Heston’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, so there a lot of chocolate chip cookies out there. And a lot of them are referred to as ‘the best’ or ‘perfect’. A lot of them have twists – butterscotch chips, caramel centres, the zest of an orange. However, I think there is a strong case to be made for adding these cookies to the collection. I’d never tried a recipe by Heston Blumenthal before – his signature style displayed in his restaurant and TV shows is truly complicated molecular gastronomy with lots of equipment and ingredient lists involving chemicals and numbers so I’ve always been pretty intimidated! Having said that, I do have a couple of his recipes in my To Bake list and if they’re anything like these cookies I’m hoping they’ll turn out really well. This is probably one of the simplest Heston recipes but he’s still added an extra step to the simple cookie – instead of just throwing in some chocolate chips, you make and freeze your own chocolate ganache before chopping it into tiny chunks and stirring it through the dough. It is a bit faffy by adding more time to the recipe (and the ganache melts fairly quickly when you’re chopping it) but really it just requires a bit of extra planning and the results are so worth it. Instead of getting slightly burnt chocolate on the base of the biscuit, the ganache stays really creamy and soft and is better distributed than little chips. The recipe makes big, chewy, classic American cookies – stereotypically perfect with a big glass of milk.I kicked myself after making these for leaving the ganache plain – I think the zest of an orange or dash of cointreau would have been delicious – but I guess their simple flavours is part of the cookies charm. Plus, that just means I have an excuse to make these again! I found the recipe here – enjoy!

William Curley Chocolate Tarts

I wanted to welcome in the new year on the blog in style, and what better way to do that than with a decadent chocolate feast? We’re talking chocolate sponge cake, chocolate orange ganache and quality chocolate glasage. All topped off with, wait for it, silver glitter. Who said January had to be the month of diets and detox? If this is how the rest of 2012 is going to be then I’m definitely looking forward to it!One of my favourite Christmas presents this year was undoubtedly chocolatier William Curley’s debut book, Couture Chocolate. William Curley has two chocolate shops in London, one of which I’ve been to, and all his work looks so perfect. One of my foodie new year resolutions this year was to stretch myself in my baking and I know this book will help me do that. It has so many new ideas and techniques for me, with the majority of recipes having multiple components and steps. They’re the kind of recipe that require at least one whole spare day to complete – especially if you’re me! – but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to with several more recipes bookmarked. The only issue will be spreading out these chocolate adventures so my whole family does not balloon in weight!I had a difficult time choosing my first recipe. One problem with this book is that the recipes make large amounts – 80 truffles, a cake serving 16 – so I had to choose something more suitable for my family of 3-4. I was baking these for New Year, so there would be a few extra mouths to feed on this occasion, but also more likes and dislikes to be aware of. No coconut, no caramel, no toffee, no nuts – my options were drastically reducing. I was also wary of choosing one of the extremely complicated recipes as I wanted to start gently. In the end I went for the chocolate tarts – multi component but each one manageable. You can just about see the layers here – pastry, ganache, sponge disk, more ganache, glasage (like a thinner ganache, containing liquid glucose). 

I used a different pastry recipe (there were ground almonds in the books recipe and I had a nut allergy to cater for) and that was actually where I had all my problems. The tarts took me most of the day and tons of washing up, but was finished just as my friends arrived. The results? Largely worth it. They aren’t anywhere near as beautiful as William’s, and my glasage sadly lacks shine but it was very satisfying to be finally finished. The tarts were rich, indulgent and a nice sparkly New Year treat. But…I’m not sure they were wildly better than this or this, especially considering the amount of work, and I’m not sure what the glasage added. It’s not the recipes fault, just my bad choosing and it certainly hasn’t put me off making more from this book, but it is something to bear in mind. The recipe is very long and complicated so I’d feel bad reproducing it here, but I’d definitely recommend the book or you could easily form your own with pastry, sponge and ganache recipes. Happy New Year!

