Dark chocolate & sweetened chesnut puree ingots

After all this time out of the kitchen, I'm back with a quick & easy, but still irresistible recipe. If just like me you are busier & busier every day this is one you won't regret to try !! Believe me, these ingots are moist & taste so gooooood !!

Here's what we need to make 18/20 ingots :

250g sweetened chesnut puree, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 90g dark chocolate, 50g butter.

Here's what we do :

Preheat your oven at 302 °F

Coarsely chop butter & chocolate & melt in "bain marie".

Beat the eggs "omelette" & add chesnut puree & cornstarch, mix together well.

Pour chocolate & butter in until well combined.

Pour into the ingot moulds.

Bake for 20 mn.



                                                                                                                             Relax, savour & share !

Gluten free Chestnut & chocolate cake

This chesnut & chocolate cake is so moist and sweet that it would be a shame not to try it !! Chesnut and chocolate are just the perfect match. it is such a quick and easy recipe you won't believe it !! PLUS IT IS GLUTEN FREE !!!

Here's what we need :

2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3 separated eggs, 100g soft butter, 750g sweetened chesnut purée.

Icing :

100g dark chocolate, 1 tablespoon icing sugar, 5cl whipping cream.
A 7.87 inch square mould.
1H30 hour.

Here's what we do:

Preheat your oven at 302°F.

Butter your mould and cover the bottom with greaseproof parchment.

In a large bowl, mix soft butter & sweetened chesnut purée.

Incorporate egg yolks.

Add cornstarch & baking powder.

Beat egg whites until hard with picks.

Gently add beaten egg whites.

Pour the mixture into your mould & bake for 40 minutes.

Once baked, allow to cool down for 30 minutes.

the icing:

Melt dark chocolate in a "bain marie" on low-medium heat.

Sift icing sugar & add to the melted chocolate.

Boil the whipping cream over medium heat.

Incorporate hot whipping cream to chocolate in 3 times.

Use a spatula to cover the cake.

Cut into squares to serve.


                                                                                                                            Relax, savour & share!

Choco caramel cake

I am still in the caramel & chocolate passion.

This time they are mixed together to make a wonderfully moist & intense dark chocolate cake.

Yields : 1 family cake

Here's what we need :

225g dark chocolate, 65g salted butter, 65g unsalted butter, 150g sugar, 70g flour, 5g baking powder, 4 eggs divided.

Here's what we do :

Preheat your oven at 356°F.

Coarsely chop the chocolate & butters.

In a saucepan, heat the sugar on medium heat until golden brown.

Out of heat, add the butters.

Back on medium heat, heat the caramel until boiling & take it off immediately.


 Mix the chocolate with the caramel.

Add the eggs one by one, mix well between each.

Beat the egg whites until firm with picks.

Add 1/3 in the chocolate/caramel mixture then add the remaining eggs carefully.

Mix flour & baking powder in a bowl & add to the mixture.

Pour the batter in a 8.66 inch cake mould.

Bake for 35 minutes.


                                                                                                                            Relax, savour & share!

milk chocolate & salted butter caramel crunchy tart

Another Pierre Hermé delight !!
I challenge anyone to resist that crunchy creamy salty sweety chocolaty tart !!

It is sophisticated & fine, with the perfect balance between salt & sweet.

Good news : there is no complicated technique to achieve it.

Serves : 8 (9.4 inches tart mould)

Here's what we need :

6 hours.

 the pastry : 4 hours in advance, 75g soft butter, 47g icing sugar, 125g flour, 15g almond powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 egg.



salted butter creamy caramel : 100g sugar, 20g glucose, 20g salted butter, 10cl whipping cream, 60g nougat, 60g grilled & salted peanuts.

milk chocolate ganache : 480g milk chocolate, 30cl whipping cream.

Here's what we do :

the pastry : In a bowl, mix the flour & salt, add the soft butter coarsely chopped & work with your fingertips until sandy.

make a well, add the 1/2 egg, pour sugar & almond powder.

Mix with your fingertips until just combined.

Down the dough with your palm a few times then make a ball, cover with a cling film and refrigerate for 4 hours.

preheat you oven at 356°F.

spray the dough with a pinroll.

Cover your mould with a parchment paper & place the dough, then cover it with a second parchment paper & dry beans (or culinary small wheights).

