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Chocolate desserts: Sweet surrender
A chocolate dessert can hardly fail to please, even if you are confronted with the fussiest of eaters. So, to celebrate the joy of chocolate, we have brought together some of Delia's most yummy chocolate desserts ever. From Squidgy Chocolate Log to Chocolate-crunch Torte with Pistachios and Sour Cherries, there's something to make everyone happy.
Chocolate Soured Cream Cake
This is for people who don't like things too sweet but, that said, if you do, add a tablespoon of sugar to the filling.
Amaretti Chocolate Cake
Italian Amaretti biscuits are now widely available in supermarkets, as well as delicatessen, and their strong almond flavour is the perfect match with some strong, very dark chocolate.
Warm Chocolate Rum Souffles with Chocolate Sauce
These are very light and chocolatey, and made even more wonderful by the addition of chocolate sauce and cream. They're also reasonably well-behaved and though they may shrink a little, they won't collapse.
Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake with Fruit and Nuts served with Crème Fraîche
This is quite simply a chocolate cheesecake to die for. Before embarking on a baked cheesecake remember that, to prevent cracking, it's best cooled slowly in a switched-off oven. So you will need to make it well ahead.
Melting Chocolate Puddings
This, I suspect, could be the chocolate recipe for the beginning of the 21st century – very light, very chocolatey individual baked puddings that have a melted fudge-chocolate sauce inside that oozes out as you put your spoon in. My thanks to Galton Blackiston and everyone at Morston Hall Hotel in Norfolk for giving me their recipe.
Chocolate-crunch Torte with Pistachios and Sour Cherries
This is the easiest chocolate recipe ever invented – I first made a more basic version on children's television. Since then it's got much more sophisticated, but the joy of its simplicity and the fact that no cooking is required make it a real winner for busy people.
A Very Chocolatey Mousse
This was the chocolate recipe of the 1960s, but it has now, sadly, been eclipsed by other eras and their equally fashionable recipes. So time for a revival, I think, because it's certainly one of the simplest but nicest chocolate desserts of all.
Chocolate and Prune Brownies
I never much cared for the flavour of orange and chocolate or raspberries and chocolate, but prunes and chocolate are, for me, a heavenly partnership. Plus, if, for a special occasion, you soak the prunes in Armagnac as I have done here, so much the better. Brownies can be served warm as a dessert or just eaten cold as they are.
Chocolate Crème Brûlées
What chocolate mousse was to the 1960s, crème brûlée was to the 1990s, as it seemed to be on almost every restaurant menu. It's truly a great British classic that easily lends itself to variations like this one. Because of the vagaries of domestic grills, I've done a cheat's version of the caramel topping, or there's an alternative using a cook's blow torch.
Chocolate, Prune and Armagnac Cake
This is the very lightest chocolate cake of all, the reason being that no flour is used – it's simply made with eggs and cocoa powder. It's very fragile, almost soufflé-like, but once you've tried it you'll never want any other kind. Don't forget to start this a couple of days ahead if possible.
Squidgy Chocolate Log
This is a cake that has no flour in it – so it's extremely light and moist. It's also a bit wicked, with its chocolate mousse and whipped cream filling! During the rolling up, the cake will crack, but this is quite normal and looks most attractive.
Sunken Chocolate Soufflé with Armagnac Prunes
Yes, it's really true – this soufflé is supposed to puff like a normal one, but then it is removed from the oven and allowed slowly to subside into a lovely, dark, squidgy chocolate dessert. The only problem I can foresee with this recipe is that someone will write and tell me that their soufflé wouldn't sink!
Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding
I have to thank Larkin Warren, a wonderful American chef, for her original recipe, which I have adapted. It is quite simply one of the most brilliant hot puddings ever invented. It's so simple but so good – and even better prepared two days in advance. Serve in small portions because it's very rich. Though I doubt if there will be any left over, it's also wonderful cold.
