Chocolate Cream Biscuits - Chef Recipe by Matt Moran

Ingredients

160g plain (all-purpose) flour
40g (1/3 cup) icing (confectioners') sugar, sieved
40g (1/3 cup) Dutch-process cocoa, sieved
80g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, diced
1 egg

Chocolate Cream Filling:

100mL single (pure/pouring ) cream
80g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate buttons

Chocolate Coating:

100g (2/3 cup) each dark chocolate buttons and milk chocolate buttons

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 C and lightly grease a baking tray. To prepare the biscuit dough, sieve the flour, icing sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Add the butter, then rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Mix in the egg to make a dough, form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.

While the biscuit dough rests, make the chocolate cream filling. Bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan over a medium–high heat, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stand for 5 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is smooth and combined. Refrigerate until beginning to firm, then transfer to a piping bag and set aside.

Roll out the biscuit dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 5mm thick 20cm x 50cm rectangle, then cut into 4cm x 8cm rectangles (use a ruler to help keep them even). Place the rectangles onto the prepared tray, bake for 10–15 minutes until crisp, then cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare the chocolate coating, melt all the chocolate buttons in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water), stirring occasionally until smooth.

To assemble, pipe the chocolate filling over half of the biscuits, then sandwich with the remaining biscuits. Dip each of the chocolate sandwiches into the melted chocolate, then place on a tray lined with baking paper until set. Serve with a nice hot cup of tea.

Credits: Matt Moran's Australian Food by Matt Moran (Murdoch Books, RRP $45.00).

Photo Credits: Will Meppem.