Bake the pastry for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool down & take the beans & parchment off.

the salted butter creamy caramel : Pour the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.

When it starts to melt, add the glucose.

Allow to caramelize until golden brown.

Add the salted butter & cream & mix well.


Heat for 2 more minutes.

put aside at room temperature.

Coarsely chop the nougat & peanuts.

the milk chocolate ganache : Coarsely chop the chocolate & put it in a medium bowl.

In a saucepan over medium heat, boil the whipping cream.

Pour  the hot cream on the chocolate in 3 times, mixing carefully.

Put aside at room temperature.

Pour the caramel on the pastry.

Sprinkle the nougat  & peanuts.

Make it freeze in your fridge for 30 minutes.

Add the milk chocolate ganache & make it freeze for 30 more minutes.
                                                                                                                            Relax, savour & share!

Chocolate “mi-cuit” with vanilla custard heart

"Mi-cuit" means half cooked in french.
These ones are a child's play to make and always a roaring success !!

You can either make your own vanilla custard or buy it to save time.

Serves : 4

Here's what we need :

120g vanilla custard, 100g dark chocolate (60%), 100g butter, 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 50g sugar, 25g flour.

2 1/2 hour.

Here's what we do :

Fill 4 ice cube moulds with vanilla custard & allow to freeze for 2 hours.

Preheat your oven at 356°F.

Melt the chocolate in a "bain-marie" with the butter cut in chunks.

Whip the eggs with the yolks & sugar until light yellow & fluffy.

Mix in the melted chocolate & flour.

Butter & flour 4 ramekins.

Pour 2/3 of mixture in each remekin, put the iced vanilla custard in the centre & press gently.

Cover with the remaining chocolate.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Turn the ramekins upside down on serving plates & wait 3 minutes before remove them.

                                                                                                                            Relax, savour & share!

white & dark chocolate with salted butter caramel charlotte

Let me introduce you to a jewel !!

If you want to impress your guests and hear wow and bravos THIS IS THE CHARLOTTE !!!!!!

You are just a few hours from success...

Serves : 6

Here's what we need :

5 hours.

100g white chocolate, 85g dark chocolate, 58cl very cold whipping cream, 190g sugar, 30g salted butter, 12 sponge fingers (here's a recipe for homemade cocoa sponge fingers), 5cl all milk very cold, 8cl water, 2 parfumed tea bags (your choice ! Here orange cinnemon).









Here's what we do :

let's start with the white chocolate mousse :

whisk 28cl very cold whipping cream.

Melt the white chocolate on low-medium heat in a "bain-marie".

Heat 4cl whipping cream & add to chocolate.

Incorporate the whipped cream carefully & refrigerate.

Now the dark chocolate & salted butter caramel mousse:

Whisk 20cl very cold whipping cream with all milk.

Coarsely chop the dark chocolate.

In a large saucepan on high heat make the caramel with 90g sugar until golden.

Out of fire, add the butter & 6cl whipping cream.

Pour on dark chocolate & mix.

Just slightly heat on low heat & add carefully to the whipped cream.

Refrigerate.

Here comes the syrup for the sponge fingers :

Cover the inside of your charlotte mould with clingfilm.

In a saucepan on medium heat, melt 100g sugar with 8cl water & 2 tea bags.

Quickly soak the sponge fingers & line the bottom & sides of the mould.

Fill first half with white chocolate mousse then second half  with dark chocolate salted butter caramel mousse.

Cover with a plate (to press).

Refrigerate for 4 hours.

                                                                                                                              Relax, savour & share!

cocoa sponge fingers

Lovely sponge finger, so yummy with a cup of tea or coffee !!

Here I added cocoa to suit my chocolate tooth and an unforgetable white and dark chocolate with salted butter caramel charlotte that you're going to discover in a few days (sometimes I'm mean !!) ....

Yields : 24

Here's what we need :

60g flour, 3 eggs, 90g sugar, 15g unsweetened cocoa powder, icing sugar.

Here's what we do :

sift the flour & cocoa powder.

Whisk egg yolks with 30g sugar until foamy & clear yellow.

Beat egg whites for 2/3 minutes then add remaining sugar & beat until stiff with nice peaks.


Mix egg whites & egg yolks together carefully.

Incorporate the flour/cocoa all at ones, don't overwork the batter !!

preheat your oven at 302 °F.

