Original subtitles

We all want recipes that are fast and simple,

so I've got some really easy ways to hack your cooking.

Think quick traybakes for midweek meals...

That, for me, is what simple cooking's all about.

..easy batch recipes that sort you out later in the week...

If you do this at the weekend, it buys you time.

..and cheeky store-cupboard raids

for when you've run out of time to shop.

Beautiful things can come from tins.

This is cooking stripped back to its bare essentials...

..to make mealtimes faster and simpler than ever before.

On the menu today,

I've got a superfast fish supper you can roll out in no time...

In 20 minutes, you can rattle this together.

That, actually, I think, feels a little bit restauranty.

..recipes that use poached chicken to deliver big for multiple meals...

This has to be one of the simplest chicken pie recipes ever.

I'm using the ultimate hands-off method

to get maximum flavour.

This is the joy of traybakes.

..and whizzing up a versatile spicy salsa

using faithful friends from the pantry.

Even chefs love a hack.

Plus, I've called on my old pal Gennaro Contaldo

to share his tips on raiding his store cupboard

for meals in minutes. You will love it.

Traybakes are the ultimate hands-off cooking method.

You put amazing combinations together in minutes,

whack it in the oven, and let that do all the hard work.

And in this recipe, I'm going to show you

how you can get loads more of your five fruit and veg a day

in one delicious meal.

This roasted veg and Camembert fondue always goes down a treat with my lot.

It's a superfast assembly job that you can leave cooking

whilst you get on with something else on your to-do list -

perfect for when you haven't got the time to stand and stir.

What I love about this dish is

I'm going to flavour the veggies in here,

I'm going to cook them in here,

and I'm going to serve the whole dish

in the middle of the table,

all done in a tray. I love it.

So let's make these veggies taste delicious,

and there's a few ways to do that.

It starts off with some really nice extra virgin olive oil -

enough just to lightly cover the bottom of the tray -

then about half as much red wine vinegar.

Sea salt and black pepper,

and then three cloves of garlic.

These are the beginnings of getting really good flavour happening.

So, finely slice the garlic.

So let's talk about the veggies.

Three sweet potato, three peppers, three onions - easy to remember.

Let's peel these sweet potatoes first.

It absorbs more flavour

and it kind of firms up in a really lovely way.

So, sweet potato, as opposed to normal potatoes,

does count as one of your five fruit and veg a day,

and pretty much anything you can do with a potato,

you can do with a sweet potato, so it's a nice little healthy swap.

What I want now is 1.5cm slices.

It's thin enough to cook beautifully in 55 minutes.

Come on! The colour's beautiful.

Then onto the peppers.

Just tear it open, pat out the seeds,

and then I'm just going to, like, tear this up

into really nice, rustic kind of chunks, like that.

And then straight into the tray.

For me, personally, having a busy family,

traybakes are brilliant -

you can get it in the tray, get it in the oven -

but also, don't forget, when this all cooks together,

it's also sort of flavouring each other,

so you get mega, massive flavour out of humble ingredients.

Get in there and pretty much dress it like a salad.

Get the sweet potato on top.

The sweet potato will always take a little bit more cooking

than anything else.

And that's just minutes of your life putting that together.

I've got one last little hack that I want to use

to take the humble onion into something that adds attitude,

sweetness, and char, right?

So, cut in half like that, skin on. No work, right?

And then we're going to roast them

for 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius,

which is 400 Fahrenheit.

I'm going to put the veggies on that kind of bottom tray here,

and then these onions are going to go straight onto the bars above.

And, actually, what that'll do is char the onion,

but also, as the onion starts to cook and almost confit,

it'll start dripping onion juices onto my veggies.

So, roast those off for 45 minutes until golden and delicious.

And now chill out, talk to the kids,

have a shower, take the dog for a walk.

Do whatever you want! This is the joy of traybakes.

So these are roasting up beautifully,

the smells are incredible,

and I want to show you a really key part of this recipe

that elevates it to the next level -

oozy Camembert.

You know when you get that almost fondue, stringy cheese

that you can shove the veg in and rip up some beautiful baguettes?

Like, this is what we're talking about, right?

So I've got this British Camembert expression,

and I think we should use it.

Get a little knife and just remove this inner part.

It's to expose the cheese to heat, but also allow you

some pretty good access to get dipping.

