The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris (36 page)

Chocolate Krispie Cake

Seriously, we all have to start somewhere, and this is perfect for kids and as yummy as you remember them.

Ingredients:

•
4 tbsp butter

•
3
⁄
4
cup Rice Krispies

•
3
1
⁄
2
ounces melted chocolate—dark or light, depending on preference

•
3 tsp corn syrup

To make:

Melt the chocolate slowly, then add the butter and make sure that is all melted in too. Then add the syrup and the Rice Krispies to the mix. You can also add tiny marshmallows and, if you're weird, raisins. (Seriously, there is a time and a place for raisins, but I feel very strongly that this is not it.)

Spoon into paper cases, allow to cool.

Never Fail Chocolate Cake

This is absolutely the easiest chocolate cake in the world. You will look at it and sniff and think,
Hmm, vegetable oil
, but I promise, it makes it all moist and delicious, and you can decide to make it at very short notice, always very useful, and the ingredients don't even need to be exact.

Anyway, preheat oven to 350° and line the baking pan. I used a loaf pan for this, makes it nice and tidy.

Ingredients:

•
4 eggs

•
1 cup sugar

•
1
⁄
2
cup cocoa powder

•
1
⁄
2
cup vegetable oil

•
2 cups flour

•
4 tsp baking powder

•
1
⁄
2
tsp salt

•
1 cup strong coffee (espresso or just very strong)

•
zest from 1 or 2 oranges

•
1 tsp vanilla

To make:

Beat eggs, sugar, and cocoa powder, and add the oil gradually. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add the zest and vanilla at the end. Pour, then 40 minutes in the oven, but do check it—it can be very runny. Mine had to go back in for a bit longer. Ice with Nutella. Delish!

Chocolate Cookie Cake

My friend Jim first made this, and I got totally addicted to it. I really, really love this cake. Thanks, Jim. N.B.: He says Shamrock fruit and nuts because he's an Irishman. We just mean mixed, really. And please invoice him for the slimming classes afterward, not me. :)

Ingredients:

•
14 tbsp unsalted butter

•
2 (very generous) tbsp corn syrup

•
8 ounces good quality chocolate

•
1
⁄
2
x 14 ounces packet of chocolate cookies (roughly crushed)

•
1
⁄
2
x 14 ounces packet of rich tea biscuits (roughly crushed)

•
3
⁄
4
cup shamrock nuts (walnuts, brazils, almonds), optional

•
3
⁄
4
cup shamrock fruit (sultanas, apricots, cherries), optional

•
1 Cadbury's Crunchie honeycomb toffee

To make:

Line a 6-inch, round cake pan or a 2 pound loaf pan with a double layer of greaseproof paper. I used a silicone loaf mold. There is no need to line the silicone mold.

Melt the butter, syrup, and chocolate in a pan over low heat. This took some time, as I used the lowest setting on the stove. Make sure the pot is large enough to take all the crushed cookies, etc. Stir to make sure all the ingredients are well mixed together.

Add the cookies, fruit, and nuts. Stir well. Make sure to break the cookies relatively small, as they will not fit in the mold/tin otherwise.

Transfer to prepared pan. Level it on top and press down well to avoid “air gaps.” Allow to get cold and hard. It needs about two hours in the fridge or about 45 minutes in the freezer. The longer, the better. It tastes even better the next day. Wrap completely in greaseproof paper and store in a fridge.

Brownies with Coffee and Chocolate Chips

Of course we have to have a brownie recipe, and this one is just the ticket:

Ingredients:

•
4
3
⁄
4
cups flour

•
1 tsp salt

•
1 tsp baking powder

•
3
⁄
4
tsp baking soda

•
2 ounces ground coffee

•
16 tbsp of butter

•
2
1
⁄
2
cups packed dark brown sugar

•
2
1
⁄
2
cups chocolate chips

•
3 eggs, lightly beaten

To make:

Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and coffee.

In a double boiler or carefully in a microwave, melt the butter, brown sugar, and half of the chocolate chips, stirring to combine well. Let cool slightly, then stir the dry mixture into it. Stir in the eggs. Pour into an ungreased pan. Sprinkle the remaining half of the chocolate chips on top.

Bake until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the pan, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled. Remove and cut into squares. Eat cold or at room temperature. Makes 24 brownies.

Best Ever Hot Chocolate

This works well on freezing days for tired children. I don't think I can specify how many marshmallows you may need. Just assume two times as many as you think you'll need.

Ingredients:

•
1
⁄
2
cup double cream

•
1
⁄
2
cup milk

•
3
1
⁄
2
ounces excellent quality dark chocolate

•
pinch cinnamon

•
marshmallows

To make:

Gently heat the cream and milk mixture—do not allow to boil! Or get a skin! So very, very, very gently! Melt the dark chocolate carefully, and mix slowly together. Serve with a pinch of cinnamon on the top and marshmallows. If you're a grown-up and were visiting us, you'd get a slug of either Drambuie or Lagavulin in yours too.

