A generous serve: recipes with heart from Beatrix Bakes (2024)

For Natalie Paull, baking is a gift. It's also a powerful elixir of pleasure, connection, generosity and joy.

Chocolate Bavarian pie

cooking oil spray

Cocoa cookie crumb:

100g plain flour

70g caster sugar

40g Dutch cocoa powder

2g fine sea salt

90g unsalted butter

Filling:

370g full-fat milk

80g dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa), chopped

90g caster sugar

10g Dutch cocoa powder

4g gelatine powder

5g cornflour

5g vanilla paste

2g fine sea salt

80g egg yolk (from approx. 4 eggs)

300ml cream

Topping:

250g crème frache

5g vanilla paste

50g dark chocolate, grated

Preheat the oven to 150C. Lightly spray a baking tray with cooking oil spray and line with baking paper.

To make the cocoa cookie crumb, put the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl. Melt the butter and pour it into the dry ingredients, then mix with your fingers to make what feels like cocoa sand. Scatter the crumb over the tray and bake for 25-30 minutes* until dry and crumbly, and cocoa aromas are filling the kitchen air.

Chocolate doughs and crumbs are tricky to cook, as they won't show any signs of burning. They are done when the dough turns from shiny raw to matt dry.

Around halfway through the cocoa crumb baking, start the filling. Bring the milk to the boil in a small saucepan until there is a small ring of bubbles around the edge. Turn the heat off.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside. You will pour the hot custard into this bowl to melt the chocolate, so choose a bowl large enough.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cocoa powder, gelatine, cornflour, vanilla and salt. Then weigh in the egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Pour in half the hot milk and whisk well to combine, then whisk in the remainder. Return the mix to the pan and whisk constantly over a medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until the custard is thick and just starts to bubble.

Although the rules about gelatine state that it should never be boiled, it can be for this brief time.

Swiftly scrape the custard mix into the chocolate bowl and whisk well to release the steam and melt the chocolate. Set the custard base aside at room temperature to cool (40-60 minutes). Whisk occasionally and scrape down the side of the bowl from time to time. It will look mottled but that won't be noticeable when it has set. Meanwhile, whip the cream to semi-stiff peaks and keep chilled, to fold in later. Crush the cocoa crumb in a food processor or mortar and pestle.

Lightly spray a fluted 24cm, 4cm deep, loose-based tart tin with cooking oil spray. Line the base with a circle of baking paper. Rest the tin on a heavy baking tray (to slide in and out of the fridge without disrupting the loose bottom). Lightly press the crumb into the base only. Don't compact the crumb too much - it needs to be "break-apart-able" when cold.

To complete the filling, fold half of the whipped cream into the cool custard base until almost fully incorporated. Fold in the remaining cream and fold until the mix is a uniform chocolate brown colour.

One of the best techniques to understand in baking is bringing together two components at an "agreeable" temperature and consistency. If we added the cream while the custard was too hot, the cold cream would melt and thin out the mix. If the custard was too firm before we added the cream, the two would not bind together - the mix would be chunky and streaky. So, the goal is to have both custard and cream very much the same.

Scrape onto the prepared crumb base - the filling should come to just under the top of the tin.** Smooth the top lightly and spray with a bare mist of cooking oil spray. Lightly press a piece of plastic wrap on top of the filling, to prevent a rubbery skin forming. Chill to set overnight.

To make the topping, whip the crème frache and vanilla to floppy peaks. Remove the plastic wrap and smooth the crème frache on top to completely fill the tin. Sprinkle with the grated chocolate. Remove from the tin and serve chilled, with fond memories of 80s TV.

* If you burn the cocoa crumb, then sub in 200g store-bought plain chocolate biscuits. Just add 50g melted butter to increase moistness.

**The bavarois filling can be tricky, so if it does end up a bit deflated, add some extra crème frache on top.

Makes one 24cm pie for 8-12 people.

The cheesecake (that you will love the most)

cooking oil spray

Crumb base:

60g wholemeal plain flour

40g soft brown sugar

2g fine sea salt

1g freshly ground cinnamon

50g unsalted butter

Cheesecake mix:

140g caster sugar

2g fine sea salt

500g full-fat cream cheese, softened

100g egg (approx. 2 eggs), lightly beaten

300ml full-fat sour cream

5g vanilla paste

40ml lemon juice

Topping:

250ml full-fat sour cream

10g caster sugar

3g vanilla paste

Preheat the oven to 150C. Lightly spray a baking tray with cooking oil spray and line with baking paper. Spray a 20cm round, 7.5 cm deep cake tin with cooking oil spray and line the base and side with baking paper.

