Sunken drunken chocolate cake.

On a day off, like today, I wake up and start thinking about what I want to make/bake. I said to Florek- I’d like to bake something nice. “Ciasto czekoladowe”, said my naturalized Pole. 🙂 How could I not?

The recipe comes form GF, naturally. I made half a portion, so that it was not wasted, but enjoyed while fresh.

70 g of pitted prunes I heated up with 2 tbsps of whisky( the recipe called for Marsala, I don’t even know what it tastes like exactly). I whizzed it then, pulsed rather, didn’t want a slush. 70 g of dark chocolate melted with 50 g of butter, prune mixture in. 2 whole eggs I whipped with 75 g of sugar, half and half caster and muscovado, one white left aside to be whipped separately. 50 g of ground almonds, a tbsp of plain flour a splash of vanilla essence. All mixed together went to a tin dusted with cocoa and into the oven for 25 minutes in 160 degrees. When out, dusted with more cocoa.

Pleasant, but not orgasmic.

Beef Wellington.

This is my second ever attempt. First time I made it was long time ago, the beef was bloody, it was all mess. Last week, while watching people on “Great British Bake Off” making those gorgeous things I thought- I want one.

First of all, I’ve researched it, before I even went shopping. I chose Ramsay’s recipe and once again I have to admit, the fucker knows what he’s on about. I followed the recipe and I’ve given myself 8 out of 10. 🙂

First, I seared my fillet, well seasoned, the roasted it off in the oven, aiming for something in between medium rare to medium. While the cow was in the oven, I panfried some finely chopped cup mushrooms with a shallot and some porcini, plus some fresh thyme for flavour. Then, following the advice from The Bake Off, I made sure my beef was nicely chilled before I wrapped it in prosciutto, cuddled in the mushrooms and finally wrapped in the puff pastry. I chilled the whole thing while waiting for Florek to come home, then gave it a nice make up of the egg  and baked it in 200 degrees for 25 minutes. Now, important conclusion; the beef must be cooked to one’s liking BEFORE it goes into the pastry, because, as I learned today, even though it’s baked for nearly half an hour, it’s the pastry that cooks, not the beef. Florek said if it had been a bit more cooked, he would have given the dish 9 out of 10. But it was a bit too pink for him, so only 7. I, on the other hand was happy and ate the lot. I was surprised at how beautifully soft the meat was. I served it with some roasted veg. Pleased. 🙂