Fridge Raid Wonders /-/ Roasted Red Pepper Brioche Buns

I spent a long time on how to phrase this in order to not to offend anyone but I really could not find another word for it. What is your secret (often frowned upon) food cold sandwich mash up?  I am getting down to real basics. Think about the sandwiches you bought to primary school in foil or cling wrapped, perfectly placed next to a juice popper, fruit (or if you in a treat a jellied fruit cup) and a small chocolate or nibble mix.  




This is not about the man verse food type of concoctions but I am talking about the ones you discover really work when you are doing a fridge raid of your left overs and almost empty jars. No toasted sandwiches, fried sandwiches or grilled sandwiches here but the quintessential plain bread, spread condiments, cold meat/beans/cheese and other raw vegetables (or no vegetables for that matter).  A real test of your food creativity comes when you cannot change the heat or texture of food; this why I really respect mothers who pack lunch boxes for their children. 



As a child, I did not get much variety in what I chose to bring to school. Back then the staple was white bread often filled with thick layer of margarine and some kind of preserved luncheon ham (devon, silverside, chicken loaf). I even remember the excitement I felt when I could bring cold sandwiches filled with leftover barque chicken. 



 Maybe you brought sandwiches filled with peanut butter, jam, nutella or plain cheese. The worst ones would have to be the ones with tomato/ cucumber and cheese. By the time you came to eat it was a sad, sad sight; a messy, watery pile of mush (often ending up in bin)





 Now having more control over what I can do in the kitchen I have discovered a few flavour combos that I maybe be alone in liking. We all know their comes a time when you need to experiment with cold sandwiches. So putting my knowledge of flavour combinations aside I went on a cold fridge raid to see what I liked. 
With childlike creativity and disregard for tasting something fowl, I came up with a list of cold go to sandwiches that I truly love. I had to share this one.



This is my number one sandwich combo. Combine honey; natural, lightly salted peanut butter; really salty shaved smoked ham and one ripe avocado.  The vegetables are optional however they do provide the cushioning in the sandwich between the avocado and ham. The peanut butter becomes a messy sweet, savoury sauce coating the thin slices of ham. The crunchy peanut butter is must; the nuts are needed for the crunch in between the meat layers. Finally the avocado is there for extra creamy contrast and really who needs an excuse for avocado?  They are delicious!



I am probably out of league for posting such an in depth sandwich recipe considering I am sweet cake blog, however I draw your attention to the bun.  The bun is main reason I am posting this today. While the flavour combo above is great on any bread, it is delicious insanity on this burger bun.



 After doing a whole month of sweet treats and cakes I finally got to go back to my roots and do something with bread.  I love bread; any kind, any form and in any meal.  I have been experimenting with addition fruit and vegetables to bread and I have a real winner for you today. Even my 10 month old niece loves! This bread, so you be the judge (kids do not lie).

The reason why this brioche bun is red is because it is made from fire roasted red capsicums and peppers. Inspired by the whole host of alternative coloured burgers buns by colouring them with vegetables and fruits; I bring you the newest bun you have to make for next grill out. 



 They are simply the easiest buns you can make and all you need to do is throw the ingredients into a stand mixer and mix. I normally knead by hand but I recommend the stand mixer for those who are not used to sticky dough.  It is not wet but tacky however the result is in soft, pillowy buns. 



These buns have the slight smoky sweetness of roasted veggies that go well with any grilled meat/bean burger or cheese. Totally carb filled, red and perfect for cold sandwiches, as grilled burger buns or even as a cheeky mid night snack (warmed with plenty of butter).
 


Roasted red pepper brioche buns

Adapted from the Bourke Street Bakery: The ultimate baking companion
Inspired by Take a mega bite and Bakers Royal
 
3 large red peppers
180ml warm water
20g sugar
9g dried yeast
450g bread flour
150g plain flour
40g skim milk powder
30ml olive oil
40g soften unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
15g salt
 
Preheat oven to 220C. Place peppers on a foil tray and place in the oven until the skins are heavy blistered and black. Once black, remove from oven and seal in a paper bag to steam off the skin. Once cool enough to touch pull off the skin and remove the stalk and seeds.  Puree to a smooth paste. You will need about 200g roasted pepper plus the juices for this bread.
 
Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a large bowl to a stand mixer. Dissolve yeast and leave to foam for 10 minutes. Add flours, skim milk powder, olive oil, roasted red pepper puree and egg yolks to the bowl. Using the dough hook on your stand mixer mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and mix again for 1 minute. Add the salt and butter now add turn it up to medium for 6 minutes.  Rest the dough in the bowl for 10 minutes. Turn the stand mixer back on low for 1 minutes then high for 5 minutes. Continue this process of turning on and off the stand mixer one more time or until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
 
Scrape the dough out on to a greased surface and shape in to a round. Place in oiled bowl and cover in cling film. Place in warm area to rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled. Line two baking trays with baking paper
 
Once doubled turn out the dough on to a floured surface and divide dough into balls about 60g in weight. Roll in to a smooth bun shape and place on trays. Cover with cling film and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour or until the buns appear very soft and wobbly.  Pre heat oven to 200 C, brush each bun with egg wash (egg and tbsp of water) and bake each tray for 20 minutes until hollow when tapped.
 
Remove and transfer to the cooling rack.

Level of Enjoyment /-/ Heaven and Hell Baci cake

It is probably not surprising that I have fallen behind on post lately. A combination of the winter chillis, my lack lustre imagination and having the time to procrastinate (because, hey, it is mid term time in Australia). Thankfully the winds have picked up again (figuratively and literally) which has pushed me back in to “Go,Go” mode. After making a few party cakes (which I have yet to post here but I will!), I was burnt out and that is not just the smell of the toast burning. As a baker, or at least a home cook,  your favourite food to cook is never the same.



Sometimes I may love the end result of fancy pants cake, torte or dessert. Who can fight the super sweet cuteness of this Sprinkled oreo ice cream cone cake or Cinnamon roll cake? However the trade of is I will hate every single moment in assembling that S.O.B of a cake. Not only does this make me fear designing another dessert again (impossible but close to) but it makes me less likely to want to eat the cake. Maybe it is about cutting into something you put so much work into, only to see it gone within 2 hours after cutting it at the party. 



Food needs to be enjoyable to the person. It is not just about the result at the end but the process is just as important. Also we cannot ignore the factor of cravings that fit in to this Triangle of cook’s enjoyment.  So a majority of my time in the kitchen is actually spent on cooking things that contain less than 6 ingredients.





 Many of them do not make it here to the blog because it is for MY enjoyment.  For example, in order to get over my “burnt out” stage I was FINALLY able to try out a recipe for roasted apple and banana yeast bread and perfect numerous other kitchen basic skills (mayo by hard, deep frying on a small scale and cooking the perfect poached egg etc.)


While my blog does tell you how to make cakes in my life and what not. I am not here to tell you what you should do in the kitchen (who likes to be boss around?). My main aim is to give you sparks of inspiration which you can make your own. This way not only can you be proud that you have created something that you like but you have also done it YOUR way which according to Burger king is the best way.  Plus, sharing is caring in my books and I have no time for people who tell me secrets is what makes life interesting.



So admits of all this talk about keeping things simple and enjoyable in the kitchen. At the time, this was my idea of enjoyable project (crazy, I know). Inspired but the Ying and yang symbol and my recent success in making shaped cakes; I embarked on another cake that involved template cutting. The brief was simple a birthday cake for a girl which had to focus on the little chocolate Baci (That hazelnut mousse chocolate with the weird bump in the middle)



With that in mind, we have my Heaven and Hell Baci cake! Two layers of chocolate chip hazelnut meal torte sandwiched with thick layers of luscious nutella and choc chip butter cream, finished with a coat of whipped white chocolate ganache and a dark chocolate glaze topping.  The torte remains moist due to the high amount of nut meal which means it can be prepared a good 2 days in advance without dry out. Also the torte is able to hold the vast amount of nutella and buttercream. We all know that is nothing without a thick, ass layer of frosting. 



 

To decorate you can do a ying yang symbol, with Baci and crumble, however I made mine like this. I left a gap around the edge to decorate with the halved, chopped nuts and chocolate.  The Baci crumble is very simple and is effective in highlighting the contrast between the two cakes.  The glaze is another great technique to make the cake standout and who can resist the dipping chocolate?