If you choose a tin where the base isn't welded to the side (or a springform tin), you will need to wrap the outside of the tin with a triple layer of extra-wide foil so water won't breach the tin. If you use a tin made from a single piece of metal, you won't need to do this.

To make the crumb base, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a wide mixing bowl. Heat the butter on the stovetop or in the microwave until just melted, then pour into the bowl. Mix together with your hands to a sticky crumble. Scatter the mix onto the prepared tray and bake for 25 minutes until evenly brown. When cool, whiz in a food processor to a fine crumb.

Fill the base of the prepared cake tin with the crumb. Pack down the crumb lightly - the weight and moisture of the cheesecake mix will do the rest of the work. And you don't want a base you have to really crunch through when eating. Reduce the oven to 120C.

While the base is cooking, start the cheesecake mix. Put the sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and stir to combine. Add the cream cheese, breaking it into chunks as you put it in the bowl. Using the paddle attachment, mix on speed 2 (above low) to slowly cream the mix, scraping down the side of the bowl often with a flexible plastic spatula. The goal is silky smooth, so just scrape and scrape and scrape so the mix is as lump free as possible.

Keeping it low and slow while creaming makes a dense and creamy consistency for the cheesecake and not an airy one.

Stay on low speed and add the eggs in two batches, scraping well between each addition, then add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the mix a final hand whisk to ensure there are no lumps (sorry to go on about the lumps but it's vital to the cheesecake's final beauty). Add a little of the lemon juice, then taste it before adding a little more, until you reach your tang threshold. Pour into the crumb-lined cake tin.

For the water bath, place a piece of paper towel in the base of a high-sided roasting tin. Sit the cheesecake in the roasting tin (the paper towel will stop it from sliding around) and pour in enough hot water to come one-third up the side of the cheesecake tin. Carefully lift the tin into the oven without the water slooshing over you. Bake for about 60 minutes. When it is ready, it should still have a wobble to the centre - not a loose liquid wiggle but a firm undulation like a belly dancer. Less romantically, a thermometer inserted into the centre will read 75C.

To make the topping, mix together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla with a plastic spatula until runny and pourable. Starting from the outside, pour the topping over the cheesecake, smoothing it gently towards the centre with an offset spatula.

If you pour the topping straight onto the centre, it can break the skin on the cheesecake and fall inside. The side, being a little more cooked than the middle, will hold the topping best, so start on the side and smooth it towards the centre. If the topping behaves more like a difficult smear than a "smoothable" flow, don't fight it. That sometimes happens when the sour cream is thick or a little warm. We can cover it with another topping later.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Makes one cheesecake for 10-12.

A smoky, salty chocolate chip cookie

70g raw walnuts

170g dark chocolate (60-70%)

240g unsalted butter, cool and pliable

240g light muscovado (or soft brown) sugar

100g demerara sugar

5g vanilla paste

50g egg (approx. 1 egg)

20g egg yolk (from approx. 1 egg)

220g plain flour

2g lapsang souchong tea leaves, finely ground in a spice grinder

8g bicarbonate of soda

2g fine sea salt

cooking oil spray

sea salt flakes, for the salty sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 150C. Put the walnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown all the way through. Turn the oven off. Cool the walnuts quickly in the fridge, then coarsely chop. Chop the chocolate into large gravelly pieces and mix with the nuts. Set aside.

Brown half of the butter in a small 20cm wide saucepan. Set aside at room temperature.

While the brown butter is cooling, place the remaining butter, both sugars and vanilla in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on speed 4 (medium) for about 8 minutes. The mix will look more like sugary paste than soft and creamed. This is because the sugar to butter ratio is high, but this will be corrected when the brown butter is added.

Meanwhile, lightly mix the egg and yolk in a small bowl with a spatula. Sift the flour, ground tea, bicarbonate of soda and salt into another bowl and set aside.

Reduce to speed 2 (above low) and slowly stream the brown butter into the bowl. Beat for 3 minutes. Add the egg mix in two batches and beat for 2 minutes on speed 8 (under high). The mix should look pale and creamy but holding a very soft (but not liquid) structure.

If the creamed mix has overheated and is slack and melty, remove the bowl and attachment from the mixer and place in the fridge until it starts to harden around the edge of the bowl. Place back on the machine and continue beating. A melted base makes the cookies overspread, and a little greasy when baked.

Reduce to speed 2 (above low) again, add the chocolate and nuts and mix for 1 minute until only just incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix for a final minute. Take the bowl off the mixer and give the dough a thorough and final mix with a stiff spatula.

A final mix with a plastic spatula ensures no butter streaks are left in the dough. Any buttery seams will show in the baked cookie - while still delicious, it will bake a little funny lookin'.

