Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• Basic pastry dough (Helpful tips), chilled
• 1 can (15 oz/ 470 g) pumpkin puree 
• 2/3 cup (5 1/2 oz/ 165 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup (8 fl oz/ 250 ml)  heavy (double) cream
• 2 whole large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose (plain) flour
• 2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of ground cloves 
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Lightly dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Roll out the chilled dough into a 14-inch (35-cm) round about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Lift and turn the dough several times as you roll to prevent sticking, and dust the surface and the rolling pin with additional flour as needed. Use a dough scraper or icing spatula to loosen the pastry round if it sticks. This pastry dough has butter in it so make sure the dough is very chilled before trying to roll it out. 

Carefully roll the dough around the pin and position it over a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate, preferably glass. Unroll the dough and position into the plate, gently but firmly pressing the dough against the sides and bottom while taking care not to pull or stretch it. Trim the edges, leaving a 3/4-inch (2-cm) overhang. Roll the overhang under itself to create a high edge on the plates rim. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Whenever I have made pastry dough there never seems to be enough to create an overhang of sorts. On some pie plates there is a grooved edge that will make the top of the pie crust fluted automatically. I had to work really hard to get the dough in the pie plate because the dough got really soft.

Preheat the oven to 425F (220C). Line the frozen crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, uncooked rice, or dried beans. I used black eyed peas instead of pie weights. 

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and continue to bake until the shell is golden brown, 4-5 minutes longer. Let the shell cool completely on a rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F (165C) Mine took a bit longer to bake until golden brown.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cream, whole eggs and egg yolk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and whisk until smooth. Pour into the crust. This was the easiest part for me, add everything and mix!

Bake the pie until the filling is set but the center still jiggles slightly when the pie plate is gently shaken. About 50 minutes, longer if using a metal pan. Let cool completely on rack. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Mine took 70 minutes to bake, time differs depending on the type of oven. 

Helpful Tips:

Basic Pastry Dough:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup (5 1/4 oz/175 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch (2-cm) pieces
• 3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening 
• 3 tablespoons very cold water

Directions:

To make the dough, in a food processor combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl. Pulse to blend. Add the shortening and pulse until reduced to 1/2-inch (12-mm) pieces. Add the water a little at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together in a rough mass. It only took 1 tablespoon of water to give it the right consistency for me. 

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

My Experience:

I had a very limited time to make this when I did. It turned out really good though, better than I expected. I got really frustrated with the pressure I was under to finish baking the pie. I'm sure I would have had a better time if I got to relax a little bit.    

Vanilla Cheesecake (S'mores Cheesecake)

Ingredients:

For The Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups (4 1/2 oz/140 g) graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing 

For The Filling:

• 4 packages (8 oz/250 g each) cream cheese at room temperature
• 2 table spoons plain all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 oz/270 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (4 oz/125 g) sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 package mini marshmallows (optional)
• 1 Hershey's milk chocolate bar (optional)

Directions:

Gather ingredients

To make the crust, preheat the oven to 400F (200C).

Lightly grease a 9-inch (23-cm) springform pan. In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Stir until the mixture is well blended and the crumb are evenly moist. Pour into the springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom and about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) up the sides of the pan. bake until lightly golden and set, about 10 minutes. Let cool on rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 300F (150C) The crust may seem like it isn't moist enough, but it is. You can use a cup or a mug to press the crumbs into the bottom, and up the sides of the pan. Don't worry about the circles it makes, you are going to cover it with the filling anyways.

To make the filling, in a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, flour and salt. Using a mixer in medium-high speed, beat until very smooth and fluffy, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently. Add the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat well until blended, again scraping down the sides frequently. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour into the crust. It is important that the cream cheese is room temperature because it is much easier to mix when it has been left out for a bit. Scraping down the sides often is also very important. 

Bake the cheesecake until the filling is set but the center still jiggles slightly when the pan is gently shaken and the edges are slightly puffed, 60-70 minutes. The filling will firm as it cools. Let cool on rack to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled (over night is best). I baked mine for about 65 minutes, but the middle didn't set all the way, so I sugget a little longer than what I did.