Give it a little bit of pepper

and maybe just a little oil on top, like that, and then I'll nestle that

in the middle of those beautiful roasted veggies.

So, have a look at these... HE CHUCKLES GLEEFULLY

..and just literally sweep off the onions.

And what I'll do, very simply,

is just squeeze the beautiful onions out of the skin.

Look at that. Look at that. Jammy, soft, tender, charred,

all from a simple method of cooking it on the bars.

We'll get that in there. Get rid of these skins.

Give them a little toss, like that.

Look, we're talking about minimum effort,

letting the oven do the work,

but we're going to get maximum impact.

So, now we go in with the cheese in that little gap in the middle.

And look at that! So, back in the oven we go

for, like, ten or 15 minutes

until that cheese is just stringy and oozy.

I'll put a couple of baguettes in, as well, to heat up,

and it's going to be joy.

HE LAUGHS GLEEFULLY

The cheese has bust through the borders.

So I've got my hot baguettes. Ooh, they're hot, hot, hot, hot!

Who wouldn't want to get amongst that, right?

Just get your baguettes. Tear it up.

Finish it with some nice herbs - parsley, tarragon.

Take a nice bit of crispy baguette,

squash it into a sweet potato, and then get it in there.

Look at that!

Oh, my God!

Too much, too good, too delicious, and too simple.

Oh, my God!

I mean...

I dare you not to do it.

All that lovely roasted veg and oozy Camembert,

mop it up, happy days.

I'm going to give you a beautiful recipe

that you can fry up in no time at all.

It's super simple,

and it would make a beautiful lunch, starter, canape,

and it's a surprising dish that I know you're going to love.

My mango chutney fish bites are so finger-licking good,

with cheats and hacks rolled up

to save you time when you need it in the week.

Fried till crisp and glazed with a sweet and tangy sauce,

they're the ultimate family-friendly fix

for a fast supper.

So this is one of those recipes

which feels really kind of cheffy and complex,

but it's so simple, and the results are so consistently delicious.

So it all happens in here, a food processor.

Of course you can do it by hand, on a chopping board.

So I've got some lovely fish. That is 250g of sustainable cod.

No skin. No bones.

So what I want to do first of all is just cut it up

into, like, inch chunks...

..just to help the food processor.

Then we've got coriander stalks.

Save these tops and just put them in some cold water,

and that'll keep them beautiful,

and we'll sprinkle that over at the end.

Then ginger - a nice big, thumb-sized piece.

Grate the skin off, like that.

Slice up the ginger.

Then get a lovely, juicy lime.

Get a fine grater and just get

that beautiful zest off.

It might not be much, but it's full of flavour.

Save that juice for later.

Then I'm going to use coconut cream -

which is the solid stuff -

and I've got some rice and English mustard.

OK, coconut cream -

you can get this in all the supermarkets -

about 50g.

And this is just like pure perfume of coconut.

I absolutely love it.

Ginger, lime, coriander, coconut -

come on, these incredible sort of tropical flavours!

So, all of that goes in...

..the fish goes in,

and then a heaped teaspoon of English mustard, right?

Very generous.

That kind of wasabi heat that you can achieve

from something that's on your shelf, right?

So, look, there's one last thing that gives bulk and texture,

and that is a pack of precooked basmati rice.

It's a brilliant little cheat. It works so well.

Yes, you can cook your own rice and drain it and refresh it,

but it's a faff, right?

250g, it's all ready and raring to go without any of that fuss.

Season it nicely with salt and pepper...

..and then we're good to go. Lid on top.

Get it whazzing.

See it change texture. DOG BARKS

What's the matter? Go on your bed.

Conker doesn't like the food processor.

Then add one egg.

You can see it kind of clumping, and that's a really good sign. See?

And we're good.

And we're going to divide this into 16 beautiful balls,

about the size of a golf ball.

Now, grab yourself a bowl.

Just fill it with a little bit of cold water.

And we'll cut it into quarters, roughly, OK?

And then we'll just break these up

into the four balls and we'll get rolling.

So it's that simple.

So, by getting your hands a little bit wet,

it stops this mix sticking to your hands

and it gives a lovely, smooth exterior.

While I'm rolling these balls,

I want to talk about the cooking method.

You could steam these. You could put them in the air fryer.

