Suprise your loved ones with these chocolatey kiss cookies. The perfect easy gift for Valentine’s Day. This recipe is based on one by Rachel Allen From Rachel’s Favourite Food for Living.

For the biscuits

175gself raising flour

75g caster sugar

75g butter

2t instant coffee powder or granules

1t hot water

1 egg

For the chocolate icing

50g butter, softened

100g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

3t cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. In a cup or small bowl, mix the coffee with the hot water, then add the egg and whisk together.
4. Add this to the food processor and process until the dough comes together. (If making this by hand, rub the butter into the flour and sugar in a bowl, then add the coffee, water and egg mixture and bring together to a dough.)
5. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and then roll out the dough until it is 5mm thick and, using a 4cm in long heart-shaped cutter, cut out 50-60 heart shapes. (If the dough is a bit soft before shaping, chill it in the deep freeze for 10 minutes before using.)
6. Place the hearts slightly spaced apart on two baking trays (no need to grease) and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and slightly firm at the edges.
7. Remove from the oven and carefully lift off the tray with a metal slice while they are still very hot to prevent them sticking. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
8. For the chocolate icing, mix the soft butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl using a wooden spoon, or in the food processor, until it comes together.
9. Use the icing to sandwich the cookies together. If you dip a table knife into hot water as you work, it helps to spread the icing. Store in a box for two or three days.

Makes 25-30 biscuits

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12 as this gives everyone hands-on experience and keeps the cooking class small enough for maximum learning. These cooking classes are conducted by our senior instructors who have extensive experience in the food industry and share a variety of additional cooking tips throughout the cooking class.

This is a splendid cake, taken from our book of the week, The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden.

“I have eaten almond cakes in other parts of Spain, but this one is special. Pilgrims and tourists who visit the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the relics of the apostle Saint James are believed to be buried, see the cake in the windows of every pastry shop and restaurant. It is usually marked with the shape of the cross of the Order of Santiago. I have watched the cake being made in many sizes, big and small, thin and thick, over a pastry tart base at a bakery called Capri in Pontevedra. This deliciously moist and fragrant homey version is without a base. There is sometimes a little cinnamon added, but I find that masks the delicate flavor of orange and almonds and prefer it without it.”

“When I suggested to a man associated with the tourist office in Galicia that the tarta was a Jewish Passover cake, I was dragged to a television studio to tell it to all. The hosts thought the idea made sense. The Galician city of Coruna is on the Jewish tourist route, because of its synagogue and old Jewish quarter. Jews from Andalusia, who fled from the Berber Almohads’ attempts to convert them in the 12th and 13th centuries, came to Galicia, where they planted grapevines and made wine.”

The cake is normally made in a wide cake or tart pan and so it comes out low, but it is equally good as a thicker cake. It is very similar to one we make at Wickedfood Cooking school in our Spanish cooking class in a 22cm spring form baking tin.

Picture: Jason Lowe

700g blanched whole almonds
6 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 drops almond extract
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. Finely grind the almonds in a food processor.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a smooth, pale cream. Beat in the zests and almond extract. Add the ground almonds, and mix very well.
3. With clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).
4. Grease an 28cm springform pan, preferably nonstick, with butter, and dust it with flour. Pour in the cake batter, and bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 40 minutes or until it feels firm to the touch. Let cool before turning out.
5. Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners’ sugar. Or, if you like, cut a St. James cross out of paper. Place it in the middle of the cake, and dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar, then remove the paper.

Variations
• Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the egg yolk and almond mixture.
• Majorca has a similar almond cake called gato d’ametla, which is flavored with the grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and sometimes a few drops of vanilla extract.
• In Navarre, the cake is covered with apricot jam.

Serves 10

Other Wickedfood Cooking School Spanish recipes:

• Albondigas – Meatballs Tomato Sauce
• Slow roast shoulder of lamb
• Orange and almond cake

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Halloween is becoming big around the world.  One of the dilemmas is what to do with the leftover pumpkin after the party.  Flesh freezes very well as is, just cube and pop into the freezer. A wide variety of delicious dishes can be made from it.  To prepare, ether boil without adding any water, or roast in an oven until soft.   Then use for a variety recipes as outlined in the references below. In this fun take on pumpkin pie, adapted from a Bon Appétit recipe, a little whiskey really puts the “Scotch” in butterscotch.

