James Clarke’s Balthazar boulangerie pain au chocolat
Makes roughly 20
salt 4 level tsp
caster sugar 100g
water 275ml
organic full fat milk 275ml
fresh yeast 45g (30g dried yeast)
free range egg 1 medium
strong bread flour 1.15kg
unsalted butter 500g, at room temperature
dark chocolate 200g (we use a low cocoa content – 42% – because it works better in a hot oven) cut into strips of 1cm widthways
egg wash (2 eggs beaten with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of caster sugar)
In a large mixing bowl, add the salt, sugar, water, milk, yeast, egg and flour, and mix well with a wooden spoon before kneading for 10 minutes (or put in the Kitchenaid or Kenwood with a dough hook for 5 minutes). Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
Put the butter onto a board, and flatten into a rectangle 2cm thick (roughly 20cm long by 15cm wide).
On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle about twice the size of the butter length-wise (40cm) and the same width (15cm).
Place the butter on top of the dough, making sure it only covers two thirds of it.
Fold the third of the dough with no butter on it over the butter covered dough, and then fold the other third over the top of this. The dough has been folded into thirds now. Chill for 30 minutes.
Take the dough out of the fridge and have the short end facing you. Roll out to a rectangle shape about 2cm thick and repeat the folding as above. Chill for 20 minutes.
Take the dough from the fridge and, with the short edge facing you again, roll to 2cm thick. Fold the two ends lengthways so that they meet in the middle and fold again in half. This is called a double turn, or a book fold, as it resembles a book closing. Chill for 2 hours.
Roll the dough to 5mm thick and cut into 8cm × 16cm rectangles.
Place one strip of chocolate about 3cm from the 8cm end, and fold the dough over this. Place another stick of chocolate on this and roll the whole dough into a pain au chocolat shape. Repeat until you have used up all the dough and chocolate.
Place on a baking tray and allow to prove for 1½ hours in a warm place.
Brush with egg wash. Preheat oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Bake until golden brown for 15–18 minutes.
James Clarke, head of pastry, Balthazar Wholesale Bakery
Justin Gellatly’s chocolate brownie
I started making this brownie shortly after starting at St John restaurant in 2000, and have been following the recipe ever since. It’s a favourite of many customers and chefs alike.
Makes enough for 16 large brownies
whole blanched almonds 160g
whole blanched hazelnuts 160g
unsalted butter 300g, chopped
Valrhona or other dark chocolate (70%) 500g, broken or chopped into small pieces
eggs 5
caster sugar 500g
plain flour 100g
fine sea salt a pinch
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line and lightly grease a 36cm x 26cm x 3.5cm baking tray.
Put the almonds and hazelnuts into a roasting tin and roast for about 10–15 minutes, stirring every few minutes until they are golden brown. Leave them to cool, then chop them roughly.
Put the butter and 400g of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water and leave to melt slowly.
While the chocolate is melting, mix the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl, using a wooden spoon and mixing just enough to combine. Once melted, pour the chocolate mix into the egg mix and whisk them together briefly.
Fold in the nuts and the rest of the chocolate, then sift in the flour and salt and fold into the mix.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray and bake for 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and put the tray on a cooling rack for 1 hour (it might look a little under-baked, but as it cools it will firm up).
Serve warm, for a moist brownie, or chill in the fridge overnight, which I prefer. Either way, serve with vanilla ice cream.
From Bread, Cake Doughnut, Pudding: Sweet and Savoury Recipes from Britain’s Best Baker by Justin Gellatly (Fig Tree, RRP £25). Click here to order a copy for £20 from Guardian Bookshop
Nigel Slater’s dark chocolate discs with rose petals
dark chocolate 100g
flaked almonds 2 handfuls
caster sugar a big pinch
shelled pistachios a handful, chopped
sea salt flakes a few hefty pinches
crystallised rose petals or candied peel
Line a baking tray with waxed or greaseproof paper.
Snap the chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a bowl set over simmering water. Avoid the temptation to stir. When the chocolate is half melted, turn the heat off and nudge the solid parts into the melted parts, letting it continue to melt in the residual heat.
Toast the flaked almonds with the sugar in a non-stick pan over a low to moderate heat until the sugar starts to melt and the nuts colour lightly.
