Chocolate Caramel Slice

I’ve never made Caramel Slice before, even though it’s something I will always, always reach for if offered.  I’ve always been a little freaked out about the caramel part, despite caramel being perhaps one of my favourite flavours.

After making Salted Caramel Cupcakes recently and using a ready-made caramel for the filling, I had some left over and knew I wanted to try and use it up somehow.

Unfortunately no recipe I found used this particular product, all instead calling for condensed milk.  And so, I tailor-made my own Chocolate Caramel Slice.

It’s rich, oh so rich, and buttery and delicious.

Chocolate Caramel Slice
Ingredients
Base
1 C flour
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C dessicated coconut
125g butter, melted
Filling
300g Highlander Caramel
2 T golden syrup
50g butter
Topping
50g kremelta
100g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line a square cake or small rectangle lamington tin with baking paper.
Combine all the base ingredients in a bowl and mix well.   Press into the tin evenly.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.   Remove from oven.  Cool.
Combine all filling ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, whisking for approximately 5 minutes until combined & smooth.  Pour over the cooked base.  Bake for 12 minutes until firm and texture is slightly cracked.  Cool completely.  Refrigerate 3-4 hours or until set.
Make the topping – combine the kremelta & finely chopped chocolate in a small pot.  Stir until melted and mixed together.
Pour over the caramel.  Return to the fridge until set and cut into squares.
Try not to devour the entire tin in one sitting!

Adapted from: Taste.com.au

Perfect Chocolate Mousse

What can I say, my Mr and I both adore Chocolate Mousse.  And yet oddly enough, I’ve never made it.

He returned from a week in Sydney late on Thursday night so Friday nights’ meal was to be our first together again as a family.  Miss T has recently assigned herself as my Sous Chef and excitedly asks to make dinner with me every night.  Last night, together, we made yummy beef skewers, accompanied by a nice summery tomato, fresh corn & cucumber salad and fresh tortillas from the Mexican Specialities store in Ellerslie.

Although it had been my intention throughout the week to make this for dessert, I clean forgot until 5.30pm!  After putting the kids to bed and watching a bit of my guilty pleasure that is American Idol, the three hours waiting time was up.

I’m delighted to tell you that it’s incredibly easy to whip up and after licking a spoonful before presenting it to him, I announced to my husband “You may want to marry me all over again after tasting this”.  🙂

I made a half portion of this recipe and it made two perfect little ramekins worth for our dessert.

Perfect Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
200g dark chocolate, finely chopped
3 tbsp. water
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
Pinch of coarse salt

Directions
Combine the chocolate and water in a heatproof bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. Heat until the chocolate is almost completely melted, and stir occasionally. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until the mixture is smooth. Set aside and let it cool to near room temperature.

In a clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and the salt. Whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. They should be thick and smooth.

Stir the egg yolks into the cooled chocolate mixture. Add one third of the whipped egg whites to the bowl with the chocolate and fold gently to lighten up the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites gently with a spatula just until no visible streaks are left.

Portion the mixture into 4-6 individual serving dishes. Cover with glad wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Serve with freshly whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Mmmmmm

Swirly Chocolate Brioche

I’ve always wanted a KitchenAid mixer. Firstly because I think they look gorgeous, secondly I’d heard they make baking seem too easy, but mostly I wanted one to make Brioche.  I have attempted it once before using the ‘dough hooks’ that my Breville Hand Whizz came with and it was a MAJOR fail.  I had to abort the mission before the first rising – the eggs and butter just would not amalgamate. 😦

When I purchased my KitchenAid a couple of months ago – on Sunday 19th August to be precise (!) – the sales assistant asked what I would first be making with my new best friend.  I didn’t hesitate to announce “Brioche”!

Four days after buying my new appliance, we headed to Sydney for a bit of family time and I didn’t have a chance to use the mixer for a couple of weeks after returning home (mostly due to being totally in love with my new Cold Press Juicer.)

Yet, when I finally did set aside some time to christen Miss Sparkle, it was still Brioche on the agenda.  It seemed quite timely that my other BFF in the kitchen had recently emailed a recipe for Chocolate Swirl Buns.  Initially I thought ‘eh’ and was about to hit delete when I noticed the description detailing “buttery brioche dough”.

I made these on a Sunday morning, but we wound up having them after lunch as there were a couple of proving’s needed and I didn’t start early enough for them to make it as Morning Tea.  It didn’t matter… they were perfect!

SO delicious.  SO easy.  And SO satisfying for my first attempt at Brioche.  I hope they’re not like Macarons that were a flukey perfection the first time round and a miserable fail the following four attempts!

If you have a mixer, and you love brioche (or even if you don’t, trust me you soon will!) – give these a go.

Chocolate Swirl Brioche

INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
½ cup (120 ml) whole milk, warmed
¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
2 tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 cups (250 grams) standard flour
½ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. (45 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the filling:
225 grams dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
45 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
To finish:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. milk or cream

INGREDIENTS

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the milk, sugar, and yeast and stir to blend. Add the egg, flour, and salt, and mix on low speed until a sticky dough begins to form. Mix in the butter until incorporated. Using the dough hook, knead on low speed for 10 minutes. (The dough will still appear loose and quite sticky, but it will firm up as it rises.)

Transfer the dough to a bowl greased with butter and cover with glad wrap or a clean tea towel. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Combine the chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor. Process in pulses until the chocolate is finely chopped with some parts appearing almost powdery. Add the butter and pulse again until well incorporated.

Generously butter the wells of a 12 hole muffin tin.  Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a well floured work surface and gently deflate.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Roll into a very large rectangle, about 30 x 50 cms, sprinkling with flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Sprinkle the filling over the surface of the dough.  Tightly roll the dough up into a log, encasing the filling in a spiral pattern.

Use a sharp serrated knife to slice the log into 12 equal pieces. Place each slice into the prepared muffin tin, with the cut side facing up. Cover loosely with glad wrap* or a towel and let rise 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Lightly brush the tops of the buns with egg wash. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool briefly. Gently unmold the buns and let cool until just warm. Serve warm and enjoy!

* These are definitely best enjoyed the day of baking.  Keep in airtight container.

* Adapted from Annies-Eats.com