You get great results in about ten minutes,

until golden and gorgeous.

But I'm actually going to shallow-fry these,

which I don't do that often, but what shallow-frying gives you

is the most amazing kind of crisp exterior,

and I love that.

I've got a large pan, and I've got about 1.5cm of vegetable oil,

and I've got it nice and hot.

We'll go in with a ball. And just shake it off, away from you.

Be very careful with that oil.

Even though I've only got 1.5cm of oil,

it's going to get higher and higher as I put more and more balls in.

So I should only have to turn these twice.

You want to give them about three to four minutes on each side.

So let those cook away. I want to do a delicious salad now,

and I want to take the humble cucumber

to another level, right? I know we buy cucumbers all the time,

but what I want to do is make it delicate and fine.

So hold it like that and just take that speed peeler

and rock it back and forth like that,

and you're going to get the most delicate,

thin slivers of cucumber.

And that'll be a beautiful, fresh salad

to take that crispy, fragrant fish ball.

These balls have had about four minutes,

so just take your slotted spoon and just rock them over.

Look at that. Come on! Beautiful golden colour. Gorgeous!

Season it with sea salt.

What we want is something with a little bit of zing

that's going to complement that crispy thing over there,

so get the lime and squeeze the whole lot in there.

And then some nice extra virgin olive oil.

Simple things. In 20 minutes, you can rattle this together,

but it feels really special.

It actually, I think, feels a little bit restauranty.

I've got those lovely coriander leaves to sprinkle on top.

There's one last little bit of fun to be had,

and you can use mango chutney,

you can use apricot jam, you could use honey.

We want something sweet to glaze those fried, golden, crispy balls.

So, get yourself a little bowl, like this.

A nice, big spoon of the mango chutney...

..with a little bit of lime juice.

So, those balls now have had

about nine minutes,

and, as they come out, we're going straight in there.

Look at that.

Hot, golden, and crispy.

It's too much. It's too much. So good.

So, while they're hot, jiggle the balls

in that lovely limey mango chutney.

Look at that.

Turn this off. Don't let anyone go anywhere near it.

Let it cool down. So, right, let's plate some up.

Beautiful, delicate cucumber,

fresh, crunchy, and full of life.

Then we're going to go for these amazing balls.

A few little bits of chilli. Quick little meal.

Simple food, put together

with a little thoughtfulness.

Come on! Look at that. It's a picture.

Let's just get in there.

It is golden and crisp and shiny on the outside,

but on the inside, it's light, delicate.

Let's just have it with some of this cucumber.

Together, it's the most...

..unbelievable contrast.

Cold and fresh, hot and steamy.

In 20-odd minutes, we've got this.

It's so good. I absolutely love it.

HE CHUCKLES

I'm going to cook the most beautiful poached chicken.

And poaching is a very underrated cooking method,

and it gives you the most succulent chicken.

And it's the simplest thing in the world -

big pot, big chicken,

some carrots, bit of onion,

bit of celery, and then some herb.

Top it up with some water,

a good pinch of salt, and some peppercorns.

Medium heat, hour and a half,

and from that, so many opportunities.

And if you're busy and if you love delicious food,

this is the recipe for you.

Cooking this one dish opens you up to a whole world of recipes.

Investing the time to cook this simple poached chicken

means it can be transformed into low-effort future meals in the week

once the hero recipe is done.

With chicken ready and raring to go, you can knock out dishes super fast.

For me, this is one of the great rituals of my kitchen.

We always get a chicken,

and pretty much every week, I do this.

Let the pot do the work,

and then, like, five minutes of stripping down

every single ounce of beautiful meat off of this chicken.

I'm doing this for a few reasons. As a busy dad who loves food,

who's thinking about dinner at lunchtime

and lunchtime at breakfast,

you know, I need options, I need flexibility.

Kids are turning up. They do and don't want certain things.

So by having this beautiful meat stripped,

ready and raring to go,

I can absolutely do a dinner here and now.

But then, in the week, I could take this chicken

and add a creamy sauce for an easy stew,

toss with crunchy dressed veg for a salad in minutes,

or serve in a flatbread with hummus and feta for a posh sarnie.

But today, I want to show you

the most delicious creamy chicken and chive pie.

We've got our chicken, bit of veggies.

I'm going to bring a lovely white sauce together very quickly.

