Autumn is definitely making her presence felt, with sultry November sunrises becoming crisp, chilly mornings splashed with sunshine. The trees have turned tinted leaves into a stunning array of amber hues & luscious colours. This collection of colourful foliage always draws my admiration, as they seem to suddenly appear in full beautiful bloom & disappear just as quickly. Recently, whilst parked under a particularly pretty tree at a local supermarket, I managed to snap some shots of it’s vibrantly golden leaves shimmering in the sunshine.
Nature is my biggest inspiration (as you probably can tell from my sugar artwork) & this time of year is no exception. It’s a deliciously indulgent season, perfect for hot chocolate & comfort foods to sustain us until Spring. And what better way to celebrate the changing of the seasons than with a sumptuous chocolate cake, layered with rich dark cherries & fluffy cream! Ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
What you need:
8oz Salted Butter, room temperature
5oz Caster Sugar
3oz Light Muscovado Sugar (Soft Brown Sugar)
6oz Self Raising Flour
2oz Cocoa Powder
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Instant Coffee
4 large Free Range Eggs
2 tablespoons Greek Yoghurt
For the topping & filling:
200g Dark/Plain Chocolate, for melting
200g Mascarpone Cheese
300ml Double Cream
1/4 jar Black Cherry Conserve or Jam
What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C. Prepare two deep 7 inch cake tins – I used loose-bottomed ones for this, as it’s easier to remove the cakes when baked. Smudge a little butter around the tins, sprinkle on a little flour & shake all around until thoroughly coated. Add a greaseproof paper disc in the bottom of each tin & set them aside.
Sieve all the dry ingredients into a bowl & mix well with a fork. Put to one side.
Whisk together the butter & sugars, until a soft gold & creamy consistency.
Add an egg, whisk in thoroughly & repeat until all the eggs are incorporated.
Sift half of the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture & using a spatula, fold in until all completely blended. Add the rest of the dry ingredients & repeat until the mixture is a thick, smooth batter & there is no flour visible.
Add the yoghurt & whisk in well. This will lighten the mixture & also add a moist texture to the cake.
Split the batter between the two tins evenly, smoothing the tops lightly with the spatula. Place in the oven (lower rack) for approximately 30 minutes, until the tops are risen & cracked. Poke a stick of spaghetti in the centre & if it comes out clean, your cakes are done.
Place them in their tins on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes, until the cake sides shrink back from the tin. The centres will dip slightly, but this is fine.
Run a spatula knife around the edge of each cake to separate it from the tin. Carefully remove the cakes & place on the racks to cool. Be very gentle, as your cakes will be fragile & soft. Leave to cool completely before removing the greaseproof disc gently from underneath.
While the cakes are cooling, let’s make the leaves! Lay out some strips of greaseproof paper on your worktop, about 6 inches wide & as long as a rolling pin. Melt the chocolate & tip into a greaseproof piping bag, snip off the very tip & pipe some skeleton leaves on the paper strips. Pipe the outlines first, then a strip down the middle & smaller ones to the sides. Don’t worry about them being too perfect – real leaves are all kinds of shapes & sizes. Pipe as many or as few as you like. Any leftover chocolate (even I laughed at that one!) can be just squished out onto another sheet of greaseproof & left to set for nibbling later.
Carefully drape your strips of leaves over a rolling pin & leave until completely set. They will become curved & softly shaped, perfect for topping your cake.
Next, make the filling! Whip the mascarpone & double cream in a large bowl until soft peaks, firm enough for piping (go easy, you don’t want it to become too firm). Tip into a piping bag with the nozzle of your choice – personally, I like to keep it nozzle-free. Tip: If your cream does get too firm, add a teaspoon or two of cold semi-skimmed milk to soften it again.
When your cakes are completely cooled, place one on a decorative serving plate & pipe in a pretty pattern around the edge. For the spots, I pipe on the outer edge inwards. Spread a layer of the cream mixture in the centre of the cake & evenly spoon on a good layer of the black cherry jam.
Take the other chocolate cake & flip it over, so the flat side is on the top, then place it on top of the filling. This will leave you with a nice flat surface for decorating! If you’re serving this later, pop your cake in the fridge in an air-tight container (to stop it drying out).
Pipe swirls on top of the cake at intervals, then add your chocolate leaves to each swirl – don’t forget the one in the centre! Sometimes, I also grate a little chocolate to sprinkle on the top of everything (optional, but rather lovely).
Time to indulge, so grab some plates & serve! The fluffy, almost fudge-like texture of the cake is complimented by the cloud of mascarpone cream & crisp, chocolate leaves that crackle as you bite them. This cake also looks fabulous with frilly white chocolate leaves mixed in with the dark, dusted with grated white chocolate too. If you have any extra chocolate leaves, save them for nibbling with your morning coffee or add them to the frothy tops of hot chocolate, amid swirls of cream & marshmallows.
