Chocolate Expresso cake

I found this recipe in Delicious magazine it was by Jill Dupleix it is wonderful!!!!! and very good for gluten intolerant people.

200g dark chocolate chopped
1tbs strong espresso coffee (made up)
1tbs rum or brandy
150g of caster sugar
150g of butter
3/4 of a cup of hazelnut meal
5 eggs separated
icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease a 24cm round or square cake tin. place the chocolate,coffee,rum,caster sugar and butter in a heat-prof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water until the butter and chocolate have melted. remove from the heat and stir until combined. Add hazelnut meal and mix well beat the egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form. stir a couple of spoonfuls in to lighten the chocolate mixture the fold in the rest. pour into cake tin and bake for 40 minutes. cool cake in tin before removing don't worry if the cake sinks it's normal. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

This recipe is for caramel slice. It is great if you get it right.



225g unsalted butter

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup desiccated coconut

Half a cup caster sugar

100g brown sugar

400ml tin condensed milk

2tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g dark chocolate

15g extra butter





Preheat oven to 180c. Lightly grease and line a non-stick a 20cm x 30cm baking tin with non-stick baking paper. Melt 125g of the butter. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl then add coconut, caster sugar and melted butter and stir until well combined.

Press the mixture firmly into the base of the tin. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until light golden. Meanwhile, place the remaining butter, brown sugar, condensed milk, golden syrup and vanilla extract in a saucepan over a low heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, bring to the boil then continue to cook, stirring over a low heat, for a further five minutes. Remove from heat and pour evenly over the base. Bake in the oven for ten minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Once cool, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl with the extra butter. Put this in the microwave until the chocolate has melted, spread the chocolate evenly over the caramel. When the chocolate has set cut into squares.

Labna

Mum and I made this simple cheese together. They turn out delicious, but they do take some time to drain.

600mls of Plain Yogurt
1 teaspoon of Salt
3 Garlic Cloves unpeeled and bruised (to keep vampires away)
4 sprigs of Rosemary
Olive Oil

Mix yogurt with salt and drain for two days,in the fridge, though a double sheet of muslin lining a strainer resting over a large bowl. Roll the mixture into balls then place in a medium sized container and cover with the olive oil. Add the rosemary and garlic. Leave overnight for the flavors to blend.

Potato gnocchi

This gnocchi recipe is Delicious and easy to make I had it for dinner on my birthday.Gnocchi tastes great with blue cheese sauce.

Potato gnocchi
serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 kg potatoes
325 g plain flour
salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.Boil the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. While this is happening fill another pot with water for the gnocchi and put it on the stove to boil. Note there must be at least 3 litres of water in the pot. Now drain and peel the potatoes. Do this next step quickly because the potatoes must be warm, chop the potatoes and push them through a sieve into a large bowl then mix in the flour bit by bit and mould the mixture into roughly 30 cm long sausages. Cut them into 1 cm pieces and press down on the pieces with the back of a fork. Divide the pieces into three equal batches then cook the batches in the pot of boiling water.When they rise to the surface they are ready. Lift gnocchi out of pot with slotted spoon. Put into dish and keep warm in oven.

Blue Cheese Sauce
250ml cream
100gms blue cheese
1 clove garlic

Chop garlic finely. Place in saucepan with cream. Bring to a gentle boil. When garlic is cooked, add blue cheese and pour over prepared gnocchi.

Ganny gogo's spaghetti

Spaghetti a la Gran
This recipe is a really good pasta dish
that my granny makes whenever we go to stay with her

Ingredients
1lb Minced Beef
1 x 14oz tin of tomatoes
1 x 2 ½ oz tin of puree
2 cloves garlic
2 or 4 oz cooking oil
1 small onion
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of cinnamon


Method
Heat fat in thick-bottomed saucepan and simmer garlic till slightly brown. Gently cook the sliced onions before they are brown add the tomatoes and the puree and the meat. Simmer gently until the meat is tender.

Pesto

This recipe is for pesto. Pesto can be served on crackers or mixed through pasta.
Have fun!

50g pine nuts
100g young basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan
4 cloves garlic peeled
200ml good quality olive oil
Place all the ingredients except the olive oil in the food processor
Mix until the mixture is well broken up. With the motor going
Gradually add the oil in a thin stream and process until the pesto
Is quite smooth but still has some texture.