mmmmmmmmm chocolate!!

We had the family over for lunch on Sunday as it was my mums birthday and we had a very lovely time.  Isaac and my nephew Bobby enjoyed playing together AKA getting all the toys out and covering every inch of the carpet.

We had Roast Pork with all the trimmings for our main course with a nut roast for the veges.

Recipe for the nut roast

 Carrot and nut roast
Ingredients:

100g onion, finely chopped
450g carrot, grated
225g mushrooms, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
80g fresh breadcrumbs
50g ground almonds
30g pinenuts, finely chopped
60g hard cheese, grated
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs
25g butter
fresh chopped herbs – 2tsp each of oregano, rosemary, thyme (or choose your own savoury combo)

1. Saute the onions and garlic in the butter. Add the mushrooms and cook to soften them and remove moisture.
2. Add carrot, celery and herbs and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add ground almonds and pinenuts, stir well and remove from heat.
4. Mix together the grated cheese and breadcrumbs.
5. Allow the loaf mix to cool slightly before stirring in half of the grated cheese and breadcrumbs mix, and then the eggs (save the other half of the cheese and breadcrumbs for a topping). Mix well.
6. Place in a silicon, or buttered, 2lb loaf tin. Top with the remaining cheese and breadcrumb mix.
7. Cook in a pre-heated oven (180C/160C fan) for about 60 minutes. Check it about 45 minutes in and if the topping is getting too brown cover with a piece of tin foil. Test it’s cooked with a skewer, which should come out clean

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However I forgot to take a picture so can't show you what it looks like but there is half in the freezer for Christmas day so will try and remember to take a pic then! (not like there will be much else going on is there?!?!)

I did remember to take a picture of our desert - Chocolate Torte

Now ridiculously I couldn't eat this as I am intolerant to dairy (yep someone somewhere is having a good laugh!) but from the mmmmm's and ahhhh's around the table I am assuming this was lovely!!  

The recipe is as follows:

• Grease a 23cm springform tin and line the base.
• Sift 3oz of self raising flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1.5 oz of cocoa powder into a bowl. Add 4oz unsalted butter (although I used Stork), 4oz caster sugar and 2 eggs and whisk it all until smooth and creamy.
• Turn the mixture into the prepared tine, level and bake at 180oC for 20 - 25 mins.  This is what the recipe says but I'm not sure it's my new oven but it was done much faster than this for me so keep an eye on it
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool and then drizzle with 4 tbsps of orange liquer or orange juice (I will let you draw your own conclusions as to which one I used!! LOL)

I did this bit on Friday evening so that the base was cool and ready for decorating on Saturday afternoon but no reason why you couldn't do it all in one day.

Make the chocolate collar to go around the cake as follows:

• Measure the circumference of the sponge and cut a piece of greaseproof paper 1cm longer and 6cm deep (I wasn't that accurate here!).  
• melt 3oz of plain chocolate and then spoon along the paper strip, spreading it right to the edge along one side and a slightly wavy line on the other edge.  Leave 1cm free at the end.  Leave to set for 15 mins until the chocolate has thickened slightly and does not run when lifted.  Carefully lift the strip and secure it around the cake with the flat side at the bottom on the place.  Chill while filling.  (I thought I had to take the paper off at this point and that is why my cake is a tad bit flat sided in places!!) 

Make the filling

• Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of powdered gelatine into a bowl of 2 tablespoons of cold water (I used vege gel as my mum is a vegetarian and the same quantities seemed to work well) and leave to soften
• Beat 3 egg yolks in a bowl with 2oz caster sugar, 1 teaspoon of cornflour and a little milk.  Put half a pint of milk in a saucepan and bring just to the boil.  Pour the milk over the egg yolk mixture, whisking well.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently, stirring, until thickened but don't let it boil.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatine.  Add 7oz of dark chocolate and stir until melted.  Leave on the side covered to cool until just beginning to thicken.
• Whip half a pint of cream and fold into the chocolate mixture
• Pour onto of the sponge and level the surface.  Chill for 1 - 2 hours until set and then remove the greaseproof paper.
• Then decorate - in the book I got this from (Simply Cadburys Chocolate) this is an Easter Nest Torte with chocolate shards as a nest and chocolate eggs in the middle.  I used shards of milk chocolate (although they were more like chunks!) and put some truffles in the middle but the world is your oyster really!

Other makes since my last post:

Some little chocolate buns

My epic Toad in the Hole - I must post the recipe of this 

Rice pudding 

My floral arrangement in the kitchen using the jugs and bird cages from my wedding