Mocha Cream Biscuits

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I fancied baking some biscuits yesterday and couldn't decide what to make. I came up with this recipe after browsing several recipe books and not finding anything I wanted to cook! They're based on a gypsy cream recipe I found in Cookies Galore .

• 100g/4oz dairy-free spread/butter
• 50g/2oz soft brown sugar
• 75g/3oz plain flour
• 50g/2oz rolled oats
• 25g/1oz cocoa powder, sieved

Cream the butter and sugar together.
Mix in the dried ingredients to form a firm dough.
Roll the dough into 16-20 small balls, using your hands (make sure there's an even number!)
Place on a greased baking tray and flatten slightly.
Bake for 12-15 mins at 170C/160C Fan/Gas 3
Cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tray and cooling on a wire rack.

Mocha Icing/Frosting

• 50g/2oz dairy-free spread/butter
• 100g/4oz icing sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water

Cream the butter and cocoa. 
Mix in the icing sugar, adding enough coffee to make a smooth, spreadable icing.
Pipe or spread the icing onto half of the biscuits and sandwich together.

Suitable for freezing.

Alternatives: Substitute the coffee for orange or mint extract, and up to 1tbsp boiled water.

Make mini biscuits (divide mixture into 32-40 balls), sandwich together as before and then dip each biscuit into melted chocolate. Leave to set on greaseproof paper. Package up in cellophane and give as presents, or add to a homemade hamper.

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The very chocolaty Hotel Chocolat giveaway

You may have gathered from all the chocolaty recipes on my blog, that I like chocolate. I particularly like good chocolate and I especially like good, dark chocolate. So how pleased was I, when the people at Hotel Chocolat chose me as one of their Christmas product tasters? Well, pretty chuffed, to be exact.

I hadn't actually ever tried Hotel Chocolat chocolate before, so I was really looking forward to receiving one of their products to review...

I was excited to find a beautifully presented dark chocolate advent calendar on my door step the other morning. I noticed (for blogging purposes) that it contained 175g of 70% cocoa solid, vegan/dairy-free chocolates, but then as Miss Ony and Miss Kahonie were around at the time, I had to stop reading the back of the box and get on with the tasting. I also had to share the first chocolates with them, rather than sneak them indulgently without the kids knowing!

It felt rather naughty opening the first door of the advent calendar before October was even over, but we soon got over that! We found that each piece of chocolate was either inscribed with a little message, or shaped into a cute little Christmasy motif. They were dark and glossy and snapped in two with a satisfying crack (I'm not sure why, but this is a sign of good chocolate apparently.) 

The chocolates had a strong, smooth chocolaty taste, and were pleasantly sweet (I find some dark chocolate too bitter). They melted deliciously on my tongue, and left me wanting another one! My children and husband all thought the chocolate were lovely too, although they're not quite as fussy about their chocolate as I am!

I must admit that at £17, the price of the calender is rather more than I would usually spend, but it would make a lovely gift for someone special. Hotel Chocolat also have a yummy-looking range of Christmas stocking fillers starting from just £5, so there's something suitable for all budgets.

Helpfully, they mark all their products with their suitability for different dietary requirements, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free, so you don't have to look through lists of ingredients, before deciding what to buy. 

So to the giveaway - I have one dark chocolate advent calendar to give away, just like the one I reviewed.

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED: Winner is @maxineflossy

• All you have to do is visit Hotel Chocolat's Christmas page and tell me which product you would like to find under your Christmas tree this year.
• For an extra entry, follow them on Twitter and tweet this message @HotelChocolat @FacelessFood - I entered the Hotel Chocolat giveaway to #win a chocolate advent calendar #vegan #vegetarian
• Leave me a comment below for each entry (maximum 2 per person), with some way of contacting you.

UK residents only.
Competition closes at midnight Saturday 12th November.
I will announce the winner here and on Twitter.
The winner will be picked randomly and contacted within 48 hours.
If I don't hear back from the winner within 7 days of this, I reserve the right to re-draw and offer the prize to someone else.

Integrity Statement
I received a chocolate advent calender to review and one to give away on my blog. I did not receive payment, and the views expressed are genuinely those of myself and my family. Pin It

Chocolate Tiffin (Vegan)

My kids love chocolate tiffin (biscuit cake/refrigerator cake) and are old enough to make this on their own now. I decided to earn some good mum points today though and made some on my afternoon off work, so they would be ready to eat as an after dinner treat. 

