Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients
  • 300g dark chocolate, broken into chunks - don't use one with a high cocoa content
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 200g light muscovado sugar, plus 3 tbsp extra
  • 6 tbsp cocoa
  • 150ml sunflower oil, plus a little extra for greasing
  • 284ml pot soured cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
  1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line a 10-hole muffin tin with paper cases. Whizz the chocolate into small pieces in a food processor. In the largest mixing bowl you have, tip in the flour, sugar, cocoa, oil, 100ml soured cream, eggs, vanilla and 100ml water. Whisk everything together with electric beaters until smooth, then quickly stir in 100g of the whizzed-up chocolate bits. Divide between the 10 cases, then bake for 20 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean (make sure you don't poke it into a chocolate chip bit). Cool on a wire rack.
  2. To make the icing, put the remaining chocolate bits, soured cream and 3 tbsp sugar in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth icing. Chill in the fridge until firm enough to swirl on top of the muffins, then tuck in.

Easy Pancake

Ingredients
  • 100g plain flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 300ml milk
  • 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, plus a little extra for frying
  • lemon wedges to serve (optional)
  • caster sugar to serve (optional)
Method
  1. Put 100g plain flour, 2 large eggs, 300ml milk, 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil and a pinch of salt into a bowl or large jug, then whisk to a smooth batter.
  2. Set aside for 30 mins to rest if you have time, or start cooking straight away.
  3. Set a medium frying pan or crêpe pan over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper.
  4. When hot, cook your pancakes for 1 min on each side until golden, keeping them warm in a low oven as you go.
  5. Serve with lemon wedges and caster sugar, or your favourite filling. Once cold, you can layer the pancakes between baking parchment, then wrap in cling film and freeze for up to 2 months.

Chocolate Biscuits

Ingredients
  • 250g butter, softened
  • 350g light soft brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 350g self-raising flour
  • 100g cocoa powder
  • 200g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate chunks, or 400g for optional dipping (choose your favourite type)
Method
  1. Beat the butter and sugar together with an optional pinch of sea salt in a bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sift over the flour and cocoa powder and beat into the butter mix, then fold through the chocolate chips. The mix can be made up to 2 days ahead and chilled or frozen for a month, or used straight away.
  2. To bake, heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. If the mix is at room temperature, place evenly spaced spoonfuls on parchment-lined baking sheets, allowing 2 tbsp for each cookie. If the mix is fridge cold, you can roll it into 40g balls before baking. The balls can be frozen and the biscuits baked from frozen, but they'll need a few minutes more. Bake for 12-15 mins until spread out and crusty around the outside. Leave to cool slightly and enjoy warm, or leave to cool completely and eat cold. The biscuits will keep in a tin for three days.
  3. As an optional extra, the biscuits can be dipped in chocolate. To do this, melt your chosen type of chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave. Leave to cool a little, then dip half of each biscuit in the chocolate and leave them on parchment-lined trays somewhere cool to set. Again, the dipped biscuits will keep for up to three days in a tin or lidded plastic container.