Yep I went all out for this cake.  Seriously this not for the faint hearted and as it makes quite a big cake, it would feed 25 people easy. It is way too good not to go for a second helping; so I made sure you can have another cheeky piece of midnight cake.

Heaven and Hell Baci cake
Makes a 24cm cake (Feeds 25 easy)

Hazelnut torte
155g unsalted butter
305g plain flour
350g ground hazelnut meal
8g baking powder
4g salt
350g caster sugar
6 eggs
40ml rice bran oil
1 vanilla pod, scraped of seeds
240ml room temp milk
120g choc chips, dark


Choc chip butter cream
140g egg whites
140g caster sugar
7g sea salt flakes
2 teaspoon of clear vanilla extract
210g unsalted, cubed, softish butter
100g choc chip flakes

White chocolate, hazelnut ganache
500g white chocolate, finely chopped
400 ml cream, pure
2ml hazelnut oil
30g un salted butter, soft

Chocolate glaze (This is the full amount if you can not get nutella;half it if you are using nutella in the middle)
450g dark chocolate, chopped
200mlpouring (single) cream
20g butter, softened

Baci crumble
250g hazelnuts, skinless and roasted
6 baci chocolates
50g sweet plain biscuits
20g coco powder


HAZELNUT TORTE
Pre heat oven to 180C. Butter and flour 2x24cm high, spring form pans.
Mix flour, hazelnuts, baking powder, salt and mix in a large bowl. In a stand mixer beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrap down the bowl whenever necessary.
Add eggs, oil and vanilla bean while mixing on a low speed until combined (about 2 minutes)
Fold in flour mix to the butter mix in 3 additions, alternating with milk each time until well combined.
Fold in the choc chips.
Pour into prepared pans and smooth out the tops of the cake. Bake for 40-50 mintues  or until it is golden brown and a wooden skewer pulls out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out on a wire cooling rack. Set aside until room temp.

CHOC CHIP BUTTER CREAM CREAM
In medium bowl whisk together your egg whites and caster sugar.
Place bowl over a saucepan of simmer water. Whisk continuously until the sugar is fully dissolved. Rub a bit of mix between your fingers to test.
Transfer mix to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat until it becomes a big fluffy and white. At this point it should take about 8 minutes for the meringue to come to room temperature.

Change to paddle mix. While beating the mix on medium with the paddle add the butter a cube at a time until it fully combined. GO slowly here and scrape down the bowl frequently. Once butter is all added, beat on medium high till it is fluffy and pale.
Add vanilla and salt beat again. Fold in choc chips.
Set aside for later use

WHITE CHOCOLATE, HAZELNUT GANACHE
Over a pot of boiling water, place white chocolate and cream in a steel bowl. Stir with a spatula, slowly in a figure 8 until cream and white chocolate are melted together.  Add oil and butter and combined.
Transfer to fridge for 1 hour-2 hours to harden.
Using a stand mixer whip the ganache until whipped and light. Only for about 2 minutes here.

GANACHE/ GLAZE
To make the chocolate glaze, combine the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth. Divide mix into two bowls, one third of the mixture in one and two third of the mixture in another. The larger mix will be for the frosting and smaller bowl for the glaze. Set the small bowl aside to cool to room temp.
With the larger bowl place in the fridge for 30 minutes, stir it and return to the fridge again for 30 minutes. Continue to do this until you slowly get a thick mixture.

CRUMBLE
Process roasted hazelnuts, biscuits and baci chocolates in a processor for 20 seconds. You want a rough crumble.
Dive this mixture into two bowls.
Combined cocoa powder into one of those bowl to “dye” the crumble dark brown. Set both aside until needed.

Assembly
One recipe of hazelnut torte
One recipe of buttercream
One recipe of white chocolate ganache
One recipe of baci crumble
Roughly chopped hazelnuts and flaked dark chocolate
Baci chocolates
One jar of nutella ( NOTE: This is an optional extra! You can make the full amount of ganche for sandwiching )

Level off each of the tortes.

After Spread a generous coat of nutella on one side of both cakes. 

Place one cake, nutella side up on a turn table. Pipe choc chip butter cream in a thick layer, about 1.5cm. Place the other cake layer on top, with the nutella side facing down wards.

