When I moved into my first proper flat, I had finally accumulated enough baking and cookery books that I could arrange them by colour. A rainbow of spines spread across the top of my chest of drawers, a mini library I could pick and choose from to expand my dinner horizons, try new techniques and ultimately take inspiration for this blog. Back at home, I sort of love how the books are mashed in with jotters filled with recipes from my mam’s time as school cook, the copy of the Be-Ro book I accidently singed with the hob whilst making pancakes and a plastic wallet in one of the drawers filled with magazine clippings of recipes well loved. It’s a totally different system to mine, but I guess there are similarities. In one of those wallets is a recipe for chocolate nut slab, a dinner party staple for my mum. In my rainbow, there is a copy of Kate Doran’s incredible debut book Homemade Memories with a similar chocolate biscuit cake on pages encouraging us to ditch the packets and make homemade treats with grown up twists – think peanut butter and raspberry jammie dodgers and pear and messy but indulgent chocolate marshmallow teacakes. I’ve made about four recipes from it since it arrived on my desk a few weeks ago, it’s that good.
The last time I had chocolate nut slab was after my graduation, my mam having put on a fantastic spread following a misty, cloudy and rather grey day as I swished around in my loaned robes. Her version is just as rich, but with a good helping of glace cherries and pretty drizzles of dark and white chocolate. But given the opportunity to join the Handmade Memories blog tour, I chose to give Kate aka The Little Loaf‘s recipe a go, a rather grown up affair with a kick of bourbon (since it is me), chunks of bubbling homemade honeycomb, smashed homemade digestives and a good handful of pecans. With her gorgeous book’s message of making homemade treats from your childhood to evoke glorious memories punctuated with food, I guess this recipe is in homage to every dinner party I got to squirrel a slice away to eat in the living room as a kid and my own plateful topped with strawberries and ice cream roughly three months before I moved away to start my own little rainbow library. So I guess sharing Katie’s recipe (with my own boozy slant) is my own homemade memory of bakes from my past that have evolved into my future.
- -For the digestives
- 100g rolled oats (or oat flour if you don’t have a food processor)
- 100g wholemeal spelt flour, with extra for dusting
- 100g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 55g light brown muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp milk
- -For the honeycomb
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
- -For the cake
- 125g butter, plus extra to grease the tin
- 350g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 heaped tbsp golden syrup
- 2 – 3 tbsp bourbon
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 150g of the spelt digestives (or shop bought if you prefer)
- 75g of the honeycomb
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder to finish
- To make the digestive biscuits, blitz the rolled oats in a food processor into a fine powder, then add the spelt flour and butter and pulse to the texture of breadcrumbs. You can also do this step without a food processor, simply rub the butter through the flours to the same consistency. Transfer to a bowl and stir through the sugar, baking powder and salt with your hands. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time to bring together a slightly sticky dough. Tip onto a sheet of clingfilm and tightly wrap then flatten to a disc. Chill for 15 minutes in the fridge as you preheat the oven to 180oc/160oc fan and line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Remove the biscuit dough from the fridge and place between two sheets of clingfilm, the bottom dusted with spelt flour. Roll to a thickness of around 3mm then remove the top layer of clingfilm and cut out as many biscuits as you can with a round 5cm cutter. Reroll the scraps until all the dough is used then space out on baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the oven. You may need to do this in stages if you only have one sheet or a small oven. Once golden and baked, cool on the tray for 5 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, store in an airtight box for 2 to 3 days.
- To make the honeycomb, line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set near the hob. In a large heavy bottomed pot (like a Le Crueset), combine the sugar, golden syrup and honey together over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil to a golden amber colour reading around 150oc on a digital thermometer. Take off the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda, whisking for around 5 seconds and pouring immediately onto the baking sheet. Try not to over whisk the mix as the bubbles may collapse. Leave to cool to room temperature before smashing into pieces with the end of a rolling pin. Store in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days.
- To make the cake, grease a 1kg loaf pan with butter then line all sides with baking parchment, making sure the paper comes up a couple of centimetres above the edges.
- Place a large bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure it doesn’t touch the water. Add the butter, chocolate and golden syrup to the bowl and melt together, adding a good pinch of salt to cut through the bitterness whilst stirring. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly then stir through the bourbon then the egg to pasteurise it.
- Place the biscuits in a bowl and bash into large chunks and some smaller crumbs with the end of a rolling pin. Add the honeycomb and bash again into chunks then add to the bowl of chocolate and butter with the chopped pecans and carefully stir until everything is combined. Add to the prepared loaf tin and level off with a spatula then lightly press a rectangle of baking parchment over the top then chill for at least four hours or until set.
- When you are ready to serve, turn the loaf tin onto a wooden board and peel off the paper. Dust with cocoa powder with a sieve then cut into slices and serve with any remaining honeycomb and biscuit crumbs. A good dollop of ice cream wouldn’t go amiss either.
sophie // the cake hunter says
This looks so good. I love the photos. Kate’s book is just brilliant x
VictoriaSpongePeasePudding says
Thanks Sophie It tastes amazing – it’s one of those books you wish you had thought of it is that clever!
Kate says
Yay! This looks amazing and I LOVE the addition of bourbon 🙂 xxx
VictoriaSpongePeasePudding says
Thanks Kate – loved every part of this recipe! But of course I had to add a slug of booze
VictoriaSpongePeasePudding says
Thanks Kate – loved every part of this recipe! But of course I had to add a slug of booze