Family Recipes
Here are a selection of recipes for the family - some you have seen before, some we hope are new to you and would inspire you to try something new out.
Please enjoy them - any suggestions for other recipes, please email them to Webmgr@primarytimes.net.
Millionaires Shortbread
© Richard Bertinet, The Bertinet Kitchen
For the shortbread
250g butter
250g sugar
300g plain flour
50g cornflour
5g saltsprig lavender
For the caramel
150g salted butter
180g golden syrup
800g condensed milk
250g caster sugar
For the chocolate topping
Large pinch of fleur de sel / sea salt flakes
300g Divine dark (70%) chocolate
First make the shortbread.
Cream the butter and the sugar in a bowl.
Sieve in the flour, cornflour and salt and mix into the butter and sugar to make a stiff dough.
Leave to rest for half an hour.
Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC.
While the dough is resting line a large baking tray with sides with baking parchment and then after the dough has rested, press it into a layer on the  bottom of the baking tray.
Prick the dough with a fork all over.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes and then turn the heat down to 150ºC and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until light golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool still in the tray.
Place the ingredients for the caramel into a pan and heat on the stove, whisking all the time, for about 5 to 8 minutes until it bubbles and changes colour as it caramelises.
Spread the caramel over the shortbread and allow to cool.
Once the caramel has cooled sprinkle the fleur de sel over the caramel.
It needs to be cool enough so the salt stays in flakes and does not dissolve into the caramel.
You will then get a lovely contrasting salty taste that sets off the sweetness of the caramel perfectly.
Finally, break the Divine chocolate into a bowl and place it over a pan of boiling water.
Stir until it melts.
Pour over the caramel and leave to cool.
Once cool, place into the fridge to set.
Cut into squares to serve.
More Divine recipes at www.divinechocolate.com;
Divine chocolate bars available at all the supermarkets, RRP £1.49.
Chocolate fridge cake (Florentine style)
By Sam Stern
This could be the richest, easiest chocolate cake ever. 
You don’t need to cook it.
And it tastes a bit like posh Florentines.
You can customise it to suit your tastes.
Use all biscuit and raisins instead of the other dried fruit.
Or vary the fruit and nuts or type of plain biscuit- try Rich Tea or Hob-nob.
The mix of milk and dark Divine chocolate makes for just the right base for this decadent tea-party special.
200g Divine milk chocolate
100g Divine dark (70%) chocolate
Finely grated rind of half an orange
4 tablespoons golden syrup
175g butter
175g digestive biscuits
125g raisins
100g glace cherries, washed, dried, quartered
75g dried apricots, finely chopped
Handful of flaked almonds or chopped hazelnuts (optional)
Break the chocolate up.
Tip it into a heatproof bowl.
Add the rind, syrup and butter.
Sit it into the top of a pan of gently simmering water, keeping the base of the bowl clear of the water.
Leave to melt slowly, without stirring
Tip the biscuits into a freezer bag or similar.
Bash into multi-sized bits with your fist or a rolling pin.
Tip into a second bowl.
Add the dried fruit, cherries, nuts.
Remove the melted chocolate from the heat. 
Stir till smooth.
Pour into the biscuit/fruit mix.
Stir briefly till well coated.
Line an 8in/20.5 cm shallow cake or brownie tin with clingfilm (lay two bits across in a cross shape then mould down to fit the base, corners, sides, bringing it up over the rim.
Get it as smooth as you can.
A loose based tin makes for easier removal but isn’t essential)
Tip the cake mix in and spread it gently till even.
Leave to cool then put it in the fridge.
It should be ready to go in 2 hours.
Remove the cake from the tin (pull on the film, or run a sharp knife between it and the tin or press the base up to release).
Invert onto a plate or board if you want.
Cut as much as you need into small squares.
Sit these into cake or sweet cases for a posh tea party or just get stuck in.
You can make this in a shallower tin – cut into larger, thinner rectangles.
Or put it to set in a large round tin and cut into slices add a good muesli or rice crispies, large bits of crumbled meringue or chopped marshmallow
More Divine recipes at www.divinechocolate.com;
Divine chocolate bars available at all the supermarkets, RRP £1.49.
