5455TO WARM AND SOOTHE WHIPPED MEXICAN-STYLE HOT CHOCOLATE WITH CINNAMON AND ALMONDS Oaxaca, Mexico. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground in pale February sunshine watching 60-year-old Genoveva Martinez make chocolate the way her ancestors did. She knelt on a mat in front of a rectangular stone slab, a metate, and a flame sat underneath to keep it warm. Genoveva placed sticks of cinnamon and freshly roasted and peeled cacao beans on the metate and began grinding them with a long stone, her strong arms moving rhythmically and rapidly, the firm action of her wrists crushing the ingredients to a powder. She added more beans and continued grinding, until I noticed the powder give up its oil and transform into a paste the colour and sheen of a chestnut pony. Genoveva added sugar and ground walnuts to the slab and kept the action going, putting her back into her work and scraping down the metate now and again with a knife until the mixture released a heavenly scent. “It’s ready when I can see my reflection; it shines like a mirror,” Genoveva said. And suddenly the mixture was so much more than the sum of its parts: chocolate. This laborious process has always been woven into the fabric of Genoveva’s life. As a small child she would take it in turns with her sister to climb onto the backs of her mother’s legs as she made chocolate this way, to enjoy the ride. As a young woman, Genoveva’s suitability for being a wife was judged by her skills at the metate. “A girl couldn’t marry until she learned to make chocolate,” she said. This is my version of Genoveva’s hot chocolate. The mix keeps well in a sealed jar inside a cool cupboard. Place all the ingredients for the chocolate mix in a food processor and blitz to a fine rubble ––don’t overdo it, or the chocolate will melt and turn into a paste. Heat the milk in a pan almost to boiling point, then remove from the heat and add 3 tablespoons for each 250ml / 8½fl oz of milk used. Whisk or beat to a lovely froth. Serve with a pinch of chilli flakes on top. MAKES ENOUGH FOR 6 CUPS 140g/ 5oz dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2 heaped tsp flaked [slivered] almonds 2½ Tbsp soft light brown sugar good pinch of sea salt flakes TO SERVE whole milk chilli flakes5455TO WARM AND SOOTHE WHIPPED MEXICAN-STYLE HOT CHOCOLATE WITH CINNAMON AND ALMONDS Oaxaca, Mexico. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground in pale February sunshine watching 60-year-old Genoveva Martinez make chocolate the way her ancestors did. She knelt on a mat in front of a rectangular stone slab, a metate, and a flame sat underneath to keep it warm. Genoveva placed sticks of cinnamon and freshly roasted and peeled cacao beans on the metate and began grinding them with a long stone, her strong arms moving rhythmically and rapidly, the firm action of her wrists crushing the ingredients to a powder. She added more beans and continued grinding, until I noticed the powder give up its oil and transform into a paste the colour and sheen of a chestnut pony. Genoveva added sugar and ground walnuts to the slab and kept the action going, putting her back into her work and scraping down the metate now and again with a knife until the mixture released a heavenly scent. “It’s ready when I can see my reflection; it shines like a mirror,” Genoveva said. And suddenly the mixture was so much more than the sum of its parts: chocolate. This laborious process has always been woven into the fabric of Genoveva’s life. As a small child she would take it in turns with her sister to climb onto the backs of her mother’s legs as she made chocolate this way, to enjoy the ride. As a young woman, Genoveva’s suitability for being a wife was judged by her skills at the metate. “A girl couldn’t marry until she learned to make chocolate,” she said. This is my version of Genoveva’s hot chocolate. The mix keeps well in a sealed jar inside a cool cupboard. Place all the ingredients for the chocolate mix in a food processor and blitz to a fine rubble ––don’t overdo it, or the chocolate will melt and turn into a paste. Heat the milk in a pan almost to boiling point, then remove from the heat and add 3 tablespoons for each 250ml / 8½fl oz of milk used. Whisk or beat to a lovely froth. Serve with a pinch of chilli flakes on top. MAKES ENOUGH FOR 6 CUPS 140g/ 5oz dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2 heaped tsp flaked [slivered] almonds 2½ Tbsp soft light brown sugar good pinch of sea salt flakes TO SERVE whole milk chilli flakes106107SOMETHING TO SLICE BLACK SESAME SEED AND DARK CHOCOLATE BRIOCHE LOAF This loaf is similar to Eastern European babka, a plaited loaf filled with chocolate that the world had gone crazy for as I was writing this book. My version uses black sesame seeds in the filling: I love their intense charcoal colour and the way they work brilliantly with chocolate. Unlike their white counterparts, black sesame seeds are still wearing their hulls, which impart a more intensely sesame, slightly bitter and smoky flavour. This makes a wickedly good treat for brunch: I exhort you to serve it warm. SERVES 8 FOR THE BRIOCHE 250g / 8¾oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 30g / 1oz caster [superfine] sugar 7g / ¼oz fast-action dried [active dry] yeast ½ tsp fine sea salt 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 150g / 5¼oz unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing flavourless vegetable oil, for oiling 1 egg, lightly beaten with a splash of milk, for egg wash To make the brioche, place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a stand mixer and stir to combine. Add the eggs. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl a couple of times until all the flour is incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 10 minutes until it looks like a sticky dough. Reduce the speed to low and add small pieces of the butter, a few at a time –– adding more once they’re amalgamated. When all the butter is used up, increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 10 minutes until the dough is shiny and elastic and comes away from the sides of the bowl cleanly, Lightly butter a large mixing bowl. Tip the dough onto a work surface and press out to form a rectangle about 2.5cm / 1in thick. Working left to right, fold one- third of the dough over itself, then do the same with the right side. Repeat with the top and the bottom. Place the dough, seam-side down, in the prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside somewhere warm for an hour. FOR THE FILLING 80g / 2¾oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped 50g / 1¾oz unsalted butter 2 tsp golden [corn] syrup or honey 50g / 1¾oz black sesame seeds 40g / 1½oz caster [superfine] sugar 15g / ½oz cocoa powder generous pinch of ground cinnamon106107SOMETHING TO SLICE BLACK SESAME SEED AND DARK CHOCOLATE BRIOCHE LOAF This loaf is similar to Eastern European babka, a plaited loaf filled with chocolate that the world had gone crazy for as I was writing this book. My version uses black sesame seeds in the filling: I love their intense charcoal colour and the way they work brilliantly with chocolate. Unlike their white counterparts, black sesame seeds are still wearing their hulls, which impart a more intensely sesame, slightly bitter and smoky flavour. This makes a wickedly good treat for brunch: I exhort you to serve it warm. SERVES 8 FOR THE BRIOCHE 250g / 8¾oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 30g / 1oz caster [superfine] sugar 7g / ¼oz fast-action dried [active dry] yeast ½ tsp fine sea salt 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 150g / 5¼oz unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing flavourless vegetable oil, for oiling 1 egg, lightly beaten with a splash of milk, for egg wash To make the brioche, place the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a stand mixer and stir to combine. Add the eggs. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl a couple of times until all the flour is incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 10 minutes until it looks like a sticky dough. Reduce the speed to low and add small pieces of the butter, a few at a time –– adding more once they’re amalgamated. When all the butter is used up, increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 10 minutes until the dough is shiny and elastic and comes away from the sides of the bowl cleanly, Lightly butter a large mixing bowl. Tip the dough onto a work surface and press out to form a rectangle about 2.5cm / 1in thick. Working left to right, fold one- third of the dough over itself, then do the same with the right side. Repeat with the top and the bottom. Place the dough, seam-side down, in the prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside somewhere warm for an hour. FOR THE FILLING 80g / 2¾oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped 50g / 1¾oz unsalted butter 2 tsp golden [corn] syrup or honey 50g / 1¾oz black sesame seeds 40g / 1½oz caster [superfine] sugar 15g / ½oz cocoa powder generous pinch of ground cinnamon110111SOMETHING TO SLICE CHOCOLATE, CHILLI AND LIME CORNBREAD The idea for this cake came to me as I devoured a chocolate tamale at Mucho, a remarkable chocolate shop, café and museum in Mexico City. Tamales are an ancient food made with corn-based dough, commonly filled with meat, cheese or vegetables, and wrapped in a corn husk for cooking. But, as I discovered, chocolate also works very well in a tamale, as it pairs beautifully with the mild, earthy sweetness of corn. I originally intended this as a sweet cake, but my husband suggested you could also serve it the same way you would conventional cornbread, that is, alongside a spicy chilli or the Pork Carnitas on page 200. Reader, he was correct. Generously brush a 20-cm / 8-in round baking dish with oil and place in a 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 oven to heat up. Beat the yogurt, eggs, the 2 tablespoons of oil, the lime juice and zest together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining cornbread ingredients together, then stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Quickly pour into the hot baking dish, smooth the top and bake for about 30 minutes. While the cornbread is cooking, beat all the lime and maple butter ingredients together in a bowl –– electric beaters work best here. Serve the cornbread hot from the oven with the butter on top. SERVES 8 FOR THE CORNBREAD 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling 180ml / 6fl oz natural [plain] yogurt 2 large eggs 60ml / 2fl oz lime juice finely grated zest of 2 limes 200g / 7oz cornmeal 70g / 2½oz masa flour or plain [all-purpose] flour 40g / 1½oz cocoa powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda] 75g / 2¾oz soft light brown sugar 2 tsp crushed chipotle chillies FOR THE LIME AND MAPLE BUTTER 100g / 3½oz unsalted butter, softened 2–3 Tbsp maple syrup finely grated zest of 3 limes110111SOMETHING TO SLICE CHOCOLATE, CHILLI AND LIME CORNBREAD The idea for this