Mum's Cheesecake

Here is my friend Lauren's mum's amazing chocolate cheesecake.

Ingredients:

Crust:

•
10–12 chocolate cookies

•
4 tbsp butter

•
1 tbsp honey or corn syrup

Filling:

•
5–6 eggs at room temperature

•
2 cups sugar

•
1 pound Philadelphia chocolate cream cheese

•
2 tbsp flour

•
1–2 tsp vanilla

Glaze:

•
1 pound cherries in syrup

•
1
⁄
2
cup sugar, optional

•
2 tbsp corn starch

To make:

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Crust: Melt butter in medium saucepan. Whizz cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs. Stir into butter with honey. Grease a pan with high sides and press in crust evenly over the bottom. Bake 10 minutes, then cool.

Filling: Separate eggs and whisk yolks till thick and pale. Gradually beat in sugar, then the chocolate cream cheese, flour, and vanilla, till smooth. Whisk whites till stiff but not dry and fold into yolk mixture with a metal spoon. Pour over crust and bake 70 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave it in for another hour. Chill.

Glaze: Drain cherries, reserving juice. Add water to juice to make one cup. Combine with sugar and starch in a pan and cook, whisking constantly, till thickened. Boil 1 minute. Remove, add cherries, and cool. Spoon on top of cheesecake and chill.

Chocolate Meringue Cake

OOH, I do love this. And it is flour-free, which is good for people with intolerances. It's lovely and crunchy on the top/bottom, depending on how you like to turn it out, and gooey in the middle.

Ingredients:

•
12
1
⁄
2
ounces good dark chocolate

•
1 shot espresso/strong coffee

•
2–3 tbsp brandy/liquor of your choice (gin is amazing with chocolate)

•
4 large eggs, separated

•
7 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, broken up into small cubes

•
pinch salt (chocolate always benefits from salt)

•
7
⁄
8
cup superfine sugar

•
More chocolate for grating over the top, if you like that sort of thing

To make:

Oven to 350°F.

Grease an 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom with baking parchment.

Make your espresso/strong coffee and add to the brandy. Pour over the top of your chocolate, broken up in a heatproof bowl, and melt together, either in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water, until it's smooth and glossy. Set aside to cool.

Beat the butter and egg yolks together until they're creamy, then add the cooled chocolate mix and beat again.

In another
very
clean
bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt to soft peaks, then add the sugar, bit by bit, beating with each addition until it makes a lovely glossy meringue.

Fold the meringue, about a third at a time, into the chocolate mix, then spoon it all into the springform tin and level it out.

Bake for about 40 minutes. What you want is a crispy, slightly cracked top and a middle that's still soft but not actually liquid.

Turn the oven off and leave the cake inside to finish cooking in the diminishing heat. It should be done in about an hour. Take out and leave to cool completely, then turn out by running a knife around the side in the tin, taking off the walls, then either turning upside-down onto a plate if you like a crunchy bottom or sliding it onto one if you like a crunchy top. Grate chocolate over the top if you think it needs more decoration, but I never bother.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

So easy, so delish.

Ingredients:

•
2
3
⁄
4
cups unsifted flour

•
1 tsp baking soda

•
pinch salt

•
9 tbsp softened butter

•
3
⁄
8
cup granulated sugar

•
4
1
⁄
2
cups firmly packed brown sugar

•
1 tsp vanilla extract

•
2 eggs

•
5-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

•
3
⁄
4
cups chopped nuts

To make:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Chill the mix an hour or so if you have the time, then make little cookies onto baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Chocolate Mousse

I am unashamed to relate that the first time I made this and it came out perfectly I was INCREDIBLY excited. I had a guest over who's a wonderful cook, so I had to pretend I totally knew it was going to be fine all along. Anyway, I have made it a few times since, and it seems pretty fail-safe and impressive; you just need a little time. You can also add flavoring to it, if you like—Grand Marnier is delicious in it.

Ingredients:

•
7 ounces chocolate, half light half dark

•
1
3
⁄
4
tbsp butter

•
3 egg yolks

•
1 cup water

•
1 cup whipped cream

•
3
⁄
4
cup sugar

To make:

Melt the butter and chocolate with a
3
⁄
4
cup of water. (I do this very slowly and carefully in the microwave, checking every ten seconds, but you can use a double boiler, if you'd rather.)

Whisk the egg yolks, the sugar, and the rest of the water over a low heat, and whip the cream if it isn't already.

Combine all the ingredients and chill 3–4 hours in fridge.