Use a piping bag to form sponge fingers on a pastry sheet covered with parchment.

Dust with icing sugar and bake for 18 minutes.
                                                                                                                              Relax, savour & share!

Gluten free chick peas coffee chocolate fondant

I've been thinking of chick peas for a while, but didn't really know how to use them in a cake. All I knew was that I wanted to make something gluten free, something original !!

I must say I didn't really knew where I was going when I put the dry chick peas in water for the night, but then I thought of those wonderful chocolate fondant made without flour...

Chick peas just need something to wake them up.
Coffee and dark chocolate just do the job with perfection.

This fondant is tasty, thick and moist....YUMMY !!!

Yields : 8,3 inches square cake mould
Serves : 10

Here's what we need :

200g dry chick peas, 1 teaspoon baking soda, water, 200g melted butter, 5 eggs, 2 tablespoons rice flour, 250g sugar, 8 teaspoons instant coffee, creamy honey dark chocolate ganache.

1 night & 4 hours




Here's what we do :

The night before :

Put the chick peas in a saucepan with a teaspoon of baking soda & cover with water.

After a good night sleep :

Preheat your oven at 374°F.

Cook the chick peas on medium heat for 45 minutes (take the foam off).

Drain them well & mix until creamy & soft.

In a large bowl, mix the chick peas cream with the butter until well combined.

In a glass, add a small amount of water to the instant coffee, mix until completely combined.

Add the coffee to the mixture.

Add the sugar.

Whisk in the eggs one by one until well combined.

Whisk in the rice flour.

Pour the batter in the cake mould & cook for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile make the creamy honey dark chocolate ganache.

Take the cake out of your oven & pour the ganache on top.

Allow to completely cool down & refrigerate for 2 hours.

                                                                                                                                  Relax, savour & share!                    

White chocolate pecan nuts and salted butter cookies

This fabuleous recipe comes from the mouth watering book by Alice Medrich "Chewy, gooey, crispy, crunchy, melt in your mouth cookies".

Actually I switched butter for salted butter and dry roasted salted macadamia nuts for pecan nuts.

You can keep them for up to a week in an airtight container (if by chance they last more than one day!!!) they're still chewy crunchy licious !!!

Yields : around 20 good size cookies

Here's what we need :

3/4 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 8 tablespoons salted butter melted and still warm, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 large egg, 1 cup chopped pecan nuts, 1 cup chopped white chocolate.


3 hours.


Here's what we do :

Pulverize the oats in a blender until fine.

Add the flour & baking soda and pulse to combine. Put aside.

In a large bowl, combine the melted salted butter with sugars & vanilla extract.

Whisk in the eggs.

Stir in the flour mixture just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.

Stir in the pecan nuts & white chocolate.

Cover & refrigirate for 2 hours.

Preheat your oven at 325°F.

Remove the dough from the fridge, scoop the dough and place about 2 inches apart on the ungreased pan.

Bake until the cookies are deep golden brown, 13/15 minutes.
                                                                                                                                  Relax, savour & share!

Chocolate truffle cheesecake

Do we really have to wear bathing suits this summer ??

I know, we all know "yes" is the answer...

But could you seriously think of a world without a chocolate truffle cheesecake ?! I can't !!

Rich, creamy, delicious !!!

To make it even more perfect you can serve it with a strawberry olive oil and basil soup.

Yields : 9 inch springform pan
serves : 10

Here's what we need :

10 hours

1 1/2 cups crushed cookies, 4 tablespoons melted butter, 115g dark chocolate, 1 cup whipping cream, 230g cream cheese softened, 400g sweetened condensed milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 4 large eggs.


Here's what we do :

preheat your oven at 300°F.

Combine crushed cookies and melted butter.

Press on bottom of the springform pan.

Melt chocolate and whipping cream on medium heat in a "bain marie", put aside.

Beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.

Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract beating just until combined.

Add eggs one by one beating at low speed just until blended.

Add chocolate mixture beating just until blended.

Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake 45 minutes (just until center is set).

Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in with the door closed for 30 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and gently run a knife around over edge to loosen from side of the pan.

Cool completely.

Cover and chill for 8 hours.