I am going to use sour cream.

There's this incredible harmony between pearly white chicken,

sour cream, and chives.

So finely chop the chives.

We're not making any kind of flashy white sauce.

We're just literally going to use

250g of gorgeous sour cream,

so that's going to give you that oozy filling.

I want some mustard. Love mustard and chicken.

So two tablespoons of lovely wholegrain mustard.

Grab a little bit of milk, just to loosen the sauce -

about two tablespoons - and just give it a nice little mix.

So, that's our cheat's sauce,

and delicious it will be.

I will season it with some salt and pepper, for sure,

and then I'm going to get into the chicken -

about 450g.

Just tear it up.

The lovely thing about poaching is

the succulence and the moisture is so, so good.

This, I can keep for another meal, which is very exciting.

On the veggies, just take a few bits of those onions,

a few bits of carrots...

..chop up some celery...

..and then you've got a lovely filling.

So, this goes back in the fridge.

This is just all potential, so we love, love...

..love that.

And this is going to be the most amazing filling

for that chicken pie.

This is going to be enough for six people,

or even seven in my house,

cos they're different sizes

and they want different amounts.

But, look, let me show you how to put it together.

Take two packs of premade puff pastry from the supermarket.

Fantastic cheat. They've already rolled it out for you.

Great time-saver.

They even give you the greaseproof paper, which is great.

And just run the tip of my knife down here, just to trim this off.

This will go on the bottom of a tray, like this.

Then I'm going to take this lovely filling

and just pile that into the middle.

Push the meat about 1.5cm away from the edge of the puff pastry.

Get yourself a little brush and an egg.

Eggwash is really, really helpful

because it allows you to stick the pastry together

and seal the pie

so all these flavours can really amplify inside.

Take the puff pastry

and just lay that over the top

and just kind of stretch and push it.

Press down the sides.

And if you want to seal the deal, then just get a fork

and you can make a nice pretty pattern, as well.

Everyone's busy, and this idea of taking a chicken,

poaching it, and stretching it, giving you so many options

that can serve you and your family so well.

Like, a lot of people are nervous to cook,

but this has to be one of the simplest chicken pie recipes ever.

This is what modern cooking has to be, right?

Because everyone isn't cooking as much as we used to,

and we've got to keep it alive

because that's where the delicious food is.

So, just take some of that egg.

I'm going to use my knife here,

and using just the weight of the tip, mark.

But when we cook this, it's just basically going to grow

in the most beautiful way in the oven.

Sesame seeds - nice little handful here -

and just sprinkle.

It's going to go into the bottom of the oven...

..and I'll cook that for half an hour

at 200 degrees Celsius, which is 400 Fahrenheit,

until golden and crisp.

So, French beans in with some lovely sprouting broccoli.

Like, just nice greens.

I've got another little hack, as well.

I've taken some cheating gravy cubes, right?

And instead of using boiling water, we use that incredible chicken stock.

So, that chicken stock is a gift

that can transform soups, stews, and even gravy

to the most incredible level. And if you have a look in here...

..you can see how beautiful and golden it's gone. Come on!

Ease it onto a board, and then, like one of those magicians,

just have a little...

I know, it could have ended in tears.

But look at that - a simple but delicious meal.

Let's get in there.

Look inside it. Come on.

With that incredible ritual of poaching the chicken,

we've maxed out flavour and we've maxed out opportunities.

We've created something that would normally take a lot more time.

Look at that.

And that is definitely the food

that makes people very happy in my house.

Let's go for the edge.

Let's have a little dip up.

Been waiting for you.

Mm!

A nice little jab of the wholegrain mustard,

so good with that tang of sour cream and the beautiful chives.

The thing I love about this pie, with a passion,

is the chicken is so tender because we poached it.

So that poaching method coming back to give us another bit of love again.

It's investing the time when you have it,

and then we've got that chicken that's still in the fridge

with still more opportunities for me and my family.

But, look, in half an hour, we've cooked that pie -

full of love, full of pride, delicious.

One of the things that always drives me

a little bit crazy at home

is the kids are forever looking at the pantry or the fridge going,

"There's nothing in there,"

and there's a whole load of opportunity in there.

If you've not had time to shop but need a meal on the table,

the store cupboard can be a great source of inspiration.

