Blueberry Chocolate Cakes

How do you make an amazing blueberry cake even more delicious? Add some chocolate. I suppose this isn't some hidden magic trick tho, as chocolate makes almost everything better! The squeeze of lemon juice at the end gives a hint of tangy zing (serves 4).

INGREDIENTS
Olive oil spray
2 x 125g punnets blueberries (see note)
100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
50g (1/3 cup) self-raising flour
40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs skim milk
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
60ml (1/4 cup) water
1 tbs fresh lemon juice

PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray four 150ml-capacity non-stick muffin pans with olive oil spray to lightly grease. Combine half the blueberries and 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl. Divide evenly among the prepared pans.

Sift the combined flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. Add the milk, egg, oil, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of the remaining sugar, and stir until just combined.

Spoon the flour mixture evenly over the blueberry mixture in the pans and smooth the surface. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres of the cakes comes out clean. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Use a serrated knife to trim the tops of the cake so they will sit flat. Turn onto a baking tray.

Meanwhile, place the water and remaining sugar in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, for 1 minute. Add the remaining blueberries and cook, tossing, for 1 minute or until the syrup just starts to change colour. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.

Divide the cakes among serving plates. Top with blueberries and spoon over a little of the syrup. Serve with cream freiche.

Chocolate Banoffee Pies

Banoffee pies are an English pastry dessert made from bananas, cream, toffee and boiled condensed milk (aka dulce de leche). Now this is purely preference, but Banoffee is perhaps the most satisfying dessert you can finish a meal with. Banana, caramel and biscuit. Add chocolate and you've got a great combo!

INGREDIENTS
250g dark chocolate digestive biscuits
180g unsalted butter
1 tbs cocoa powder, plus extra to dust
1/2 firmly packed cup (100g) brown sugar
395g can condensed milk
75g dark chocolate, melted
1 tbs golden syrup
300ml thickened cream
2 small bananas, sliced

PREPARATION
Finely crumb biscuits in a food processor. Melt 80g butter and add to crumbs with cocoa. Process to combine. Press into six 10cm loose-bottomed tart pans. Chill for 20 minutes until bases are firm.

Place sugar and remaining butter in a pan over low heat, stirring, until butter has melted. Add condensed milk and stir over low heat for 5 minutes or until mixture is a thick, golden caramel. Remove from heat, then add chocolate and golden syrup, stirring to combine. Fill tart shells with caramel mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour to set.

Whip cream until soft peaks form. When ready to serve, place tarts on plates, top with sliced banana and whipped cream, then dust with cocoa.

Steamed Chocolate Pudding and Black Forest Sauce

An old-fashioned steamed pudding is hard to beat. Dripping with dark chocolate and cherry sauce, this delicious recipe makes lovely moist chocolate pudding that serves 4.

INGREDIENTS
115g unsalted butter
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
85g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbs cocoa powder
30g almond meal
1 tbs milk
200g good-quality dark chocolate, broken into squares
160ml (2/3 cup) thickened cream
Thick cream, to serve
670g can pitted cherries
1 tbs arrowroot
2 tbs brandy

PREPARATION
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the baking powder, flour and cocoa together & add to mixture with almond meal and milk, stir until well combined. Spoon into a 1 litre buttered pudding basin, cover with a layer of foil and tie with kitchen string to secure. Place in a saucepan and add enough water to come halfway up side of pudding basin. Steam for 1 1/2 hours.
Make a chocolate sauce by addding the chocolate and cream and place over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Use a metal spoon to stir occasionally until chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Or heat in a microwave, uncovered, on Medium-High/650watts/70%, stirring every minute, for 2-3 minutes or until melted and smooth.

To make the black forest sauce, place cherries and their juices in a saucepan, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Combine arrowroot with brandy until smooth, then add to cherries and cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Serve with cherry sauce, chocolate sauce and a dollop of cream.

