Make choux pastries several days ahead if you wish but fill shortly before serving.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

· Preheat oven to 200ºC.

· Line a baking tray with baking paper.

· Place butter and water into a saucepan, place on a medium heat and bring to the boil.

· Remove pan from heat and add flour all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon and stir continuously {away from the heat} till the mixture leaves the sides of saucepan.

· Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

· Place mixture into a bowl, preferably of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle beater, and gradually add beaten eggs {but you may not need the fifth egg} beating well between each addition. Aim for a paste with a dropping consistency. Beat for 5 minutes or till paste is smooth and shiny.

· Place paste into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe pastries onto the prepared baking tray, making each 5cm diameter and 4 concentric circles of paste high. Alternatively use 4 level tablespoons full of paste to form 5cm rounds.

· Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or till pastries are light golden brown.

· Remove Choux Pastries from oven and prick with a metal skewer on two sides.

· Reduce oven temperature to 180ºC and place pastries back into oven and bake for 15 – 20 minutes till they are golden brown, crisp and dried out.

· Place onto wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to three days, freeze, or proceed to next step.

· Cut Choux Pastries horizontally through the centre, leaving two-thirds as the base and one third as the top. Place bases on platter or individual plates.

· Fill some bases with Coffee Pastry Cream and some with Chocolate Pastry Cream. Place tops back on Choux Pastries.

· Generously drizzle each pastry with warm Chocolate Sauce and serve. Accompany with fresh raspberries if you wish.

(makes 600ml)

This can also become a filling for prebaked pastry cases, served in small glasses with berries or layered between thin sheets of sponge.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

· Place vanilla bean and milk in a saucepan, place onto a medium heat and bring to the boil.

· In a separate bowl place sugar, flour and egg yolks and whisk till pale. Slowly pour milk into egg mixture whisking continuously as you pour.

· Transfer mixture to a heavy based saucepan and place over a low heat. Stir over a low heat till mixture comes to just below the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes till mixture is thick and creamy.

· Pour mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl using the back of a soup ladle. Rinse vanilla bean and reserve for further use.

· Divide pastry cream into half.

· Fold coffee into one half of pastry cream, and chocolate into the other, and cool to room temperature.

· Cover with plastic wrap to sit directly on top of mixture, rather than covering bowl, and place in refrigerator till completely cold. This will keep for several days in the refrigerator but does not freeze well.

· Just before serving divide whipped cream in half and fold one half into each flavour of pastry cream.

(makes 1 x 20cm round cake}

This version of the traditional Viennese cake was baked for me by Richard Hingston pastry chef at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Christchurch.

· Preheat oven to 180ºC. Grease with baking spray or melted butter a 20cm round cake tin.

· Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle beater place butter, icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract and beat to a soft, pale yellow consistency. Add egg yolks and mix well.

· Add melted cooled chocolate and stir in.

· Into a clean bowl place egg whites and whisk while slowly pouring in sugar. Continue to whisk till a firm meringue forms.

· Fold meringue alternatively with flour into chocolate mixture and stir to combine.

· Pour mixture into prepared tin, place into preheated oven and bake for 40-55 minutes or till cake bounces back when gently pressed with forefinger.

· Remove cake from oven and place onto a cake rack. Cool completely.

· Remove cake from tin.

· Trim top of cake to make it level, and cut in half through the middle.

· Spread cut edge of bottom half of cake with half the apricot jam. Place cake halves together.

· Spread remaining apricot jam over all exposed edges of cake.

· Ice with Chocolate Ganache.

· If you wish to maintain tradition using additional melted dark chocolate, pipe ‘Sacher' across the top of the cake or onto each portion.

(enough to ice one Sacher Torte)

· Into a small pot pour milk and cream, place over a medium heat and bring to the boil.

· Remove pot from heat. Add chocolate and stir till melted.

· Add alcohol. Strain through a fine sieve and cool.