Worth the calories! naughty puds from a lovely baker

My friend at work Melody left this week to start a brand new adventure and I am really pleased for her. I am however going to miss her and her fabulous baking! Check these out - truly yum.

Ingredients:

7 oz crushed digestives or shortbread) keep a couple for crumbly decoration at the end
2.6 oz butter, melted
10.5 oz white chocolate
284ml heavy cream

8.8 oz Philadelphia (or other full-fat soft cheese)
8.8 oz tub mascarpone
7 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
Handful of flaked almonds
2 shots Amaretto

Directions:

Soak the raspberries in the Amaretto.


Mix the crushed biscuits with melted butter and tip the mixture into a lined 8-inch cake tin and smooth down with the back of a metal spoon. Pop it in the fridge to keep cool while you make the topping.

Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over some gently simmering water, being careful not to overheat it.

Beat the cream, Philadelphia and mascarpone in a bowl until combined and then stir in the melted white chocolate. Add the Amaretto from the raspberries.

Stir the melted white chocolate into the creamy, cheese mix.

Scatter a third of the raspberries onto the biscuit base and cover with a third of the creamy topping, repeat twice more finishing with the remaining raspberries on the top.

Scatter with flaked almonds and crumbled biscuits with a few raspberries to make it look really pretty!

Chill for at least six hours or preferably overnight.

Eat it!

A sumptuous tart!

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Total time: 75 minutes

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 300g blanched hazelnuts
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 50g icing sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 egg yolk
• 150g Cooks' Ingredients 75 per cent dark chocolate
• 75g plain flour
• 150g light brown muscovado sugar
• 75g unsalted butter
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 ripe pears, peeled, cored, halved and sliced lengthways

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 170c, gas mark 3. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking tray in the oven for about 5 minutes, until just golden brown. Leave to cool.
2. Whiz 275g toasted hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground but retaining some texture. Scoop out 225g ground hazelnuts and set aside for the filling.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and a pinch of salt to the remaining 50g ground nuts in the processor and whiz, then add the butter and whiz again until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and pulse until it just forms a dough. Take out and roll into a fat sausage, about 14cm long and 7cm diameter; chill for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 180c, gas mark 4. Slice the chilled dough into circles about 5mm thick, and lay the slices, overlapping slightly, over the base of a 25cm tart tin. Press down, pushing the dough into the base and up the sides to create an even crust. Trim the top edge and prick all over with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes, then line with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 10 minutes; remove the baking beans and cook for a further 10 minutes.
5. To make the filling, whiz together the reserved ground hazelnuts with the chocolate until finely chopped. Add the flour and muscovado sugar, whiz briefly, then add the butter, beaten egg yolks and vanilla. Whiz to a smooth paste.
6. Press the hazelnut filling evenly into the cooked pastry case. Lay the pears over the filling, pushing down slightly, then press the reserved 25g whole hazelnuts evenly over the surface. Bake for 20–25 minutes until the mixture is just firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack before removing from the tin and serving.

Eat it! I'm dribbling after this post!