                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

mississippi mud pie

when I first saw that Mississippi mud pie recipe in Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito cookbook "Baked exploration" it felt like a dream come true, like meeting the pie you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with...I just switched coffee ice cream for peanut butter whipped cream (mister frog wouldn't dare to eat coffee) and made my own cocoa crust...(I'll give you both recipes to choose!)


yelds : 9 inch pie

here's what we need :

4 hours

for the cocoa crust (mine) : 125g sugar, 250g flour, 125 butter at room temperature, 1 egg, 50g unsweetened cocoa powder.

Matt Lewis chocolate cookie crust : 30 chocolate wafers, 1 tablespoon sugar, 6 tablespoons butter (melted).

for the chocolate filling : 4 ounces dark chocolate, 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream, 3 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, 1 cup icing sugar, 1 tablespoon bourbon.

for the peanut butter whipped cream : 20cl very cold whipping cream, 100g peanut butter, 50g sugar.

for the chocolate fudge topping : 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon light corn syrup, 3 ouncdes dark chocolate, 1 teaspoon bourbon (I skipped).

Pecan nuts, sugar.

here's what we do :

first let's make the crust : in a small bowl mix sugar & cocoa

In a second & larger bowl, pour flour, then add butter cut in small squares and work lightly with your finger tips until well combine & SANDY.

Dig a well, add the egg & the cocoa-sugar mix, work with your finger tips until homogeneous. Allow to rest 1 hour in fridge.

preheat oven at 350°F

Use a rolling pin to spraid your dough (not to thin) & bake in a 9 inch pie pan for 15/20 minutes (don't forget to prick dough with a fork, so it'll stay flat).

Here goes Matt Lewis crust version : In a food processor, pulverize the wafers cookie into a very fine crumb mixture. Place the crumbs into a bowl, add the sugar & stir until combined.

Pour the melted butter over the crumbs & mix well. Transfer to a 9 inch pie plate & press it into the bottom & up the sides. Use the back of a large spoon to get an even crust. Set aside in fridge.

now let's make the chocolate filling : coarsely chop chocolate & place in a large bowl.

In a saucepan, bring the cream, butter & corn syrup to a simmer. Pour it over chocolate & let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until completely smooth. Add icing sugar & bourbon & whisk.

Spread the chocolate filling evenly over the pie crust, cover & refrigerate for 2 hours.

here we go with the peanut butter whipped cream : in a cold bowl, pour the cold whipping cream & sugar, whisk well, add peanut butter, whisk still until thick.
Spread over the chocolate filling. Back to fridge...

meanwhile go on with the topping : coarsely chop chocolate & put in a bowl.
In a small saucepan over low heat, heat cream, butter, corn syrup, until simmer. Pour on chocolate & whisk. Stir in the bourbon if using. Whisk until it reaches room temperature & pour it over peanut butter cream.

caramelized pecan nuts with sugar in a frying pan over medium heat. Spread on a parchment to cool down.

Decorate your pie.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         relax, savour & share!

All in the pan chewy chocolate cake with chocolate butter icing by Regan Daley

Regan Galley write in her “In the sweet kitchen” wonderful book : “…I think is the simplest, fastest, yet most satisfying chocolate cake there is…and the result is nothing short of your chilhood memory of real chocolate cake…”

As there are zillion chocolate cake recipes, very elaborate and impressive...this one is so much fun to do and has such a strong cocoa taste, that if you were in a crumpy mood, one bite and you’re a teddy bear !

yelds : 8X8 inch square cake pan

here’s what we need :

1 1/2 cups all-purpose floor, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup natural unsweetened high quality cocoa, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 6 tablespoons flavourless vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 cup cool water.

ICING : 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, 2 cups icing sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoons water or milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons natural unsweetened high quality cocoa, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

here’s what we do :

preheat your oven at 350°F

sift the floor into the baking pan
in a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, salt & baking soda
add the mixture to the floor in the pan & stir well with a fork

with the back of a spoon, make 3 wells, one large, one medium-sized & one small
pour the oil in the large well, the vinagar in the medium-sized & vanilla extract in the small
pour the water over everything and stir the mixture with a fork until the ingredients are well blended (do not beat this batter)
bake the cake for 20/30 minutes (check with a knife)

meanwhile, in a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup of icing sugar until the butter is well distributed
stir in one tablespoon of milk or water, then sift the cocoa powder and cream to blend
mix in the vanilla extract and the remaining icing sugar
add as much milk or water you need to obtain a rich, thick and creamy icing


relax, savour & share!