Cakes & Bakes: Chocolate haggis

It was Burns Night at the weekend – do you celebrate? I’m vegetarian and have never, ever tasted real haggis. Apparently, you can get vegan haggis in the supermarket these days. I much prefer the idea of this version – chocolate haggis!

This is a quick, no-bake, after dinner treat that packs a real punch. The added sultanas get a short soak in whisky (note the lack of an ‘e’ in the name, thus making it genuine Scottish rather than Irish ‘whiskey’).

The added shortbread ups the Scottishness – or you can make your own – try my previously published recipe.

This recipe can easily be modified to make it non-alcoholic – just use a few drops of whisky essence instead. If you’re not averse to the inclusion of alcohol – just not a big whisky drinker – you can buy little alcohol miniatures rather than a full-sized bottle. Also, if you’re worried about the raw egg, you can swap it for about a tablespoon of melted coconut oil.

This chocolate haggis is pretty intense, you’ll probably only need a single, 1cm slice per person.

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest

Chocolate haggis

Foodie Quine

Print recipe Pin recipe

Course Party

Cuisine Scottish

Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

3 tbsp Scotch whisky
50 g/1¾oz sultanas
100 g/3½oz butter
100 g/3½oz cocoa powder
1 egg
100 g/3½oz caster sugar
150 g/5oz Scottish shortbread
50 g/1¾oz mixed nuts chopped

Instructions

Put the sultanas and whisky into a small bowl and leave to soak whilst you prepare the remaining ingredients
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then sieve in the cocoa powder and stir until you have a smooth paste
In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar and egg together until pale and creamy
Place the shortbread in a zip lock bag and bash it with a rolling pin. You want a mixture of chunks and crumbs
Combine the chocolate mixture with the sugar/egg mix and stir in the shortbread, chopped mixed nuts and the whisky soaked sultanas, plus any remaining whisky
Lay out a double thickness of cling film and tip the chocolate mixture out onto it, forming a haggis shape
Roll up and continue to manipulate into shape, tying a knot at each end of the cling film
Chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight to harden
Remove the cling film, slice and serve alongside a wee dram

Run a sharp knife under hot water before slicing the haggis. This will give you clean, even portions.

Keyword chocolate, haggis

Cakes & Bakes: Salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread

It’s been a while since I’ve made a batch of cookies or a round of shortbread. I’ve hit two birds with one stone with this salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread recipe from Alison Roman.

They’ve become so popular that she now simply refers to them as “The Cookies” – all her Instagram fans know what she’s talking about!

The recipe makes two ‘logs’. Cooking off one log at a time is enough for our 2-person household. The other log is now in the freezer, waiting for the first batch to be demolished.

Refrigerator cookies are so convenient. A quick ten or so minutes in the making, about the same amount of time in the oven, cook off as many as you want and no waste.

The recipe is very straightforward. However, there’s one step that needs to be followed to the letter. Chilling the logs in the fridge for 2 hours before cooking is the absolute minimum.

I whisked them out of the fridge a little too early as we wanted to catch some daylight for our photos. That’s why my cookies spread a little too much in the oven and the chocolate chunks didn’t hold their shape very well. The next batch will be super chilled!

They still tasted great – and that second log won’t be languishing in the freezer for long!

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest for later

Salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread

2018-03-14 14:18:54

Cook Time

12 min

Cook Time

12 min

Ingredients

255g/9oz salted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
100g/3½oz granulated sugar
50g/1¾oz light brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
295g/10⅓oz plain flour
170g/6oz dark chocolate, chopped (you want chunks, not thin shards of chocolate)
1 large egg
A few tablespoons Demerara sugar, turbinado etc for rolling
A few pinches of flaky sea salt for sprinkling

