Well, I was quite excited about the fact we made Nun's Farts (how irreverent!) this month for Dom's 4th Random Recipe Challenge. That was until I googled them and realised that the name (the posh version being Pets De Nonne) usually refers to a light beignet type confection. These are really just meringues. So, it looks as though these aren't really Nun's Farts but, hey, I love the name and it still suits them.
We randomly chose the Pets De Nonnes from the book Green and Black's Chocolate Recipes for Steve to make and I was to make Nigella's Pistachio Chocolate Cake.
However, Steve made his Pets De Nonnes on evening and I think he was rushing to get them done and they were a complete flop. The just spread out all over the baking tray, coalesced and stuck fast. Whole lot got dumped which is such a shame.
The next day I had planned to make the pistachio cake with the boys while waiting in for a John Lewis delivery (more bookcases!). As I read through the recipe, though, it became apparent that I would need a food processor for this recipe. Huh. I decided to look through the book and find something we could make which we had the ingredients for (I couldn't go out to the shop incase I missed the delivery). While looking, Steve phoned and he suggested I could try the Pets De Nonne. I think he was secretly hoping my ones would be a flop too so he could blame the recipe.
But, aha, what a wonderful idea - we can choose the same recipe each month and have a competition! This is right up our street as we are fairly competitive. So, the random recipe challenge will no longer be something we do together on date night. Now it's war! Can't wait for next month.
Anyway, needless to say, I won the first month. My Pets De Nonne are lovely. They are so light which is really a big problem as it means I just keep stuffing them into my mouth one after the other! They also have big chunks of soft chocolate and the the crunch of the walnuts. I must say I am rather disappointed that we are going out today so there is no opportunity for us to have any unexpected visitors. I would feel like such a domestic goddess if someone dropped in and I could produce my cake plate full of these home made delights to serve with a cup of tea!
Recipe -
Ingredients -
150g dark chocolate (min 60% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
3 large egg whites
salt
125g caster sugar
125g walnuts, roughly chopped
25g angelica, diced (I couldn't find any of this so just left it out)
2 tsp dark rum
Method -
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GM4.
2. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
3. Place the roughly chopped chocolate in the fridge for about 1 hour.
4. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time until the mixture becomes glossy. Fold in the nuts, chocolate and angelica and then fold in the rum.
5. Place heaped tsps of the mixture, spaced well apart, on the baking sheets.
6. Bake in the oven for 5 mins then turn off the oven and leave them for about 4 hours or overnight.
7. Store in a an airtight container.
Oh, and these Pets De Nonnes are not really mine. I had quite a bit of help from Adam while Rufus was sleeping. But don't tell Steve that or he'll say that that is why I beat him in this challenge!
