Season of Indulgence Three fabulous chocolate recipes from GBBO winner Peter Sawkins

Season of indulgence

Great British Bake Off winner and Edinburgh lad Peter Sawkins shares three decadent chocolate recipes sure to impress dinner guests

FOR SURPRISE GUESTS… Quick chocolate and hazelnut mousse

This mousse was a happy accident. I aimed to make a creamy chocolate filling or frosting for a cupcake, but after tasting this mix, I realised it was good enough to eat on its own, so I gave it its own recipe. Three minutes would be a high estimation for how long this pudding takes to make; I reckon you could drill it down to under two. But it doesn’t matter that it takes such little time and little effort; I would happily serve it at any casual family meal or, equally, a ‘get the fancy china out’ dinner party. When freshly made, it has a light, airy and soft texture; if you leave it in the fridge for a few hours, it firms up and becomes a more thick and unctuous mousse. So, make it ahead, or make it last minute without the concern of neglecting any guests for long while you prepare their delicious pudding. This recipe makes enough for 4.

• 250ml double cream • 25g icing sugar • 250g chocolate hazelnut spread • 30g roasted hazelnuts, for decoration

1. Whip the cream with the icing sugar to medium-firm peaks. 2. Add in the chocolate hazelnut spread and whisk through until just combined. 3. Spoon or pipe into your serving dishes and chill in the fridge. 4. Top the mousse with chopped roasted hazelnuts and serve!

THE SHOWSTOPPER… Chocolate Caramel Tart

Ido consider balance in most of my recipes. Combining sweetness with something bitter or creaminess with something sharp is typically a sensible thing to do when creating a recipe. But balance has not been considered here. I thought I’d go all-in for this bake! It does what it says on the tin; this is a chocolate pastry case filled with caramel and chocolate ganache, nothing fancy about it, just pure indulgence. Each bite is incredibly rich and wonderfully satisfying. I will warn you, though, it’s best to take a very thin slice and finish wanting more. It’s quite easy to scupper yourself on this one.

• 1 quantity chocolate sweet shortcrust pastry For the chocolate filling: • 280g double cream • 200g dark chocolate • 20g butter Flaky sea salt For the salted caramel sauce: • 200g sugar • 3 tablespoons water • 100g double cream • 100g butter, cubed • Flaky sea salt (optional) Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/190°C conventional/gas mark 5.

1. Blind bake a 20–23cm chocolate shortcrust pastry case (see recipe at ionmagazine.co.uk/recipes).

Leave to cool. 2. For the salted caramel sauce, make a wet caramel with the sugar and water, taking it to a deep amber. 3. Leave the mixture on the heat and gradually stir in the cream. Be careful: the mixture may spit as it bubbles up. 4. Remove from the heat, leave to cool for a couple of minutes then add in the butter, stirring until combined. Once the mixture is smooth, stir through the salt if desired. 5. Leave this to cool for about 15 minutes at room temperature, then pour about three quarters of it into the tart case. Leave to chill in the fridge. 6. For the chocolate filling, heat the double cream in a pan until just bubbling. Add in the chocolate and gently stir until you achieve a smooth texture. Add in the butter and stir to combine. Pour this mixture over the caramel and leave it to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 7. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the tart and slice into thin slices with a warm knife while the tart is fridge cold. Leave to reach room temperature before serving so the filling is soft and silky.

PETITS FOUR… Millionaire Shortbread Domes

Chocolate, caramel and shortbread, that’s a winning combo! These little domes are a fancy way to serve the classic traybake that’s everyone’s favourite. The domes are very small and dainty, so they can be a little fiddly to put together. However, if any turn out more broken or messier than you would like, you can enjoy a chef’s perk and hide the evidence with a tasty post-baking snack!

For the shortbread: • 50g unsalted butter, softened • 30g caster sugar • 1 large egg yolk • ½ teaspoon salt • 90g plain flour For the filling: • 250g dark chocolate • 1 quantity salted caramel sauce (made to recipe on previous page) or 1 tin of caramel Preheat the oven to 150°C fan/160°C conventional/ gas mark 3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. You will need a small hemisphere or cake pop mould.

MAKE THE SHORTBREAD 1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (this will take 3 to 5 minutes). 2. Stir through the remaining ingredients until it forms a stiff dough. Gently work together into a ball using your hands. 3. Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper until about ¼ cm thick. Place this in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes. 4. Find a cutter that is just smaller than the opening to your hemisphere or cake pop mould.

Cut discs of the shortbread using this cutter, transfer to your baking tray and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. FILL AND ASSEMBLE 1. Melt 150g of the chocolate, remove from the heat, then stir through a further 50g until all melted.

Pour a teaspoon of chocolate into each mould and use the back of a teaspoon to spread it around the inside of the mould, completely covering it. Leave this to set at room temperature. 2. Spoon or pipe the cooled caramel into the set chocolate domes filling them about five sixths full.

Place a shortbread round into each dome. Melt the remaining 50g of chocolate and fill a piping bag with it. Cut a very fine hole from the piping bag and fill any gaps between the shortbread and moulds or caramel with chocolate. Leave this to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 3. Once chilled, pop out from the moulds and dig in!

All recipes taken from Peter’s beautiful new hardback book, Peter Bakes, £20, out now (Black & White Publishing). Photography by Susie Lowe.