Add ingredients to shopping list

If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it

Instructions

Beat the butter, granulated and brown sugars and vanilla with an electric or stand mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl as needed
Add the flour and mix until just until combined
Add the chocolate chunks, mix just until incorporated. The mixture will look crumbly
Divide the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, cling film and use your hands to form the dough halves into log shapes about 5cm/2" in diameter
Chill until totally firm - around 2 hours
Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
Line one or two large baking sheets with parchment paper
Lightly beat the egg and open up your chilled cookies logs to brush it over the sides
Sprinkle the coarse, brown sugar on the open paper or plastic wrap and roll the logs in it, coating them thoroughly
Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the logs into 1cm/½" thick rounds. You'll hit some chocolate chunks, so saw gently, squeezing the cookie to keep it from breaking
Arrange the slices on the lined baking sheets 2½cm/1" apart, then sprinkle each with a few flakes of salt
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges just begin to turn golden brown
Allow to cool slightly before transferring them to wire racks to cool

Notes

The dough can made ahead and stored - tightly wrapped in cling film - for up to 1 week in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer. Baked cookies keep in an airtight container for 5 days

By Alison Roman

Adapted from Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Marzipan refrigerator cookies

I had a large lump of marzipan and some chocolate ganache left over from making last week’s petit fours. I HATE throwing food away, so I decided to make a batch of marzipan refrigerator cookies.

This is a quick and easy cookie recipe.

They can be cooked off in small or larger batches depending on your need – any leftover dough (wrapped in parchment paper or cling film) will live happily in the fridge for a week or so – or in the freezer more indefinitely.

Nothing beats a home-made biscuit – and we loved the sweet, almond flavour of these. If you prefer your marzipan refrigerator cookies to be soft & gooey rather than crisp, lower the heat of the oven to about 150ºC.

Marzipan refrigerator cookies

Print recipe Pin recipe

Cook Time 12

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Servings 35

Ingredients

225 g/8oz plain flour plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
110 g/4oz butter cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
175 g/6oz caster sugar
1 large egg lightly beaten
100 g/3½oz marzipan

Instructions

Sift the flour & baking powder into a large bowl
Add the butter and rub it with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
Stir the sugar, add the eggs and combine to form a soft, loose dough
Cut the marzipan into small cubes
Turn the mixture out on to a lightly floured work surface, roll in the cubed marzipan and shape the dough into a log shape about 3cm/1¼inches in diameter
Wrap the log in parchment paper or cling film and then in foil and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or until required (I put one of the logs in the freezer to use at a later date)
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5
Grease a large baking sheet (or a few if you're making a big batch)
Slice the dough into as many 8mm/⅜-inch slices as required
Place the slices on the greased baking sheet, spaced well apart
Return any remaining dough to the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to 6 months
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
Leave on the baking sheet to cool slightly for 2-3 minutes before transferring to cool completely

Marzipan refrigerator cookies ingredients

Keyword almond, cookies, marzipan, refrigerator cookies

Cakes & Bakes: Lemon refrigerator cookies

We needed a lemon last week for a gnocci dish. We didn’t have any in the house so I popped over to the supermarket quickly to get one. All they had were those string bags containing 4 lemons – they’d run out of the loose ones.

A week later, our fruit bowl still contained 3 lemons – just sitting there – what to do with them? I had a flick through some lemon recipes and saw one for lemon refrigerator cookies. The great thing about refrigerator cookies is that you can bake off just what you need. Say goodbye to stale teatime snacks!

If you fancy them again a few days later, just cut some more slices from the roll – fresh, warm cookies in 15 minutes flat!

Have a look at some of our other cookie recipes here!

Lemon refrigerator cookies

Print recipe Pin recipe

Ingredients

450 g/1lb plain flour plus extra for dusting
2 tsp baking powder
225 g/8oz butter cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
350 g/12oz caster sugar
2 large eggs lightly beaten
finely grated rind of 2 lemons

Instructions

Sift the flour & baking powder into a large bowl
Add the butter and rub it with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
Stir the sugar and lemon zest into the mixture, add the eggs and combine to form a soft dough
Turn the mixture out on to a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough in half
Shape each piece of dough into a log shape about 3cm/1¼inches in diameter
Wrap each log in baking paper and then in foil and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or until required (I put one of the logs in the freezer to use at a later date)
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5
Grease a large baking sheet (or a few if you're making a big batch)
Slice the dough into as many 8mm/⅜-inch slices as required
Place the slices on the baking sheet, spaced well apart
Return any remaining dough to the fridge for up to a week
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown
Leave on the baking sheet to cool slightly for 2-3 minutes before transferring to cool completely