Chocolate Melt-In-The-Middle Puddings

If you're a lover of Gu chocolate puddings, you will want to try these out! These individual melt-in-the-middle chocolate puddings are very quick to make with only four steps. 

First butter four ramekins (I only made two this time as you can see). Then melt 100g of dark chocolate and 100g of butter in the microwave - a top tip to make sure it doesn't burn (which is a lot easier than you think) is not to wait for the chocolate to completely melt as the smaller lumps will melt when you stir it.

Then set the melted mixture to one side for 15 minutes. Once cool stir in 150g light brown sugar, before adding 3 eggs one at a time, along with 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence. Then finally add in 50g of plain flour to the mixture. These then need to go into the oven at 200C for between 10-12 minutes. You'll know when they're done as they will be crunchy on the outside but gooey on the inside.  

The trick to these is to not underestimate when they are cooked, as it is easy to leave it in for just a minute longer which is all it takes for the gooey centre to turn into the outer sponge.

Chocolate Eclairs

This was my first time making chocolate eclairs and to my surprise they weren't that difficult to make at all. However there are quite a few stages to making them with the pastry, filling and topping.

First melt 115g of butter in 250ml (9fl oz) of water in a saucepan before beating in 200g of plain flour, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of caster sugar until the mixture is a smooth texture. Then leave this to cook for 2-3 minutes - make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn at this point. 

Then remove the pan from the heat and beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, until the mixture appears smooth and glossy.

Then spoon this mixture into a piping bag before piping it onto a tray which needs to be sprinkled with water beforehand to prevent them from sticky to the tray once baked. 

As you can see my piping skills leave much to be desired as mine turned out looking like bugs. These then need to go into the oven for 20-25 minutes but keep an eye on them as they will be done when they turn crisp and golden brown in colour.

To make the glossy chocolate topping, melt 50g of dark chocolate with two tablespoons of water in a saucepan - keep the heat low to prevent the chocolate also sticking and burning to the bottom of the pan. Then add this hot mixture to a bowl of 150g of icing sugar and 2 tbsp of cocoa powder to make a thick mixture.

Then for the cream filling, whip 450ml of double cream to form stiff peaks before spooning the mixture into a piping bag. If like me you forgot to put the nozzle on the end of the piping bag, or your nozzle is too big to make a small insertion, use the tip of a knife to insert the bag into the pasty. Then squeeze the cream into the pastry until it begins to come out back out of the little hole.

Then you can coat them in a thick layer of chocolate icing, if you're fancy enough you can show off your impressive piping skills...or like me you can spoon it on with the back of a spoon. 

Then all that is left to do is devour them!

Cadbury's Crunchie Chocolate Truffles

If like me (a student) you have very little money but Mother's Day is fast approaching and a box of shop-brought chocolates just isn't going to cut the mustard this year, these are the perfect alternative. They are very cheap and easy to make, and best of all it make tones! 

Truffles are very simple and only require THREE ingredients. I tend to use this BBC Food recipe as it has four simple steps to follow. To begin break up the (280g) dark chocolate into a bowl and leave to one side.

Then place the (50g) butter and (284ml) double cream into a saucepan, gently heat until the butter melts and the cream has begun to simmer.

Then pour the hot cream and butter mixture over the top of the chocolate to melt it. Keep stirring until all of the chocolate has melted (no lumps left).

It is then recommended you put it in the fridge for four hours, however I never seem to have enough patience for this, so I often resort to placing it in the freezer once has cooled (after placing the bowl into another bowl of ice cold water) to speed up the process.

Once it is ready (scoop-able consistency) you can begin making your truffles. The best way I've found to do this is with a melon ball scooper, as I have done it several times with my hands and it has only melted and got stuck to the palm of my hands. Therefore I'd strongly advise you use a melon ball scooper and dip it into hot water before scooping it into little balls.

The good thing about truffles is you can add whatever you want to make them just how you like them (or how your mum likes them in this case). I choose to roll mine in dark chocolate shavings (by grating the left over dark chocolate), cocoa powder and smashed up Crunchie bars.

