FESTIVE DESSERT RECIPES

Boozy Chocolate Bombes

Ingredients:

100ml Irish cream liqueur (we used Baileys)
200g white chocolate (use cheaper chocolate, it will melt better), broken into pieces
real or artificial holly, to decorate

For the sponge:

100g butter, plus extra for greasing
50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tsp instant coffee, mixed with 1 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g light soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
85g natural yogurt 

For the chocolate mousse: 

50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 large egg, separated
50g caster sugar
75ml double cream 

Method:

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter 6 x 150ml ovenproof pudding moulds and put a disc of baking parchment in the base of each. 
2. To make the sponge, put the butter, chocolate and coffee in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Gently heat until melted, add the vanilla and stir to combine. Set aside to cool a little. Sift the flour, cocoa and bicarb into another bowl, then scatter in the sugar, breaking up any clumps of sugar with your fingers. Mix the eggs and yogurt in a jug. Add the chocolate mixture and the egg mixture to the flour, and stir everything with a spatula until there are no visible lumps of flour. Divide the mixture between the 6 moulds, put on a baking tray and cook in the centre of the oven for 30 mins or until a skewer pushed into the cakes comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Can be made up to 5 days ahead, wrapped well in cling film and stored in a sealed container; or freeze for up to 6 weeks. 
3. While the cakes cool, make the chocolate mousse. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool for 5 mins, then stir in the egg yolk. Whisk the egg white in another bowl until stiff, add the sugar and continue to whisk until glossy and thick. Pour the cream into a third bowl and lightly whisk until thick. Tip the cream into the chocolate and stir to combine. Add the beaten egg white and, using a metal spoon, fold together until there are no streaks of egg white remaining. Chill until needed. 
4. Line each pudding mould with cling film. Remove the tops of the cakes with a small serrated knife to create a flat surface. Carefully split the cakes into 2 or 3 layers through their middles. Reassemble the cakes in the pudding moulds, soaking each layer of sponge with the liqueur and layering with chocolate mousse. Cover the cakes with any overhanging cling film and press down gently. Chill the cakes for at least 3 hrs or for up to 2 days before serving. 
5. Melt the white chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Turn each cake out and unwrap. Drizzle the top of each with a little white chocolate, letting it drizzle down the sides. Decorate using a small sprig of real or artificial holly. Leave the white chocolate to set for 20 mins before serving. 

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2012

White Chocolate & Ricotta Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the base:

50g butter, melted
150g digestive biscuits
50g amaretti biscuits
sunflower oil, for greasing

For the filling:

200g white chocolate, chopped
5 leaves gelatine
6 tbsp milk
500g tub ricotta
300ml pot double cream
50g icing sugar
2 large eggs, separated

To decorate:

white chocolate curls
pomegranate seeds
icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Melt the butter in a pan or microwave. Very finely crush the biscuits together, stir with the butter, then press very firmly into the base of a 20cm round loosebottomed cake tin. Bake for 6 mins. Cool, then wipe around the inside of the tin with a little oil on kitchen paper.
2. Soak the gelatine in water while you make the filling. Tip the chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water, then add the milk. Gently heat until melted, then stir together. Squeeze the gelatine dry, add to the chocolate mixture and stir to dissolve.
3. Beat the ricotta, cream, sugar and egg yolks together. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites.
4. Stir the chocolate and ricotta mixtures together, then gently fold in the egg whites. Carefully pour onto the cooled biscuit base. Cover the tin with cling film, then chill until firm, preferably overnight.
5. To decorate, very generously top the cheesecake with the white chocolate curls, then remove from the tin, scatter with the pomegranate seeds and dust all over with icing sugar, if you like.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2009