Tag: slice

Salted chocolate and walnut caramel slice

This salted chocolate and walnut caramel slice is adapted from Delicious magazine.   The slices taste amazing. Since they are quite filling, there is here for a fair number of serves. I made mine in a  20×30 cm slice tray.  The recipe originally called for a 23 x 23 cm tray.

There are a few steps to make the salted chocolate caramel slice but all are pretty easy. To make it even easier, I advise using the caramel version of sweet condensed milk.

Barre choco caramel

Ingredients:

BASE

  • 220 g plain flour
  • 50 g  icing sugar, sifted
  • 180 g unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly

FILLING

  • 380 g sweetened caramel condensed milk (this is the volume of a can of condensed milk in Australia)
  • 50 g dark  brown sugar
  • 100 g dark corn syrup or glucose syrup
  • 100 g unsalted butter
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • one teaspoon worth of good quality vanilla extract

TOP

  • 200 g dark 70% cooking chocolate
  • 15 g unsalted butter
  • 40 g roasted walnuts (roast them 15 minutes in a 160°C oven)
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes (if using a 23×23 cm tin, you will need to use slightly less)
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease the base and sides of the slice tin and line with baking paper.
  2. Place the flour, icing sugar and 1⁄4 tsp salt flakes in a heatproof bowl and stir to combine. Add the melted butter and mix with your hands to form a sticky paste. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth out with an offset spatula.
  3. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the base is golden. If any bubbles form under the base while baking, use a skewer to gently deflate them.
  4. Now, for the caramel filling, place all the ingredients in a large heatproof bowl. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring well occasionally, until the butter has fully melted and emulsified. The consistency should be thick and gloopy and the colour just a shade darker. Set aside at room temperature. As soon as the base is ready, remove from the oven and immediately pour the caramel filling over the top.
  5. Reduce the oven to 120°C. Return the filled base to the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so. If it starts to brown too quickly, reduce the oven slightly and continue to bake. When cooked, the middle will feel set and a little rubbery and the sides should be starting to blister and turn light brown. Remove and leave to cool for 1-2 hours at room temperature.

    Tip – it is important to place the slice at the bottom of the oven at this stage, it allows cooking while avoiding the top to brown and darken too quickly.

  6. It is now time to prepare the topping.  Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir thoroughly then pour it over the top of the caramel. Smooth lightly with an offset spatula or tilt the pan to distribute the chocolate. Crush the walnuts with your hands and sprinkle over the top with the salt flakes.
  7. Leave to cool a little.  It should be fully set after an hour (this depends on the temperature of your kitchen as well). This salted chocolate caramel slice keeps in an air-tight container for a week.

Barre choco caramel

Roasted almond and chocolate slice

This roasted almond and chocolate slice is very easy to make and quick. The difference from the more frequent almond cake base is the amazing aroma that comes from having toasted carefully the almond meal!

You will need a 20 x 20 cm slice tin or brownie tin for this slice.

Ingredients:
  • 180 g of caster sugar
  • 4 large eggs (that means from a box of 12 eggs weighting 700 g min)
  • 200 g of  almond meal
  • A few drops of good vanilla extract
  • 100 g of melted butter (I use salted butter, the choice is yours)
  • Chocolate top: 150 g of dark chocolate and 70 g of butter
Method:
  1. Heat up the oven to 170°C.
  2. Place the almond meal in a large thick based frypan on medium to high heat (no need for anything else!).  While constantly moving the almond meal around slowly with a wooden spoon or wooden spatula, allow it to toast to a nice golden brown. Remove from the heat when you reach the colour and immediately transfer to a bowl (else the almond meal will further darken). Careful, this is hot.
  3. In a food mixer with the whisk (or by hand with a wide whisk!), whisk together sugar and eggs until light and fluffy like a mousse.
  4. Add the vanilla extract.
  5. Slow down the speed of the mixer if using one. Add the melted butter. Then add the roasted almond meal once it has cooled down.
  6. Line the tray with baking paper (use a bit of butter to help it stick well on the sides). Pour the bottom mix into the slice tin.
  7. Bake until light brown (you can insert a skewer to check or simply press the top of the base with the tip of your fingers, it will slightly spring back). Remove from the oven. Leave in the tray.
  8. Melt the chocolate and  70 g of butter. Once melted, mix until smooth, then pour over the base and use a spatula to spread across the base.
  9. Leave to cool until set. If you are short of time, place the tray in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  10. Cut into slices.  The slices keep well for a few days in an air-tight container. Do not refrigerate.

barre amande et chocolat

Wholefood bars, I tried one, here you go…

Wholefood bars, I tried one, here you go…

See, I bought this magazine at the airport a few weeks ago.  Nothing exceptional in that for now, you may think.

