Black Charcoal Doughnuts

If you have been following me on social media (basically lots of cake pictures. You know, the good stuff!) then you know Kitchenaid challenged me to come up with a recipe inspired by their limited edition Black Tie Standmixer, which you can find out about here. Well, this is that recipe. A doughnut turned ink black, using charcoal powder, filled with a delicious chocolate pastry cream, perfect for halloween next week!

Black Charcoal Doughnuts
500g strong white bread flour
50g light brown sugar
1 tsp fine salt
7g dried fast action yeast
25g black bamboo charcoal powder
4 large eggs
150ml whole milk
250g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature

Dark Chocolate Custard
500ml whole milk
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
200g caster sugar
30g cocoa powder
30g cornflour
75g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

To make the chocolate custard place the milk into a large saucepan and heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Meanwhile whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, light brown sugar, cocoa and cornflour until smooth. Pour over the hot milk and whisk to combine. Scrape the custard back into the pan and cook, whisking constantly until the custard has thickened. Scrape the custard into a bowl and add the chocolate, mixing together until melted and combined. Press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate until needed. 

To make the doughnut dough place the flour, light brown sugar, salt, yeast and charcoal powder into the bowl of a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, fitted with the dough hook and mix together to combine. Pour in the milk and the eggs and with the mixer turned to low mix together to form a shaggy dough. Knead on low/medium speed for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough is elastic and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Start to add the butter a couple pieces at a time, until fully combined. Once the butter has been combined continue to knead until the dough is elastic again and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. This will take about 10-15 minutes. 

At this stage place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, covering with clingfilm, allow to rise until doubled in size. You can either do this at room temperature which will take around an hour or you can refrigerate the dough for about 8-10 hours. 

Tip out the risen dough and divide into 16 equal sized pieces and form into rounds. Set each ball of dough onto a square of parchment paper and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Lightly cover with clingfilm and allow to rise until almost doubled in size. To test if the doughnuts are ready for frying press one with your finger. It should spring back slowly, if it springs back quickly it needs to rise longer. 

Fill a large saucepan about 1/2 full with a neutral oil and heat over medium heat to 180C. Once the oil is at temperature turn the heat down to low so that the heat stays at 180C. Add the doughnuts 2 or 3 at a time frying for 5 minutes, flipping half way through cooking. As the doughnuts are black it is hard to tell if they are fully cooked so it is best sticking to the temperature and timings quite closely. Set the doughnuts onto a plate lined with kitchen roll to drain any excess oil. Whilst still a little warm toss in caster sugar. Set aside and allow to cool fully.

To finish use a small knife to cut a slit in the side of each doughnut. Place the custard into a piping bag fitted with a bismarck tip (a long thin piping tip used for filling doughnuts) and fill generously. These doughnuts are best served on the day they are made. 

Matcha Oreos

Makes 20-25

Oreo Cookies
275g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
200g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
125g light brown sugar

Matcha White Chocolate Ganache
300g white chocolate
200ml double cream
2 tsp matcha powder

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line two baking trays with parchment paper. 

To make the cookies place the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and mix together to combine. Add the butter and sugars into a large bowl and using an electric mixer beat together for a couple minutes until everything is combined. Add the flour mixture and on low speed mix until the flour has just been incorporated into the butter, stopping when the dough is still very crumbly but only once you can no longer see any flour. Tip the crumbly dough out on the work surface and carefully bring together into a dough. Divide into two equal pieces and working with one piece at a time roll out between two pieces of parchment paper until about 4-5mm thick. Place the dough onto a baking tray and refrigerate for am hour until firm. 

When chilled use a 5cm round cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible, placing on the prepared baking trays, a couple cm's apart. You can gather the scraps together and re-roll as above once but any more and the cookies will become tough. 

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-11 minutes. As they are chocolate it is hard to tell when they are done but they will be set around the outside and a little soft. When they bake they also puff up a little so as soon as they are removed from the oven press with the back of a glass so they are nice and flat. 

Whilst the cookies are cooling make the ganache. Place the chocolate into a large bowl and set aside. Add the cream and matcha to a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring vigorously to dissolve the tea. Once the cream is at temperature pour over the chocolate and leave alone for a couple of minutes before stirring together to form a vibrant green ganache. Press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate for an hour or so until a pipeable consistency. Place the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip and use to sandwich the cookies together.

Kept in a sealed container these cookies will keep for up to three days. 

Salted Caramel Cocoa Brownies with Burnt Meringue Topping

A couple weeks ago, I set up stall on Columbia Road Market to take part in Bake For Syria, a massive charity bakesale raising money for UNESCO, and to say I was a little overwhelmed by the response is most definitely an understatement. Not only did we raise over £10,000.00 (I havent heard the final figure yet) but most of the bakeries had sold hours earlier than expected and hours earlier than we had planned for; those of you who came down later, sorry we couldn't sell you cake! It was the first time I had sold my baking to the public since my short lived bakery Eddibles Bakery (its a pun, get it?) on Maltby Street Market a few years back. I baked liked a maniac for a couple days before the big day, using just one oven and one mixer. I cranked as much sweet stuff as I could manage and then promptly sold out in just few hours! Maybe stupidly I made a variety of things when big batches of one or two things would have been more sensible. On the day it became clear that one thing was, by far, ridiculously popular. The cocoa brownie laced with copious amounts of salted caramel and then topped with swathes of burnt swiss meringue sold out in record time, I think it took barely 30 mins! Every day since you guys have been asking for the recipe, so here it is! I also quickly want to say that the brownie recipe is my spin on the cocoa brownies from Alice Medrich, from her brilliant book Bittersweet. I have adapted the ingredient amounts to suit my tastes and I've changed the method but the idea and base of the recipe come from Medrich.

