Chocolate cookie coffee torte & kitchen injuries
Home for Christmas #2
Welcome back to Home for Christmas. In the lead up to the holidays there will be a steady stream of festive recipes from cocktails to desserts, snacks to appetizers and a myriad of side dish and dinner inspirations. It matters not if you’ve been naughty or nice, as I haven’t turned on paid subscriptions yet, so consider this my Christmas present to you!
When writing about my culinary adventures I often romanticize the kitchen as a place of refuge and creativity, but for all its allure, it can be an unforgiving environment. In fact, when you’re cooking AND filming, it’s a damned war zone: fire, smoke, molten liquids…..a tripod! Oh, and of course, knives, razor-sharp just as they should be, so sharp that you might not realize you’ve been cut until the béchamel sauce turns a Pepto Bismol pink.
Until yesterday, my injury record in the kitchen had been relatively insignificant. Don’t get me wrong, over the years, like any chef, cook or person-who-works-in-food, I’ve had my fair share of minor mishaps: small scratches, cuts and grazes; skidding across oil slicked floors; dodging red hot spitting bacon fat and worst of all, narrowly avoiding my hair going up in smoke whilst flambéing a Christmas pudding. For a cook, pain is inevitable; injuries, major or minor are guaranteed. Of course, we do all we can to avoid them by learning from our mistakes, investing in slip-resistant Birkenstocks, tying tangled curls into slick tidy buns and trading potentially hazardous glassware in favor of deli containers. We try, but sometimes our efforts are in vain.
Over the years, I’ve heard dozens of pretty rockstar, Tarantino-esque injury stories from chefs: freshly sharpened meat cleavers slicing through fingers like butter; oyster shucks slipping and lacerating unprotected hands; a deep clean cut, causing blood to spurt onto the whites of a neighboring chef. I’ll never forget an episode involving red hot rendered duck fat splattering onto the arm of a young saucier, sizzling the skin so badly that the bone-chilling aroma of burning flesh continued to float around the kitchen for hours.
Blood, guts and gore, it all amounts to suffering, except that in a professional kitchen injuries become badges of honor. Well, not for me. I’m a wimp. Plus, I'm a home cook so I have the luxury of working at my own pace. Still, I never imagined that my first official kitchen injury would be so embarrassingly pathetic - more Laurel and Hardy than Tarantino. Was it caused by an inadvertent slip of a ludicrously sharp Japanese steel knife I hear you ask? Or perhaps a burn resulting from carelessly reaching across a fierce flame? No, I was taken down by a pair of my Father’s worn-out Nike sliders.
These size 11 clodhoppers had been abandoned beside the fridge, and on my way to locate heavy cream for a chocolate ganache (recipe below, if you still have an appetite) I unceremoniously tripped over them. Just as in cartoons, it all seemed to happen in slow motion: first my left foot wobbled, then my arms became windmill sails, then I heard myself gasp and before I knew it, wham - I hit the floor.
Back in my horse-riding days when I was a child, I was taught to go loose when a fall is imminent—a tactic to dodge serious injury. Turns out, keeping loose is a breeze when you're ten, fearless and gymnastically flexible. Twenty-four years later and feeling worn out and distracted after a lengthy and frustrating six hour cooking session, that technique failed to deliver the required results as I hurtled towards the cold, ceramic kitchen floor.
For sure, after the initial fall, I got right back up and worked through the pain, if only due to the combined effects of caffeine, adrenaline and a tight schedule. But now? Swollen and agonizingly painful, my left foot is currently staging an obstinate refusal to co-operate, so that walking, let alone cooking, is off the table, despite my tearful protestations.
For the sensitively inclined, if you’ve got this far, you’ll likely be craving a mint tea to settle your stomach, but for the hungry and heartless, my persistence paid off because the result was a dessert that is truly exceptional: Chocolate torte with coffee caramel and a luxurious cookie and hazelnut crumb base. I’m sure you will be glad to know that this decadent dessert doesn’t involve any baking, making it the perfect choice for Christmas entertaining.
As you know by now, this series is entitled: Home for Christmas. Cute right? Naturally I was planning on making the tone of this newsletter cozy and festive. Instead, it’s been gruesome and graphic, but you know, behind that beautiful plate of food, whether it be at a Michelin star restaurant or your Mum’s kitchen, there is a cook toiling away like a champ, to create plates of deliciousness and joy. And you know what? It is our pleasure.
The Recipe
Malted Chocolate Cookie Torte
Servings: 8
Equipment used:
Ingredients
Cookie base
- 308 g /11 oz Oreo cookies (28 biscuits or 2 x 154g packets)
- 45 g /1 ½ oz dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
- 60 g /2 oz salted butter, room temperature
- 45 g /1 ½ oz hazelnuts, toasted
Coffee Caramel layer
- 275 g /9 oz canned caramel or condensed milk*
- 2 tsp coffee extract/essence (such as Camp)
- Pinch of Maldon salt
Optional additions
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 1 tsp coffee beans
*If you cannot obtain canned caramel use 275g of condensed milk instead and see below for instructions.
Malted Milk Chocolate Ganache Filling
- 100 g / 4 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 150 g / 6 oz milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 250 ml / 9 fl oz double/heavy cream
- 70 g / 2 oz malted milk powder (such as Horlicks)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
- ¼ tsp of salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cookie Base (adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe)
1. Break the biscuits and chocolate into pieces and place in a food processor. Add the butter and toasted hazelnuts, then blitz until the mixture resembles fine crumbs that start to clump together.
2. Using your fingertips, press the cookie crumbs into and up the sides of a loose-bottomed flan tin. Then, use the back of a measuring cup or spoon to smooth the chocolate and nut biscuit crust.
3. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Espresso Caramel
1. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the caramel, coffee extract/essence, vanilla extract and salt, then pour the mixture onto the biscuit base. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you prepare the chocolate ganache filling.
Note: If you cannot obtain caramel, place condensed milk, coffee extract, coffee beans, vanilla extract and salt in a medium saucepan over low heat and combine. Simmer for 3-4 mins or until the condensed milk has thickened slightly. Don’t forget to continually stir.
Malted Milk Chocolate Ganache Filling
1. Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl then set aside.
2. Pour the cream into a medium saucepan over low heat then sift in the malted milk powder. Stir to combine for approx. 3 mins or until the mixture reaches a very gentle simmer. Do not worry if the cream initially appears lumpy, the malted milk powder will dissolve. When the cream starts to thicken slightly, turn off the heat and then add the vanilla paste and salt before stirring gently to combine.
3. Pour the cream and malted milk powder mixture over the chocolate. Leave undisturbed for 1-2 minutes whilst the chocolate melts.
4. Gently stir until the mixture is fully combined which will result in a smooth, thick, silky ganache.
5. Remove the torte from the refrigerator and pour the ganache onto the caramel layer. Allow the torte to chill for 2-3 hours or overnight. Decorate and serve.
Notes
- Prior to serving, remove the torte from the fridge and unmould then allow to stand for 5-10 mins. Decorate as desired.
- If you are concerned about removing the baking parchment liner or removable base of the tin, leave it in place – it will hardly be of any concern to those who have already taken their first mouthful of this delectable dessert.
Check back soon for more festive recipes!
Sarah x
Please note - In this post there may be Amazon affiliate links at no extra cost to you.
No pain no gain! Hopefully you are now ok and am looking forward to more tales and recipes from your kitchen! Keep safe!!!