I was attracted by the  beautiful display of simple ingredients cooked in a range of easy, tasty and good looking dishes.    When I actually reached the sweet section, I was surprised to see a range of “wholefood bars”.  You may recognise the magazine by now, it was Donna Hay’s 100th issue.

Baking being my natural inclination, I set to do one of the recipe in the issue.  I settled on the raspberry coconut pannacotta bar.  I can tell you there was no regret there!

The recipe can be found HERE with a number of tips.

raspberry raw food

Wholefood bars – the feedback on the making

  • It was quite easy.  For someone who is not often in the kitchen, I would say, it is achievable as the steps are simple enough and there is one action at the time.
  • You may not have all the ingredients at home. No panic, sometimes you can allow to be creative.  For example :
    • I did not have fresh dates but package dates.  It worked very well all the same, it was not overpowerly sweet nor did it taste too much like dates (which  I am not the biggest fan).
    • Similarly . I did not have coconut oil (I do now, it may take me years to use it, time will tell) , coconut oil doesn’t really have more health benefit than other oils but it has a textural benefit by solidifying a low temperature.  So, for the biscuit, I used a peanut oil and for the raspberry mix, I used cocoa butter.
  • It is a stage process, like all layering sweet creation.
  • Invite friends over or bring to a picnic! Even though we really liked this slice, the slice is quite filling.
  • The dry-freeze decoration (as in the magasine) is hard to find and is purely decorative.  Being on Scotland Island, getting in a boat, crossing to the mainland and then driving  “to town” and dropping to the local fine food store or health food store was not an option for me.
  • To cut the slice, make sure you have a narrow (can be tall) blade and wipe it between rows.

Verdict:

Will I try again?  Yes, with enough people around to eat it.  I have not tried to freeze the slice I made to see if it is an option.

Is it a bit fancy all these ingredients?  The ingredients in the recipe I did are all top market ingredients, so not low-cost.  I did not do the slice to test its health benefits. It is worth noting that while dates are quite nutritious and that coconut oil health benefit are not demonstrated.  As the quantities remain small, there is nothing unreasonable.

Does it keep?  We kept ours for 2-3 days. As you can see on the photos taken two days after making (could not find the camera), the  white top  will  soon be influenced by the underlying raspberry .  The colour will start to come through.  Nothing

raspberry raw food

 

Lunch box chocolate fondant slice

Yum, yum ! And for bonus: this lunch box chocolate fondant slice is super mega easy and quick to cook.  It is pretty much the case of mixing all ingredients together (no skills required there) and placing it in brownie tin or slice tin, bake it and this is it!  In terms of effort value vs results, it rates pretty high!

That recipe is based on a can of condensed milk (replace  sugar and need for butter).

If you are not going to use all of it within the coming days, best is to wrap in cell cling wrap and freeze.  Place them in the kids lunch box, by the time they will eat them, they will be defrosted.

Now, on the butter: I tried without and with butter (70 g), both are quite satisfactory, the butter version is a little more rich and in term of taste a little more complex. The children did not make the difference between the two versions.

choc fondant slice

Makes 12 lunch box serves

Cooking time, with no added butter – 10 min (almost double if adding butter)

Ingredients:
  • 1 can (about 400g) of sweet condensed milk
  • 200 g of dark cooking chocolate
  • 4 eggs
  • 70 g of butter (only if you want to add a little more richness, otherwise omit)
  • 50 g of flour
Method
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
  2. Butter and line a brownie tin
  3. Melt the chocolate (and butter if adding)
  4. Add the eggs one by one and the condensed milk. Then add the flour.
  5. Pour in the prepared tin. Make sure not to trap air bubbles as the batter is quite thick especially if not using the butter (to make sure, tap your filled tin on the bench a couple of time, this will make any bubble break)
  6. Bake until cooked, the slice must be firm when touching (not wobbly), the edges will show a few crackling marks.
  7. Cool down for a few minutes before cutting in portions.

choc fondant slice