Make discs of melted chocolate on the paper and scatter each one with chopped pistachios, sugared almonds, sea salt flakes and rose petals or candied peel.
Leave in a cool place or the fridge to set.
From Kitchen Diaries ll by Nigel Slater (Fourth Estate, RRP £30). Click here to order a copy for £24 from Guardian Bookshop
Claire Ptak’s double chocolate, sea salt and rice cookies
These are really chocolatey. The richness of the bitter dark chocolate is offset by the sea salt, which does a lovely thing to the taste buds. The combination of flours make these cookies gluten free but also lend to their chewy texture.
If you can’t find milled flax seeds, you can usually find them whole labeled as linseed. You can pulverize them yourself in a food processor or in a mortar and pestle. Be sure to under bake these cookies as directed or they become dry. My favourite way to eat them is straight out of the oven with a glass of ice-cold milk.
Makes 18 large cookies
rice flour 140g
gram flour 70g
milled flaxseeds 4 tbsp
xanthan gum 1 tsp
cocoa powder 100g
flaky sea salt 1½ tsp
baking powder 1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp
brown sugar 200g
caster sugar 150g
unsalted butter 200g, at room temperature
pure vanilla extract 1 tbsp
eggs 3
70% dark chocolate 200g, chopped into pieces
Heat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5 and line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a mixing bowl whisk together the rice flour, gram flour, milled flaxseeds, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, sea salt, baking powder, and bicarbo and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the two sugars with the butter. Once creamed, add the vanilla and eggs and beat well. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat again. Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate pieces and beat until combined.
I like to use an ice cream scoop to shape the cookies. I use the ones sometimes referred to as a scissor scoop because of the shape of the handle which releases the scoop.
Place the balls of dough that you want to eat right away on your prepared baking sheet about 10cm apart. Bake for 12–15 minutes until the cookies are still soft in the middle.
A little underdone but remember they will continue to cook slightly as they cool.
I scoop the remaining mixture whilst the mixture is soft and place them on a sheet that will fit in your freezer.
Freeze the remaining cookies which you can pop into the oven at a moment’s notice, making your life really easy when you have a craving or unexpected guests.
Claire Ptak is a food writer and developer, violetcakes.com
Peter Gordon’s chocolate lamingtons
It’s easier to dip the cake when it’s a day old, as a fresh one can sometimes crumble.
Makes 16 squares
unsalted butter 160g, room temperature
caster sugar 300g
vanilla extract 1 tsp
eggs 3, beaten with a fork
self-raising flour 250g
ground ginger ½ tsp
salt a pinch (optional)
milk 150ml, at room temperature
raspberry jam 50g
desiccated coconut 150g
Chocolate icing
dark chocolate 170g
unsalted butter 30g
icing sugar 360g
cocoa powder 40g
milk 220ml, slightly warmed
Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5.
Line the base of a 20cm square cake tin, at least 3cm deep, with baking parchment. Don’t grease the tin – the cake will rise better if you don’t.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs, a quarter at a time, and beat well after each addition. It may curdle towards the end but this won’t affect the cake.
Sieve the flour, ginger and salt twice into a bowl. Double sieving helps to distribute the baking agents more evenly. Single sieving even helps when using self raising flour when you aren’t mixing things together yourself.
Scatter half the flour over the creamed mixture and use a large spoon to mix it in. Mix in half the milk, then scatter over the rest of the flour and mix in the remaining milk. Spoon the batter into the tin, gently flattening the top.
Bake for around 30 minutes, until the top bounces back when you poke it, and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then run a knife around the edge of the tin and gently invert it onto a tray.
Leave to cool completely and trim the edges before cutting into 16 squares (4cm x 4cm) then either leave overnight in a cake tin with the lid slightly ajar, or on a tray uncovered in the fridge for a few hours.
Put the jam into a piping bag with a long, fine nozzle and push into the centre of each square, then squeeze half a teaspoon of jam into each one.
Melt the chocolate and butter gently in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa twice, then whisk in the milk to form a paste. Mix this into the melted chocolate.
Dip each square of cake in the chocolate mixture, coating it on all sides (use your hands, but do wear gloves). Roll gently in the coconut to coat.
Leave to firm up on a tray.
Peter Gordon is chef patron of The Providores and Tapa Room, London W1
