Salted Caramel and Chocolate Brownie Mini Trifles

I'm on dessert duties this year for Christmas and I intend to take this great responsibility very seriously. So far the list includes mince pie ice cream, limoncello sorbet, mincemeat frangipane and these guys. I did a little trial run with a few slices leftover from a batch I made for work colleagues.

An old brownie recipe but simply transformed into a speedy dessert, with lashings of extra caramel, booze and chocolate custard. So I cheated and melted dark chocolate into some shop bought custard but it just goes to show how versatile these mini trifles can be. Make your own brownies, buy some brownies, make your fillings or buy some too, it really doesn't matter.

You could bung everything together in one big trifle bowl, or I served mine in a selection of jam jars and small tumblers...whatever I could find in the cupboards.

S A L T E D   C A R A M E L   A N D   C H O C O L A T E   B R O W N I E  
M I N I   T R I F L E S
(Makes 6 generously sized mini trifles)

4 slices of my salted caramel stuffed brownies (approx 400g), recipe here

500ml chilled ready made vanilla custard

100g dark chocolate

250ml double cream

25g icing sugar

3tbsp strong baileys coffee

salted caramel sauce for drizzling round each glass

1 large bag of maltesers

• Bake the brownies as per recipe and allow to cool before firming up in the fridge for an hour or two to slice into neat mini cubes. I like to make these the night before.
• Heat the custard in a small pan over a gentle heat with the chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and cover with a layer of cling film over the surface to prevent a skin forming whilst it cools.
• Whisk together the cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form.
• Crush the maltesers in the bag with a rolling pin.
• To assemble, layer even helpings of brownie cubes between each glass, coffee, half the crushed maltesers, drizzle caramel round the inside of each glass and top with further layers of chocolate custard, the whipped cream and scatter the remaining crushed maltesers. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 4 - Churros

I wasn't overly enamoured with batter week. So much so I didn't really want to bake/fry any of the challenges. I spent hours flicking through Pinterest and Instagram looking for some inspiration. I know you can always freeze batter, but its better fresh. With a home of two, there's only so many yorkshire puddings of lace pancakes you can make and that's just wasting food. I'm not sure taking cold leftovers into the office would have worked so well.

And so, begrudgingly I decided to make churros. I didn't expect that I'd be able to get regular churros to be uniform in size and to hold their piped ridges so I went for fewer and bigger doughnut sized churros. 

You know what? I'm so glad I did. These are super easy to make and can be great for desserts. Imagine them sandwiched between a big scoop of salted caramel ice cream or topped with fresh berries. A DIY churros dessert bar if you will. 

As I was home alone on a weekday day off, I decided to keep it simple. Ready made fancy salted caramel and super quick cheats chocolate dip were my choice of toppings. One for me, one for Matthew and the rest were packaged up in foil takeaway containers to keep warm and were sent off to my brother, his wife and brand new baby in hospital as a care package. 

G I A N T   C H U R R O S   W I T H   C H E A T S   C H O C O L A T E   D I P
(Recipe adapted from SBS, makes 6 large churros)

For the churros:

100g unsalted butter, room temperature

150g plain flour

1tsp ground cinnamon

pinch salt

3 eggs

Plenty of oil for frying

For the sugar coating:

100g caster sugar

1tbsp ground cinnamon

For the chocolate dip:

4tbsp nutella spread

1-2tsp whole milk

Salted caramel, ice cream, chocolate chips and anything else you fancy to serve.

• Bring 250ml of water and the butter to boil in a medium pan over a medium heat. This will melt the butter, so doesn't matter so much whether you've cubed it or not, or even forgotten to take it out the fridge in advance.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, cinnamon and salt to remove any lumps.
• Once the liquids have come to the boil, pour in the flour mix and continue to cook over a medium heat whilst stirring continuously until the batter forms a smooth ball in the centre of the pan. Remove from the heat.
• Put the batter into the stand mixer's bowl (saving on washing up!) and mix with a paddle attachment on a low speed. Add in each egg one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Once smooth and all the eggs are combined, leave the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, once the batter is ready everything will happen very quickly so prepare the next steps in advance. Cut 6 squares of baking paper. Prepare a disposable icing bag with a large star shaped nozzle. Line a tray with baking paper to blot the churros once cooked.
• After the batter has rested, spoon into the prepared piping bag. Pipe 6 equal discs of churros, starting from the centre and working out. Place the discs into the freezer to chill, this will help them keep their shape when frying.
• Bring a medium frying pan filled with 4cm of oil to the boil, or enough to cover a churros. Once the oil has reached around 180 degrees, a square of bread will turn brown within 45 seconds.
• Place the churros in one at a time, and cook for 2 minutes each side. I like to regularly check the oils temperature in order to maintain the same heat. Otherwise its likely to increase and you'll find your churros burning.
• Once golden, use a slotted spoon to upturn each onto kitchen paper to blot away any residue oil.
• Then dunk in the prepared cinnamon sugar ensuring to coat all sides, nooks and crannies.
• For the chocolate dip, add the nutella into a small bowl and add a dash of milk. Warm gently and slowly  in the microwave, 20 seconds at a time. You may want to add a few more drops of milk a little at a time to ensure the right thickness. Mix well before serving.

F O L L O W   M Y   B A K E   O F F   B A K E   A L O N G...

     

Week 1 - Jaffa Cakes
Week 2 - Iced Doughnut Biscuits
Week 3 - Chocolate Twist Babka
Week 4 - Giant Churros
Week 5 - Cherry Bakewell Tart
Week 6 - Brownie Bottomed Coffee Mousse Cake
Week 8 - Cherry, Marzipan and Cherry Cake

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Salted Caramel & Peanut Butter Millionaire's Shortbread

I have a confession. I've never made caramel.

Usually I cheat and pop a splash of caramel essence into my bakes, or use Bonne Maman's confiture de caramel. However, making it myself has been at the top of my recipe list for some time. I kept putting it off in fear of swishing molten sugar around a pan and it all being a disaster. I've seen Masterchef, even the clever ones struggle sometimes.