Decadent, dark & deliciously indulgent, this rich cherry chocolate cake will wow your guests whatever the occasion. Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
The seasons have started to shift, it’s almost as if you can taste it in the air, as we swap long lazy Summer days for softer sunsets & cosy nights. Hot-headed August has passed the baton to sultry September, bringing with her the bountiful & beautiful beginnings of a delicious Autumn. There is nothing as therapeutic as an early morning meander in the countryside, especially during September! Gloriously gorgeous berries adorn the brambles & hedgerows, while trees are groaning under the weight of their fruity loot. Nature is amazing, turning tiny Spring blossoms into an Autumnal array of plump berries & fragrant fruits, with a little help from her pollinator peeps of course!
Firstly, we’re going to make the plum compote. Half the fruit, carefully remove the stones (you can put them in the composter). Set aside a few plums in a dish, cover & pop in the fridge to keep them firm for later (these will be for your topping).
Gently heat until the sugar dissolves into the water, carefully nudging everything around the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bring to a boil & simmer gently for about 15 minutes on a medium heat, stirring regularly to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. It should reduce to a sunset-coloured jammy syrup that smells like Autumn.
Turn down the heat, remove the spices & orange strips, then a
Roll out the pastry a couple of inches larger than your tin & about half a centimetre thick. Lay it carefully over your rolling pin & gently lift onto the baking tin, allowing it to drape into the middle. Push it into the edges gently, so that it covers the entire base & sides of your tin evenly.
Grab a bit of greaseproof paper, screw it up to make it easier to shape to your tin & then loosely place on top of your pastry. Tip some baking beads or dry pasta shapes onto the paper, spreading them all across the top & filling the pastry case.
Tip the Mascarpone cheese, double cream, Greek yoghurt, lemon curd & vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl & briefly whisk together until thick & fluffy. It’s going to be piped on top of your dessert, so it needs to be thick enough to do so. If it’s too thick, add a little more Greek yoghurt to loosen a little (a couple of teaspoons should do the trick). Once you’re happy, pop the bowl in the fridge to chill.
Now for those pretty plum slices we made earlier! Place the slices skin-side up at intermittent gaps across the top, like shards of sunshine peeking through the clouds. Add a couple of mint leaves at intervals – you don’t need many, just a few will do. Pop your dessert in the fridge for about ten minutes or so.
This delicious dessert would make a pretty Autumnal centrepiece for a special dinner or celebration. Refreshingly tangy, softly spiced plum compote, crowned with a feather-light fluffy cloud of Mascarpone cream & fresh plums, all sat atop a crisp, melt-in-the-mouth pastry base. If you have any of that delicious plum compote left over, it’s a magical multi-tasker – it tastes rather lovely spread on hot buttered toast, or try a spoonful with a few slices of cheese & crackers too.
decadent desserts. On my way back from the train station on Friday, I decided to pop into my local shops to pick up a chicken for dinner & somehow got side-tracked by the most delightful fresh figs. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I can’t just pop in anywhere for one thing & will always leave with a jam-packed shopping bag, crammed full of inspirational ingredients that take my fancy.
slender slices of sweet, jammy baked figs took over, I swiftly put two trays in my basket. 
Turn out your pastry onto a lightly floured worktop & shape into a rectangle. Roll away from you into a long piece, about a centimetre thick. Try to keep the edges as straight as you can, but don’t worry too much or you’ll drive yourself loopy! Using a dry pastry brush, dust off any excess flour as you go, especially when folding the layers (otherwise it may affect the recipe & you want flaky pastry, not floury).
Take one of the three pieces of butter & cut into small chunks of about 1cm (you can just pull it apart, but the heat from your hands might melt it).
Dust the worktop with a little more flour. Turn the pastry one turn to the right & roll out again, just as you did above.
Lay your pastry on a piece of greaseproof paper, fold the top of the paper over your pastry & put it on a plate in the fridge for an hour (you might need to leave it longer during hot weather, so probably add another ten minutes if you’re not sure – I’ve left it a couple of hours before & it didn’t do any harm). If you’re like me & like to get organised, this would be a good time to make the ice-cream (my recipe is a bit further down).
Tip the Mascarpone & Greek yoghurt into a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla extract, one tablespoon of the lemon juice & a good pinch of the zest (you want a subtle hint of lemon here, not a “smack you round the chops” kind of taste that makes your ears flap).
Once you’re happy with it, spoon the mixture into a couple of plastic tubs, only filling about halfway up & put the lids on.
Apparently, so my sources tell me, Italian Cheese Week is being celebrated from 15-22 June 2017 (like I need an excuse!). So, in honour of all things cheesy, I decided to share a couple of really easy recipes for you that I’ve picked up over the years.
wilted spinach in the food processor with a few pine nuts (untoasted), a little lemon zest, a spoonful of my favourite full-fat cream cheese (just because I like it) & a shake of sea salt & black pepper. It’s then mashed up with the ricotta, before I pop the lot into a piping bag, ready to fill my favourite ravioli!
And now, my pièce de résistance: cheese biscuits. These are probably one of the easiest things to make – you just chuck everything in a bowl & squish it together. It’s great for using up all those random leftover bits of cheese that seem to congregate at the back of the fridge. Want to get cheesy? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
Cut into shapes – either use small cookie cutters or slice into finger length strips, just create whatever you like! Lift them onto the lined baking trays, leaving about an inch gap all around (they will not grow too much) & then repeat the above, until you have used up all the dough.