Rather than simply popping the recipe up here, I wanted to film it so I headed over to Cupcake Jemmas kitchen and we filmed the recipe for YouTube. So once you have fallen into a sugar coma from watching my video jump over to Jemma's channel and watch the video we made together, where Jemma tries to convince me to like cupcakes.

Salted Caramel Cocoa Brownie with Burnt Swiss Meringue

Salted Caramel
150g caster
25g unsalted butter
Large pinch flaked sea salt
125ml double cream

Cocoa Brownies
300g unsalted butter, diced
225g caster sugar
225g light brown sugar
175g cocoa powder (I used Guittard)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
140g plain flour

Swiss Meringue
3 large egg white
240g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cream of tartar 

For the caramel filling place the sugar into a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat until turned a dark rusty brown colour, stopping just before it starts to smoke. Remove from the heat and carefully pour in the salt and half the cream. The mixture will bubble violently so be careful and go slowly. Once the mixture has settled add the remaining cream followed by the butter. Place the pan back on the heat and cook another two minutes to thicken the caramel a little and ensure it is smooth. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until cooled and firm (this is best done at least a few hours in advance as the caramel will take a fairly long time to cool).

In a medium sized saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, cocoa, salt and vanilla together. Once smooth remove from the heat and set aside for the moment. In a large bowl use an electric mixer to whisk together the sugars and eggs until slightly thickened and pale. Pour in the cocoa mixture and mix until smooth. Sieve over the four and fold together until combined.

Pour into a parchment lined 9x13 brownie pan and level out. Top with random dollops of caramel, about a teaspoon in size, using up the whole amount. This will look like a lot of caramel and it is, no one said this was a healthy recipe!

Bake at 180C (160C fan) for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the brownie comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. When it comes to a brownies nobody wants a dry brownie so it is best err on the side of caution, better to underbake a brownie then overbake it. Allow to cool for an hour or so before transferring to a fridge for a few hours, this helps set the brownies and makes them easier to cut. 

For the burnt meringue topping place all of the ingredients into a heatproof bowl and whisk gently over a pan of simmering water until the sugar has dissolved. Take from the heat and whisk on high speed until the meringue hold stiff glossy peaks. Spread over the brownies and brown with a blowtorch.  

Before the meringue is added the brownies can be kept in a sealed container for up to four days but once the meringue has been added these are best within a day so these are best made for a event where there will be lots of willing recipients.

English Toffee

Todays Chocolate Week recipe is confectionary which, yes, does involve the boiling of sugar, up to 149C in fact. I know this can make people wary and put them off trying a recipe but, trust me, this is a simple recipe that takes just 20 minutes to make and as a bonus there is a good chance you have everything at hand to make it. Before we get to the recipe I want to talk about the name. It is generally known as English Toffee but quizzically not really in England itself. It seems to be an American affectation and I cant really find a reason for the name. My basic assumption is that is was at one point made by a Brit in the US and a nickname sprung from that fact. Either way it is a delicious treat that is a simple combination of toffee, a thin layer of chocolate and most regularly chopped almonds.

As it is now clear that summer is over and the cold has moved in for the rest of the year, this is the perfect autumn treat, in fact it would be fabulous for Bonfire Night and Halloween; those nights where a thick coat is required with a little paper bag of sweets stashed in the pocket. The only piece of equipment you absolutely must use is a candy thermometer. You can go fancy and use an electric version or stay basic and use a cheap jam thermometer, but you do need to measure the temperature accurately so no skipping the thermometer, well unless you like dipping your fingers into boiling hot caramel to measure it (im not joking that is the original way of judging candy).

English Toffee
100g caster sugar
100g light brown muscavado sugar
225g unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
85g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50g toasted almonds, roughly chopped

To make the toffee very lightly oil a baking tray and set aside. 

Place the sugar and the butter into a medium sized, heavy bottomed saucepan and place over a medium heat. Stir until the butter and sugar have melted. Add the salt and water and cook, stirring regularly until the mixture reaches 149C/300F, this will take about 15 minutes. Watch the temperature carefully as it will rise slowly at first before suddenly rising rapidly. If, during cooking, you notice sugar clinging to the side of the pan either place a lid on the pan for a minute or brush the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Both methods clean any sugar from the sides of the pan, stopping any possible caramelisation in its tracks. 

Once at the correct temperature quickly remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and immediately pour onto the pan, spreading into a rectangle roughly 20x30cm. Sprinkling the chocolate roughly over the toffee and set aside for about 5 minutes or until the chocolate melts. Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee and sprinkle over the toffee. Set aside to cool for a while before placing into the fridge for an hour or so until everything is set. Remove from the fridge and use a knife to cut into pieces. Because the chocolate hasn't been tempered I keep the toffee in the fridge where it will keep for up to three days. If you temper the chocolate, spreading onto the cooled caramel, this will keep for a lot longer, at room temperature.