Lazy chocolate caramel gateau

The original recipe by Ann Coo involves using a small 6 to 7 inch pan, Valrhona chocolate and baking at 170 deg C for 20 mins. She said this was a lazy recipe and she's right, because this is only my 2nd recipe blog post in 2025, I ain't got time for using and washing up a mixer! Further, I decided to go all in and change up the pan size and pan all in once without trialling along the way! I expect this to go horribly wrong but what the heck, I don't have time to experiment and try. As such, all proportions have been increased by ⅓ (aka added an extra egg) to account for the bigger pan size (I used my 8inch round). 

Ingredients 

180g (1 bar) hopped baking chocolate (Valrhona if possible, I only had Cadbury)

40g caramel chips

120g sugar

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

120g butter

pinch of salt

52.5g plain flour or 80g cake flour

Method

1. Melt butter and chocolate using double boiler. Allow to cool down.

2. Separately, hand whisk eggs and sugar until dissolved. Combine with melted butter and chocolate.

3. Sieve in flour and fold in.

4. Pour the mixture into 8 inch round pan and bake 170 deg C for 30 to 35 mins. (After 30min with good temp control, the top was still wobbly so I switched off the oven and left it inside for a further 5 mins until skewer insert comes out clean.)

5. Let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes then invert onto rack to cool. Serve warm or totally cooled with more granache.

Receipe feedback

By happy accident, my choc bar was only 180g so I topped up with what I thought was meltable choc chips. They turned out to be caramel chips and the result is amazing!

Thankfully I had also cut the sugar otherwise it would be too sweet.

In the end, it was a bit on the sweet side (imagine if I hadn't remove the sugar!) but not cloyingly sweet.

The texture was very fudgey chewy with slight papery crispy top, overall similar to brownie.

I honestly think maybe 6 to 7 inch cake is enough because it's so rich otherwise, it will take a long time for 2 ppl to finish!

Chocolate ganache Profiteroles

I have been wanting to make this for a very long time. Based on the recipes and tips from here, essentially Natasha and Sally's whose recipe ingredients are identical, and the methods of all three Natasha, Sally, and Gemma (essential for NOT using the KitchenAid). I had made classic cream puffs with my mom during my childhood but we had always filled them with Bird's custard. Unfortunately, I have only seen it in the supermarkets here once and now can't find it when I need it. At a pinch, I used custard pouring cream but thickened with tapioca starch (because corn starch whilst used for desserts, also separates in the fridge). That proved to be a bad idea because it was gloopy and almost slimey rather than thick, creamy and luscious, and it flowed out everywhere. The texture does improve in the fridge so maybe that was the trick.

Ingredients (Makes 22 to 28 puffs, each one and a half inch wide by half inch tall cream puffs)

Cream puffs

½ C water (120ml)

½ C whole milk (120ml)

½ C (118g) butter or 8 tbsp

¼ tsp salt

1 C flour

4 large eggs, room temp, beaten

Splash of milk (for glaze)

Custard (used in this recipe but I wouldn't re-use this in the future)

300ml pouring custard from Paul's

4 tbsp tapioca starch

4 tbsp water or enough to create a slurry

Chocolate ganache

150ml double cream

150g baking chocolate bar or good quality chocolate chips (I used melting chips from Nestle)

Method

Make the Choux pastry

1. Combine the water and milk in a pot with the butter. Melt the butter and bring to a gentle simmer (very small bubbles appear at the edge of the pot).

2. Remove from the stove and add the flour. Using a whisk if preferred (I found it helped but was really difficult to wash), add all the flour at once and stir until well combined.

3. Return to the stove and press down the batter onto the bottom of the pot to cook off the raw flour taste. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until a film forms at the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

4. Beat the eggs in a Pyrex measuring jug. While the dough has cooled slightly, drizzle the egg a bit at a time into the dough and stir well with a wooden spoon. It will start off as a curd and split but continue beating. A KitchenAid can be used at this point but I didn't bother due to the washing up. Pour on as much egg as needed to make a thick ribbon when the spoon is lifted. Leave a few teaspoons behind to glaze the puffs.

5. Spoon into a piping bag and use a ½" round tip. 

6. I pre-prepared my parchment by drawing 1½" rounds on the wrong side of the parchment and then turned it right side up and placed it on the cookie sheet. Ensure there is space between each for them to grow.

7. Using the drawn guides, pipe 1½" wide by 1" tall. Use a moistened finger to pat down the tips of any piped batter and to smoothen the tops if necessary. Sprinkle the rest of the water onto the parchment around the puffs. This will give it the steam to give the puffs a sudden lift.

8. With the leftover beaten egg, add a splash of milk and brush the tops of the puffs.

9. Bake at 200 deg C for 10 minutes, then turn down to 170 deg C and bake for a further 20 to 22 minutes until golden brown. Do not open the oven door ever or the puffs will collapse.

10. Remove from the oven and remove each puff to a cooling rack to cool completely. To test if completely cooked, break one apart and it should be dry and hollow inside, not cakey and spongey. It is better to over-bake than underbake.

Make the Custard (this can be made a day ahead and chilled)

1. Pour the pouring custard into a pot and bring to a gentle simmer (never a boil).

2. Turn off the heat and add the stir. Stir well until combined. If preferred, sieve to remove any lumpy batter.

3. Place a cling film directly onto the surface of the custard and allow to cool before eventually cooling in the fridge. It must cool in the fridge otherwise the custard is slimey and not even spoonable into the puff casings.

