Chocolate Kahlua Fondant Pudding

The White Russian is one of my favourite cocktails, so we often have a bottle of Kahlua tucked safely away in the cupboard. It was therefore an obvious first choice for a boozy chocolately, melt in the mouth, dinner party dessert.

Best of all, this is something that you can prepare in advance, chill and then cook for your guests with very little trouble.

Ingredients (Serves 6)
50g melted butter, for moulds
2 tbsp cocoa powder
150g good quality cooking chocolate (I use 70% Lindtt cooking chocolate!)
150g butter
150g golden caster sugar
3 eggs and 3 egg yolks
150g plain flour
3 shots Kahlua
ice cream for serving

Recipe
I either use large muffin tins or silicone moulds for the fondant puddings, but the key to success is preparing them. Melt 50g of the butter in the microwave and then brush this all over the edges of the mould/tin. Sprinkle the cocoa powder over the melted butter, then put them in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the fondant pudding batter by melting the chocolate and butter together. Add the Kahlua and mix until thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, yolk and caster sugar until pale. Sift the flour a bit at a time and continue to whisk.

Slowly pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and beat until it resembles cake mixture.

Divide the mixture between the tin / moulds and chill for 3 hours, for best results.

Once ready too cook, heat the oven to 180c then cook for 12 minutes.
Turn out onto the plate, using a silicone palette knife to loosen the sides if required.

Add a scoop of ice cream to the plate and serve for your guests to enjoy. When you dig in, this should be completely melt in the middle!

If you want to go all out on the Kahlua, serve a White Russian as an after-dinner drink. Your guests won’t be disappointed.

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup with Chorizo Cheese Croutons

Soup is one of my staples in the winter months but as much as I enjoy it, I’m often apprehensive to serve it as a starter. However, after having soup at a restaurant earlier this month I was inspired to try it out. 

Ingredients (Serves 4) 

• 1 large butternut squash 
• 4 carrots 
• 1 litre chicken stock (homemade preferable!)
• 1 fresh chilli, sliced 
• 1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
• Seasoning
• Packet of diced chorizo
• Small French baguette
• 1 handful grated cheddar cheese

 Recipe

Dice the butternut squash and carrots, and fry off in olive oil and fresh coriander. 



Add a litre of chicken stock, seasoning and fresh chilli and let this boil for about 20 minutes.



Turn the heat off and let the mixture cool

Once cooled, transfer the liquid and butternut squash into a blender. Blend until it’s the right consistency (a little bit chunky is always good!)



I made my soup in the morning, so after this step – I had to reheat on the hob. 

About 10 minutes before you’re ready to serve, fry chorizo in olive oil for about 5 minutes. 

Slice you’re bread into medium-thickness pieces, then add the chorizo and cheese on top. 



Grill them for 2-3 minutes and then it’s time to serve up. 

Fill soup bowl and add two croutons on top of the soup, with some fresh coriander. 



This is a definitely a soup you’ll be proud to serve as a stater. 

Enjoy!

Vanilla, white chocolate and raspberry profiteroles

The best desserts are those which you can make ahead of time and assemble them minutes before serving. This is even more useful when you have an open kitchen, I don’t want the world to know that I’m a slightly messy cook at times!!

I therefore decided to make vanilla, white chocolate and raspberry profiteroles.

Ingredients (serves 6 / 18 profiteroles)

For the choux pastry
200ml cold water
4 tsp caster sugar
75g unsalted butter
100g plain flour
3 medium free-range eggs, beaten

For the filling
500g crème fraîche
1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthways and seeds removed
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Half a punnet raspberries

For the topping
Half a punnet raspberries
200g white chocolate

Recipe

In terms of timings, I made the profiterole pastry on Friday night and kept these in an air-tight container until Sunday evening. I made the filling and filled the profiteroles before my guests arrived for dinner and then assembled the dish before serving.

For the choux pastry

Preheat the oven to 200c, I also placed a small roasting tin in the bottom of the oven to heat, ready for the cooking process.

Add the water, sugar and butter into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted.

Once the butter has melted, pour in the flour and beat until the mixture is a smooth paste. Keep on beating until the mixture comes away from the side of the pan.

Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until the mixture is smooth and glossy and has a soft dropping consistency – stop adding eggs if it is beginning to get too runny.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet and put 18 heaped teaspoons of mixture across the baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet into the oven. Before closing the oven door, pour a cup of water into the roasting tin at the bottom of the oven, then quickly shut the door. This helps to create more steam in the oven and make the pastry rise better (a trick I read about!) Bake for 25 minutes, checking that the profiteroles are golden-brown.

Once done, remove from the oven and turn the oven off. Prick the base of each profiterole with a skewer and then back onto the baking sheet with the hole in the base facing upwards and return to the oven for about ten minutes. This should help to dry out the middle of the profiteroles.

Mine were not as round and crispy as I would have hoped – but don’t be disheartened, it will all work out in the end!

Once cooled, place the profiteroles into a large container and ensure it is sealed.

Filling

Firstly, create a simple raspberry purée by pressing and squeezing your raspberries with the back of a fork.

Add the creme fraiche, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla seeds, then mix in a large bowl.

To fill the profiteroles, cut down the side of the pastry and create a hole big enough to fill the profiterole with the filling. Using a teaspoon, fill the profiterole with the filling, getting it as close to the centre as possible!

Repeat for all 18 profiteroles (this takes a while!) and then place back in the fridge ready for the night!

Save any filling until later!

Topping and Assemble

Ok, so you’re guests are now ready for dessert! Put three profiteroles in each large bowl, then add an extra dollop of filling on top and some raspberries.

Break up the white chocolate and melt it in the microwave. Drizzle over the profiteroles and make sure you are generous, this adds a lot of flavour!!

Enjoy – and don’t be afraid to let your guests lick the bowl if they really insist!!