This easy green chilli salsa uses humble jarred jalapenos

to make the most delicious sauce that'll get your taste buds tingling.

It's a shelf raid that takes seconds,

but opens up a whole world of different ideas.

This hack, right, a jar of jalapenos -

you can get it in every single supermarket in the country,

every corner shop.

But it doesn't just have to be pickled jalapenos.

We can create an epic sauce.

And, look, when you're a chef, when you're trained,

like, a big part of your training is all these different sauces,

and they all involve a certain amount of work.

But even chefs love a hack.

I love a hack, and this is something that I do very, very often.

I get a liquidiser and I pour it in, like that,

juice and all, right?

Then I take a bunch of mint, and we just throw every bit in there.

Now I'm going to balance that sourness

and that beautiful fragrance from the mint

with just a little honey.

Just a tablespoon.

And then you have that balance of sweet, sour, heat, and fragrance,

and you turn a pickle, which is beautiful, into a salsa,

and that opens up a whole world of possibilities, and I like that.

So, whizz it up for about a minute.

And then, with pretty much no effort at all...

..what we've got here is a full jar of a new salsa.

So that can go back in the fridge.

It's got the salt, it's got the vinegar,

so that's good for a week.

And you can have that with roast lamb, if you want.

You can have that with beautiful scrambled eggs.

Like, the things you can do with it go on and on and on.

You can use it as a marinade for spicy chicken kebabs,

and it's incredible under cheesy toast,

or as a base for baked feta.

But today, I'm using it as a simple sauce

for the most delicious sizzling butterfly prawns.

I want to show you first how to butterfly prawns.

Keep the head on - lots of flavour in there.

Keep the tail on, but peel it so it's easy to eat

and it looks beautiful. Just pull it off.

Now, take a knife,

and you just run that knife down the back of the prawn.

Very carefully, use the tip of the knife

to get that little vein that you remove,

and it'll open up like a butterfly.

It'll take on flavour in the most beautiful way

and it'll cook quicker.

Win-win situation.

Even though prawns are not cheap,

they're very popular. People love them.

Get sustainable ones.

And knowing how to prep like this is so simple,

and it makes them special. So, look, pan on medium-high,

and I'm going to add to the pan olive oil, right?

I'm going to go in with my prawns, and these cook very quickly.

And as they cook, they'll start turning pink.

Take two cloves of garlic,

and I'll just very simply slice them.

This olive oil is now kind of intermingling

with the shell from the head and the tail.

And there's oils in that shell,

and there's flavour going backwards and forth,

so this is a really nice thing.

Now, a really good herb with prawns and garlic is oregano.

And let that go crispy...

..and the perfume will come out of that herb. It's so good.

You can see how fast it's going from blue to pink.

Shake it around.

They don't take long to cook. It's, like, four minutes in a hot pan.

This is beautiful for a lovely lunch.

Salads, flatbreads, salsa, prawns - it's a vibe, right?

Dancing fat, crispy herbs.

Then what I like to do is just give it...

..its rightful little hit of lemon juice.

Pan's off. Let's start loading up this plate.

On the bottom of the plate is our beautiful salsa.

This, for me, is just a really nice preparation

to do something that kind of looks a bit posh,

that cooks in no time at all.

Look at the fat that comes out of the prawns. Look at the colour -

the red, the green.

Beautiful garlic prawns on a mint and jalapeno salsa.

Like, sauce - couple of minutes.

Pan-cooked prawns - like, four minutes.

This is simple cooking.

I don't want you to work harder. I want you to think smarter.

So, come on, let's get amongst it.

Pure deliciousness.

I've even eaten the tail.

The tail's crispy, like little crisps. Mm!

This green sauce...

..it's feisty, but the honey's knocked it back.

And the mint, it's kind of like...

It's gone from, like, street food to stylish.

Like, it's amazing what a herb can do.

And more importantly...

..it's the gift that keeps on giving, right?

And we can do loads more things with it.

That, for me, is what simple cooking's all about.

What are you waiting for? Go on, get your jar, get whizzing.

And I'm certainly not the only chef raiding my store cupboard

for meal inspiration.

Ah!

Capers.

My mentor and close friend Gennaro Contaldo

knows a thing or two about how faithful friends in the pantry

can help you whip up a meal in your hour of need.

Olives! Yeah! This is what I love - olives.

