Ten swoon worthy chocolate recipes

This Sunday is World Chocolate Day. Good news if you’re a chocolate lover, although as a committed fan of the cocoa bean, I hardly need a reason to celebrate its sultry powers. Here are ten swoon worthy chocolate recipes to sweeten your weekend. This luxuriously rich Baked blackberry chocolate fondant tart is a good place to start. The flavours are subtle but rich with a shortbread-like cookie crust, to which I add a grinding of black pepper. A little unusual, but a real surprise. If anything, it supports the toasted cocoa flavour and is so good with the blackberries. You can replace the blackberries with raspberries or strawberries, if you like. Using the best quality 70% dark chocolate for the fondant filling goes without saying.

There are several pointers to follow when making this No-bake salted chocolate tart. Choose the best quality ingredients as the flavours can’t be masked under fluff or fancy. I’d recommend salted butter, best quality dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids) and no ‘skinny’ cream, which prevents the chocolate from setting properly. To give the chocolate ganache filling a caramel-toffee like flavour, I use muscovado sugar. Demerera or dark brown sugar will also work.

Here’s what you can expect from this Baked chocolate cheesecake

• Hazelnut-crumbled buttery biscuit base
• Nutella chocolate filling
• Salted caramel butterscotch drizzle (This is my go to caramel sauce)
• Tart frosted berries (like with this no-bake salted chocolate tart)

It’s tiny but very adequate, feeding four, maybe six at best. A slither would do but a slice is definitely better. When I need a quick 30 minute cake, this flourless chocolate cake is where I head. It’s surprisingly simple to make, dark and fudgy.

Fudgy chocolate banana bread. Who can argue with that? The crumb is light and tender but very chocolatey with an irresistible chocolate ganache. Most of the ingredients come with benefits, which means you can have your cake and eat it too.

Given the chance, I’d happily add vegetables to just about anything. Last week my daughter asked if I could please bake something without vegetables. I agreed and then made these healthy zucchini brownies. I grated them really fine to hide my deceit. After experimenting with several different combinations of fruit and vegetables, I’m finally happy with the rich chocolatey taste of these brownies.

Fudgy chocolate banana bread. Who can argue with that? The crumb is light and tender but very chocolatey with an irresistible chocolate ganache. Most of the ingredients come with benefits, which means you can have your cake and eat it too.

Honestly, these salted pretzel brownies are the easiest to make. They’re dark and very fudgy with salted pretzels and a gleaming caramel sauce.

I was tempted to call these sweet slices, Lethal weapon bars, but decided peanut butter and caramel-toffee chocolate bars would be more appropriate. They’re nutty, fudgy and very addictive. You’ve been warned. Generously doused with the sweetest of temptresses – condensed milk, and layered with chocolate, coconut, peanut butter and pecans. I have a pair elasticated pants on stand by for the day after.

In 2013, I visited New York for the first time. I loved it all, especially the bakeries, coffee shops and interesting little eateries dotted liberally along each block, all the way from the Upper East Side to Soho. It’s here that I finally discovered the difference between a cookie and a biscuit. These salted dark chocolate crinkle cookies remind of my time in the Big Apple.