I wanted to spice up my cheesecake a little bit, so I decided to roast some marshmallows and grate some chocolate over it. You will need a blow torch to do this.

What you do is put some marshmallows on the center of the cheese cake, this can cover any cracks in the top, or add something to the pain cheesecake. 

Next, you use a baking torch to roast the marshmallows, trying not to get the flame too close to the cheesecake until golden brown. Then you can use the small side of a grater to grate chocolate over the marshmallows, and there you go!

My Experience:

This was my first time making cheesecake. It wasn't so bad. I didn't bake my cheesecake long enough, and I didn't let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating over night. The only problem was the middle didn't set up right, but it was still good. I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone! It's pretty easy, and delicious! 

Enjoy! xx

Pound Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup (6 3/4 oz/205 g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (6 oz/185 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• 1 cup (7 oz/220 g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (4 oz/125 g) sour cream, at room temperature

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 325F (165C).

Lightly grease a 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch (21.5-by-11.5-cm) loaf pan and dust with flour. my pan was a little bit bigger than it should have been, but it still came out perfect.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt until blended. In another bowl, using a mixer on medium to medium high speed, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract (if using) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until just blended. Sprinkle half the of the flour over the egg mixture and stir until both are just incorporated. Stir in the sour cream, then sprinkle with the remaining flour mixture and stir until evenly distributed. The flour tends to get everywhere if you turn up the mixture so I recommend scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, while its on medium-low speed. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap gently on the counter to even out and settle the ingredients. You only have to tap it a few times, just to get out any air bubbles inside of the mixture. 

Bake until a toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean, about 70 minutes, or longer if using a metal pan. let cool on rack for 15 minutes. My cake baked all the way perfectly for 70 minutes exactly. 

Run a knife around the inside of the pan. Place the cake onto a wire rack, and lift off pan. place the cake on one of it's sides and continue cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature. I usually run the knife around the pan right after it comes out of the oven and it turns out fine. 

I didn't want to serve it as just plain cake so I put strawberries and whipped cream on top of it and made strawberry shortcake. You simply cut up a bit of strawberries, put a little bit of sugar on them, then mix until the strawberries are coated with sugar, whip up some heavy whipping cream, and sugar (to taste) until it forms stiff peaks and put it on slices of the pound cake! Easy as that.

My Experience:

This was probably one of my favourite things that I have made for this blog, it was so simple and there are so many different things you could do with it. The possibilities are endless. My cake turned out really well, it was soft in the middle and it wasn't dry at all. It was good plain, but the strawberries and whipped cream really made it good! 

Enjoy! xx

Pistachio Truffles

Ingredients:

• 4 oz (125 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup (3 fl oz/80 ml) heavy (double) cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 4 equal pieces
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup (4 oz/125 g) medium-fine chopped unsalted pistachios
• Confectioners' sugar for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

In the top of a double boiler, combine the chopped chocolate and cream. 

Set over barely simmering water and melt the chocolate, then whisk until the mixture is glossy and smooth. The chocolate to mix with the cream and melt all the way, but it will eventually melt.

Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the butter pieces, stirring until smooth and well blended. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate just holds its shape when dropped from a spoon, about 40 minutes. It took exactly 40 minutes for the mixture to take cool to the correct consistency. 

Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch (12-mm) plain tip. Fill the pastry bag with with the chocolate mixture and pipe into 1-inch (2.5-cm) mounds on the prepared baking sheet. Tap down any pointed tips with a dampened finger tip. 

Freeze truffles until very firm, about 1 1/2 hours.

Put the chopped pistachios in a small bowl. Remove a few truffles from the freezer. Roll each truffle in the nuts, pressing to coat. Serve slightly chilled. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

If desired, sift a light dusting of confectioners' sugar over the truffles just before serving.

My Experience:

This was one of the easier truffle recipes I have seen. Unfortunately I do not have a pastry bag, but I substituted it for a gallon sized Ziploc bag. It worked out pretty well. I didn't really have any other difficulties. It was a really fun experience, and a great recipe. 