You put them inside a martini. You can make for pasta.

You can make with fish. You can make with meat.

I have to give them a kiss. Oh, God, they're so good!

And this is another thing that I always have inside my house -

bread. Sometimes, when you don't use it all,

it goes stale. What do you do? Chuck it away? Don't!

Because, with stale bread, you can make a lovely recipe.

I'm going to make a panzanella.

What is panzanella? It's a bread salad!

Using trusty tins and leftover bread,

Gennaro's panzanella salad is a super easy, clever assembly job,

showing just what's possible

when we need to get food on the table fast.

You will love it. The bread is here. Here's the bowl, here.

And the tomato.

I love tomato. I was born in a country

where there was tomato everywhere.

Believe me, there was tomato everywhere.

Everybody was growing tomato,

like in England, everybody's growing courgette.

"Do you want some courgette? Do you want some courgette?"

My goodness me!

So I've got a green one, which is fantastic.

Then I've got a red one, as well.

Just chop any way you like it.

Look at that. Beautiful.

HE GASPS Oh, my goodness me!

So, let's put this one back for a second.

I need to get some onion.

Oh, yes.

I've got spring onion here,

but you can use some ordinary onion, as well.

And you slice it -

thick, big, any way you like it.

Just about one or two.

Then you add all inside.

Lovely extra virgin olive oil.

Oh, yes. Fantastic.

Salt. Little bit of black pepper.

Look at that juice.

Look at everything inside.

While it rests a couple of minutes, I'm going to put some celery inside.

I'm going to use all this for soup and salads and ragu,

but I need the heart of the celery...

..because it's soft.

But also I'm using the leaves of the white one,

because the green one, they're a little bit bitter.

Right, the tuna. Open up.

Ah! This is in oil.

HE GASPS Oh, my God. I can smell the sea.

Oh, yes, I don't want to waste anything. It's good.

Then, after that, I've got lovely olives.

And now, finally, these lovely peppers.

Just cut it roughly, chop.

And the juice of the peppers inside

is quite sweet.

It mixes well with the olives, the celery,

the onion, tomato, everything.

Now it's time for the bread,

with the bread which you were going to chuck away

because it was stale. You don't.

This is the king.

Don't have to cut it with a knife.

Don't worry, just do it with your hands.

It's quite easy.

In Tuscany, they make this with different ingredients

because every house makes its own panzanella.

Just a little bit of basil.

A few leaves.

Don't overdo it.

Ah! The smell of Italy.

Oh, goodness me! I'm going to clear a little bit.

Let's plate it.

Look at that.

I remember when my mother used to make this one.

My Auntie Maria's special,

she used to use whatever she found inside the house.

And do you know what?

Didn't matter which way she made it, it always tasted good.

Wow! I have to taste it now. HE GASPS

Mm!

Some, they're crisp.

Some, they're soft.

Mm!

Look at that bread!

That used to be very hard and now it's juicy!

Oh, my God.

Bringing me so much memory back.

I feel like I'm home.

So make sure you go inside your cupboard,

find everything you can find.

When you have stale bread, never chuck it away.

I've got the perfect chocolate dessert for you

that you can bake in 15 minutes - no flour, no nuts,

and oh-so-delicious.

My chocolate tiramisu is the proof

that a pudding can be both decadent and simple.

I'm going to take you through three easy steps

that will get you from the cupboard to a cake base

in just 15 minutes' prep.

Finished with the quickest creamy topping,

it's a game-changer.

Plus, it puts me slap bang in the good books with Jools.

Very simple - I've got a little inch of water here,

simmering away. I've got a heatproof bowl.

I've got 300g of good-quality chocolate -

you can get it in the supermarkets - 70% cocoa solids.

Take that foil off and just shake it in.

So, chocolate is very important in the Oliver household.

My wife loves it. It's her thing - coffee and chocolate.

And in what I'm cooking today,

we're going to get a double hit of both, right?

So, do not use aggressive heat. You want to delicately melt it.

A little sprinkle of salt. I know it's weird.

Salt allows you to salivate and taste the chocolate even more.

It's really important.

Next up, I'm going to grab myself a couple of bowls.

I'm going to go in with 200g of golden caster sugar

and eight lovely free-range eggs.

I want to put the whites in here.

So, the whites, I'm going to use to give this beautiful cake aeration

and its kind of sponginess.

