Blueberry and Dark Chocolate Wagon Wheels

I remember wagon wheels fondly from my childhood - two biscuit layers, sandwiched with jam and marshmallow - and of course smothered in chocolate. This weekend I really wanted to make my own, and devised this recipe - they're rich but delicious, and well worth the mess caused in the later stages of the creation.

When I created the wagon wheels the first time, I didn't have access to an electric whisk, meaning even after whisking for 15 minutes, my marshmallow was still a little thin...This meant that there was only a thin (but amazing) layer of marshmallow in the wheel...so I'd very highly recommend using an electric whisk or stand mixer (with the whisk attachment)!

I also made my own quick blueberry jam - you can use any frozen fruits you like and it only takes 10 minutes to cook it. Better yet, it (nor the marshmallow) need a sugar thermometer :)

I've covered the wheels non-traditionally with dark chocolate as I know the filling is very sweet - if you're making these for children you can switch this for milk or even white chocolate.

Makes 18 wagon wheels.

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 120g softened butter or margarine (stork)
• 200g light soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 450g plain flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon

For the marshmallow:

• 120ml water
• 1 packet gelatin (7g)
• 210g granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

For the jam:

• 350g frozen blueberries
• 75g granulated sugar
• 75ml water

To finish:

• 500g dark chocolate
• 100g white chocolate

Method:

1. Make the biscuits. Preheat your oven to 180c/160c fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line the base of a large baking tray.

2. Cream together the butter/margarine and the light brown sugar with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy. Creaming basically means pressing the butter against the side of the bowl/into the sugar, so that the sugar is incorporated into the fat.

3. Add the eggs, vanilla, plain flour and cinnamon, and beat until all of the flour has been incorporated.

4. Line your work surface with cling film. Place about a quarter of the dough onto the cling film, and cover with another layer of cling film.

5. Roll the dough out (between the two sheets of cling film) until it is about 0.5cm thick. Cut out nine 6cm circles (I used a jam jar lid as a cutter). Place onto the baking tray.

6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until lightly golden. Take off the baking tray and leave to cool on a wire rack. Repeat the rolling/baking process until you have used up the dough - you should have made at least 36 biscuits.

7. Make the blueberry jam. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until all of the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is syrupy.

8. Add the frozen blueberries and heat for 5-10 minutes - the blueberries will defrost and cook down, thickening the jam. Once thickened, leave to cool.
Blitz in a blender (this thickens the jam by breaking down the blueberries fully). Leave to one side.

9. Make the marshmallow. Pour 60ml of the water into a jug, then add the gelatine. Stir in briefly with a fork then leave for 5 minutes.

10. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 60ml water with the sugar in a large pan. Keep an eye on the pan to make sure the sugar doesn't burn. Swirl the pan occasionally until all of the sugar has melted.

11. Add the water/gelatin mixture (make sure to get all of the gelatine out of the jug), and whisk into the dissolved sugar/water. Keep heating the mixture - the mixture will become very bubbly. Once bubbling, heat for 5 minutes, then leave to cool for 15-20 minutes.

12. Add the vanilla and salt, then use an electric whisk/stand mixer to whisk the marshmallow. It will go from a see-through liquid to a white solid mass that resembles whisked double cream. This will take about 10 minutes. When the whisk is removed a peak of marshmallow should remain.

13. Assemble the biscuits. Place one biscuit on a surface. Add a heaped teaspoon of marshmallow and flatten down to just inside the border of the biscuit. Add a teaspoon of jam and repeat the spreading. Top with a biscuit layer. Repeat for all other biscuits.

14. Melt 200g dark chocolate in a microwave on high heat - stir every 30 seconds. Once melted, cover the top half of the wagon wheels with the chocolate, and leave to set with the chocolate side facing towards the air.

15. Melt the remaining 300g dark chocolate. Use this to cover the sides and base of the wagon wheels. This is a messy job but fun.

16. Melt the white chocolate like the dark chocolate, but check on the chocolate every 20 seconds as it is much more likely to burn. Place in a piping bag and snip off the end to enable piping of a thin stream of the chocolate.

