Brownie

You simply must try these, even if it's just to be amazed by the lack of washing up you'll have afterwards:

Preheat the oven to 160ºc, the grease & line a 9 inch square baking pan.

1. Melt 6 tbsp butter in a medium pan, with 200g* Dark chocolate
* I found that 100g was absolutely fine. I'm sure it's even chocolate-y with 200g

2. Once melted, remove from the heat and "stir energetically" a pinch of salt, 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/4 light brown and 1/2 caster.), 2 large eggs and 1/4 cup flour (I found that my batter needed more than that. About 1/2 cup.)

3. Add 1/3 cup of raisins, cherries, or other dried fruit and 1/3 cup flaked almonds/walnuts.

4. Scrape into the pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes, until juuuust done, just under actually.

Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake (adapted from Sweet Food)

Ingredients
2 digestive biscuits
1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
50g white chocolate, chopped
125g cream cheese, room temp.
30g caster sugar
1 egg

2 tbsp cranberry jam
1 kiwi, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 tsp honey

- Grease the bottom and sides of a springform tin.
- Finely crush biscuits with food processor for 30 secs. Alternatively, put them in a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin.
- Transfer biscuit crumbs to a bowl and mix with butter to moisten all the crumbs.
- Press biscuit mixture firmly into the base of the tin.
- Refridgerate until firm.

- Preheat oven to 180 degC.
- Melt chocolate using a bain-marie.
- Beat cream cheese until smooth.
- Add sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add egg and then the melted chocolate.
- Pour cream cheese mixture into the springform tin and bake for 30 mins or until just firm.
- Leave cheesecake to cool to room temperature then refridgerate until firm.

- Carefully remove cheesecake from the tin.
- Warm jam in a saucepan adding a little water to get the right consistency, if neccessary. Spoon generously over half the cheesecake, allowing some to drip over the sides.
- Arrange kiwi slices over half the cheesecake. Process the remaining kiwi and honey in food processor for 10 seconds. Drizzle over the cheesecake.

*This makes a 4-inch mini cheesecake and is only 1/4 of the book's recipe. And because I did only half of each variation, I would serve 2 slices, 1 of each flavour to each guest, thereby serving 4. For an 8-inch cheesecake(serves 10-12), I would quadruple the recipe

Chocolate Truffle Tart

Adapted from Gourmet magazine

Makes 10 servings
Crust:
28 chocolate wafers (such as Nabisco Famous), finely ground in a food processor
6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, cooled completely
Filling:
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon powdered instant espresso
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

1. Adjust oven racks to middle position and heat to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch springform pan and wrap the bottom with a sheet of foil to help prevent leakage.

2. To make the crust, combine the wafer crumbs and butter in a bowl; pat evenly onto bottom of pan and 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Bake until crust is slightly puffed, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the chocolate and butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.

4. Whisk together eggs, cream, sugar, espresso, salt, and vanilla. Whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined well. Pour the filling into cooled crust. Bake 20 - 25 minutes, or until slightly puffed, and filling is set to 1-inch from edge, with a slight jiggle in the center.

5. Cool tart completely on a wire rack, then chill in the fridge until firm, about 4 hours. Release pan sides, and dust top with cocoa.