Using a paper template, cut around the template with sharp knife from large round cake. This way your cakes will join perfectly with each other. Crumb frost the cakes with a small amount of butter cream. Allow to set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Spread of ganache on to the cakes. Allow to set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Re warm the glaze in a Bain Marie. Allow the glaze to stand for 5 minutes before spreading over the top of the cakes. 

Sprinkle with one side with dark baci crumble and one side with light baci crumble; leaving a 2cm gap for the edge design. 

Line the edge with chopped hazelnuts, chocolate and baci chocolates. Fridge for 1 hour before serving.

Slowing down /-/ Croissants with Sour mandarins compote

 

I know many of you are enjoying the summer weather over in Northern Hemisphere; however for those in South maybe you can relate to what I am feeling right now. The winter chili has really made me appreciate to slow down. Not just in terms of food and cooking (pot roast anyone?) but in general with the way I approach daily task. A much as I hate generalised sayings and agonies, the ones about taking your time to do a task actually ring true. Let’s see what pops into my head. “ Good things take time”, “Good comes to those who wait”, “Rome was not built in a day” etc….

Naturally the winter chili has made me want to stay inside all day and sleep under my blanket hut while watching re runs on the Ipad. Unfortunately life and my other fidgety self does not allow for me to sloth off during winter, boo. My back ground in studying social science at University has actually come in handy these past few weeks. 

As anyone who has done any kind of arty farty subject in University, one of the main things they tech you is observational skills. Not the creepy “I am a stalker” kind but the generalised questioning of people’s routines and why we follow unwritten rules of moral and social conduct. For example, we all know the feeling we get when someone goes against the grain; don’t you feel a bit annoyed or uncomfortable when someone walks in the opposite direction in a crowd of people on the side walk at peak hour?

Anyway this has now become automatic for me every time I catch the train, walk through Sydney’s Streets or stroll down to the shops; I cannot help notice the little things. Are the happiest people, most balanced people are the ones who take everything slowly? The slightly agitated couple who is rushing through dinner compared to content lone diner, almost taking twice as long to finish her pasta and drink. Now I might be wrong with this observation but if a winter has taught me anything having time to stop, slow down and savour life, good and bad. 

Of course, no one does this better than the French. The final product of pastries and bread are treasured just as much as the process. There is air of mystery and horror about attempting such a complex pastry however be shocked people, it is not scary as it first seems. Yes there are a lot of steps but all of them are about taking your time, repeating the same action and measurements over and over again. I find making and blind baking a custard pie harder. 

 

In croissant it is all about the ingredients you use.  Get the best butter you can afford because you will taste it, but isn’t that the same thing for all simple ingredient recipes? I cannot wait to attempt this recipe again because you can see I did a mistake here. Normally croissant have 7 bumps but I accidently rolled it too tightly and got 9; oh well they are still delicious! The best part is I am so happy my layering technique is not as bad as I thought it would be.

I also have abundance of sour mandarins at my place due to my tree has gone gang busters this winter. So in the spirit of French, I made a compote/jam type thing for these croissants and served them with a bit of left over unsalted butter. The buttery, flaky goodness is best enjoyed on the day it is made, however they make a great bread and butter pudding if you have any left after people have seen our great results. I recommend this recipe from Nigella Lawson because it is delicious with notes of rum/caramel it pairs well with citrus fruits. Perfect winter food in my opinion!

Croissants with Sour mandarins compote

Using a number of sources from Top with Cinnamon’s Awesome GIF post, Michele Roux’s ;Pastry

 Recipe from Bourke Street Bakery; The ultimate baking companion by Paul Allam and David Mcguinness

Croissant ferment ( I got 6 big ones and 8 little mini ones)

50g Strong bread flour, chilled

27ml milk, chilled

2.5g soft brown sugar, chilled

1g salt, chilled

2.5g fresh yeast, chilled

10g unsalted butter, soften

Bulk dough

Croissant ferment, all of it

470g strong bread flour, chilled

275ml milk, chilled

30g soft brown sugar, chilled

7g salt, chilled

17g fresh yeast, chilled

250g, unsalted butter, chilled

 2 Days before

Place all the ingredients for croissant ferment into a large bowl. Rub the ingredients until it becomes a crumbly mix. Turn out on to a clean steel work surface, knead the dough until it come together and becomes  an elastic and smooth ball. This should take about 10 mintues. Grease a clean bowl and place dough inside it, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 2 hours at room temperature. After the 2 hours, Transfer to fridge overnight.