Updated: Using custard powder

Make the Ganache

1. While the puffs are cooling, prepare the ganache. Chop the chocolate into tiny pieces, the tinier the better. Place the chocolate pieces into a Pyrex or metal bowl (never plastic).

2. Warm up the double cream. Bring to a simmer (small bubbles at the edge of the pot). Never boil. 

3. Remove from the heat and immediately pour onto the chopped chocolate. Allow to stand for around to  2 to 5 minutes.

4. Using a metal spoon, start from the centre and stir, gently stirring outwards until well combined. It should be slightly runny. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and it should thicken up into a pouring consistency.

Assembling the profiterole

1. While the ganache is cooling, cut holes into the sides of the puffs with a small but sharp knife.

2. Pipe in the custard until the puff is full (you'll feel a bit of pressure on the piping tip). Use a butter knife to remove any excess. 

3. When all the profiteroles have been filled, invert each puff and drip the tops into the ganache. Set on the wire rack to drip off. You probably want something to catch all the drips under the wire rack, it will get VERY messy!

4. They can be eaten served with strawberries and whipped cream but are best chilled for at least 4 hours (for the custard and ganache to set) and eaten then. 

Garlic dauphinois potatoes

 Basic recipe: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dauphinoisepotatoes_90205

Ingredients

2 floury potatoes, sliced thinly with a mandolin (I simply sliced them into thin battons) 

1 packet double cream, approx 120ml

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

Milk (approx 50 to 75ml)

Favourite herbs

½ C hard shredded cheese e.g. mozzarella or cheddar or both

Chopped cooked bacon or shredded roast chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Chives (to serve; optional)

Method

1. Cover a baking dish with parchment. Thinly lay a single lay of potato batons onto the bottom. Sprinkle with some garlic, herbs, and chopped cooked bacon (or shredded roast chicken).

2. Pour on about a third of the double cream. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Repeat in this order: potatoes, garlic and herbs, chopped bacon, double cream, salt and pepper. Continue until all the ingredients have been used up.

4. If it looks too dry, top up with a splash of milk. You want everything about ¾ submerged so that it doesn't bubble over and overflow. 

5. Cover the entire top with shredded cheese.

6. Bake at 200deg C for 40 minutes, checking to ensure that the potatoes are cooked by piercing through and breaking up with a fork. Turn the grill on high and grill until the cheese is golden brown.

7. Serve immediately with a scattering of chives if available.

Slow cooker Coq Au Vin

I have always wanted to cook with red wine but the few times that I've tried it with beef didn't taste so great. Eventually I found out that I had been missing a key step - I need to boil off the alcohol otherwise it leaves a bitter taste! Decided to re-try coq au vin which surprisingly, pairs chicken with red wine. I'd always been taught that red wine goes with red meats and white wine goes with white meats but I guess chicken is poultry which is 'neutral'.

Here's a great writeup of Julia Child (the doyen of American cooking) with her interpretation of the recipe and it works quite well!

https://leitesculinaria.com/5399/recipes-julia-child-coq-au-vin.html

I've tweaked it for our tastes so I cannot claim this to be either authentic Julia Childs or French. Original recipe includes tomato paste, thyme, and bacon which I didn't have on hand.

Ingredients
1.2 kg of chicken drumsticks
3 bay leaves
2 glasses of red wine
1l of chicken stock
1 tbsp onion chutney
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 large carrots, peeled and cubed

Method
1) Marinate the chicken in the red wine for at least 4 hours or best, overnight.
2) Drain the chicken. In the slow cooker pot, brown the chicken drumsticks.
3) Add the onion chutney and bay leaves. Pour back the red wine marinade. Bring to a boil so that the red wine evaporates.
4) Add in the chicken stock and ensure that the chicken is immersed. Add the potatoes and carrots.
5) Slow cook for 6 to 8 hours. Let it rest for ½ hour in the residual heat before serving. If you wish, add a tbsp of flour to thicken the sauce at the end.
6) Goes best with buttered bread or buttered brioche to mop up the juices.

Chicken Ratatouille

Ratatouille is actually a French peasant dish, made famous by the animated feature of the same name. It is a stew of summer vegetables such as courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergine, onion and garlic. This version is inspired by the show "Chef at Home", with chef Michael Smith, but of course with me, I liked my meat, so hence the addition of chicken. Obviously not traditional anymore, I decided to add a bit of other 'stew' favours to it to make an all-in-one dish. This is also the first time I bring out my pressure cooker, since I have a fear of it exploding in my face. However, I really did want the meat to fall off the bone, and for the vegs to be so meltingly soft, but obviously I don't want to spend a very long time stewing over a slow fire.

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 large chicken thighs
1 carrot
1 aubergine
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 handfull barley
1 handfull soya beans
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1) Soak the soya beans overnight to soften, and throw away the soaking water the next day. Change to a fresh cup of water and soak for another hour.
2) Dice the carrot, aubergine, peppers and onion.
3) Throw everything into the pot - onion, garlic, chicken, vegs, herbs, can of tomatoes, barley, soyabeans, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour in the cup of water used to soak the soya beans
4) Snap on the lid and follow pressure cooker instructions - mine took only 1/2 hour and everything was done, meat falling off bone and vegs meltingly soft. I scraped off the meat and discarded the bones.
5) To serve, I tossed in crusty bread to soak up the juices. The bread puffed up wonderfully and was a delightful.

You could also cook the conventional method -
1) brown the chicken, remove
2) fry up the aromatics and vegs,
3) add back the chicken, pour in the can of tomatoes
4) add the herbs and soaking water
5) bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and low simmer for 2 hrs until everything is soft.