insideKENT Magazine Issue 54 - September 2016 | Page 50

FOOD+DRINK
BAKING FEVER cont.
Chocolate Sablés
Makes 40

The chocolate sablé is the little black dress of
biscuits: reliable, grown-up and with just a little
hint of naughtiness! They take no time at all to
make, but the rewards are bountiful.
For the sablé dough
• 275g plain flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt
• 200g unsalted butter at room temperature,
diced
• 50g caster sugar
• 200g light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 175g dark chocolate (60–70 per cent cocoa
solids), finely chopped
For the coating
• 250g dark chocolate (60–70 per cent cocoa
solids), tempered
• cacao nibs, to sprinkle (optional)

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of
soda into a medium bowl and add the sea salt,
then stir together. Set aside.
Put the butter in large mixing bowl and, using an
electric mixer, beat until smooth and light. Add
the sugars and vanilla extract, and beat together
for 2 minutes until smooth. Add the dry ingredients
to the bowl and mix together until you have a
mixture that looks sandy (which is what sablé
means in English), add the chocolate and mix to
combine. The final dough should look almost like
soil; it should not have formed into one large ball
of dough. This is the key to getting the correct
texture – mixed for too long the biscuits will be
tough.
Tip out the mixture onto a work surface and
gently press together to form a uniform dough.
Divide in half and roll into two logs, 4cm thick.
Wrap in clingfilm and put them in the fridge to
chill for 3 hours or until firm. (At this point you
can freeze the dough for baking at a later date,
or do as I do and bake one half of the dough
and freeze the second.)

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Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven)/
gas 4 and line three baking trays with baking
parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge
and, using a thin, sharp knife, cut into rounds
about 1cm thick. Put the biscuits onto the baking
trays, leaving 2cm between each one. Bake for
10–12 minutes until set around the outside but
still soft in the centre.
Leave the biscuits to cool on the trays for 10
minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Once
the biscuits are cool, dip each one halfway into
the tempered chocolate, allowing the excess to
drip off. Put onto the prepared tray and sprinkle
with a few cacao nibs before allowing the
chocolate to set fully at room temperature.
The biscuits will keep for up to one week stored
in an airtight container.