1 day before

Place all the ingredients for bulk dough into a large bowl. Rub the ingredients until it becomes a crumbly mix. Turn out on to a clean steel work surface, knead the dough until it come together and becomes an elastic and smooth ball. This should take about 10 minutes. Grease a clean bowl and place dough inside it, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 2 hours at room temperature. After the 2 hours.

30 minutes before laminating remove the unsalted butter from the fridge. Using a box grater, grate the butter over a piece of cling film, Place another piece of cling film over the top and pat it into a 20cm square about 1cm thick. Transfer to fridge for 20 minutes.

On a clean work surface lightly dust it with plain flour. Dust a large rolling pin with flour. Remove croissant dough and butter from the fridge. Roll the dough to a rectangle to 20cm by 40cm. Place the butter in the middle of the dough; fold the two sides over and push the sides together to completely enclose the butter. Dust more flour on your pin if you need to.

Roll the dough gently until it reaches a rectangle of 20cm by 90cm. With the longest side facing you, divide you dough into thirds mentally. Now fold one of these sides over to make the rectangle 20cm by 60cm. Fold the other unfolded side over the previously folded side ( this will make the dough 20cm by 30cm). This is an envelope fold. Place the dough covered in plastic wrap, transfer to fridge for 20 minutes. Repeat this folding and resting technique; twice more, turn the dough 90 degrees each time so you are rolling and laminating in the opposite direction to the pervious turn.

Once dough has been roll out 3 times and had it final rest of 20 minutes it is ready to be used. You may make an egg wash here too (one egg with milk)

Take your dough from the fridge; roll it out into a rectangle, about 25cm by 90cm and about 4mm thick.

Rolling the dough may take a long time as it will spring back. It helps to transfer to the dough to the fridge to allow it to rest for 20 minutes before rolling it again. You may need to fold the dough over to get it to fit in the fridge too; just cover it well cling film so it doesn’t stick were you have folded it.

Cut the roll dough into triangles of 9cm at the base with sides of 21cm high. Transfer the triangles to a lined baking tray, covered in cling film to rest for 10 minutes.

Gentle stretch the base of the triangle to 10cm wide. While holding the tip of the triangle, carefully roll the croissant towards the tip, pressing it tightly to keep it in shape. Place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a damp tea towel and rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Until doubled in size and you can see the layers have puffed out. Spraying the towel with water will help to keep it moist.

Pre heat oven to 240C. Once doubled remove the tea towel and brush with egg wash. Place tray in the oven. Reduce temperature immediately to 180C and bake for about 15-20 minutes until a deep brown colour. Cool on trays for 10 minutes before serving

Sour mandarin compote (2 cups of compote)

10 medium mandarins, Save the zest from the fruit before

1 stick of vanilla bean, spilt

200g white sugar

250g verjuice

1 sprig of thyme

Remove the zest from all the fruit before peeling. Segment, peel the mandarin
Heat vanilla, sugar, verjuice, thyme, and zest in a saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, turn it to simmer and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the mix then place it back into the sauce pan. Place fruit in the syrup and boil it down until is very thick. This may take 30-40 minutes. Transfer to glass jars to cool before chilling over night before use. Last about a week.

Nailed it... /-/Sticky date, choc chip puddings with Amaretto butter scotch sauce

 

Confession: I hate Pinterest sometimes. Yep I said it. Honestly I would say I loathe it sometimes.  I appreciate the sharing abilities of the website but it has killed our self-esteem. My friends and family members love pinterest; you probably love pinterest too but I am slowly getting more annoyed by it.

 

 As a Young adult (I think that is what they call the 22 ish demographic), the pins you would make you believe that all of us are looking for a fast paced, valencia filtered, alternative urban lifestyle. Riding around on vintage restored bikes, drinking out of Manson jars and cutting our sourdough organic bread on sustainably sourced wood chopping broad  while listening to latest alternative pod cast on a ipad seems to be the latest “cool” trend. Oh did a I mention everything needs to be made from rusted metal or contained in a wooden vintage box with little dainty flowers?

