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Rich Choc Walnut Butterscotch Bars

September 17, 2014 by TSJC 1 Comment

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These are those incredible nutty, chewy, sweet and crunchy bars.  Be warned once these are made you will want to way to get them eaten as quickly as possible to avoid completely destroying your diet.  I used organic walnuts in these, but you could use peanuts, hazlenuts or even almonds.   The recipe is really simple its just that there are 3 stages which can be quite time consuming, but the outcome is really well worth the effort.

 

Rich Chocolate Walnut Butterscotch Bars
Makes 12 -24 (Depending on the size you cut)

Ingredients
Biscuit Crust
–  225gms cake flour
–  1/2 tsp baking powder
–  150gms plain milk chocolate
–  115gms unsalted butter
–  50gms muscovado/demerrera sugar
–  30ml finely ground almonds (or finely ground oats)

Butterscotch Filling
–  175gms unsalted butter, cut into chunks
–  115gms raw castor sugar (or regular will do)
–  30ml golden syrup
–  175mls condensed milk
–  150gms whole roasted nuts, walnut/hazelnut/almonds/peanuts

Chocolate Topping
–  250gms chocolate
–  25gms butter

Start by preheating the oven to 160°C.  Grease a 20cm x 20cm baking tray.  Now in a bowl sift together the flour and baking powder.  Now rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.  Melt the chocolate over a pot of barely simmering water.  Rub in the brown sugar and almonds before adding the molten chocolate.  Work it in briefly till it forms a loose dough.

Press the dough into the base of your baking dish, you will not be able to roll it out like a normal dough so just press it in until it is flat and even, prick all over with a fork.  Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until firm.  Set aside to cool in the tin.

Now prepare the butterscotch mixture.  Add all the ingredients, excluding the roasted nuts, to a small heavy based saucepan.  Stir until the butter and sugar have melted.  Now allow to simmer over a low heat until it is a golden colour, be careful to not allow it to cook on too high a heat or you might burn the sugars.  Once it is golden stir in the roasted nuts.  Now spread the mixture evenly over the biscuit base.  Leave to set and cool.

Once the butterscotch mixture has cooled, set a bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, add the chocolate and the butter.  Melt until smooth and silky.  Now spread over the butterscotch mixture and shake the pan to allow the mixture to go smooth.  Depending on the type of nuts you have used you may or may not have a smooth top layer, this is not important.

Allow to cool and then cut into pieces.  I originally cut about 16 large pieces from the tray, however, these are very rich so you might want to cut them into smaller size chunks.

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Filed Under: Baking, Chocolate, Sweets Tagged With: baking, chocolate, KIDS

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

June 27, 2014 by TSJC 1 Comment

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This cookie is a hybrid of the best of nearly a dozen different cookies tested.  Each one chosen for a different characteristic, be it crunch, chew, chocolatey flavour, nuttiness, dunkability and then slowly massaged into a cookie that I think lives up to all the demands placed on a chocoalte chip cookie!  I tried loads of different nuts and they were all delicious but the ones I loved the most were the hazelnuts, because they give the deeply chocolate cookies an almost Nutella finish, totally moreish!

 

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Makes 24

Ingredients
–  225 gms unsalted butter, room temperature
–  180 gms light brown sugar
–  180 gms dark brown sugar
–  40 gms golden syrup
–  2 large free range eggs
–  2 tsp vanilla essence
–  230 gms cake flour
–  70gms oats, finely ground
–  40gms ground almonds
–  1 tsp baking soda
–  2 tsp hot water
–  pinch of salt
–  300gms dark chocolate
–  100gms hazelnuts

Start by preheating your oven to 175°C.  In a large bowl cream the butter, and sugars together, until smooth.  Then slowly beet in the eggs, one at a time till incorporated, then add the vanilla, beat in.  In a small bowl dissolve the baking soda, salt in the hot water, it will fizz, then beat it into the mixture.  Now stir in the flour, chocolate chips and nuts.  Use a small scoop to scoop out mounds of the mixture onto a baking tray that has been sprayed with non stick spray.  Don’t place the cookies too close as they will run into each other.

Bake in the centre of the oven until the cookies are crisp and golden on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.  Allow the biscuits to cool slightly on the baking tray before trying to remove them and allowing them to cool completely in the oven.

choc chip cookie

 

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Filed Under: Baking, Chocolate Tagged With: baking, chocolate

Pistachio, chocolate & date macaroons

June 23, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

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Somewhere between a cup cake, a macaroon, a meringue and a chewy marshmallow lie these perfect little chewy cakes.  I used pistachio in them but they work equally well with almonds or hazelnuts.  The chocolate and dates become a chooey gooey mass and the nuts add loads of crunch, the recipe does call for chocolate and sugar.  You can replace the sugar for honey, and if you are worried about the calories, you could swop out your dark chocolate with a high cocoa content so it has less fats, or you could just add a little less chocolate and add a little more dates and nuts to make up the lost weight.