Chocolate Fondue

You can adjust the amount of Cointreau in the recipe to suit your tastes as needed, 1/4 of a cup is a good starting point. Reduce this amount if you want a less liquored flavoured dessert, or increase it (a little!) to make it more "adult". You can also swap the Cointreau with Baileys if preferred. If you have any leftover fondue sauce, put it the fridge over night to make a soft fudge. This chocolate dessert recipe serves four.

INGREDIENTS:
300ml thickened cream
1/4 cup Cointreau liqueur
300g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Fresh fruit, such as strawberries, oranges, banana, raspberries & kiwis to serve
250g packet marshmallows

PREPARATION:
Heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Stir in Cointreau.

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate. Stir with a metal spoon until melted and smooth. Pour into a warm bowl or small ceramic fondue.

Serve chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

This delicious chocolate cake is a chocoholics dream dessert, so soft and moist. The dark chocolate in this recipe really makes it fantastic, and if you use 70% dark it becomes very very rich - you can tone this down a little bit by mixing half dairy milk chocolate with half dark chocolate if preferred; it is a riiich dessert!

Keep tasting the coffee mascarpone and added more icing sugar as needed if it is too bitter to your taste. If you dont have chocolate sorbet to serve alongside the cake, vanilla bean or good chocolate ice-cream works just as well. Be careful not to exceed the baking time, as 12 minutes really is all thats needed. This is a sumptious cake that people will ask you to make again.

INGREDIENTS:
500g dark chocolate
4 eggs
1 tbs caster sugar
1 tbs plain flour, sifted
2 tbs golden syrup
125g unsalted butter
Melted chocolate, to decorate
Chocolate sorbet, to serve
200g mascarpone cheese
2 tbs instant coffee
2 tbs pure icing sugar

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 220°C. Grease and line the base of a 20cm round spring-form cake pan with non-stick baking paper.

Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.

Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer or use an electric hand beater and beat on high for 10 minutes until very thick and pale. Gently fold in the flour then fold in the chocolate mixture until combined. Pour into the cake pan and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and run a knife around the edge of the cake. Remove collar from cake pan and transfer the cake to the fridge for 1 hour to cool (this step is important as it sets the middle of the cake).

For the coffee mascarpone, dissolve coffee in 1 tablespoon of boiling water and set aside to cool. Beat together the mascarpone, icing sugar and coffee in a bowl until stiff.

To make the chocolate leaf, brush non-toxic leaves with the melted chocolate. When cool, peel the leaf off.

Slice the cake and serve with a dollop of coffee mascarpone, a chocolate leaf on top and a scoop of sorbet or ice-cream on the side.

Mint Chocolate Parfait Glasses

A hint of mint in this simple chocolate dessert makes this ice-cold chocolate treat extra refreshing, and it really is so easy and lightening quick to prepare. Great if you need to throw something together quickly. This recipe makes 4 servings, you can double it if needed for more guests.


INGREDIENTS:
1 x 100g pkt Chocolate Meringues, coarsely crushed
8 scoops chocolate ice-cream
1 x Hard Setting Chocolate Mint Topping, to serve
2 x 35g pkts Peppermint Crisp chocolate bars, crumbled, to serve

PREPARATION:
Divide the meringue among eight 250ml (1-cup) capacity serving glasses. Divide the ice-cream among the glasses. Drizzle the chocolate topping and top with crushed Peppermint Crisps. Serve.

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

This is one of the easiest cheesecake recipes yet simple and delicious. To add a choco-orange twist to this recipe, use orange juice instead of water and add some finely grated orange peel that you can put on top.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 envelope (.25 oz.) unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup water
2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, melted and cooled
1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

PREPARATION:

1. Make the crust by mixing the graham cracker crumbs, sugar & butter together in ungreased 9-inch springform pan; press firmly onto bottom.

2. Sprinkle over water in small saucepan; let stand for 1 minute. Warm over low heat, stirring constantly, just until gelatine dissolves. Remove from heat.

3. Beat the cream cheese & melted chocolate in large mixer bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Stir in gelatine mixture; fold in whipped cream. Pour into the prepared pan.

4. Refrigerate for about 3 hours or until set. Run knife around edge of cheesecake; remove side of springform pan.