Nigellalawsoncaramelcroissantpudding Recipes

Steps:

• Measure the flour into a dish that will fit into the freezer (it doesn't need to have a lid) and cut the shortening and butter into small - approximately 1/2-inch dice and toss them in the flour. Put in the freezer for 10 minutes.
• I tend to make pastry in my stand mixer, but a processor's fine too. In whatever contraption - fitted with the flat paddle in the one, with the double-bladed knife in the other - mix until you have a mixture that resembles coarse uncooked oatmeal. Now, dribble in the chilled salted water, slowly, with the motor still running, until the dough looks as if it's about to cohere, but stopped short of its actually clumping totally. Turn out of the processor (though you could still do this in the bowl of the mixer) and squidge together with your hands until all the pastry forms a cohesive ball. Dribble in a little more water if you feel it needs it. Divide into 2 pieces of equal size and form it into fat disks. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. And this can be done a good day or 2 in advance if it helps.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Put the tomatoes in a bowl, cover with boiling water from the kettle and leave for 5 minutes. Drain, run under the cold tap, then peel, seed and chop roughly (or use canned tomatoes, chopped and drained). Peel and chop the onions, hard-boiled eggs and olives, too.
• In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Cook the chopped onions until softened and beginning to color, turning the flame down to low if they look as if they're sticking. Turn the heat back to medium and add the chopped tomatoes and cook, stirring for a minute or so before adding the beef. Stir well, breaking up the clumps of meat with your wooden spoon as you go, then when the meat's browned, stir in the chopped eggs and olives and season with the allspice and salt and pepper. Cook over gentle heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Get a baking sheet out, and flour a surface and rolling pin. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll out 1 of the disks until you have a thin, but not exaggeratedly so, rough square that will fit on the baking sheet, then place it on the baking sheet. Now roll out the second disk and leave it there while you cover the layer on the baking sheet with the ground beef mixture, leaving a margin of about 1-inch all around. With a bit of cold water and your fingers, dampen this edge. Place the second square of pastry on top and press the edges together to seal. Now, roll these edges back on themselves once or twice, then get a fork and press it, the tines curved side down, against this rolled border. Prong the top of the pastry to make air holes and then beat the egg with a generous sprinkling of salt and brush the top and edges of the pie with it to glaze.
• Put it into the preheated oven for 20 minutes, by which time the pastry will be golden and cooked. Slice it into fat oblongs and eat warm with a vegetable or salad, or cold, wrapped in a napkin and without ceremony or cutlery.

Steps:

• Before you've even taken your coat off, put the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler above simmering water. Whisk every now and again until melted. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour until just blended. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate mixture. Set aside.
• Grease 4 (1-cup) ramekins with butter and add flour to cover the butter, tapping the ramekins to get rid of excess. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F about half an hour before you want to eat the puddings. And I'd leave cooking them until you've finished the main course. It doesn't matter if there's no food on the table for 10 minutes; and these do have to be done at the last minute.
• So, pour the mixture into the ramekins and put them on a baking sheet in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are firm and cracking slightly and the edges set. Serve immediately and consider providing a pitcher of cold, cold cream for people to pour into their pudding's hotly deliquescing interior as they eat.

Steps:

• Use a 1½-quart Pyrex mixing bowl.
• Butter your heat-proof Pyrex mixing bowl. Make sure you have adequate boiling water in a pan (or a conventional steamer) on the stovetop to steam the sponge.
• Put the flour and cocoa powder into a processor and blitz to get rid of any lumps.
• Add all the remaining sponge ingredients to the processor and blitz, for longer this time, to mix. Take the lid off, scrape it down, then put the lid back on for 3 more long pulses. Scrape the chocolate batter into the prepared bowl, smooth it down (the batter will come only halfway up the bowl) and wrap the bowl, first, in parchment paper, then in a layer of aluminum foil, followed by a layer of plastic wrap and a second layer of foil, so no water could possibly get inches Stem in the boiling water in the pan or steamer for 1½ hours (by which time the sponge will have risen to about 1½ inches below the lip). To cook it for longer will do no harm.
• To make the sauce, which can easily be done before you eat, and reheated just before you serve the pudding, put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat to melt, stirring every now and again and then whisking, off the heat, at the very end, to combine smoothly.
• When the sponge is ready, remove it carefully from the pan or steamer without burning yourself, then unwrap from its foil and plastic wrap casing. Put a plate, or a stand, with a slight lip, on top, flip both upside down, so plate and sponge are the right way up, and wiggle off the bowl.
• Pour some hot sauce over the sponge, so that it just covers the top and falls in glossy, licking drips down the side, and pour the rest of the sauce into a jug or bowl to be served with a spoon.
• Make Ahead Tips:
• Measure all the sponge ingredients the day before, ready to whiz together.
• Make the chocolate sauce up to 1 week ahead, then cool and chill until needed, reheating gently on the stovetop or in the microwave.
• Freeze Ahead Tip:
• Make and freeze the chocolate sauce for up to 3 months, and reheat as above.