• 200g/8oz crushed vegan digestive biscuits (Graham crackers)
• 100g/4oz dairy-free spread (not reduced/low fat)
• 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or your choice of coffee, peppermint, orange extract etc)
• 100g/4oz chopped dried fruit (I used raisins, glace cherries and apricots)
• 100g/4oz dairy-free chocolate, melted.

Crush the biscuits in a plastic bag, using a rolling pin, or use a food processor.
Put the spread, sugar, cocoa, and syrup in a bowl and melt on a low setting in the microwave. Stir well.
Add the flavouring, dried fruits and crushed biscuits.
Mix until all the biscuit crumbs are coated.
Pour into a greased square baking tin and press down well with the back of a spoon.

Melt the chocolate on a low setting in the microwave.
Pour over the biscuit base and spread, with the back of a spoon, to cover.
Chill in the fridge.
Cut into squares when cold.

Keeps for up to a week in an airtight container.

Not suitable for freezing.

Alternatives: you can really use any plain biscuits in this recipe such as rich tea, shortbread, Nice etc. or use a combination if you wish. 
Swap the dried fruits for chopped nuts or seeds, if preferred.
Gluten-free option: swap the biscuits for a gluten-free variety.

Top Tip: This is a good recipe to use up left over Christmas or Easter chocolate.

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Chocolate Orange Cupcakes (Vegan)

I've been attempting to make a decent vegan chocolate cupcake for some time now. I wanted to make them without egg replacer or any fancy ingredients, but although I found I could make great tasting cakes, the texture was too crumbly without egg to stick it together. This time I added a grated apple and that seemed to do the trick!

• 250g/10oz SR flour
• 200g/8oz soft dark brown sugar
• 4 tbsp fine shred orange marmalade
• 150g/6oz vegan/dairy-free spread
• 150ml/a generous ½ cup cold water or dairy-free milk
• 50g/2oz unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 peeled and grated eating apple
• 50g/2oz dairy-free chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dates or chopped nuts (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 180C/170C Fan/Gas 5/375F. 

Cream the dairy-free spread and the sugar, then add the cocoa, grated apple and marmalade and mix well.
Add the flour, water/milk and bicarb. Blend until you have a smooth mixture.
Stir in some chocolate chips/chopped nuts etc (optional).
Spoon generously into 12 muffin/cupcake cases.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until firm to the touch.
Ice when cool (optional).

Suitable for freezing.

Orange glacé icing

• Juice and zest of 1 orange
• 100g/4oz icing sugar
• A couple of drops of orange food colouring (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Add a little boiling water or some more icing sugar if needed, to make a thick, but spreadable icing.
Spread on top of each cake.

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Giant Chocolate Cupcake

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I bought a giant cupcake tin from Lakeland a couple of years ago (Wilton make a similar pan), and told the kids that they would have to have a giant cupcake for every birthday until they were 18, as the tin was so expensive! 

Serves 20

• 250g/10oz butter/dairy-free spread
• 250g/10oz sugar
• 5 medium eggs
• 250g/10oz SR flour
• 50g/2oz unsweetened cocoa powder, sieved
• 50g/2oz dark chocolate chips
• 6 tbsp milk/water
• 1½ level tsp baking powder

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Pre heat the oven to 160C/150C Fan/Gas 3.

Grease the cupcake tin and sprinkle with a little sieved cocoa.
Cream the butter and sugar and beat in 3 of the eggs.
Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa, milk, choc chips and remaining eggs and mix until just combined.
Spoon half of the mixture into each side of the cupcake pan.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake has risen and is firm to the touch (in the centre).  If the cake is browning too quickly, turn the oven down by 10C.
Once cooked, leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

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Spread a generous amount of butter cream/frosting over the top surface of the cupcake base. If needed, roll out a long 'sausage' of fondant icing and use this to fill in any gaps between the cupcake top and bottom or fill with piped butter cream. Totally cover the top of the cake with the remaining butter cream and then add decorations, if required.

Chocolate Butter Cream/Frosting

• 150g/6oz dark chocolate, melted
• 150g/6oz softened butter/dairy-free spread
• 250g/10oz icing sugar
• 4 tbsp sieved unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-4 tbsp boiling water

Cream the butter and icing sugar.
Beat in the melted chocolate, then add the cocoa powder and vanilla.
Mix well until you have a soft, spreadable butter cream, adding some boiling water, as necessary.
Sandwich the cakes together with some of the butter cream/frosting and use the rest to ice the top of the cake.
Tie a ribbon around, or make a paper cupcake holder to cover the base.

