Royal Chocolate Biscuit Cake – Popular Gourmet Dessert Recipe

 

Enjoy this royal favourite biscuit cake Jubilee, this summer.

The recipe requires over 2 hours Preparation time, No cooking required, Serves 8-10

Equipment and Preparation: You will need three 15cm/6in diameter tall cake tins and a cake board. You can use one tin, but you will need to allow extra time for each layer to firm up before assembly.

Ingredients:
For the dark chocolate layer

  • 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 50g/1¾oz unrefined caster sugar
  • 50g/1¾oz golden syrup
  • 25ml/¾fl oz warm water
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 125g/4½oz dark chocolate, in pieces
  • 60g/2¼oz tea biscuits (such as Rich Tea)
  • 60g/2¼oz digestive biscuits

For the milk chocolate layer

For the white chocolate layer

  • 225g/8oz white chocolate, in pieces
  • 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 75g/2½oz sweetened condensed milk
  • 25g/1oz golden syrup
  • 1 tbsp hot water
  • 150g/5½oz pink or chocolate wafer biscuits
  • ½ tsp sea salt

To assemble

  • 50g/1¾oz melted milk, white or dark chocolate

For the ganache

  • 150ml/5fl oz double cream
  • 100g/3½oz dark chocolate
  • 50g/1¾oz milk chocolate
  • sprinkles, flags, biscuits and any Jubilee-themed decorations

Directions:

  • For the dark chocolate layer, line a 15cm/6in diameter tall cake tin with baking paper.
  • Put the butter, caster sugar, golden syrup, water and sea salt together in a pan over a low heat. Bring to a simmer, then take off the heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth.
  • Break the biscuits up into chunky pieces and mix them into the chocolate mixture.
  • Spoon the mixture into the tin and level off. Refrigerate for one hour.
  • Remove from the fridge, carefully remove from the tin and peel off the baking paper.
  • For the milk chocolate layer, line another 15cm/6in diameter tall cake tin with baking paper. Combine the butter, condensed milk and sea salt in a pan and place on a low heat. Once melted, take off the heat, add the chocolate and stir until smooth.
  • Break the biscuits up into chunky pieces and mix into the chocolate mixture.
  • Spoon the mixture into the tin and level off. Refrigerate for one hour. Remove from the fridge, carefully remove from the tin and peel off the baking paper.
  • For the white chocolate layer, line a 15cm/6in diameter tall cake tin with baking paper. Put the butter, golden syrup, condensed milk, water and sea salt in a pan and melt over a low heat. Remove from the heat. Add the white chocolate and stir until smooth.
  • Chop the biscuits up into chunky pieces and stir them into the chocolate mixture.
  • Spoon the mixture into the tin and level off. Refrigerate for one hour.
  • Remove from the fridge, carefully remove the cake from the tin and peel off the baking paper.
  • To assemble the cake, place the dark chocolate layer of cake onto a cake board. Spread one dessertspoon of the melted chocolate onto the dark layer.
  • Place the milk chocolate layer on top and press firmly so that it bonds to the dark chocolate layer.
  • Repeat this with the melted chocolate and white chocolate layer so that you now have a layered cake with white chocolate at the top, milk chocolate in the centre and dark chocolate at the bottom.
  • For the ganache, chop both the types of chocolates into small pieces. Bring the cream to a simmer in a pan and pour onto the chocolate, whisking well until glossy and smooth.
  • Allow the ganache to cool at room temperature, but not to go fully cold as it will be too thick to spread.
  • Spread the ganache evenly over the sides and top of the cake making sure that you are generous with the ganache on the top of the cake. Do not worry if the ganache is not perfectly even or flat, it doesn’t need to be.
  • Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set the ganache.
  • To serve, use a sharp knife to cut into wedges. This cake must be served at room temperature (It will keep in an airtight container for 5 days or the individual layers of biscuit cake will keep for two weeks.) Enjoy!

 

Spring Green Soup – Seasonal Recipes

Broccoli Soup with Toasted Walnuts – 2 Bliss of Baking

Step into Spring and embrace the wonderful flavours of spring with this simple recipe using delicious seasonal ingredients.

This Primavera spring green vibrant soup is the perfect springtime celebration, packed with seasonal vegetables.