Line a tray with baking paper or plastic wrap. Using an #20 ice-cream scoop, fill a scoopful of dough and level the top. Release the scoop onto the tray. This will give you a compact portion of dough. Place the scoops closely together on the tray. Alternatively, measure the dough as 2 full tablespoons each or weigh to 40g and roll into a sphere. Cover and chill overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 130C. Lightly spray a baking tray with cooking oil spray and line with baking paper. Arrange the dough balls on the tray, spacing them about 3cm apart to allow for spreading. Sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt on top of each cookie. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.* The cookies will still be soft but will firm up when cool. Bake a little more if they are too pale or you prefer a crispier cookie.

Most importantly: optimal wait time before eating is 20 minutes.

* If you get severe overspread, reshape the cookies by stamping with a cookie cutter while they are still warm. If you declare cookie failure, crush them for a cheesecake crumb or serve cookie shards with good vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce. A kinda DIY chocolate chip cookie sundae.

Makes 16-20 cookies.

Chocolate caramel bars with a salty sprinkle

cooking oil spray

Base:

180g unsalted butter

220g plain flour

50g icing sugar

2g fine sea salt

Caramel filling:

380g sweetened condensed milk

50g dark muscovado sugar

100g dark corn syrup

100g unsalted butter

2g fine sea salt

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste)

Topping:

40g raw walnuts

200g dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa)

15g unsalted butter

2g sea salt flakes

Preheat the oven to 160C. You will need a 23cm square, 5cm deep cake tin. Cut two pieces of baking paper as wide as the tin and long enough to cover the sides, with some excess paper overhanging. Spray the tin with cooking oil spray and lay one piece of paper across the base of the tin and up the sides, then place the second piece on top (to form a crosshatch). The paper will allow you to lift the slice out of the tin easily.

To make the base, melt the butter and leave to cool a little. Put the flour, icing sugar and salt in a heatproof mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour the butter into the dry ingredients and mix with your hands to form a sticky paste. Press the mix into the prepared tin and smooth it out with an offset spatula.

Bake for 45 minutes until the base is a tan biscuity colour. If any bubbles form under the base while baking, just prick them with a skewer to gently deflate them. Place the walnuts (for the topping) on a baking tray and toast them, at the same time as the base, for about 20 minutes, or until deep golden brown.

Clean the mixing bowl. Choose a saucepan that will allow you to nestle the bowl on top, without it touching the water below. Fill the pan with 5cm of water and bring to a gentle simmer on the stovetop.

To make the caramel filling, put all the filling ingredients in the cleaned bowl. Place the bowl on top of the pan of simmering water over a medium-low heat, stirring well occasionally, until the butter has fully melted and emulsified. The consistency should be thick and gloopy and the colour just a shade darker - this will take about 10 minutes. Fish out the vanilla bean if you chose that vanilla option.

There are two things to look out for here. If the filling overheats and separates, quickly whisk in 40g of condensed milk or cream to re-emulsify. If the flames lick up the side of the saucepan and cause the caramel to burn on the side, scrape out the affected burnt areas as best you can, then keep cooking it on a lower heat.

Set aside at room temperature. Take the walnuts out of the oven and cool to room temperature. As soon as the base is ready, remove from the oven and immediately scrape the caramel filling over the top.

If the base cools too much, it will recede from the sides of the tin, which will leave the edges of the baked filling without a base underneath it (still delicious though!).

Reduce the oven to 120C. Return the filled base to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. If it starts to brown too quickly, reduce the oven slightly and continue to bake. When cooked, the middle will feel set and a little rubbery (be careful when you touch it - it's caramel hot) and the sides should be starting to blister and turn light brown.* Remove and leave to cool completely for 1-2 hours at room temperature (or for a shorter time in the fridge, but I feel the sandy texture of the base is compromised when cold, so just a brief chill in the fridge is best).

To make the topping, melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just-boiled water. Stir thoroughly and then pour it over the top of the caramel. Smooth lightly with an offset spatula or simply tilt the tin to distribute the chocolate. Crush the walnuts with your hands over the top and sprinkle over the salt flakes.

Choose your ooze factor and cool the slice until the chocolate is set to your liking - glistening and runny (about 15 minutes) or firm (about 45 minutes). Take hold of the excess paper on the sides, then shimmy and lift the slice out of the tin and place onto a chopping board. Peel the paper away from the sides. Dip a serrated knife in hot water, dry and chop into bars.

Makes 14 bars, each 3cm x 11cm.

Beatrix Bakes, by Natalie Paull. (Hardie Grant Books, $45.)