Fat Friday #26 Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

This recipe has been a long time coming. I was asked back in 2014 for a decent recipe for a salted caramel hot chocolate. I've been testing and tasting various different combos and I found one that finally works. Its thick, creamy, on the right side of salty and with an intense hit of chocolate. If this hot chocolate recipe screams FAT FRIDAY!!! 

Recipe: Makes 2 large servings (Caramel recipe loosely adapted from Primrose Celebrations by Lisa Stuart and Martha Swift and the Hot Chocolate Recipe very loosely adapted from Boutique Baking by Peggy Porschen)

Caramel:
·110g granulated sugar
·3 tablespoons water
·125ml double cream
·1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt

Hot Chocolate Mix:

· 125g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
· 2 teaspoons cocoa powder, (plus a little extra for dusting on top)
· 125ml whipping cream
· 300ml whole milk
· 2 tablespoons of the above salted caramel sauce

Equipment:

·Saucepan x 3
·Fine sieve
·Serving glasses or mugs
·Heatproof bowl
·Measuring jug
·Whisk
·Wooden Spoon

Caramel Method

1. Place the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan on a medium heat. Do not stir the mixture but just swirl it once and a while.
2.While the granulated sugar is boiling, pour the cream and salt in a small bowl to heat gently.
3.Once the granulated sugar has turned an amber colour, remove from heat and immediately add a little cream.
4. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, be careful as it may spit.
5. Add the remaining cream in small amounts, stirring constantly. Once all the cream has been incorporated, transfer into a separate bowl to cool.

Hot Chocolate Method

1. Place the cream, milk, salted caramel sauce in a saucepan and simmer.

2. Place the chocolate into a mixing bowl and sift the cocoa powder.
3.Once the cream mixture is hot, pour over the chocolate and cocoa powder and whisk until fully incorporated.
4. Return the mixture to the saucepan again, just to heat again. Taste to see if you like the amount of salted caramel. Add a tablespoon at a time if needed.
5. Pour into mugs or heatproof glasses. Consume and enjoy the chocolate hit.
6. (Sieve a little cocoa powder on top of each glass using a stencil and sieve. To add optional cuteness)

Have an amazing weekend!

Summer Raspberry Roulade

Hello and Happy Friday! Or should I say Happy Fat Friday! I love Fat Friday's its sort of like TGIF, but about gorging yourself on food purely because its Friday. Or is that just me? Maybe its just be who goes "Yeah! Its Friday! Stuff my face with food!". Anyway, its recipe time.  

Nothing says summer like a roulade, and what works better with sweet sticky meringue and smooth cream? Tart summery raspberries, of course. I had this recipe written up and ready to publish but had a serious lack of pictures. There wasn't even a picture of the end product... So it sat in the drafts for about, oh I don't know, 2 years?

I remember making this for the first time in my pastry class, this was when the blog first started my gosh! Its a good dessert to use up any leftover egg whites and cream. Lots of different fruit can also be used, try a tropical version with pineapple chunks or try mixing a little cocoa powder in the whipped cream for a taste of chocolate.  

Recipe: Meringue (My own recipe)
4 egg whites
275g caster sugar
Lots of Whipped Cream (I whip about 500ml double or whipping cream.)
200g Raspberries

Equipment:
Bowl
Electric mixer with the whisk attachment/Handheld whisk
Baking sheet lined with baking paper
Large palette knife
Clean teat-towel
 

1. Preheat the oven to 220c/200f/Gas Mark 7. Line the baking sheet with baking paper and set aside. 
 2. Whisk eggs whites to a soft peak. This should be white, foamy but still holding a peak.
3. Put your mixer on a low/medium speed and add the sugar gradually one tablespoon at a time every 10-15 seconds. This gives the time for the sugar to dissolve.

4 Once all the sugar has been incorporated, whisk for a further 2-3 minutes at a lower speed. The meringue should be stiff.

5. Spread onto a baking sheet using a palette knife and bake for 8 minutes until a pale golden colour. The reduce the heat to 160c/140f/Gas Mark 3 and bake for a further 15 minutes. 

