Keeping It Saucy

A bonanza of bakes this week with my Triple Choccy Cookies, a classic Tres Leches, Mini Choccy Cake for 1 and my Hot Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Pudding.

Friends!

Hello there – welcome back to another edition of the newsy. My apologies for being late (shock, tell me something new at this point am I right) but I am just catching up on life after returning from a work trip in Turkey, moving FOR THE FINAL TIME (she’s officially an adult folks *gulp*) with zero internet connection AND the inevitable which I have been in serious in denial about…my laptop breaking and dying a predictable, overdue but abrupt death.

I don’t know if any of you remember but a few newsletters ago I was boasting about how my brick of a laptop was indestructible. Not only had it survived a hammering in the kitchen from flour, butter, sugar and other misc. ingredients but it had also overcome multiple water tsunamis from many a spilt glass, been dropped at considerable height; bashed, walloped and slammed against several walls, worktops and heads and had travelled around the world, several time zones, thrown about in luggage and baggage and truly deserved better tender loving care and attention.

Truth be told, having only paid £300 for it well over a decade ago, the sense of its worth had diminished, and my brick of a laptop had lost its appeal. It was a means to an end. It had all my recipes stored on there from the last few years. I wrote my entire book on there. I had a gazillion pictures from trips, holidays and kitchen fails all neatly stored in folders. Sure, the battery would last no longer than 5 minutes and couldn’t last a second without being plugged in to the power supply (super needy and clingy) but that trusty old donkey did me good.

What bought it to its sad demise was me accidentally picking up a glass of freshly poured water, lemon AND CHIA SEEDS, not gripping hard enough, and clumsily spilling it all over the worktop. Not on the laptop. Just by it. Turns out, that was enough to send it to its dramatic demise. Can you believe I was being done over by chia seeds??? Like ya girl was just trying to be healthy, get her fibre in, try out some weird TikTok health trend (I know I shouldn’t be taking health advice from there, but I am only human, and I literally cannot help myself) and stay hydrated. Chia Seeds are officially on my vendetta list, joining the ranks alongside Star Wars (I once lost my phone whilst watching one of the films in cinema when I was 14 and have sworn myself off the films ever since) and Cats (one jumped on my head when I was very young whilst I was sleeping, which needless to say, scared the living sh*t out of me). A short but varied list.

So, there you have it. I am late because I had no way of writing a newsletter and I for sure wasn’t going to be doing it on my phone – have you guys seen how much I can yap on endlessly?? It was either wait it out for my new one to arrive or go old school and pull out my ink and quill and send out individual newsies to you all. My handwriting has been called illegible in the past, so the quill got dumped, I went to turkey, came back and had a brand-new shiny writing device waiting for me.

And here we are, wasting your time with my laptop tales. The original plan was to tell you about my house move and how this is my first home I have ever purchased and how proud I am of myself cause 6 years ago I was broke as hell, with no job, crying daily cause I was back living at my parents asking them to pay my bills and with zero life plan but hey, the chia seed drama won, apparently.

Thrilling stuff being here, isn’t it?

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In the spirit of Diwali this week and to make up for the lack of me in your life recently, we have a big old bumper issue to get you through until next time. I cannot tell you how utterly thrilled and excited I am to have my own brand-new kitchen to cause chaos, wreak havoc in and generally destroy and cover in butter smudges and flour dusted fingerprints. What shall I make first? What shall we celebrate with? A big fat cake or a loaf of freshly baked bread? Whilst I ponder the important stuff, let’s get to the menu this week:

• First up, we have the latest ‘Around the World Cake’: a Tres Leches. This 3 milk cake is super easy to make and super easy to eat. Rich, creamy and light – it is a little slice of delight.

Difficulty Rating: 4. I say 4 but that is only because you have to let the cake sit overnight and the most difficult part is having the patience to do so and not tuck into it straight away.

• Moving onto the super naughty bakes of the week, we have my Hot Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Pudding. This was inspired by the Tres Leches so think the same sorta of smushy, soaked base but just with an intense chocolate sponge, a hot chocolate soak and finished with a mountain of pillowy soft dulce de leche whipped mascarpone. This dessert is Naughty with a capital N.

Difficulty Rating: 3. Truly not difficult in any way – another all night waiting game but so worth it.

• Next, we have my Triple Choccy Cookies. These are nothing short of incredible. 3 times the choccy means 3 times the yum. The base recipe for my cookies is incredibly adaptable, meaning you can add in any fun additions that you like. Oreo chunks? Sure. Pretzel bites? Absolutely. Raspberries? A dream. Dollops of peanut butter? Send me one in the post immediately. This is using my All Things Butter Chocolate BUT I will give a little cheeky alternative for those who can’t get their hands on it.

Difficulty Rating: 2. Again, it gains a point just because the cookies gotta chill overnight. But if your skills max out at burning water, this is a bake for you.

• Finishing up the bakes this week is my Mini Choccy Cake for 1. That’s right, you truly can have your own cake and eat it folks. I’ve scaled down one of my fave and easy chocolate cake recipes for you allllll the way down into a teeny tiny affair, meaning every day can be chocolate cake day and NO MORE SHARING. Moist, light chocolate sponge smothered in a chocolate fudge frosting – perfect for those who live alone or just wants to bake for themselves.

Difficulty Rating: 4. But only because I piped mine all fancy. This could be easily done by someone who doesn’t know the difference between melted chocolate and ganache.

