April 3-5, 2008: Java Walnut Splodges

second Bloggers' Banquet was nigh, too nosotros needed to snuff it cooking. We brought a few tried too truthful recipes to the table, but I too wanted to accept a piddling something particular for our chauffeur, Claire the Melbourne Gastronome. It had to hold upwards cute too sweet, but too hardy plenty to weather condition a duet of days at habitation earlier beingness dragged around inward a purse through variable temperatures. Enter Nigella's java walnut splodges.

They were indeed suitably robust, amongst a slightly cakey texture too those softly crunching walnuts. And they were a doddle to position together. But equally I tried a still-warm ane on Th night, I said something I never idea I'd nation virtually a Nigella recipe: "I wishing these were sweeter". So, early Sabbatum morning, I melted some leftover black cooking chocolate too spread it generously on the splodges' apartment surfaces. That did the trick.

The chocolate wasn't sufficient to mocha upwards the entire batch too I'm yet eating some of the leftovers equally Nigella intended them. They're genuinely growing on me, actually. The bitterness of the java too walnuts is a corking pick-me-up on a workday afternoon.

Coffee walnut splodge biscuits

250g evidently flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
200g unsalted butter, softened
75g castor sugar
60g brownish sugar
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 large eggs, beaten
200g walnuts, roughly chopped
200g black cooking chocolate (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking pulverization too salt.

In a larger bowl, cream together the butter too sugars. Gradually mix inward the java pulverization too thence the eggs. Stir inward the flour mixture too the walnuts yesteryear mitt until simply combined.

Line a baking tray (or two, if yous direct maintain them) amongst newspaper too driblet generous teaspoons of the dough onto them.

Bake for virtually 12 minutes, until they've simply developed a theatre crust. Let them cool on the tray for five minutes earlier transferring them to a rack.

Optional chocolate layer: Gently melt the chocolate yesteryear your preferred method too spread it on the apartment side of the cooled biscuits. Allow thirty minutes for the chocolate to ready (or chuck 'em inward the refrigerator for 10!) earlier storing the biscuits.