Chocolate fondue
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 300ml thickened cream
- 1/4 cup Cointreau liqueur
- 300g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- fresh fruit, such as strawberries, orange segments, banana, raspberries and kiwifruit, to serve
- 250g packet marshmallows
Method
- Heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Stir in Cointreau.
- Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate. Stir with a metal spoon until melted and smooth. Pour into a warm bowl or small ceramic fondue.
- Serve chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows.
Mocha date self-saucing puddings
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 150g (about 6) fresh dates, deseeded, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 75g butter, melted, cooled
- cream or vanilla ice-cream, to serve
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Sauce
- 2/3 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 1/3 cups boiling water
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease four 1 1/4-cup capacity, ovenproof ramekins and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Sift flour and cocoa into a large bowl. Stir in caster sugar and dates (make sure dates don’t clump). Whisk vanilla, milk, egg and butter together in a jug. Pour into flour mixture. Gently stir to combine. Spoon into prepared dishes. Smooth surface.
- Make sauce: Combine brown sugar and cocoa in a bowl. Sprinkle over puddings. Combine boiling water and coffee powder in a heatproof jug, stirring to dissolve coffee. Pour 1/3 cup coffee over the back of a metal spoon, over each pudding.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted halfway into puddings comes out clean and sauce bubbles around the edges. Serve immediately with cream or ice-cream.