The recipe requires less than 30 mins Preparation time and 30 minutes to 1 hour Cooking time, Serves 2.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 spring onions, white and green parts separated and chopped
  • 100g/3½oz sprouting broccoli, chopped
  • 300g/10½oz frozen peas
  • 50g/1¾oz fresh broad beans
  • 30g/1oz wild garlic
  • 400ml/14fl oz vegetable stock
  • 50ml/2fl oz plant-based cream

To serve

  • 1 tbsp chopped roasted hazelnuts
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

  • Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan and add the white spring onions, broccoli, peas, beans, almost all of the wild garlic and the stock. Cook for 5–6 minutes, then add the cream and blend until smooth.
  • Heat the remaining oil in a separate small saucepan and fry the green parts of the spring onion and the remaining wild garlic for 2–3 minutes.
  • Serve the soup topped with the fried onions, wild garlic, hazelnuts and a swirl of olive oil.

*Recipe TipsTo take this soup to the next level, serve in large, hollowed out bread rolls

Bourbon-glazed Doughnut with homemade Milk Ice-cream – Popular Dessert Recipe

Bourbon-glazed monster doughnut with malted milk ice cream
This giant doughnut – supersized doughnut with homemade malted milk ice cream takes the food trend to the next level.

The recipe requires over 2 hours Preparation time and 1 to 2 hours Cooking time, and Serves 10.

Equipment and preparation: For the giant doughnut you will need a 38cm/15in deep-sided, non-stick cake tin, and a 12.5cm/5in cake tin or ovenproof ramekin. For the ice cream you will need an ice cream maker alternatively, Pacojet machine.

Ingredients:

For the ice cream

  • 4 tsp malted milk powder
  • 250ml/9fl oz full-fat milk
  • 250ml/9fl oz double cream
  • 6 free-range egg yolks
  • 100g/3½oz caster sugar

For the doughnut

  • 600ml/1pt 1fl oz milk
  • 1kg/2lb 4oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 100g/3½oz caster sugar
  • 250g/9oz butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 18g fresh yeast
  • 200g/7oz demerara sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 200g/7oz icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp bourbon whiskey

Directions:

  • For the ice cream, in a saucepan, whisk the malted milk powder with a splash of milk until dissolved, then add the remaining milk and the cream and bring the mixture to a simmer.
  • In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then pour the warm milk mixture over the egg mixture, whisking continuously until well combined.
  • Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over a gentle heat, whisking all the time, until the mixture thickens just enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  • Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen, then transfer the ice cream to an airtight, freezeable container and freeze until needed. Alternatively, if using a Pacojet machine, fill (but do not overfill) the container, then place it in the freezer for at least 4 hours, or until frozen solid.
  • Meanwhile, for the doughnut, mix the flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a free-standing mixer.
  • Heat 100g/3½oz of the butter and half of the milk in a saucepan over a low heat. When the butter is just melting, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the yeast until dissolved. Set aside.
  • Add the remaining milk to the pan containing the yeast mixture, then pour all of the liquid over the dry ingredients. Mix for 5 minutes in the free-standing mixer or using an electric whisk fitted with a bread hook attachment, on a medium speed, until the mixture has come together as a soft, sticky dough. Alternatively, knead by hand on a lightly floured work surface for 5 minutes.
  • Place the dough into a large bowl and cover with cling film, then set aside at room temperature to prove for 1 hour, or until well risen, spongey and nearly doubled in size.
  • Grease the insides of a 38cm/15in deep-sided, non-stick cake tin with butter, and grease the outside edge of a 12.5cm/5in cake tin or ovenproof ramekin. Place one inside the other.
  • Melt the remaining 150g/5oz of butter and pour into a large, high-sided roasting tray.
  • Mix together the demerara sugar and cinnamon in another high-sided roasting tray.
  • Turn out the proved dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it gently for a couple of minutes until smooth and elastic, then roll it into a big bun shape. Using a pair of scissors, snip the dough in the centre to create a hole reaching all the way from the top to the bottom of the bun; use your fingers to gently increase the size of the hole.
  • Dip the monster doughnut into the melted butter until completely coated, then dust it on all sides with the cinnamon sugar. Transfer the doughnut to the prepared tin, easing the doughnut hole around the smaller cake tin or ramekin. Cover the doughnut loosely with cling film and set aside at room temperature for 40-45 minutes, or until the dough is well risen.
  • Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
  • When the monster doughnut has proved, remove the cling film and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and cooked through. Carefully remove the inner tin, then turn the whole doughnut out onto a large serving platter.
  • Stir the icing sugar and bourbon together in a bowl until smooth, then spoon the mixture into a small piping bag and drizzle it over the top of doughnut.
  • Fill a ramekin small enough to fit inside the doughnut hole with the ice cream. Serve immediately.