Celebration Chocolate Log

People who know me know that I’m not fussy with pudding. Crumble, pie, a cookie, a tart, – I’m with you. But there are certain occasions that just cry out for something a bit extra special. Occasions like, perhaps, a second blogoversary? Or, reaching 100 posts? Or…both? Yes, Teen Baker is in the midst of celebrating both these milestones! I realise I am slightly late with celebrating these on the blog, and am a little over 100 posts now – but hey, when there is a cake this good around, who is complaining? And this cake is definitely this good. With nearly half a litre of cream and half a kilogram of chocolate I had no doubts that this was the perfect cake for my 2nd and 100th celebrations ;)
This cake is from Orlando Murrin’s book called A Table in the Tarn which I have used before a while ago and now shall certainly be using again. Intended for Christmas or New Year, this cake is decadence on a plate. It consists of…
- chocolate cake layer
- chocolate/cointreau mousse layer
- chocolate cake layer
- chocolate/cointreau mousse covering
- chocolate ganache coating
- chocolate shavings and strawberry topping
Can you say YUM?
Now, this cake is a celebration one not just because of the calorie count but because of the time it takes. Each step is only 5-10minutes, but most steps end in ‘Now refrigerate for 2 hours until firm’. Perhaps some of these firming-up periods are unnecessary, but with the large scale ingredients involved I was determined not to ruin this cake and followed it to the T. My favourite part of this was the chocolate and Cointreau mousse because it was so silky smooth, rich and deep with flavour. I would definitely like to make just this component again for a dessert, although as it is so rich it would have to be in very small servings! The cake layers are very thin and have a brownie-like texture which is great for supporting those thick layers of mousse. All in all – a resounding success! Because the recipe is so long and special, I don’t feel I should post it here but do buy the book or I think it would be easy to create using your own log with your favourite recipes for a rich chocolate cake and mousse. Happy Baking!

Profiteroles

Profiterole Story 1: At my parents wedding one of the puddings served up was profiteroles. However, as my Dad was busy greeting guests/celebrating/thinking about his speech/generally chatting away he never got one. All the guests were happily enjoying their “little bites of deliciousness”, filled with cream and covered in chocolate, but not one got to my Dad. And ever since then he has been making up for it by grabbing the profiterole chance whenever possible.Profiterole Story 2: I went on a week long cookery course a couple of years ago now, and one afternoon we made profiteroles. The lesson over-ran a little, and profiteroles tend to go soggy and flat when filled with their cream and left ahead of time. Therefore on the way home my friend and I were carrying three boxes: one of the delicate choux buns, one of lightly whipped cream and one of silky chocolate ganache – all waiting to be put together once safely home (aka safely near my Dad). Getting the tube home at the height of rush hour, standing in a packed London tube with wobbly boxes of rapidly melting cream, squashed between stressed office workers – quite an experience. Happily – the profiteroles were worth it. Yum.SO with these two profiterole memories with me I felt it was high time they were welcomed back to my kitchen. Choux pastry is a slight conundrum of pastry really – different to everything else. A light bun mixture made in a saucepan that puffs up to be fairly hollow and airy with a crisp outside, just waiting to be filled with all kinds of delicious things. I stuck with whipped cream, but for even more decadence these can be filled with pastry cream or ice cream. Of course choux pastry is not only made for profiteroles – it makes long eclairs, choux “swans”, choux rings, and savoury cheese gougeres. At big events and parties, profiteroles are traditionally served in beautiful towering stacks…but by the time I came to photograph these there simply weren’t that many left!
These profiteroles are good. Extremely good. Considering they are cream+chocolate+pastry it is no surprise they are very addictive. The pastry has to be done carefully and exactly right (this is the kind of recipe where baking becomes a real science) but is fairly simple when you get the idea and is so quick to put together. What are you waiting for? My recipe was from the classic Delia, which you can find here. You can also find all her tips on choux pastry here. Make. Eat. (Eat Another). Enjoy. Smile :)