Alternatives: You can make an even bigger cake in the same tin, by upping the ingredients to 300g/12oz butter/sugar, 350g/14oz flour and 6 eggs. Keep the amount of the remaining ingredients the same.
If you want a plain sponge, swap the cocoa for extra flour and 1 tsp vanilla extract and add 1 tsp baking powder instead of 1½ tsp.
Make a dairy-free cake, by using dairy-free spread and chocolate. Pin It

Chewy Chocolate Flapjacks (Vegan)

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I'd run out of snacks for the children's lunchboxes this week, so I made up a quick batch of chocolate flapjacks, to keep them happy. This flapjack recipe is a really simple one, so the children can help, or even make themselves if they're old enough to use the oven and microwave. They make a nice after school or lunch box snack, as an alternative to cereal bars.

Makes 12-16 bars/squares.

• 150g/6oz dairy-free spread (or 100g/4oz dairy-free spread and 50g/2oz smooth peanut butter)
• 150g/6oz soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 50g/2oz dessicated coconut
• 25g/1oz cocoa powder, sieved
• 50g/2oz raisins, or other dried fruit (chopped banana chips, apricots etc)
• 200g/8oz porridge oats  
• A pinch of cinnamon, optional

Pre-heat the oven to 160C/150C Fan/Gas 3/325F.

Melt the spread with the sugar and syrup (in a pan or in the microwave).
Stir in the coconut, cocoa and raisins (and cinnamon).
Mix in the oats until coated in the chocolaty syrup.
Pour into a greased baking tin (15cm x 20cm approx) and flatten with a fork or spoon.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before marking into squares/bars.
Turn out when cold - not before, or they'll fall apart!

Suitable for freezing.

Alternatives: Swap the dried fruit for chopped nuts or chopped crystallised ginger.
Top with melted dairy-free chocolate when cool, for a more indulgent flapjack! Pin It

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes with Nutella Icing

Image © Onykahonie

It was 9 year old Miss Kahonie's turn to bake this weekend and she decided she wanted to make some chocolate fairy cakes. Whilst browsing my favourite blogs this week, I happened to notice that Cass from the Frugal Family had started up a cooking with kids linky, which sounded like a great idea to get involved with. I also spotted her recipe for Nutella frosting and thought that sounded rather yummy.

Both Miss Ony and Miss Kahonie love baking and have been cooking with me since they were able to stand up and hold a spoon! They especially like baking anything with chocolate. If that includes icing as well, they like it even more; The only thing they like even better, is an iced, chocolaty confection with extra added chocolaty-ness!

This cupcake/fairy cake recipe includes all of their top baking requirements!

Miss Kahonie used a basic fairy/sponge cake recipe (100g each of sugar, butter and SR flour, plus 2 eggs and a tsp of vanilla extract).

For chocolate coconut cupcakes, she removed 2 tbsp of the flour and replace with 2 tbsp of sieved cocoa powder and added 25g/1oz dessicated coconut.

She decided to use the all in one method in the food processor, and mixed all the ingredients together until blended.
She spooned the mixture into a greased bun tin (you could use cake cases in a bun tin, or divide between 2 greased and lined 18cm/6" sandwich cake tins)
She then baked them for 10-15 minutes (20 minutes for sandwich cakes) at 180 C/Gas 4 or until they were firm to the touch.

Nutella butter icing:

• 50g/2oz softened butter/vegetable spread
• 75g/3oz icing sugar
• 3 tbsp Nutella
• 1 tbsp sieved cocoa
• ½ tsp  vanilla extract
• A drop of boiling water if needed

Miss Kahonie creamed the softened butter and Nutella together.
She added the vanilla extract, icing sugar and cocoa, and mixed well.
(If needed, add a drop of boiling water and mix until you have a smooth, spreadable icing)

She then tasted the icing (just to make sure it was yummy enough!) before spreading onto the top of each cake.
Next, she scraped out the bowl and licked the spoon! Finally, she topped each cake with a chocolate button.

Image © Onykahonie

Suitable for freezing.

Alternatives: Add any other ingredients you like to the basic sponge mix instead of the coconut eg: 50g chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried apricots, pecans, glace cherries, chopped fudge etc.

Swap the Nutella in the icing for 1 tbsp strong coffee, orange juice (plus grated orange zest), lemon juice (plus grated lemon zest).

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Peanut Butter Traybake Bars (Vegan)

These chocolate-coated peanut butter bars are really quick and easy to make. My kids reckon they taste like Snickers bars.  

