lips, and has you craving another when you’re only halfway through your first! The recipe uses brown sugar to give the cookies a chewy yet crunchy texture, and each bite hides a crisp piece of homemade peanut brittle. The brittle recipe is a family favourite that my Nan has made legendary, except she has always used almonds. I decided to switch it up, and the result is a little irresistible; deadly for lovers of peanut butter.
one perfect mess 