White Chocolate Gateau
By Gregg Wallace 
Preparation time 45 minutes, plus cooling
Cooking time 25–30 minutes
Serves 12
butter, for greasing
4 eggs
125 g (4 oz) caster sugar
125 g (4 oz) plain flour
50 g (2 oz) Divine white chocolate, finely grated
To finish 3 tablespoons rosewater, or 2–3 drops rose essence
150 ml (1⁄4 pint) crème fraîche
200 g (7 oz) Divine white chocolate, broken into pieces
75 g (3 oz) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons single cream, at room temperature
125 g (4 oz) icing sugar
Divine white chocolate curlssugared rose petals (optional)
sifted icing sugar, for dusting
1 Grease and line the bases of two 20 cm (8 inch) round sandwich tins.
Whisk the eggs and caster sugar together in a large bowl using a hand-held electric whisk until thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted.
2 Sift the flour into the bowl. Add the grated chocolate and fold in using a large metal spoon.
3 Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake in a preheated oven, 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4, for 20–25 minutes until just firm to the touch.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
4 Stir the rosewater into the crème fraîche and use to sandwich the 2 cakes together on a serving plate.
5 Put the white chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water so that the base of the bowl is not touching the water and leave until melted. Allow to cool, then stir in the cream and icing sugar and beat until smooth. Leave the mixture to cool further until it forms soft peaks, then spread over the top and side of the cake using a palette knife.
6 Decorate the top of the cake with white chocolate curls, sugared rose petals, if you like, and a light dusting of icing sugar.
Gregg’s tip The sugared rose petals decorating this cake enhance the subtle rosewater flavouring.
To make, lightly brush fresh rose petals with beaten egg white and dust them with caster sugar. Leave to dry on nonstick greaseproof paper for 1–2 hours before using.
More Divine recipes at www.divinechocolate.com;
Divine chocolate bars available at all the supermarkets, RRP £1.49.
Chocolate Choux Buns
By Lorraine Pascal 
250g water
125g butter
125g flour
4 eggs
Cream
300ml double/whipping cream
1 vanilla pod
2tbsp icing sugar
Optional Baileys or Armagnac to taste
1 bar of Divine dark (70%) chocolate
1 bar of Divine white chocolate
Melt butter in water then bring to the boil.
Once boiling remove from heat and add flour and a pinch of salt.
Put back on the heat and cook for 1 minute.
Spoon mix on a large plate spread out thin to allow it to cool quickly.
Once just around room temperature add eggs on by one stirring really well between additions.
You may not need all the eggsthe mixture needs to drop reluctantly from a spoon after one sharp shake with the hand.
Place mix in a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle.
Pipe blobs on a tray abot 3cm apart.
The size is up to you.
Mini ones are very cute and perfect for afternoon tea.
Bake in the oven at 200c until firm where risen and a light golden brown
Allow to cool completely.
Whip up the cream (remember room temperature cream is almost impossible to whip)
You want the cream to be still liquid as it will still thicken whilst it sits. 
Stir through the seeds of a vanilla pod.
At this stage I like to add a saucy tablespoon or two of Armagnac or some Baileys....mmmmm.
You may wish to sweeten the cream with some icing sugar if you like. (Which I like!!)
Using a skewer poke a hole in the bottom of the profiterole and wriggle the skewer around do there is space to pipe the cream.
Whip up the cream a little more to thicken then place in a piping bag fitted with a small we nozzle than before (it has to fit in the whole of the profiterole)
Now stick the nozzle in the profiterole hole and fill it with cream.
The 'role should feel nice and heavy. Repeat until all are filled.
Melt Divine chocolate the microewave in 30sec blasts stirring between each one.
You can use a dark on some and white chocolate on others.
Dip the top of the buns in the chocAllow to harden
Eat with gusto and pleasure
More Divine recipes at www.divinechocolate.com;
Divine chocolate bars available at all the supermarkets, RRP £1.49.
Divine Chocolate Afternoon Tea Fancies
By Alan Coxon
175g Plain Flour (sieved)
1 tsp Baking Powder (sieved with the flour)
175g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
3 med Free range Eggs (lightly beaten)
1tbsp Divine cocoa powder
175g Demerera sugar
For the chocolate coating
125g Divine dark (70%) chocolate
25g Butter 5tbs Icing sugar
50g Divine milk chocolate to decorate.
25 fresh raspberries or a slice of fresh strawberry for decoration
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3.
Place the butter, sugar, into a large bowl and beat together with an electric whisk, then add the eggs a little at a time until all the mix is incorporated
Add the flour, cocoa powder and Baking powder and fold in the mixture should drop easily from a spoon, add a little water if it's too stiff.
Spoon the mix into a 23cm square cake tin (try to use one without rounded edges).
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake is cooked through (test with a skewer). Remove from the tin and cool completely.
Cut into 25 squares.