Makes 12-16

• 100g/4oz crunchy peanut butter
• 25g/1oz dairy-free spread
• 100g/4oz soft brown sugar
• 50g/2oz SR flour
• 50g/2oz porridge oats/oatmeal
• 2 tbsp golden syrup/corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon or ginger (optional)
• 100g/4oz plain (dairy free) chocolate.

Cream the peanut butter, spread, syrup and sugar together.
Add the flour, oats, vanilla and cinnamon/ginger.
Mix well until you have a firm dough.
Add a drop of  water if the dough is too dry to stick together.
Press the dough into a shallow (approx. 15cm) square greased baking tray. The dough should be around 1-1.5 cm thick.
Cook for around 12-15 mins at 180C/170C Fan/Gas 4/350F until golden brown around the edges.
Leave to cool.
Melt the chocolate and spread over the base. 
Allow to set before cutting into bars and removing from the tray.

Suitable for freezing.

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Oh my goodness...chocolate heaven on a plate!

Miss Ony, Miss Kahonie (daughters) and myself had a girly day out shopping today, as hubbie was at the (football) match. After a couple of hours of vigorous shopping, we decided to take a pit stop at Costa Coffee. Unfortunately our favourite cafe was packed, so we crossed the road to check out the previously undiscovered (by us) Caffe Nero.

Miss Ony went for a mint-choc frappe milkshake, Miss Kanohie (being a milk-a-phobe like myself) opted for the Sicilian lemonade, while I chose a regular tea (no milk).

We were feeling decadent, and a bit hungry, so after checking out the decent range of veggie options, we decided to share a slice of White & Dark Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake...OMG!!!  It was delicious...a chocolaty explosion of tongue tinglingly melty flavours!

We went home, feeling satiated in both shopping and food, but I also felt a little bit guilty. Maybe there was gelatine lurking in all that cheesecakey yumminess. I checked on the Caffe Nero website which thankfully confirmed that there were no nasties. 'But hang on, maybe they don't understand what vegetarian means', I thought, so I checked on some non-vegetarian products and saw the heart-warming words "...Contains gelatine, so this product is not suitable for vegetarians" and " Due to the Gorgonzola cheese containing animal rennet, this panini is not suitable for vegetarians".

Yay to Caffe Nero, they do great cakes and they understand what vegetarians (and vegans) eat/don't eat! Sorry Costa Coffee, we now have a new favourite cafe.

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Chocolate Ganache Truffles

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Chocolate truffles are really easy to make, and will keep in the fridge for a week or so.  They are great as a gift for any occasion...Christmas, Mothers' Day, Easter, whatever! Vary the recipe by using different chocolates and flavourings. If you make them with milk chocolate and vanilla extract, they taste pretty much like Lindor chocolates!

• 250g/10oz chocolate (plain/dark or milk - shop's own brand is fine, but don't use cooking chocolate)
• 150ml/10 tbsp double cream (use 125ml/9 tbsp if using liqueur as the flavouring)
• 25g/1oz unsalted butter
• Flavouring (1 tbsp liqueur, 1-2 tsp flavouring extract or a little grated orange zest)
• Cocoa powder, drinking chocolate powder, icing sugar, grated chocolate, crushed chocolate flake etc to coat.

Heat the cream until hot (but not quite boiling) in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave.

Add the chocolate and butter allow to melt (you might need to warm the mixture slightly if the chocolate doesn't melt). Mix well, adding the flavouring, if used.

Chill the mixture for an hour or two, until almost solid.

Remove from the fridge and working quickly, shape heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, using your hands.
Roll the truffles in the cocoa powder etc to coat (or if you're feeling adventurous, try dipping them in melted chocolate and leave to set on greaseproof paper).
Place in mini-muffin/sweet cases and chill until needed.

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Spooky Chocolate Biscuits

These biscuits can be made into different shapes and decorated with icing for different occasions. I've scoured the local shops for Halloween cookie cutters (I should've been more organised and ordered them in advance from Amazon!) so we're making round cookies with a spider's web design iced on.

This recipes makes around 25 biscuits.

• 250g/10oz plain flour
• 50g/2oz cocoa
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 175g/7oz spreadable butter/sunflower spread (not the low fat stuff unless you want soggy biscuits!)
• 175g/7oz soft brown sugar
• 1 medium egg

Cream the butter and sugar and beat in the egg.
Mix in the dry ingredients until you have a soft, but not sticky dough. If the dough is sticky just add in a bit more flour.

Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes.

Roll out on a floured board and cut into shapes.

Place on a greased baking sheet and cook for 12-15 minutes at 180C/Gas 4.

Cook on a wire rack.

When cool, decorate with icing.

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