Frozen Citrus Mousse

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz/330 g)
• 3/4 cup (6 fl oz/180 ml) fresh lemon juice 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest 
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• Unsalted butter for greasing
• 3/4 cup (6 fl oz/180 ml) heavy (double) cream

Directions:

Gather Ingredients.

On the top of a double boiler, whisk together the egg yolks, 1 (7 oz/220 g) of the sugar, the lemon juice, and the salt. Set over barely simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. I suggest zesting all of the fruits first. When it says "Thick enough to coat the back of the spoon" that basically means the mixture should drip off the spoon, with a paint like thickness. 

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the zests. Scrape down the sides of the double boiler top and gently press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface. Refrigerate, until chilled, and thick. Make sure the plastic wrap is completely touching the mixture and completely covering it because if it doesn't then a rubbery coating will form over it.

While Lemon mixture is chilling, make room in the freezer for six 3/4-cup ramekins. Shape collars for the ramekins out of parchment paper or aluminum foil and tape to the ramekins. Lightly grease the ramekins and collar. Dust with sugar, Place on a small baking sheet and set aside. 

When the lemon mixture is well chilled, in a deep bowl, using a mixer on medium-high speed, whip the cream until firm peaks form when the beaters are lifted. 

Clean the beaters and, in another deep, clean bow, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until firm peaks form when the batter is lifted.

Whisk the chilled lemon mixture until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, scoop the whipped cream onto the lemon mixture and fold in until just blended. Add the whites and fold gently until blended. Scoop into the the prepared ramekins, gently tapping each ramekin against the counter to settle the contents. make sure you mix all the mixtures in a large bowl, because there is a lot. 

Put the ramekins in the freezer for 30 minutes to set the mousse. Carefully cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours or up to over night. Before serving, pull off the collars. Serve at once.

My Experience:

This dish was a little confusing for me to make, I got lost a lot along the way and I had to seek help. It turned out alright, though not a pretty as I would have liked. It wasn't my favourite thing to make, but I still enjoyed the new experience.

Reese's Cookie Brownie Cakes.

This recipe is also not in my cookbook, It seems to be my month of birthdays so I keep baking what people request! This recipe is also really simple but it is what someone wanted me to make! Also I only made enough of these to fill up one cupcake pan so 12.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of break apart cookie dough (I used chocolate chip with caramel and pecans.)
•  12 Regular or snack size Reese's peanut butter cups 
• 1 box of brownie mix (If you want to make the brownie mix homemade then click here for a link) 

Directions:

Gather Ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare cupcake pans with cupcake wrappers. 

Flatten cookie dough into the prepared cupcake wrappers. Make sure it is really flattened down because there is a lot more stuff you have to put into the wrappers. 

Place Reese's face down onto the cookie dough. I always gently press the Reese's into the cookie dough so that you can have more room. 

Prepare brownie batter as directed on box (or follow the recipe if you make it homemade.) Spoon batter over the cookie dough and Reese's so that it is 3/4 the way full. I always tend to over do it because there is so much extra brownie batter for me.

Bake for 20 minutes. It always takes my oven a little longer to cook things so mine took about 25 minutes. 

Let cool on wire rack. Make sure they cool all the way before taking them out because they wont stay together if you take them out while they are hot. 

(This photo isn't mine. My finished product picture wouldn't upload.)

I had a lot of extra brownie mix so I simply put it in a little pan and made these cute heart shape brownies.

Enjoy! xx

My Experience:

I have made these before and they are such a simple recipe as long as you don't over fill the cupcake wrappers! I always tend to do that. I like making these a lot even though I don't end up eating any. 

