Chocolate Gingernut Ripple Cake Food

CHOCOLATE & GINGERNUT RIPPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Beat Milo and cream together until stiff peaks form.
• Spread 1 side of a biscuit with Milo mixture and sandwich together to another biscuit. Place on a tray. Spread another biscuit with mixture and sandwich to the first 2, and continue with remaining biscuits to create a log shape.
• Optional: Dip each biscuit briefly in liqueur or milk before speading with milo mixture.
• Using a flat knife, spread remaining milo mixture over log to cover.
• Loosely cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight to allow biscuits to soften.
• Sprinkle log with grated chocolate. To serve, slice on an angle instead of straight across so you can see the layers of biscuit and cream.

CHOCOLATE & GINGER TORTE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3-4. Butter and line a 23cm round springform tin with a disc of buttered baking parchment. Lightly dust the inside of the tin with cocoa and tip out excess.
• Put the chocolate and butter into a medium-size heatproof bowl, add the ginger wine and set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• Tip both the sugars into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer and add the egg yolks. Whisk until pale and light. Pour the melted chocolate and butter into the yolks and stir until smooth. With another large, spotlessly clean bowl and whisk, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they just hold a stiff peak.
• Sift the almonds and ginger into the chocolate mixture and fold in using a large metal spoon. Add one-third of the egg whites and stir in to loosen the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites until combined.
• Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and gently spread level using a palette knife. Gently warm the ginger preserve until it's just spreadable and carefully spoon onto the cake in small dollops. Spoon over the remaining chocolate mixture, spread level and bake just below the middle shelf of the oven for 50 mins-1 hr until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a moist crumb attached. Allow the cake to cool in the tin and don't be dismayed if the top sinks and cracks.
• To make the ganache icing, tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Then add the cream, butter and ginger wine. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until melted and velvety smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
• Carefully run a palette knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it, then put on a serving plate. Spread the ganache over the top, and leave to set before serving.

CHOCOLATE RIPPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Take a cookie and dunk it quickly in sweet sherry (or smear it with jelly for children) if you wish-this helps speed up the cookies softening.
• spread the smooth side of the cookie thickly with cream and repeat.
• Sandwich the two you have done together and stand them on a plate.
• Repeat this until all the cookies are used and you have formed a"log" of cookies and cream.
• Cover the entire log thickly with more cream and cover loosely with cling wrap before refrigerating for about 8 hours-as I said, the sherry or jelly speeds this up (and I like the added flavour of either) Decorate with grated chocolate, or pipe extra cream around the log before serving.

CHOCOLATE AND GINGER NUT SLICE ( NO BAKE)

Steps:

• Lighty oil a 18cm/7inch sandwich tin.
• In a saucepan heat the butter 100g/4oz of chocolate and golden syrup, stir until melted.
• Remove from heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs and 3/4 of the nuts.
• Press warm mixture into tin, melt remaining chocolate, then spoon on top and sprinkle over remaining nuts.
• Chll at least an hour before serving.