FLOWER POT KITCHEN: MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE

19 Dec 2017

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE

Chocolate Ganache Cake

Oh boy! The king of deserts rich sumptuous decedent velvety chocolate heavenly ness that will leave you feeling totally satisfied, rich deep chocolate ganache filled chocolate pastry topped with thick double cream finished off with a rude amount of chocolate flakes, this is a real pleasure to eat.

Prep time 15 minutes/ Baking time 45

Ingredients

(Serves 8-10)

The Pastry
225g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
140g butter
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp water cold

Chocolate Ganache Filling
175g butter
350g soft brown sugar
4 eggs beaten
4 tbsp cocoa powder
150g 70% plain chocolate
300ml single cream

Topping
600ml double cream
4 cadbury's chocolate flakes

To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, stir in the cocoa powder and sugar and bring together with your hands to form a soft ball of chocolate dough, you may need to add the water just to bring it all together. Wrap and rest the pastry in the fridge for half hour, when ready to use roll out and line your cake tin, cover with a sheet of baking paper, add baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes at 190 degrees C. Remove from the oven and discard the baking beans, pop the chocolate pastry back in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees C. Now to fill the pastry case with the ganache.

To make the filling beat the butter with the sugar until soft and creamy, add the eggs one at a time and slowly beat in. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl, once melted take the bowl off the heat, stir in the cream and cocoa powder, pour your ganache into the pastry case and pop back into the oven to bake for approx 35 minutes until the ganache is still a little wobbly but almost set, remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before topping with the double cream.

Whip the double cream to a really thick consistency, if you over whip you will make butter! Top the ganache with the cream and sprinkle with crushed cadbury's flakes to decorate.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.