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We got a lot to get through in this newsy so let’s dive straight in with the latest Around the World cake – a Tres Leches. This cake narrowly misses a spot in the 20’s and to be honest, I was a little shocked to see it feature so low down on the list. I am not saying I am the biggest Tres Leches fan (I really despise the taste of milk) but I know how incredibly popular this Latin American cake is around the world so was expecting it to be a top 20 contender at the very least.

Where is it from exactly? I don’t know and nor does google apparently but what I do know is, this 3-milk cake is simplicity done deliciously well. It’s made up of an airy sponge drowning in evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream and topped with a generous layer of double cream. Occasionally topped with a layer of cinnamon and you’ve got yourself a slice of soggy nice.

After a bit of research, a few of the most popular recipes online all follow the same ingredient breakdown and quantity – there are tweaks and changes I would make in the future in regards to the below, however with that being said, you will still get a great tasting cake which requires very little skill and will please a big crowd. If you also have an aversion to milk as I do, don’t stress. The milk in this isn’t so milky?? It leans more on the creamier side of life and that is a place I can happily live.

Recipe Makes: 20 by 30 cm / 8 by 12 inch dish

Recipe Serves: 12 good sized portions

Tres Leches

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Y O U – W I L L – N E E D –

• Sponge

125 g Plain Flour, sifted

1.5 tsp Baking Powder, sifted

Pinch of Salt

5 Large Eggs, separated

200 g Caster Sugar

80 g Whole Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

• 3 Milks

1 x 410 g tin Evaporated Milk

1 x 397 ml Condensed Milk

100 ml Double/Heavy Cream

• To Finish

600 ml Double/Whipping Cream

30 g Icing Sugar, sifted

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

Ground Cinnamon, to dust

M E T H O D –

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and grab a 20 by 30 cm / 8 by 12 inch dish or tray. Leave to one side.

2. In a mixing bowl, add 150 g Caster Sugar and egg yolks. Mix well for 5 mins until the yolks reach the ribbon stage.

3. Pour in the milk and vanilla and lightly stir to combine.

4. Add the egg whites to another bowl and whisk until they are stiff but not dry. Add 50 g Caster Sugar and whisk well again until you reach stiff peaks – try to not over whisk here as you will begin to break down the protein, meaning your sponge may be prone to collapsing when baking.

5. In a bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well using a balloon whisk to combine.

6. Add the flour to the egg yolk bowl and fold until lightly combined. Use a rubber spatula to do this to ensure you scrape down the sides and base of the bowl.

7. Add the egg whites and lightly fold through until you are left with little to no visible whites. Again use a rubber spatula here to help you scrape the base and sides of the bowl.  

8. Transfer the batter to your ungreased dish and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to completely cool.

9. Whilst the sponge is cooling, mix together the three milks. Here is the opportunity to introduce another flavour profile – I opted for vanilla bean paste to help mask any milk taste but other suggestions from Instagram was rum, almond extract, grated nutmeg, a splash of amaretto or even the zest of lemon.

10. When the sponge is cooled, use a fork to liberally poke. The more the better and ensure you push the fork through to the base of the sponge.

11. Pour over the milk soak, cover and leave overnight. The longer the better – I left mine for 2 days whilst I was busy and this just gives the sponge more time to soak up all the milky goodness an soften.

12. Once the milk has soaked, make your whipped cream by whisking together the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla until you reach medium peak – don’t go any further than this as the cream will continue to thicken as you scoop it out of the bowl and smush it on top of the soaked sponge.

13. Transfer on top of the soaked sponge and use the back of a spoon or palette knife to smooth down or swirl.

14. Lightly dust over ground cinnamon to finish (optional) and top with strawberries (again optional).

    

Next up, we have my take on the Tres Leches – I say my take verrrrry very loosely as it is definitely inspired by it but is also completely nothing like it whatsoever. The original OG version is light, polite with a fair amount of chill. This? This is the total opposite. This is the chaotic sibling who is extra in every way, doesn’t ever do anything by halves, is a wild beautiful mess and one you can’t just get enough of.

This folks is my Hot Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Pudding. We had to go with the name pudding in the end because the sponge is so rich, thick and dense, the hot chocolate soak soaks in as much as it can before pooling at the bottom. My sister called it hot chocolate soup, which I am not mad at?? The overly soaked sponge is then finished with a Dulce de Leche whipped mascarpone cream and a heavy dusting of cocoa powder and honestly? This is hot choccy heaven.

The sponge is super easy to make and is a simple wet and dry mix so there is no fancy pants equipment required for this recipe. If all you have is a balloon whisk, then this is the recipe for you. There are several different ways in which you can serve this up:

1. Soak the cooled sponge, leave it overnight, top with cream and serve, drizzling hot choccy soup (aka HCS from here on) on top for extra sauciness.

2. Soak the hot sponge, scoop into bowls, drizzle over any remaining HCS and then top with a healthy dollop of the dulce de leche cream

3. Use 50% of the soak to pour over the cooled sponge, leave overnight, top with cream, slice and then heat up the remaining 50% HCS to pour over hot when served.

4. Or sans cream, HCS over the hot sponge, served and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Basically what I am trying to get at here is that this pudding is super versatile, super easy to make and it is yours to make, your way. Whatever tickles your pickle, whatever floats your boat – this is the pud to do it with. Indulgent, rich, comforting and ohhhhhhh so chocolatey. This is the treat you deserve. Look at this filth. Look at her! It’s a chocolate and dulce de leche love child – do not deny yourself of this pure adulterated joy.

Recipe Makes: 20 by 30 cm / 8 by 12 inch dish

Recipe Serves: 12 generous portions