And tah-dah, there you have it one very thoughtful and homemade Mother's day gift (for next to nothing)!

Willy Wonka Pudding

It's hard to describe this pudding because whilst it contains the usual ingredients, it's made in a very different way (for example you add a pint of water to the mixture just before putting it in the oven). But all you need to know is that it is the simplest yet most amazingly gooey chocolate pudding EVER.

To begin sieve the (6oz) self-raising flour and (3 tbsps) cocoa powder into a bowl, then add in the chunks of margarine (3oz) and caster sugar (6oz) before combining them all together.

Stir in the (10 tbsps) milk and vanilla essence (the recipe doesn't state the quantity but I used roughly a tsp) before spooning the mixture into a Pyrex dish.

In a separate bowl mix the (4oz) brown sugar and (2 tbsps) cocoa together, and then sprinkle it over the top of the bowl of wet ingredients (bottom left).

Then pour a pint of boiling water over the top of the ingredients (yes it does look very strange at this point but stay with it). I put it in the oven at around 180oc for between 30-40 minutes but keep an eye on it as it can sometimes flow over the edge.

And this is the end result...

Whilst the picture doesn't do it justice, I can vouch that is by far one of the best chocolate puddings you'll ever make. Thanks for passing on the recipe Nana!

Malteser Cookies

Who doesn't love cookies? Especially when they taste just like Millie's Cookies. This BBC Food recipe makes the most delicious crunchy-on-the-outside and gooey-on-the-inside cookies. Whilst the recipe includes chocolate chips, I couldn't resist adding Maltesers too, both inside and on top of the cookies!

Like most other cookie recipes, it has few ingredients. The butter (125g) and sugar (125g white and 100g light brown) need to be creamed together before adding in the egg and tsp of vanilla essence. Then sift in the self-raising flour (225g) and salt (1/2 tsp) before combining the chocolate chips (200g) and half the box of Maltesers into the cookie dough.

Then blob spoonfuls (the size depends on how many you want - as you can see I went for big!) onto the tray (preferably on grease-proof paper or a greased tin as they will stick) before crumbling the remaining Maltesers over the top of the cookies. 

Depending on how soft you want them to be, take them out after 7 (gooey) -10 (crispy around the edges) minutes. They are best eaten straight out of the oven when they are still gooey and the chocolates melted (not that you need reminding).

American Fluffy Pancakes

It took me a long time to find the perfect recipe for thick, fluffy (proper) breakfast pancakes but I've finally found it and best of all it's four simple steps.

                         
            1. Weigh out the 115g of plain flour,    2. Measure out 150ml of milk.
            1/4tsp salt, 1/2tsp baking powder
            and 1tsp vanilla essence. Combine
            together in a bowl.

            3. Make a well in the centre of the        4. Mix until it forms a thick batter.
            dry ingredients, then add in the egg       Then let it rest for 30 minutes to allow
            and milk gradually.                                  it to thicken up (I don't always wait...).
   

Then add butter to a hot pan (not too hot to burn the butter or pancakes though) and blob on the batter to form small but thick pancakes. A good way to tell if they are ready to flip is when the batter begins to bubble on the top.

  

My favourite way to eat these pancakes is with maple/golden syrup, strawberries and bananas!

Apple and Raisin Flapjacks

Flapjacks are worth making just so you can eat the mixture, especially if you pack them full with chocolate, fruit...or anything for that matter.

A fuss-free flapjack recipe is the best as you can add whatever you want to them (well that's what I tend to do anyway). To begin, melt the butter in a pan and then add in the golden syrup and sugar. Depending on how goeey you like your flapjacks to be, add in more golden syrup at this point.

When the sugar has melted (once it no longer feels grainy) pour it over the dry ingredients. This would normally be just the oats but as you can see I added a chopped apple and a (generous) handful of raisins.

Then stir to make sure all the ingredients are combined.

Then they're ready to go in the oven, flapjacks always to tend to take longer than you think but if like me you like them nice and gooey, take them out before the recommended time of 40 minutes as they firm up as they cool down.