Back in the age of pen and paper, I started a ‘travelling cookbook’, the idea being that, when we went away on a self-catering jolly – of which there were many back then as I fly-fished for a living – all the handwritten favourite recipes therein would travel with us. One day, I thought, I could pass it on to my children.
The internet, and blogs, have now largely done away with a need for it, but it remains a prized, and delicate, member of the family (the children fight over who will get it).
In it there is one recipe I’ve never shared, until today, for chocolate pavé, and I bring it to you in the spirit of Christmas, in case you have someone to go and see and are short of a present or just fancy making it for yourself. Unless someone hates chocolate or is allergic to the ingredients, this has never failed to please and its elegance belies how easy it is to make.
You take 200g of very good, 70% chocolate and you melt it with 50g of unsalted butter and 60g of cream, in a bowl atop a simmering pan. Take it off the heat then stir in 25g of icing sugar, sieved, and 60g each of crystallised ginger and chopped nuts (pistachios are very good here as are toasted almonds or hazelnuts).
Then spoon the mixture into a lightly greased and baking paper lined tin of about 8cm x 26cm. Set in the fridge and, when ready to eat, turn it out, dust with cocoa powder and slice thinly while you quiver with anticipation.
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