To make the icing, melt the Divine dark chocolate and butter together with 4  tbsp water in a microwave or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and mix in the icing sugar
Spoon over the top of the cakes, spreading round the sides with a small palette knife. If the icing gets too thick, heat it up slightly.
Leave the dark icing to set for a few minutes, and then drizzle the milk chocolate over with a teaspoon and leave to set slightly before repeating the process with the Divine white chocolate.
Top with a fresh strawberry or a fresh raspberry!
Eat and Enjoy!
More Divine recipes at www.divinechocolate.com;
Divine chocolate bars available at all the supermarkets, RRP £1.49.
DIVINE EASTER 2010
DIVINE SIMNEL CAKE
By Linda Collister
This Easter Day cake is made from a light fruit-cake mixture plus dark Divine. There is a layer of marzipan in the middle of the cake plus another layer added to the top after baking.
The cake is traditionally decorated with eleven balls of marzipan to represent the Apostles – the chocolate eggs and pretty ribbon are a lovely addition.
For one large cake
230g plain flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
A good pinch of salt
175g unsalted butter, softened
175g soft light brown muscovado sugar
4 large free-range eggs, beaten to mix
50g ground almonds
350g mixed dried fruit
100g glace cherries, rinsed, dried and halved
100g bar Divine dark (70%) chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons milk
450g white marzipan
A little apricot jam or sherry for brushing
To Decorate:
Divine mini eggs or Dubble speckled eggs
A ribbon
20.5cm/8in round, deep cake tin or springform, greased and lined
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt on to a sheet of greaseproof paper and set aside until needed.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; you can use a wooden spoon or an electric whisk or mixer.
Gradually beat in the eggs, beating well after each addition and adding the ground almonds with the last egg.
Using a large metal spoon fold in the flour followed by the dried fruit, cherries, chocolate and milk.
When thoroughly combined spoon half of the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly.
Roll-out one third of the marzipan to a circle slightly smaller than the tin.
Set in on top of the cake the cover with the rest of the cake mixture.
Spread it evenly then make a slight hollow in the centre so the cake rises  evenly.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 170C/325F/ Gas3 and bake for a further 60 to 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted in to the centre of the cake, just down to the marzipan layer, comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a wire rack then remove from the tin and discard the lining paper.
Roll out two-thirds of the remaining marzipan to a circle to fit the top of the cake. Brush the top of the cake with a little warm apricot jam or sherry and set the marzipan disc on top.
Shape the rest of the marzipan into 11 balls and arrange around the edge.
Fill the centre with miniature Easter eggs and finish with a ribbon around the cake.
More Divine recipes at www.divinechocolate.com;
Divine chocolate bars available at all the supermarkets, RRP £1.49.
Food guru Beverley Glock has teamed up with Ocado – award-winning online supermarket – to get families cooking together.
Beverley has written recipes for the Ocado website while educating families about food, nutrition and how to make healthy eating easy and fun. Recipes can be viewed by going to www.ocado.com/webshop/recipecategory/cooking-with-kids/2822
Click here for some great family recipies that all can enjoy!
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Ginger and chery Fudge
(click on image to find recipe) |
Ginger Biscuits
(click on image to find recipe) |
Cardomom Shortbread
(click on image to find recipe) |
Raspberry and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
(click on image to find recipe) |
Perfect cupcake couture
How to make and bake with Lily Vanilli and Tate & Lyle
Lily Vanilli’s Avocado frosting recipe:
You need:
2 cups very ripe avocado flesh (use the ripest you can find before the flesh
has turned brown – cut out any brown bits)
1.5 cups icing sugar
1.5 tsp lemon juice
To make simply:
using a hand mixer, blend the avocado with the lemon juice until you achieve a smooth consistency, working out any lumps
Slowly blend in the sugar, increasing the speed of the mixer as you go (feel free to add more or less powdered sugar to achieve a consistency & taste you like)
Using a zester, create some dark Divine chocolate shavings and sprinkle
some onto the frosting and top with a cooled toasted walnut.
Lily Vanilli’s Lavender Milk Recipe:
Gently infuse milk with a soft lavender flavour by heating milk and lavender to a scald stage, then setting to cool.
Use 1 cup milk with 2 Tablespoons of dried lavender buds and strain the flowers with a sieve. Use this infused milk in place of part of the liquid for any vanilla cupcake or frosting recipe to add a delicate floral flavour.
Lily Vanilli’s tips for cupcake couture:
Try topping cupcakes with desiccated coconut, mango or dried pineapple slices, to create a totally tropical cake.