Classic Birthday Cake

It was my friends birthday this week so I decided to make her cupcakes for her! This recipe has the directions for a two layer cake, but since I made cupcakes I will give you both ways of doing it.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups (8 oz/250 g) sifted cake (soft-wheat) flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (6 oz/185 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz/330 g) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup 98 fl oz/250 ml) buttermilk

For the Frosting:

• 4 oz (125 g) bitter sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 oz (60 g) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (8 oz/250 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups (8 oz/ 250 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• A little decoration of some sort. (sprinkles, sugar candies, ect) Optional

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease the bottoms of two 8- or 9-inch (20- or 30-cm) round cake pans lined with parchment paper. Lightly grease the paper and sides of pans with butter and dust with flour. Or line 2 cupcake (muffin) pans with cupcake wrappers, or grease each hole with butter. Cupcake wrappers never seem to want to stay in the pans.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. Make sure you remember to sift the flour!

In another bowl, using the mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth. Slowly add the granulated sugar  and continue beating until well blended and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until just blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches alternately with the butter milk in 2 batches, beating on low speed after each addition. You don't have to add the flour and butter milk in that perfectly, just alternate it when mixing it in.

Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans or cupcake pans, and spread evenly.

 Bake until a tooth pick is inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-35 minutes. Let cool on rack for 15 minutes. Run a small knife along the edges of each pan, or cupcake to loosen the cake, invert onto a rack and lift up the pans. Carefully peel off the parchment paper, then let cool completely before frosting. Or Remove the cupcakes from the pan and wait 15 minutes, plus the time it takes to make the frosting to frost. The cupcakes. The cupcakes should come out of the pan really easily, but some of them need to be helped out with a knife. They baked perfectly at 25 minutes.

To make the frosting combine the chocolates in the top of a double boiler. Set over barely simmering water and stir until melted.

Before

Let cool slightly. In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and the confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Beat in the corn syrup, vanilla and salt. Continue beating while gradually adding the chocolate. Beat until smooth. If your frosting is a little soft then you can put it in the fridge to help it firm up. 

Frost cupcakes, and put the little decorations (if you chose them) and then you are done! I chose a little Frankenstein candies for the top of them in spirit of Halloween.

My Experience:
Cupcakes are a recipe I am very familiar with. So this recipe was a breeze. Make sure your butter is softened, and mixed all the way before putting the batter in the pan, sometimes it doesn't mix all the way in, like it should. This cupcake recipe is one of the better ones I have tried out, the cupcakes taste wonderful!

Enjoy! xx

Raspberry Macarons

Just as a little note the recipe that I did this week is not from my book, I was inspired to make it after seeing it being made on television. This is my first time making them so it may not be the perfect way to make them, but I tried my hardest and followed the recipe and this is how they turned out. Also, the process of each step went by so fast it was hard to take a lot of pictures, and some of my pictures got deleted by accident, sorry about that.
Ingredients:

For outside:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup almond flour

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 or 3 drops red food coloring 

For Filling:

• 2/3 cups fresh raspberries
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions:

Gather Ingredients.

Preheat oven to 400F, and position racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large, wide bowl, using a large rubber spatula, or hand held electric mixer, mix the confectioners' sugar and the almond flour with one of the egg whites until evenly moistened. My mixture didn't come out as it should have, but I did everything right so I don't know what happened.

In a small sauce pan, combine the granulated sugar with the water and bring to a boil; using a moistened pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Cook over high heat until the syrup reaches 240F on a candy thermometer. I messed up really bad the first time on this part, the syrup heats up really fast, and I my candy thermometer recently broke so I couldn't use that and I ended up using a meat thermometer, so my hand got a little burnt after holding it so close to the pan. Be careful! 

In another large bowl, using clean, dry beaters, beat the remaining 2 egg whites at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer at high speed, carefully drizzle the hot syrup over the whites until firm and glossy. Beat in food coloring until the meringue is bright pink. I suggest starting this step while the syrup is starting to cook.

Stir 1/4 of the meringue into the almond mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the rest of the meringue. Transfer the meringue into a pastry bag with a small tip. Pipe onto the prepared baking sheets into 1 1/2- inch mounds, one inch apart, tap the sheets and let dry for 15 minutes. If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a big Ziploc bag and have the mixture go to one corner and cut the tip of the corner off. What it means by tap is hit the baking sheet with the mounds on it on the counter for a few seconds, this helps get any remaining air bubbles out. 

