dark chocolate torte

mmmmm

Dark Chocolate Torte

Ingredients:

2 cups extra thick double cream ( whipping cream will work too)

3 tablespoons caster/white sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups (1lb of chocolate= 455g) of dark chocolate (60-70 % cocoa solids) chopped into chunks.*

5 tablespoons milk

cocoa or icing sugar for decoration (optional)

For the base:

1½ cups of biscuit/cookie crumbs (I used chocolate covered digestives as that's what I had .)
2 tablespoons melted butter

Mix the biscuit/cookie crumbs and the melted butter. Mix well and press firmly into a lightly greased 8-inch spring form pan and place into the refrigerator.

instructions for the filling:

Put the double cream and sugar into a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to the boil.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and chocolate chunks and stir until the chocolate has melted. (you may need to sample the mixture too see if you need to add any more sugar to you taste. or that's the excuse you will need to use)

Let the mixture cool slightly before adding the milk and mixing until smooth.

Pour the mixture over the biscuit/cookie base. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minute before chilling for an hour in the refrigerator.

sparklers optional

Cook's notes: I have no idea what the difference between a torte and a tart are if you want to get persnickety. I just know the recipe works for me, it's simple and tastes good and I have been making it for years. Matthew requested it for his birthday the other week so that's what I made. It makes a very rich slice of chocolate heaven so suggest you slice it in small pieces and hoard the rest away in the fridge.

served with a dollop of lightly whipped cream

* the chocolate is more or less two cups worth as it depends on who is stealing..er helping make the torte by tasting the chocolate. Very important to taste the chocolate.

geeky browncoat card I made for Matt's Birthday.

I love Wash... don't tell Matt!

I may have overdone it with the edible glitter

One of Harrison's teachers is leaving the school for greener pastures so we needed a present sharp. The last few weeks have been manic and I was in a panic because I didn't think anything that I crafted would be suitable. How can a doll compare with bottles of expensive bubble bath and the like. So I decided to do something quick and edible (in the zero amount of spare time I have with sorting out the book and toy sale at school, wrapping presents and maintaining my grinch-ly demeanor.

I got a Christmas themed Wilton cookie mold from Jo-ann Fabrics store while in the states and had been waiting for Christmas baking to begin. The molds are cheap and fun for kids to help make them (H helped with a Halloween themed mold I was sent in a swap) but had no interest in helping me make a gift for his teacher. Possibly because they weren't for him to eat. The first batch I made last night was a horrific mess the bag I melted the chocolate in popped and dark chocolate went pretty much everywhere. Only two of the 8 cookies were decent enough for a gift, the other six were a disgrace and had to be eaten right away.

This morning after coffee (and everything happens after coffee0 I made this batch of white chocolate covered oreos with edible blue glitter. I may have over done the glitter a wee bit but they looked ace in the jar I put them in. I know they did because Matt was worried it would be too *nice* for a gift. I growled and said it was simple and nice and is only a jar, they are cheap enough at Ikea and something that is useful when empty of the cookies that is. Harrison thought the jar looked great and said his teacher will love it I suppose I will find out after lunch while I set up the tables for the book and toy sale to raise funds for new school equipment. Wish me luck.

pie chips and a mind lost

pie chips in paper cone

I saw a recipe on a blog somewhere weeks ago and I have no idea where it was and I didn't think to keep it but the idea stuck in my head that I could make my own.... especially as there was a lump of pie crust sitting forlornly in the fridge being ignored day after day. So I rolled out the crust sliced it and arranged it on a non-stick baking sheet, dabbed a bit of melted butter, sprinkled some sugar and popped them in the oven for....er 10 min on a moderate heat. I then put some strawberry jam in pots for dipping.

Matt thoughts it was awesome, I thought it was fun, the Boy was not impressed in the slightest but that's ok, after a week of being stuck in the house with me due to snow I'm pretty sure I can't do anything right by him. Luckily school is open tomorrow.. otherwise I would have to spend the day rocking in the corner... I'm not entirely sure he would notice that anyway.

New badges have been flying out of my etsy shop as fast as I can list them. So have a look at my shop via the side bar and see what I've been up to with a little help from Harrison. Right now I'm tired, my mind is lost, I will finish listing these few badges I made today, and then I'm making a pot of tea and turning into a couch potato. *cough* *cough* oh and the boy saw fit to give me his cold...so very generous don't you think?

CSN Review and Giveaway

email from A few weeks ago I recieved an email from CSN Promo Team enquiring if I would like to review one of their shops or do a giveaway on my blog for a voucher for anything from Ceiling Lights to Cookware. I looked at the CSN sites...mostly the cookware because more than anything else I like to potter about in the kitchen, and I emailed them back saying I would like to do a review and a giveaway for my readers.They sent me a voucher code and I toddled off to the cookware site to find something to make my little baker's heart happy. I looked through everything twice before ordering a KitchenCraft Cake Biscuit/Icing set. The website was easy enough to navigate and order from. My order was to be 5 working days to ship but it arrived in three. I tore into the parcel and oggled the new icing gun with glee.


I baked cupcakes and mixed a great vat of icing which I split into two portions adding fresh raspberries to one, and chocolate to the other. The icing gun took a bit of practice to get the icing looking nice but it was great fun to play with and I shall be baking some cookies with it in the near future. I may use the site again in the future (I quite fancy one of those creme brulee torches), as the service was good and they emailed you updates at each stage of your order being processed.



Now for the good part...

the promo team said I could giveaway a voucher for £30 for the CSN sites to one of my blog readers. I used the to order my icing gun set from by you can use the £30 voucher code at any CSN site.

Have a look at what they have to offer and leave me a comment of what you would spend the £30 on, leave me your email and I will have the voucher code emailed to you!

good luck... a name will be drawn at random on Monday the 23 of August.