Don’t worry about getting each cake perfectly identical, the charm is in the home baked quality and personal touch, fresh ingredients beat sprinkles every time!
Domed cupcakes are better dressed with lofty swathes of frosting, piped upwards and swirling into a peak. Think retro dessert Bombe Alaska updated with a 2009 twist.
Whereas flat-topped cupcakes are also in vogue and look gorgeous with anything! Best decorated with the back of a spoon to create a smooth texture they look irresistible with latticed drizzles of Fairtrade dark chocolate.
Tate & Lyle's commitment to Fairtrade
Tate & Lyle's Fairtrade Caster Sugar, Icing Sugar and Royal Icing Sugar are all sourced from Belize, the sugar company's first Fairtrade accredited grower-partner, from whom it has purchased sugar for over 35 years.
Dark Chocolate & Avocado Cupcakes*
Lily Vanilli, renowned for her cupcake sculptures, has baked this deliciously unique cupcake using Divine Chocolate and Tate & Lyle fair-trade sugar. 
Divine’s rich dark chocolate combines beautifully with the creamy ripe avocados and toasted walnuts to create a truly melt-in-the mouth, unique and luxurious taste. Avocado replaces butter in this cupcake’s frosting, making it a slightly healthier option.
Here's how to recreate your very own couture cupcake creation with Divine Chocolate and Tate & Lyle fair-trade sugar.
For the cake mixture
2 x 100g Divine dark chocolate
200g unsalted butter, very soft
200g Tate & Lyle Fairtrade caster sugar
4 large free range eggs, at room temperature
100ml sour cream
200g self-raising flour
For the topping
2 cups very ripe avocado flesh (use the ripest you can find before the flesh has turned brown - cut out any brown bits)
1½ cups Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Icing Sugar
1½ tsp lemon juice
12-hole muffin tray lined with paper muffin cases
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
Break up the chocolate bars and melt gently. Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool. Put the butter and sugar into a food mixer and beat until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
Stir in the sour cream on low speed, followed by the flour and finally the melted chocolate, mixing gently until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 25mins until firm to the touch. Remove the muffins from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack
Meanwhile make the topping: Using a hand mixer, blend the avocado with the lemon juice until you achieve a smooth consistency, working out any lumps. Slowly blend in the sugar, increasing the speed of the mixer as you go (feel free to add more or less sugar to achieve a consistency & taste you like)
Spread over the cooled cakes. Using a zester, create some dark chocolate shavings and sprinkle some onto the frosting and top with a cooled toasted walnut.
*Lily Vanilli baking with Divine Chocolate's recipe for the ultimate soft chocolate cupcake topped with a Lily Vanilli and Tate & Lyle avocado frosting.
Avocados Ideas
Every day a different headline tells us this food is good for you and that food is bad for you so it is not surprising we grow more and more confused.
Is red wine good or bad for you? Now apparently white wine is also good for the heart. Eggs were once deemed too high in cholesterol and similar misconceptions exist over avocados
In fact, not only is the 'alligator pear' excellent for reducing cholesterol levels, it's rich in vitamins and high in fibre so why do we dimly recall half remembered headlines that say otherwise? In some parts of the country one in 8 people thought Avocados were unhealthy according to a survey released today.
Winter guacamole
Tomatoes are certainly not the only fruit when it comes to making an  authentic guacamole. Especially not if you live in Britain and are used to getting the under-ripe, tasteless ones we get in the winter. Gladly in Mexico, other fruits can be used just as well in place of tomatoes and, in the case of pomegranate seeds, much more dramatically. This is a guacamole full of anti-oxidants so great for a healthy pack lunch and beautiful enough to serve for a dinner-party. Try it whilst sipping a glass of good tequila.
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped (serranos if you can get them)
The pulp of 5-6 Hass avocados
2 ripe mangoes, peeled and finely diced
A handful of black seedless grapes, halved
The juice of a lime
The easiest way to make guacamole is in a large, heavy pestle and mortar or, in Mexico, a molcajete. Put the chillies and onion into the bottom of the pestle and crush to a paste with a couple of teaspoons of salt. Stir in the avocado pulp, mangoes and half the grapes. Season to taste with the lime juice and more salt, if necessary. Serve at room temperature decorated with the remaining grapes, with tortilla chips or pork scratchings.