It’s still winter and we all crave foods that warm our heart and delight our soul. This week’s recipe is Rizogalo - a Greek traditional rice pudding. Rice has been known since Ancient times in Greece as a cure for diseases of the digestive tract since the time of Theophrastus (370-285 BC), Dioscurides (first century) and Galenos (AD 130-200). This recipe comes from our cookbook of the week,  My Greek Family Table. The recipe is very similar to one we make at Wickedfood Cooking School in our Greek cooking classes.

½ cup medium grain or arborio rice

4 cups milk

4-5 tablespoons castor sugar

½ cup currants or sultanas

Cinnamon to garnish

Honey to garnish

1. Place the milk and sugar in a saucepan and stir over moderate heat. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to a low simmer and add the rice and currants or sultanas.
2. Continue to stir regularly until the mixture becomes almost thick and creamy and the rice is cooked. This will take approximately 30-35 minutes.
3. When the rizogalo has cooked place it in some serving bowls. Let it cool down slightly and then sprinkle some cinnamon and honey over the tops.
4. Serve whilst still warm.

Serves 4-6

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Anyone who’s worked professional kitchen will tell you that there is a world of difference in the mindset of kitchen staff versus the bakery department. Although baker’s need to be artists to be creative, they also have to be scientists and very precise at that.  The Hummingbird Bakery is one of the most successful creative bakery chains in the UK -  see our review of their latest cookbook.

Here are some of their tips, combined with what we, at Wickedfood Cooking School, have learned over the years that we have been giving baking  classes, which we hope will help you to get the best results from your baking recipes:

• Follow the recipes exactly as written! Baking is a chemical reaction, and so any experimentation with the recipe amounts can potentially cause a recipe to fail.
• If you change an ingredient, a method, or an amount, no matter how small, then this will change the recipe from the way it was intended to turn out.
• Some baking methods in The Hummingbird Bakery cookbooks may seem unconventional to experienced bakers, but the recipes will work if followed exactly.
• Don’t rush when measuring out ingredients and following the cooking method.
• Don’t worry if a batter looks runnier or thicker than you’re used to… trust it, it will bake as it’s supposed to!
• Only use the correctly sized tin! If you put the whole batter amount into a tin that is too small, then the batter will overflow. Only ever fill the tin you have two‐thirds full.
• If you’ve filled your tins/cases and you have leftover batter, make some extra cupcakes or muffins!
• Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full! If you’re too stingy with filling them, they won’t rise nicely and they’ll overcook and be dry.
• When creaming butter and sugar together, always make sure you do this until the mixture is light and fluffy, usually at least a good 5 minutes. Otherwise your cakes will NOT rise nicely!
• Do the same for recipes that ask you to whisk together the eggs and sugar: this should result in a nice, light airy mixture, at least 5 minutes of electric whisking! Especially the cookies, otherwise they’ll be flat as pancakes.
• After adding flour to a mixture, don’t overbeat as this will overwork the flour and make the cake dense. Simply beat or stir until the flour is just incorporated.
• Get an oven thermometer that you can hook into your oven permanently. This ensures that your oven temperature is accurate and well calibrated. All ovens have hot and cool spots, get to know your oven well and use these spots creatively.
• Ovens vary greatly, so use suggested cooking times as a rough guide. First bake to about 3/4 of the suggested cooking time, and then check every 5 minutes until finished. (Never open the oven for the first half of the baking time as this may cause the cake not to rise.)
• Cakes, cupcakes and muffins are only ready when a skewer comes out clean when inserted, and they have pulled away slightly from the side of the tin. They are not automatically ready when the recommended time is up! If you take them out too soon, they will flop and sink deeply in the middle.
• The more items baking at the same time, the longer the baking time might be.
• Make sure that your baking powder and bicarbonate of soda have not passed their best before date.
• Don’t substitute self‐raising flour for plain flour – this will affect the outcome of the recipe!
• All recipes that ask for cream cheese must be made with Full Fat Cream Cheese. Other brands are too low in fat and will not work.
• Finally: if your outcomes don’t look exactly like the pictures in the book, don’t worry! These were professionally styled. As long as your goodies taste good and your friends and family enjoy them, then you’ve succeeded!

Click here for some of our delicious cake, biscuit and desert recipes.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.