 

 On pintertest, every child’s birthday needs to have a dessert table or party bar now with a theme. Many cute and elaborate desserts decorate the tables plus the full decked out room with hanging garlands and the puffy balls of paper. It doesn’t matter whether or child is turning 1 or 9 it seems like any birthday is an excuse to bring out the Martha in every mother. Every party has to be better, cuter, more coordinated and colour coded than the next one.

I am not even going to go into the way the pinned desserts and meals that are a fusion of everything and anything. Cronuts; Pizza stuffed with cheese and bacon; pasta which is made from a squash? And the worst of all Ice cream made from a frozen banana (sorry folks as a REAL ice cream lover; I passionally dislike this) has cast a shadow of shame if you are to serve up a normal meal for dinner or dessert.  

Pinterest has made our normal and perfectly daggy and plain lives seem like a sin. Have you seen the hash tag Pinterest fail? Or the “nailed it” memes?  Yes we may laugh at them but they come at someone else’s expense. I am pretty sure we have all had pin envy at any one of these; we want a to be able to DIY birthday with a huge decorated cake table; we want that rustic table with organic grown produce and at 3am in the morning we defiantly want that deep fried taco with ice cream. 

 

 What ever happened to the days when a child’s birthday was a one cake, a game of newspaper wrapped pass the parcel, more lollies, red cordial and chips than should be legally purchased; and everything from the invitations to the cutlery was from the super market?  

 When I could eat and drink instant noodles out of piggy porcelain cup instead of jar? I never know what happen to those days but I miss them.

It is not trendy to so pudding now but this classic English dessert is comforting for any weary and broken down heart. Especially since it is almost no fail as the base is a dense, soft cake; so it very hard to over bake. The water bath is a necessary hurdle here. It is not hard but this simple trick help to re-create the steam pudding texture in the oven.

I find it magical when you cook the dates to a sticky puree but what is more special is the baking part. The aroma that wafts from the pot reminds you of those old fashion kitchens who use real butter, full fat milk and do not do any of that low sugar crap. I am sucker for anything buttery.

If you think you have to English to find a good pudding; never fear! This recipe is adapted to the normal cook’s kitchen, where you can use whatever you have on hand to make it special. The base of course is date but I see no problem if you use figs or prunes here. I also added chocolate chips, switched the spices to an all spice mix and subbed almond meal for some of the flour. As you can see pudding is very forgiving when it comes to add ins.

 SO use you imagination and create your own flavours here.  Personal favourite combinations are hazelnut meal, milk choc and fig pudding or a dried mango pudding base with coconut flour and salted macadamias.  

The sauce is completes this pudding; so do not forget it! The brown sugar, butter and golden syrup base is the ultimate scent in the kitchen. I recommend you make it 15 to 20 minutes before your guest arrive as the smell is one of the most welcoming scents you can ever create.

Buttery, old fashion, warm, sticky. ALL these things are what need after a #pinterestfail.

  

Sticky date, choc chip puddings with Amaretto butter scotch sauce

Adapted from Donna Hay and Recipe for butter scotch sauce is from Nigella Lawson

210g pitted dried dates

250ml water

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100g salted butter, in 1cm cubes

135 light brown sugar

1 teaspoon All spice

2 eggs

½ teaspoon baking powder

100g self rising whole meal flour

50g almond meal

50g finely chopped dark chocolate (70%)

Butterscotch sauce from Nigella Lawson 

 Pre heat oven to 160C. Butter and line with baking paper 8, 250ml ramekins or metal moulds.

Place date and water in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to boil. Once boiled stir in bi carb and leave to cool.

Place butter and sugar in a stand mixer and cream till light brown. Add your date puree and  mix well combined. Add eggs one at time,  mixing well after each addition.  Fold in self-raising flour, baking powder, almond meal and chocolate until combined. Spoon mixture in to prepared moulds, filling to 2/3 full.

Place moulds in to a bath of boiling water and transfer to oven. Bake in the puddings for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden skewer draws clean. Cool in tins for 10 minutes before serving.

Prepare the butter scotch sauce according to Nigella Lawson’srecipe. Once warm stir in 50 mls of almond liquor.

Serve puddings on warm with sauce. Sprinkle with toasted nuts and choc chips for extra comfort.