BROWNIE POINTS FROM SANTA!

Celebrate sweet occasions with recipes from Ravneet Gill in her book Sugar, I Love You published by Pavilion, $40 – and earn brownie points from Santa!

NOT-WHAT-YOU-THINK CHOCOLATE COOKIES

 1-3/4 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tbsp superfine sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg lightly beaten

Generous cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3-1/2 oz white chocolate in a bar

Sea salt flakes

Put the dark chocolate into a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Melt, then cool to room temperature.

Cream together both sugars with the butter until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl, add the egg and beat together. Pour in the cool melted chocolate and mix.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and baking soda until evenly combined. Tip into the batter and mix until there are no lumps, then scrape into a container and place in the refrigerator until set; this should take 2-4 hours

Divide the dough into seven 2oz balls and flatten each slightly.

Chop the white chocolate into ½ oz portions; it’s fine if this amount is in  more than 1 chunk, just bunch the bits together.

Place one ½ oz portion of white chocolate in the middle of each of cookie dough, then fold up the sides to enclose the chocolate completely, Put these on a baking sheet lined with parchment and refrigerate overnight (or freeze straight away).

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Make sure that the cookie dough balls have enough space between them to spread out, then bake for 14 (or 15-16 minutes from frozen).

Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet. Top with a tiny sprinkle of seas salt flakes before eating.

PRUNE AND CHOCOLATE BUNS

For the buns

2/3 cups strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting

2 tbsp superfine sugar

1/2 tsp fine salt

1 egg

2/3 cup whole milk

1-2/3 tsp instant yeast

Scant 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing

For the filling

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1-3/4 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1-1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

Generous pinch of sea salt flakes

1/3 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped

8-9 juicy prunes/dried plums

For the sugar syrup

3/4 cup superfine sugar

Generous 1/2 cup water

2-3 tbsp armagnac (optional)

Mix the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg into the milk.

Sprinkle the yeast onto the flour mixture and stir in, then pour in the egg mixture. Mix together until a rough dough forms. Add the softened butter and mix on medium speed until a smooth dough forms, roughly 5 minutes. This dough will not be super-elastic; it will look enriched, smooth and pliable. Place in a buttered container, cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight.

For the filling, melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat then remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, followed by the chocolate. Stir until melted then add the cocoa powder and salt. Set aside at room temperature.

Roll out the dough to 4 inch thick, roughly 13 x 11 inches, on a lightly floured work surface. Spread over the chocolate filling and then scatter over the hazelnuts and prunes.

Roll the dough up lengthwise, tightly. Trim the ends if they are messy, then cut into 6 even pieces, each roughly 2 inches. Arrange, cut-side up in an 8-inch cake pan lined with parchment paper. Cover with a damp dish towel and leave until the buns have doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the dish towel and bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for further 20 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, for the syrup, boil the sugar and water together for a few minutes. Set aside. If adding Armagnac, do it just before using.

When the buns are out of the oven, leave them to rest for 10 minutes before pouring the sugar syrup evenly on top and leaving it to absorb and soak in. Remove from the pan when cooled and eat. These are best served on the day they are baked.

BRUNSVIGER

For the bread

3-1/2 cups strong white bread flour

2 tsp fine salt

1 tsp superfine sugar

1/4 cup fresh yeast, or 1 tbsp instant yeast

3-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cups buttermilk

For the sweet topping

2/3 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp honey

4 cardamom pods crushed (with their shells, just blitz the pods)

1 tsp tsp ground cinnamon

Finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

½ cup pecans

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Mix all the dry ingredients for the bread together in a large bowl, then crumble or scatter over the yeast.

Melt the butter and slightly warm the buttermilk in two separate saucepans, then mix them together off the heat.

Pour into the dry ingredients and mix to form a dough.

Stretch and press the dough into an 11-inch greased baking pan, cover with a damp dish towel and leave until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 425°F

For the sweet topping, gently melt the butter, sugar, maple syrup and honey together in a saucepan. Add the spices and lemon zest and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Poke deep indents all over the dough with your fingers – the important bit! Pour over the sweet topping which will collect in all the indents, then sprinkle with pecans and sesame seeds.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 400° F and cook for a further 10 minutes. Leave to cool in the pan and enjoy still warm.