cake came to me as I devoured a chocolate tamale at Mucho, a remarkable chocolate shop, café and museum in Mexico City. Tamales are an ancient food made with corn-based dough, commonly filled with meat, cheese or vegetables, and wrapped in a corn husk for cooking. But, as I discovered, chocolate also works very well in a tamale, as it pairs beautifully with the mild, earthy sweetness of corn. I originally intended this as a sweet cake, but my husband suggested you could also serve it the same way you would conventional cornbread, that is, alongside a spicy chilli or the Pork Carnitas on page 200. Reader, he was correct. Generously brush a 20-cm / 8-in round baking dish with oil and place in a 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 oven to heat up. Beat the yogurt, eggs, the 2 tablespoons of oil, the lime juice and zest together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining cornbread ingredients together, then stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Quickly pour into the hot baking dish, smooth the top and bake for about 30 minutes. While the cornbread is cooking, beat all the lime and maple butter ingredients together in a bowl –– electric beaters work best here. Serve the cornbread hot from the oven with the butter on top. SERVES 8 FOR THE CORNBREAD 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling 180ml / 6fl oz natural [plain] yogurt 2 large eggs 60ml / 2fl oz lime juice finely grated zest of 2 limes 200g / 7oz cornmeal 70g / 2½oz masa flour or plain [all-purpose] flour 40g / 1½oz cocoa powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda] 75g / 2¾oz soft light brown sugar 2 tsp crushed chipotle chillies FOR THE LIME AND MAPLE BUTTER 100g / 3½oz unsalted butter, softened 2–3 Tbsp maple syrup finely grated zest of 3 limes184185A MELTING MOUTHFUL PISTACHIO, CITRUS AND DARK CHOCOLATE CINNAMON ROLLS Like the Black Sesame Seed and Dark Chocolate Brioche Loaf on page 106, these rolls make a decadent brunch, served warm from the oven, with a pot of good strong coffee on the side. MAKES 7 ROLLS FOR THE DOUGH 240ml / 8fl oz whole milk 50g / 1¾oz unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing 400g / 14oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 7g / ¼oz fast-action dried [active dry] yeast ¾ tsp fine sea salt 1 large egg, lightly beaten flavourless vegetable oil, for oiling 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, for brushing To make the dough, heat the milk in a small pan until almost boiling. Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour, yeast and salt together. Add the whole beaten egg and then the cooled milk. Knead with a dough hook attachment for 5 minutes or turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 8–10 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky at first but becomes smooth and elastic as you knead –– add a little more flour if it’s too wet to work with. Place the dough in a large lightly oiled bowl (it will expand considerably) and turn over to coat. Cover with a clean tea [dish] towel and set aside somewhere warm for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. While you’re waiting, mix all the filling ingredients, except the butter, together. Butter a 23-cm / 9-in round loose-bottomed or springform cake tin with sides at least 5cm / 2in high. Wrap the base in foil, as the filling sometimes melts and seeps out a little. FOR THE FILLING 80g / 2¾oz pistachios, finely chopped 115g / 4oz soft dark brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 80g / 2¾oz dark chocolate (between 70–80% cocoa solids), chopped 50g / 1¾oz mixed citrus peel 80g / 2¾oz unsalted butter, soft184185A MELTING MOUTHFUL PISTACHIO, CITRUS AND DARK CHOCOLATE CINNAMON ROLLS Like the Black Sesame Seed and Dark Chocolate Brioche Loaf on page 106, these rolls make a decadent brunch, served warm from the oven, with a pot of good strong coffee on the side. MAKES 7 ROLLS FOR THE DOUGH 240ml / 8fl oz whole milk 50g / 1¾oz unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing 400g / 14oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 7g / ¼oz fast-action dried [active dry] yeast ¾ tsp fine sea salt 1 large egg, lightly beaten flavourless vegetable oil, for oiling 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, for brushing To make the dough, heat the milk in a small pan until almost boiling. Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour, yeast and salt together. Add the whole beaten egg and then the cooled milk. Knead with a dough hook attachment for 5 minutes or turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 8–10 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky at first but becomes smooth and elastic as you knead –– add a little more flour if it’s too wet to work with. Place the dough in a large lightly oiled bowl (it will expand considerably) and turn over to coat. Cover with a clean tea [dish] towel and set aside somewhere warm for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. While you’re waiting, mix all the filling ingredients, except the butter, together. Butter a 23-cm / 9-in round loose-bottomed or springform cake tin with sides at least 5cm / 2in high. Wrap the base in foil, as the filling sometimes melts and seeps out a little. FOR THE FILLING 80g / 2¾oz pistachios, finely chopped 115g / 4oz soft dark brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 80g / 2¾oz dark chocolate (between 70–80% cocoa solids), chopped 50g / 1¾oz mixed citrus peel 80g / 2¾oz unsalted butter, softNext >