19. Pipe lines of white chocolate over the tops of the wagon wheels. Leave to set.

20. Enjoy!

"Sugar-Free" Bounty Chocolates

So, I’ve been trying to bake/make healthy sweets for a while, but a lot of my attempts have fallen flat…the problem with healthy food often seems to be that it lacks flavour, or at least is not as good as the full-fat version. This recipe however is an exception! Homemade dark chocolate covering a coconut filling – the only sweetening agents are a little maple syrup and honey – so no refined sugar! I know, strictly speaking that isn’t sugar-free, but it’s a catchier title than “refined sugar-free bounty chocolates”.

The only weird ingredients you need to get are coconut oil and cocoa butter – this is available on amazon – it’s about £15 for a kilogram, but that will last you a long time!! Plus, if you don’t want to use it all for chocolate, it’s brilliant in home-made soaps (so I’ve heard).

I used a chocolate mould from Lakeland -  Using a mould will make your life a lot easier! If you don’t have a chocolate mould, you can use cake pop moulds instead for nice hemispheres. Failing that, you can be super messy and dip blobs of the coconut into the chocolate…it will still taste awesome.

Makes 12 chocolates

Ingredients:

For the chocolate:

• 50g cocoa butter
• 40g cocoa powder
• 20g maple syrup (adjust to your preference of sweetness), at room temperature

For the filling:

• 40g dessicated coconut
• 20g coconut oil
• 10g runny honey
•  

Method:

1. Make the chocolate. Put 25g of the cocoa butter into a large bowl and microwave on high power, until the cocoa butter has melted. This takes longer than chocolate does, but keep an eye on it and swirl the bowl every 30 seconds or so.

2. To the bowl add 20g cocoa powder and 10g maple syrup – beat until smooth. Leave the chocolate to one side until it is spreadable.

3. Place half-teaspoonfuls of chocolate in each hole of the mould. Using the back of a spoon, spread the chocolate up the sides. Once all the cavities have been filled, check there are no missing spots, then leave to set.

4. Make the filling. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave until liquid.

5. Add the coconut and honey and use your hands to bring the mixture together. Once all of the coconut has been incorporated and the chocolate has set.

6. Add teaspoons of the coconut filling to the moulds and press down lightly – try not to overfill them.

7. Make the other half of the chocolate – I make this in two batches as otherwise the second half would have set too hard to be used. Melt 25g cocoa butter as previously, then add 20g cocoa powder and 10g maple syrup. Pour over the tops of the chocolates , and scrape off any excess chocolate.

8. Leave at room temperature for at least 1 hour to set.

9. Very carefully pop the chocolates out of the mould.

10. Enjoy!

Coconut and Cranberry Loaf

This is a twist on the classic white loaf. Not too sweet, the coconut and sweetened cranberries make the bread perfect for toasting and buttering. I used it for the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've ever had - making my own peanut butter and cherry jam to put inside two slices of this beautiful loaf...For now here's the recipe for my coconut and cranberry loaf :) 

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 10g fast action yeast
• 10g salt
• 15g coconut oil, melted
• 15g butter, melted
• 320ml warm water
• 100g dried cranberries (or other dried fruit e.g. raisins, dried cherries)
• 100g unsweetened dessicated coconut

Method:

       1. Make the bread dough. In a large mixing bowl pour in the flour, then add the yeast and salt to opposite ends of the bowl. Stir in briefly.

       2. Pour in the oil, butter and 240ml of the water and use your hands to bring the dough together. Gradually add  the rest of the water until all of the flour has been incorporated, but is not sticky – if it does get sticky add  a little flour. You may not need all of the water.

      3. Knead the dough on a lightly oiled surface for 5-10 minutes until smooth. Place in a large lightly oiled bowl and cover.

   4. Leave to prove for at least one hour until it has doubled in size.

   5. Tip the dough out of the bowl and add the cranberries and coconut. Knead until fully incorporated.

   6. Line and grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin and place the dough in the tin.

      7. Cover and leave to prove for another hour.

   8. Preheat your oven to 230c/210c fan/gas mark 8? Place  a roasting tin in the oven to heat up.

       9. Once doubled in size, pour some water into the roasting tin in the oven then place in the dough.

   10. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is nice and brown, and if you tip it out of the tin the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool completely.

       11. Enjoy!