Over here, we're going to go in with the yolks.

So, look at those colours.

OK, so, we've got eight egg yolks.

So, angle that bowl and just whisk it up.

And what you'll see is it goes pale and fluffy,

and air is getting trapped in there.

So whisk this up until it's doubled in size.

Look at that.

Let's go and have a little check on our chocolate.

Now, what I want to do,

now the chocolate's starting to melt, is add 100g of butter.

So I'm going to turn the gas off.

Look at the shine!

Just love the smell of chocolate.

Let that cool down.

And then the most important thing -

the egg whites, right?

We want to whip up those until they're really, really stiff.

So, a pinch of salt will really help to give you a nice, stiff lift.

And I could use a hand whisk, but instead...

WHISK WHIRS

..I've got power.

So, angle the bowl. Start off slow. Faster.

WHISK WHIRS LOUDER Faster.

WHISK WHIRS LOUDER Faster.

WHISK WHIRS LOUDER

WHISK WHIRS LOUDER

WHISK POWERS DOWN

Noisy, but very effective.

So, look, take that chocolate and mix it into the egg yolks.

Use this whisk just to sort of fold through, like that.

Add two tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Then we're going to take some of that egg white -

just a little bit at first.

Then we'll go in with the rest, like that,

and just lightly fold...

..the chocolate and the eggs together.

We don't want to batter out all of those beautiful air bubbles,

cos that's going to give you that lift. And just be patient.

Now, one of the interesting things

about this incredible chocolate dessert

is it doesn't have any flour and it doesn't have any nuts,

and that's kind of handy for me

cos I've got two kids that can't have flour.

So this is one of those brilliant recipes to have.

It's fudgy and kind of unctuous

and deep, deep, deep in chocolatey flavours.

Bit of a win-win, right?

So, all of it comes out. I've got a nice little tray.

It's 25cm by 30cm.

And this cooks now for 15 minutes

at 180 degrees Celsius, which is 350 Fahrenheit.

And 15 minutes exactly - not a minute over.

Have a look at that. Beautiful.

So, we can serve that as a cake in its own right,

but I'm going to use it today as a base

for one of the most incredible tiramisus ever.

So, while it's warm, just make little holes around the sponge,

and this means that it can absorb amazing flavours.

So, in the world of tiramisu,

I want to pour over 50ml of Cointreau, that orange liqueur.

Just give it a good basting.

Then we're going to go in with coffee -

150ml of the best espresso you can get your hands on.

And it's going to go in all those little holes.

There's one last thing I want to do.

Grab a little fine grater,

and a friend of chocolate, which is orange,

and I just want to have some nice

golden zest over the top, like that.

So, this is definitely not a classic tiramisu. Beautiful.

So, the chocolate's cooled down

and I've got the classic mascarpone cream

and the not-so-classic ricotta.

It's a much lighter cheese. It has a freshness to it.

And, actually, the two together, I think, are the Holy Grail.

It works so well. So, 500g of ricotta.

Then we're going to go in with 500g of mascarpone cream.

I'm going to add, like, two heaped tablespoons

of golden caster sugar,

and a little kicker of vanilla paste.

So, two nice, generous teaspoons.

Beautiful flavour.

So, just kind of take a little bit of time

just to beat it,

dissolve that sugar, and get it shining.

You know that's going to be good.

And then pour it into this tin.

We're taking tiramisu to new heights.

Up to the edges.

I'm just going to do some little indentations,

kind of to look funky, but also to catch the cocoa powder

that I'm going to put on top in the most beautiful way.

Let's get a little sieve.

And the idea of having something

just a little bit bitter and chocolatey

over something so outrageously sweet.

What a beautiful thing.

Imagine that at a dinner party.

People love tiramisu, but this is just amped up.

Let's get in there for a nice little scoop out.

HE CHUCKLES Come on! Look at that!

Just decadence!

Love it.

Really nice with some beautiful cherries.

That is a dessert to make people very, very happy.

Let's try.

Blissful. The chocolate sponge that's absorbed that coffee

and the Cointreau is just...outrageous.

The freshness and richness from the mascarpone and the ricotta,

and that bitter chocolate topping.

Three things...

..in perfect harmony.

Can you have the most decadent puddings and simplicity?

Yes, you can.

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