Chocolate love

YESTERDAY was Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love. Chocolate has been touted as the food of love and it’s a great ingredient with which to create decadent and seductive chocolate treats, why not celebrate with chocolate all weekend! Bon appetit!

Super fudgy brownies

1 cup/8ozs unsalted butter

4 ozs bittersweet or semisweet Trinidad chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup Trinidad cocoa powder, unsweetened

4 eggs, large

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat to 350°F. Line a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan with parchment paper (bring parchment up sides of pan so there is a slight overhang).

Combine the butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted, stir in cocoa powder.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla whisk until smooth . Whisk in the chocolate-butter mixture, then add the flour and whisk until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top has formed a shiny crust and the batter is moderately firm.

Cool completely in the pan on a rack.

Cut into squares.

Servings: 24 2-inch brownies

Trini chocolate cake

1 cup butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2¼ cup all purpose flour

1 cup powdered cocoa

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F

Grease sides and base and line 2 nine-inch cake tins with waxed paper.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and doubled in volume.

Sift flour three times add baking powder and baking soda sift cocoa and combine with flour.

Add eggs one at a time to creamed butter mixture, making sure to beat well between additions, batter must be fluffy. Add vanilla to milk.

Add flour to batter alternately with milk in three additions. Beginning and ending with the flour/cocoa mixture.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared tins, bake for 35-40 minutes until done and cake pulls away from the sides of the tin. Makes 2 nine inch cakes

Marshmallow frosting

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbs corn syrup

3 egg whites

⅓ cup water

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

With an electric mixer beat egg whites until fluffy but not dry add cream of tartar.

Combine sugar with water, stir gently to combine, place in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, boil sugar until bubbly and spins a thread when lifted from a fork.

Poor syrup into egg whites with mixer running, continue to beat until all the syrup has been incorporated, beat for a few minutes longer until mixture loses some of its gloss. Frosts 2 nine-inch cakes.

Double chocolate banana bread with tonka

2 large, over ripened bananas

½ cup sesame seed paste, tahini

¼ cup coconut oil

1 large egg

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp grated tonka bean

½ cup bittersweet Trinidad chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Line an 8X4 loaf tin with parchment paper.

Mash bananas and beat in tahini with an electric hand mixer, add oil, egg and sugar and beat until light.

Combine flour with cocoa, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and tonka bean.

Stir this into the banana mixture, when well incorporated stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes until cooked.

Makes 1 loaf

Passion pie

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

2 tbs cornstarch

½ cup passion fruit puree

¼ tsp cream of tartar

1 pre-baked pie shell

In a small saucepan combine egg yolks with ¾ cup sugar and corn-starch, add milk and cook until mixture becomes thick, remove and stir in passion fruit purée, pour into pie shell and chill.

Preheat oven to 325F

Beat the whites with the remaining sugar and cream of tartar until stiff,

Spoon onto pie and bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 mins.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Serves 6 to 8