No bake cake: Raspberry & white chocolate mousse

Ingredients 150ml double cream, 30g white chocolate, 75g raspberries, 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 10 minutes

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with white chocolate mousse and raspberries, topped with whipped cream to form a single slice of cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) Melt the white chocolate in a Bain Marie, then set aside to cool a little.

2) Whisk the double cream for approximately 2 minutes until soft peaks form. Separate a little out into a piping bag, then fold the chocolate in with the trest and continue to whisk until the peaks are stiff.

3) Using a spatula, spread the white chocolate mouse onto the pancake layers and stud with raspberries. Serve with a dollop of the whipped cream.

Lavender & white chocolate strawberries

IngredientsLavender, white chocolate, strawberries

Preparation: 10 minutes

Lavender and white chocolate is a familiar combination to this blog, but not everyone grows lavender so when the fabulous Millie's suggested Choc Affair's lavender white chocolate, I had to create a quick simple recipe for quick simple chocolate! Sweet, ripe strawberry goes wonderfully with the perfumed richness of the chocolate - just make sure not to refrigerate your strawberries or you'll ruin half the taste!

1) If you are infusing your own chocolate, grind 1/4 tsp lavender in a mortar and pestle and add to a bowl. Break up the white chocolate and sit the bowl over a hot pan to make a bain marie. Stir the chocolate until it melts. 

2) Dip the strawberries into the chocolate and leave them to set. This should only take 5 minutes or so. Serve!

Lemon lavender & white chocolate sponge

Ingredients Per cake layer: 175g butter, 175g caster sugar, 1 lemon, 3 eggs, 175g self-raising flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder Filling: Lavender jam, marscapone, icing sugar

Serves: 12 preparation: 30 minutes

Tomorrow I'm going to Clandestine Cake Club and the theme is "indulgence"
Faced with what I'm sure will be a sea of chocolate and cream I thought I'd take a lighter approach. I can just about master a lemon sponge - equal parts butter, sugar and flour with the freshness of lemon juice, sandwiched with the luscious sweet exotic flavour of lavender jam and the unctuous cream of whipped marscapone. Topped with white chocolate... what could be more indulgent than that! It's rare to see cakes on this blog as I'm more of a cook than a baker, but what I lack for in technique I make up for with flavour combinations!

1) Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, then beat in the eggs.

2) Zest a lemon and squeeze the juice, then fold into the cake batter along with the flour and baking powder.

3) Spoon the mixture into cake tins and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees, or until the top is golden and springy and a skewer comes out clean. 

4) Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.

5) Pop out of the tins and sandwich together with lavender jam and marscapone whipped with icing sugar and lemon juice (to taste).

6) Melt white chocolate and drizzle over the top to decorate it.

Don't discover silver balls in the cupboard, fall over laughing at the retroness and decide to write ironically on the cake with them though... 

Lavender & white chocolate cookies

Ingredients 350g plain flour, 200g butter, 2 eggs, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 175g brown sugar, white chocolate chips, 1 tsp lavender, 1/2 tsp salt

Makes: 10 cookies Preparation: 30 minutes

It's no secret that I love lavender. Whether I am making something sweet or savoury with it, it never fails to deliver an exotic yet comforting aroma and these warm, rich flavoured cookies are wonderful.
Using dried lavender in food rather than infusing say milk or water with lavender to release the sweetness and flavour is a rare approach for me. The effect in the mouth is that of the raw herbal perfume of mint, but the sweetness of the white chocolate counterbalances it.

1) In one bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt and lavender and in a second bowl cream the sugar and butter together, then beat in the eggs.

2) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet until a smooth, elastic dough has been formed. Add the white chocolate chips, then roll the dough into a sausage about half the diameter of what you want your finished cookies to be. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm it up.

3) Dust a surface with flour, then cut slices from the dough and roll each slice into a ball using the light dusting of flour. Press them lightly with the palm of your hand to form cookies no thicker than 2cm.

4) Arrange on a baking tray with plenty of space between them and bake in the oven at 190 for 15 minutes. These cookies are best enjoyed soft in the middle and crispy at the edge. Leave them to cool completely before eating.

White chocolate & olive potato salad

Ingredients   2 King Edward potatoes, dill, 2    squares white chocolate, 10 kamalata olives, 4 eggs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, 1 pint vegetable oil

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes


This might sound incredibly unusual, but the subtle sweetness of the white chocolate, the seductive vanilla notes and the rich saltiness of the olives are a wonderful combination.


1) To make your own mayonnaise - separate 4 egg yolks from the whites (discard the whites) and put in a large clean bowl to whisk (or use the whisk attachment on your blender if you have one). Add the lemon juice/vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk thoroughly, adding the oil ONE DROP at a time until the mayonnaise is thick and glossy. You don't have to use all the oil - I like it quite thick but if it's too thick you can always add a little warm water to thin it back down again.


2) Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks then boil in hot salted water for 20 minutes and strain.


3) Whilst the potatoes are cooling, put the chocolate squares into a bowl and set it on top of a bowl of boiling water to make a bain marie. Stir the chocolate until it has melted, then take it off the heat. The chocolate should be warm and not hot because white chocolate has a low melting temperature but give it 30 seconds before stirring it into the mayonnaise to avoid it splitting.


4) Chop the dill and stir into the mayonnaise, then add the cool potatoes.


5) Pit the olives and add to the salad. Stir through and serve.