Being a competitive person, there’s nothing I like better than a challenge. Especially in the kitchen. This is the recipe that won my cooking buddy and I the bach dinner trophy during a recent weekend away (let’s not relive what the opposition served up for dessert). While it is technically a biscuit recipe, jam it full of butter cream or ice cream, throw some coulis on the side and wa-la you have a dessert.

What you’ll need

250g chocolate – I use Whittakers 50% cocoa solids

75g butter

80g caster sugar

2 eggs

180g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

For peppermint option:

1 teaspoon natural peppermint essence

For chilli option:

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½-1 teaspoon ground chilli or chilli flakes (grounded)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

How to make them

Line two oven trays with baking paper.

Roughly chop or break the chocolate into small pieces. Set aside 50 grams of the chocolate and chop this into smaller pieces to use later.

Chop the butter into cubes.

Put the first quantity of chocolate (200g), the butter and the sugar into a heat proof bowl. Pop the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and mix with a wooden spoon until mixture is smooth. Make sure your bowl is above the water and steam isn’t escaping and getting moisture into the mixture. Remove bowl from the heat and mix in the peppermint or the vanilla and chilli (depending on what flavour you are making). Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

Add the eggs, one at a time, to the cooled chocolate mixture. Mix well.

Sift together the flour and baking powder (and cinnamon for chilli option). Mix the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture, then add the remaining chocolate.

Pop the mixture into the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

Heat the oven to 160°C fan bake.

Remove mixture from the fridge and use two teaspoons to form rough ball shapes on the pre-prepared trays.

Leave enough space for the biscuits to spread. Put the trays into the oven.

Bake for 12-15 minutes – if making peppermint, the waft of peppermint from the oven is intoxicating. Remove trays from the oven and let biscuits cool and slightly harden on the oven trays.

Remove biscuits from trays and completely cool on wire racks.

Serve as they are or sandwich together with your favourite butter cream.

The chilli option is brilliant sandwiched with vanilla or orange butter cream. The peppermint one works with peppermint or vanilla cocoa butter cream. Or, I pop a non-icing single into the little guy’s lunch box.