6.Remove from the oven, the meringue should be firm to touch, not wet or soggy. Place on clean teatowl and remove from the baking paper. Set aside to cool

7.Meanwhile, whip the cream until it stands in stiff peaks. 

8. Once the meringue is cool, spread the cream over the meringue. Sprinkle some raspberries liberally.

9. The next part is a little tricky. Roll the meringue with the tea-towel to support the roll. This will keep you're fingers clean and will prevent it breaking.

 

What type of fruit would you put in your roulade? Want to share your Fat Friday foodie moment? Use the hashtag #fatfridays on Instagram and twitter or whatever the cool kids are using nowadays.

Have a good weekend and Happy Baking!

 

Sexy Choux Pastry

There's something decadent, irresistible and just a little sexy about choux pastry. Its versatile and comes in different forms. In this post we'll be looking at  Eclairs, Choux Buns, Beignets and paris brest.

Beignets(bottom left), Paris Brest (top left), eclairs (bottom right) and choux buns (top right)

Choux (prenounced shoe) means cabbage in French, this may be because of its resemblance to the vegetable. This pastry is made with water, flour, egg and butter; it is first cooked on the stove to let the water evaporate from the pastry, the moisture is then replaced by the eggs. 

·   

        250ml of water

·       Pinch of sugar

·       Pinch of salt

·       100g Butter, margarine or oil

·       Strong Flour sieved 125g

·       4 eggs

Equipment:

·       Sieve

·       Wooden Spoon

·       Saucepan

·       Bowl

1.    Bring the water, sugar, salt and fat to the boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat.

2.    Add the sieved flour and mix in with a wooden spoon.

3.    Return to a moderate heat and stir continually until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

4.    Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

5.    Gradually add the beaten eggs beating well. Don’t add the eggs in all at once- check the consistency as you go. The mixture may not take all the egg. It should just flow back when moved in one direction.

Choux Buns (top) and Eclairs (bottom)

The first éclair recipe translated into English appeared around 1884 and was thought that it was invented by Antonio Careem, a famous french chef. It is an oblong hollow pastry traditionally filled with cream. 

The history of the choux bun (profiterole) is unknown but is essentially a small round pastry which filled with cream. In the US its called a Cream Puff 

Recipe: Chocolate Eclairs/Choux Buns

·       125ml Choux pastry

·       ¼ litre Whipped Cream

·       25g Chocolate

Equipment:

·       Sieve

·       Wooden Spoon

·       Saucepan

·       Bowl

1.    Place the choux paste into a piping bag with a 1cm plain tube.

2.    Pipe into 8cm straight line onto a lightly greased, damped baking sheet. (To make choux buns just pipe a small circle instead of a straight line.)

3.    Bake 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4 for 20 mins.

4.    Allow to cool. Slit down one side with a sharp knife.

5.    Fill with sweetened, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream, using a piping bag and small tube.

6.    Decorate with chocolate sauce. (To make a nice professional line, put a spoon into the melted chocolate and tilt the eclair to one side and let the chocolate side along the pastry and back into the bowl.) 

Recipe: Chocolate Sauce

·       125g water

·       40g sugar

·       30g chopped chocolate

·       8g dark cocoa powder

·       4g cornflour

Equipment:

·       Wooden Spoon

·       Saucepan

·       Bowl

·       Whisk

·       Conical strainer

1.    Bring to the boil 100g of water and sugar

2.    Mix to a paste the cocoa, cornflour and 25g water

3.    Add to the boiling water and sugar and whisk until mix returns to the boil and thickens

4.    Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and pass through a conical strainer.

A Paris Brest is a dessert that was invented in 1891 to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, traditionally filled with praline cream. However I used whipped cream instead. It is made in the same method as the choux buns, but is piped into a circle like a bicycle wheel and bake at 180c/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 15 mins.

A Paris Brest filled with Whipped cream

Beignets translate as 'bump' in French and is similar to the English fritter. Beignets are well known in the US, especially in New Orleans as a desert served with icing sugar. I made mine with cinnamon and sugar. 

Fry and left over choux pastry in little clumps until golden at 160c in a deep fat fryer and roll them in cinnamon and caster sugar. Easy!

Beignets (best eaten hot!)

Bake On!

Penny