Transfer the meringues to the oven immediately turn off the heat, bake for 5 minutes. Turn the oven on to 400F, and bake the meringues for 8 minutes, until they are puffed and the tops look firm and glossy. Transfer the baking sheets to racks and let cool completely. Peel the meringues off the parchment paper. Be careful when peeling them off the baking sheets because they have a tendency to break, or even crumble. 

Filling: Mix all the ingredients together in a mixer on medium until blended. 

Pipe mixture onto the flat side of a meringue then put another one on top.

I didn't have enough time to pipe the filling so I just spread it with a knife instead.

My Experience:

This recipe was pretty challenging for me. There were a lot of parts where I needed some assistance. If you don't read through the recipe first it makes it hard to make absolute sure that you have everything. I had to redo some parts of this recipe because of how fast everything was going. I had fun making it though, it's nice to challenge yourself once in a wile. I would definitely make this recipe again! 

Enjoy!xx 

Warm Molten Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients:

• 8 oz (250 g) bittersweer chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons (2 1/2 oz/75 g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted, plus extra for dusting.
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (optional)
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature

Directions:

Gather ingredients.

Preheat oven to 400F (200C) Lightly grease six 3/4-cup (6-fl oz/180-ml) ramekins and dust with cocoa. Set the ramekins on a small baking sheet. I had a little bit of trouble dusting the ramekins, the cocoa just stuck to the butter and wouldn't move, so I did the best I could.

In the top of a double boiler (helpful tips), combine the chocolate and butter. Set over barely simmering water and melt. It took me forever to chop the chocolate so to save time i suggest just using a grater to grate the chocolate small enough to melt quickly. 

Then whisk until the mixture is glossy and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and salt, then set aside to cool. Be careful, when I added the vanilla it started popping when it touched the hot chocolate.

In a large bowl, using a mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the egg yolks, half of the sugar (3 tablespoons), the two table spoons of cocoa, and the zest (if using), until thick. Spoon the chocolate mixture into the yolk mixture and beat until well blended. The mixture will be very thick. When I was separating the egg yolks from the whites I saved 3 out of 4 of the egg whites to use later in the recipe so I didn't have to waste more eggs, and by the time you need them they will be at room temperature. I threw the final egg white out.

In a bowl using clean beaters, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until very foamy and thick. Sprinkle in the remaining sugar and increase the speed to high. Continue beating until firm, glossy peaks form. I tried to whisk the egg whites and sugar into glossy peaks by hand but it was taking a really long time just to get it to start forming so I moved it into the mixing bowl and used the mixer. 

Glossy Peaks

Spoon half of the beaten whites onto the chocolate mixture and whisk until just blended. Add the remaining whites and stir gently until just blended. 

Spoon into prepared ramekins, dividing evenly. This got messy for me and the batter did not go in as easily as desired. 

Bake the cakes until they are puffed and the tops are cracked, 13 minutes, The inside of the cracks will look very wet. Remove from oven and serve immediately in the ramekins or, run a small knife around the inside of each ramekin to loosen the cake and invert the cakes onto individual plate. It took mine 9 extra minutes to bake before they were fully done.

My experience:

I thought this recipe was going to be a lot harder then it was. I haven't made these before so I had no idea what to expect. I didn't have a lot of difficulties with these except they didn't puff up and much as I would have liked them too. I didn't serve them with any special sauces on top, but if I were to make them again I probably would do something like a raspberry coulis or creme anglaise. However it was a fun and easy recipe if you don't mind a bit of a chocolate mess! 

Helpful Tips:

Double Boilers: A double boiler cooks food gently on the stove top. Consisting of two nesting saucepans, double boilers are widely available, but a make shift one is easy to assemble. Choose a sauce pan and a heat proof bowl that rests securely in the top. Fill the saucepan with water a depth of 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm). One the bowl is placed on top of the pan the water must not touch it. Remember that boiling water bubbles up so check the water level before setting the bowl in place. Bring the water to a boil, set the bowl in place, and reduce the heat so the water simmers gently.

Enjoy! xx