 

Pistachio, Chocolate & Date Macaroons
Makes 12

Ingredients
3 large free range egg whites, room temperature
60gms caster sugar (35gms clear honey)
125g roughly chopped nuts (pistachio/hazelnut/almond)
125g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
125g fresh medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped

 

Start by preheating the oven to 165°C, preferably no fan.  Spray a 12 tin standard size muffin tin with non stick spray and sprinkle a little caster sugar into each cup.  Now, in a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites till soft peaks form, now sieve the castor sugar in and whisk till thick and glossy.  You can use a machine for all of this, but I do it in 5 minutes with a good quality balloon whisk.  If you are using honey, make sure your egg whites are room temperature and that your honey is very runny, otherwise the sugars will not distribute evenly.  DO NOT HEAT THE HONEY to make it runny and then add it still slightly warm to the egg white it will affect your chewy outcome.

Now fold the chopped nuts, dates and chocolate into the mixture.  Spoon it into the cupcakes and bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes.  Then switch off the heat and open the oven door slightly, after 10-minutes remove the tray and then allow the cakes to cool for a further 15-minutes before attempting to remove them.

Eat them just as is, or serve topped with greek yoghurt for dessert.

 

 

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Filed Under: Baking, Sweets Tagged With: baking, chocolate, Quick

Thyme to Dine

April 27, 2014 by TSJC 1 Comment

THYME TO DINE

The Ultimate Chocolate Treat in a jar!

There are few words in a sentence that make me happier than ‘jar’ and ‘chocolate’ but when you add ‘toffee’ I’m finished. Made by a local chef in Jozi, A Thyme to Dine’s Toffee and Chocolate Smudge is a light, creamy, chocolatey, toffee treat. I love the fact that I know what all 4 ingredients are, there is no rubbish in here, just chocolate and toffee. I will be coming up with some recipe suggestions in the next few weeks, but for now my serving suggestion is a teaspoon (that’s as far as I managed to get with the first jar). It’s not easy to find and I could only find one retailer in Jozi, so my suggestion is ask your local deli why they don’t stock it and let’s see how we can help grow this delicious product.
Check out www.athymetodine.co.za to find out the whole story behind the product and the chef who created it and support Jozi local.

I only discovered this product because it was suggested to me by one of you guys – so keep those suggestions coming and let’s grow our delicious Jozi products.

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Filed Under: Ingredients Tagged With: chocolate, Toffee

Hot Chocolate

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

HOT CHOCOLATE

I like to think being a grown up comes with a few perks, this is one of them. Hot chocolate grown up style. Start by heating 220ml milk, 1 cinnamon stick and 2 cardamom pods. Once the milk has come to the boil and for a little extra indulgence I add a few drops of Pure Chocolate extract. I use about 60-80g of dark chocolate which I roughly chop and add to a glass. Now for the grown up part 45mls of rum (you can go as high as 90mls if it’s been a long day), today I used vanilla infused rum from Mauritius. Pour the milk onto the chocolate keep stirring to increase the flavour.
What would a wicked hot chocolate be without a crumbly Angel biscuit from Wedgewood Nougat to balance it all out. A perfect crisp shortbread studded with nougat.

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Filed Under: Cocktails & Drinks Tagged With: chocolate, Hot Drinks, Rum

Valentines Breakfast

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

VALENTINES BREAKFAST

February is the month of love, and love means chocolate… And even breakfast isn’t too early for chocolate!! Fresh baguette slathered with chocolate hazelnut spread and a good cappuccino… I’m in love… (If she loves chocolate get this quick simple breakfast ready for her on the 14th and earn some serious brownie points)

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Snacks Tagged With: Bread, chocolate, Hazelnut

Chocolate Extract

April 27, 2014 by TSJC Leave a Comment

CHOCOLATE EXTRACT

What could be better than a pure chocolate extract, made from Mexico’s finest chocolate beans. Add a dash to any dish that requires a deep chocolate flavor… Create a pale chocolate mousse with all the flavor of a dark chocolate mousse. Works brilliantly with tomato, chili peppers, legumes and of course vanilla. Available from good delis and baking shops.

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Filed Under: Chocolate Tagged With: chocolate, extract

The Secret Jozi Chef & The Cookery

Paul Maciel, started well known Jozi restaurant Pronto in 2004, after 12 years Paul sold Pronto and decided to follow his passion for writing and teaching about food with the launch of his blog The Secret Jozi Chef and his cooking school The Cookery. The Cookery and multipurpose kitchen space in Craighall Park.
The venue hosts fun social classes for students during the week as well as interactive chef's table events. The venue is staffed by a team that loves what they do always ensuring a welcoming space. The Cookery is equipped with state of the art Whirlpool and KitchenAid appliances and plenty of room for larger groups to cook.

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Paul Maciel is the Chef Owner, of award winning Italian restaurant Pronto in Johannesburg.

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