Roast winter vegetables with avocado dressing
I love this recipe with roast butternut squash as a side dish but when you try the combination of roast celeriac, parsnips and carrots, drizzled in this avocado dressing, you won't ever want to change. It makes a wonderful warm winter salad for lunch for 2 or even as an unusual starter for supper. Just put a little pile of the vegetables on small plates of rocket and drizzle over the dressing. It is not only incredibly good for you, but delicious to boot.
For the vegetables
3 carrots, peeled and cut into fingers
3 parsnips, peeled and cut into fingers
1 medium celeriac, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 red onions, peeled and cut into rough chunks
100g pumpkin seeds
The seeds of a pomegranate
For the dressing
½ clove of garlic
The flesh of half a small avocado
80ml light olive oil or sunflower oil
The juice of a lime
1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste
Salt and pepper
Pre-heat the oven 220C
Toss all the vegetables in a tablespoon of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 35-45 minutes until turning a lovely golden colour.
Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan for about five minutes until golden and starting to pop. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz to combine. You should have a fairly thick dressing, a little like a mayonnaise.
Serve the vegetables with dollops of the avocado dressing and the toasted pumpkin seeds and pomegranate seed scattered over.
Avocado Frittata
I adore frittatas. They are similar to Spanish omelettes but seem to be far more open to interpretation than the classic Spanish omelette which rarely deviates from the three main ingredients of potatoes, onion and eggs. Avocado seems to work really well in a frittata because of its wonderfully smooth texture. It is also delicious with chorizo and red peppers.
 Serves 4
2 tablespoons butter
450g potato, diced into small 1/2cm dice
1 and a half Spanish onions, diced
6 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons of chives
2/3 cup of Gruyere or Emmenthal cheese
60ml of double cream
1 large Hass avocado diced (ripe, but still firm)
Method:
Preheat oven to 160°c
Grease a 900g loaf tin or a round cake tin if you prefer wedges to slices.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the potatoes over a medium heat for about five minutes. Add the onion and cook, until they both start to colour and soften. By cutting the potatoes into tiny cubes you have ensured they will not take very long to cook, and they will finish cooking in the oven. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs, herbs and cream and stir in the cheese. Scatter the baking dish with the potatoes and onion together with the diced avocado. Pour over the egg mix and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until set.
N.B. If you like you can add lardons of bacon to the potatoes when they are frying off.
Steak sandwiches with avocado and shallot puree
Serves 2
2 ciabatta or brioche buns
30g butter
300g rump or sirloin steak
2 pickled jalapenos, sliced
1 large tomato, sliced
A few lettuce leaves
For the avocado puree
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 small, dried red chillies
the flesh of 2 large avocados
Heat the olive oil in a small frying-pan. Sweat the shallots for five minutes, then add the garlic and the chilli. Season well with salt and pepper and cook for another few minutes until the garlic is soft. Add the avocado flesh and cook for another five minutes, mashing up the flesh with the back of a wooden spoon. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.
Wipe out the frying pan and put over a hot flame. When it is smoking hot, add the butter and a minute later the steak which you have seasoned well with salt and pepper on both sides. Cook for 2-3 minutes a side depending on the thickness and how you like your steak. Leave to rest for 5 minutes and then slice into slithers.
Cut open the buns and toast them under a hot grill or on a dry frying pan. Spread the buns with the avocado puree, top with the steak, tomato, jalapenos and lettuce. This is great for a weekend brunch.
Here are two delicious avocado based recipes from Thomasina Miers
A winter avocado salad with a toasted sesame dressing
This salad is fresh, light and very addictive. It makes a great starter for a rich, winter meal but if you want to give it more substance toss in some poached chicken or partridge and some udon noodles.
Feeds 4
For the salad:
100g hazlenuts
2 avocados
2 bunches watercress, large stalks removed
2 baby gem lettuces
250g green beans
1 pink grapefruit, segmented
For the dressing:
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp of sunflower oil
Cook the beans in boiling, salted water for a few minutes so that they still have some crunch and then rinse in cold water.
Toast the hazlenuts and sesame seeds and allow to cool. Grind the sesame seeds and add the sake, sugar, soy sauce and oil. Rub the hazlenuts to get rid of their skins and arrange the salad ingredients in a salad bowl. Toss in the dressing and serve with fresh bread.
Learn How To Create The Perfect Dessert With Help From Celebrity Chef Phil Vickery
For a great selection of Children's recipes visit this page
For Video Links to Find out new meal ideas click on any of the links below:
Click here to learn from chef Marco’s three easy steps to a perfect lasagne
Recipe 1 – Indian Meals
Recipe 2 Mexican Meals
Recipe 3 Chinese Meals
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