Chocolate Afternoon Tea Extravaganza

Afternoon tea does not have to be narrow down to just sandwiches and scones. I made this selection of chocolate treat because, like everybody else I love chocolate. I used this recipe for afternoon tea, after dinner coffee or for party display. It is very simple to make but it always look impressive. It consists of a selection of homemade chocolate truffles, white chocolate ganache, butter shortbread and sticks of chocolate lollies.

This is my blog post entry to the Denby cake off competition  http://www.denby.co.uk/page/the-great-denby-cake-off

Chocolate sponge cake for the chocolate truffles

( make the sponge cake 2-3 days before needed)

100g caster sugar

100g soften butter

2 large eggs

75g SR flour

25g cocoa powder

1. Heat oven 200C/Gas Mark 6. Grease and line 2 sandwich tins.

2. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in egg one at a time.

3. Sieve flour with cocoa power. Mix the flour into the egg mixture with a metal spoon.

4. Divide the mixture between the 2 sandwich tins. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the cake spring back when press. Leave to cool. Store in an air tight tin.

chocolate Rum truffles

·         125g plain chocolate

·          50g unsalted butter

·          125g chocolate sponge cakes, crumbled

·           50g icing sugar

·           25ml dark rum,

·           50g cocoa powder, icing sugar or desiccated coconut

1. Melt the chocolate with the butter. Stir in the cake crumbs, icing sugar and rum.

Cover and leave in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until the mixture is firm.

2. Dust your hand with icing sugar and roll the truffle mixture into 8 small balls. Roll 4 all in the dark chocolate and the other in the desiccated coconut.

For the truffle lolly:

Divide the rest of the truffle mixture into 4 portions. Roll each portion on a lolly stick. Leave to set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Melt some milk chocolate in a bowl. Dip the truffle lolly into the chocolate, leave to set in the fridge.

For the nutty choc Stick:

Dip some lolly sticks in melted milk chocolate. Leave to cool slightly and dip again. Roll in toasted chopped almonds. Leave to set.

For the dark choc crisp stick:Dip lolly stick in melted dark chocolate. Roll in the chopped chocolate crisps. 

Butter short bread:

120g plain flour

60g cornflour

125g soften butter

55g caster sugar

Cream butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add in flour to form a dough. Roll our half of the mixture and cut into round biscuits and the other half into small square block. Bake in a preheated oven Gas Mark 5/190C for 15 minutes. Leave to cool.

For the chocolate shortbread, use 60g of cocoa powder instead of cornflour. Roll out and cut them into any shape you like.

To decorate the short bread, dip biscuits into melted chocolate and leave to set. Drizzle with caramel.

White Chocolate Ganache

200ml double cream
420g white chocolate, finely chopped.

1.       Melt the chopped white chocolate over a bowl of warm water Set aside.

2.        Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling.

3.       Pour the cream over the chocolate and leave to stand for two minutes.

4.       Stir the ganache until smooth.

5.      Leave the white chocolate ganache to cool to a thick cream.   

To assemble:

Fill a piping bag with white chocolate ganache. Pipe 4 beads of ganache to form a rectangle  on a large plate or a piece of slate.

Fill the centre of the rectangle with chocolate sand.

(For the chocolate sand, place some chocolate cake and dark brown sugar in a food processor.  Blitz for a few seconds till the mixture resemble find sand.)

Arrange the shortbread biscuits and the truffles on the chocolate sand pit. Garnish with some Kalanchoe leaves or mint. Decorate the white chocolate ganache with blue berries.