Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Simple Rich Tiramisu


Today, I'm going to post a simple recipe for Tiramisu, from a recipe card that I picked up quite a long time ago, which my girlfriend absolutely loves. We usually buy them ready made from the supermarket as the easier option, but this time I thought that I would make it myself, as I remember this recipe being very tasty, and it is very simple to prepare with very little preparation, too - very much like the Cheap and Cheerful Cheese Cake recipe that I posted a while ago. I really hope you enjoy this recipe as much my girlfriend and I did.

What you need:
900g/ 2lb loaf tin
200ml/7fl oz black coffee
2 tbsp brandy, optional
18-20 sponge fingers
250g/9oz mascarpone cheese
300ml/half a pint, double cream
2 eggs
4tbsp caster sugar
50g/2oz plain chocolate, grated
3 tbsp cocoa powder

What to do:
First, lightly grease the loaf tin and line with cling film. Then mix the coffee with the brandy in a shallow dish. Now dip the sponge fingers into the coffee and brandy mix and arrange sugar side out, vertically along the side of the tin. Now you will need a bit of elbow grease or if like me an electric whisk: Beat the cheese and cream together, then whisk eggs and sugar until thick and fold into the cream mixture. Next, mix the grated chocolate and cocoa powder together and get the loaf tin ready, Scatter a third of the chocolate mix into the tin, top with half the cream mixture and trim the tops of the sponge fingers so they run level with the tin. Then  add them to the cream mix that is already in the tin. Now top the cream with half the remaining chocolate, then the rest of the cream mix, then the last of the chocolate. Now, with the hard part over, all that is left to do is to chill in the fridge for 3 hours. When set, invert the tin onto a plate, peel away the cling film and serve. A cool alternative for these hot summer days is to pop the Tiramisu into the freezer. Leave it for about an hour and you will be left with an almost ice cream like treat.


Happy cooking and enjoy!

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

Cheap and Cheerful: Double Chocolate Cheesecake

To be honest, I'm not really a dessert or pudding man. Give me a nice salad - any day of the week. But my girlfriend is like most women and has a real sweet tooth. She loves her chocolate and sweets. So I thought for a change, we would look for a desert recipe that would be appealing to both of us, as we never plan a desert in our weekly shop. We both agreed that we liked cheesecake, So decided on a double chocolate cheesecake recipe that I found on the on the BBC Good Food website. I have always wanted to to prepare a cheesecake but thought that it would be quite complicated. That couldn't be further from the truth. This cheesecake is probably the most simple recipe I have ever tried. It took me about 20 minutes to prepare and all that was left was to leave to set in the fridge for a few hours. I hope you enjoy. 

What you need:
175g digestive biscuits
50g butter melted
300g cream cheese
200g mascarpone
300g milk chocolate, melted
100g dark chocolate, melted

What to do:
Crush the biscuits and mix with the melted butter. Press the biscuit mixture into the base of 20cm springform tin. Mix the cream cheese with the mascarpone. Fold the milk chocolate into the cream cheese mix and then stir in the dark chocolate so that it looks streaky. Spoon into the tin, level the top and chill for two hours or overnight.


Happy cooking and enjoy!