White Chocolate Cheesecake  >> Top << Preparation time: 20 Minutes plus chilling time Difficulty rating: easy Serves: 12 INGREDIENTS Base: 50g each - pecan nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, toasted, 50g Melted butter, 50g soft dark brown sugar Filling: 300g full fat cream cheese, 250g mascarpone or quark, 3 x Thorntons Belgium White Chocolate Block (250g required for recipe so the rest can be used for decoration), chopped into very small pieces, 100ml double cream Decorate: Fresh mangos & raspberries (or a fruit of your choice), chocolate curls and/or melted chocolate Required: 1 x 20cm round springform cake tin, lined with clingfilm METHOD 1. To make the base, whizz the nuts and the sugar and the butter until they are well combined and look like large breadcrumbs. Pour into the cake tin and press down well into the base. Chill in the fridge. 2. Heat the cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until it begins to steam. Tip in the chocolate, turn off the heat and leave until the chocolate has melted completely. Stir briefly to mix in the

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE cream, (if it looks too thick whisk it briefly with an electric whisk). 3. Put the cream cheese, mascarpone and chocolate mixture in a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for about 30 seconds until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Spoon onto the biscuit base in the tin and level with a spoon. 4. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, lift the cheesecake out of the tin and peel back the clingfilm. Arrange the fruit on top and decorate with the chocolate curls and melted chocolate if required.

Choc Chip Chilli  >> Top << Preparation time: 15-20 minutes Difficulty rating: easy Serves: 12 (freezes well) Cooking time: 3 hrs or so - preheat oven to 150 degrees, gas mark 2 INGREDIENTS 550g chorizo sausage (not the salami kind) (usually 10 sausages) 1.5kg boneless shin of beef, cut into 1.5" cubes 500g onions peeled (about 3 medium) 3 large cloves garlic, peeled 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded 4 tbsp vegetable oil Seeds from 3 cardamom pods 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp dried crushed chillies 4 tbsp tomato puree 4 x 400g red kidney beans, drained 3 x 400g chopped tomatoes 50g of Thorntons 85% Extra Dark Chocolate Block chopped 250ml water METHOD 1. Preheat oven to 300°F/150°C

Choc Chip Chilli 2. Finely chop or process the onion, garlic & chilli 3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy oven proof pan with a lid and sauté the onion, garlic and chilli paste until soft over low heat (about 10 minutes). Add the cardamom seeds, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and dried chillies. 4. Stir the oniony spiced mixture together and then add the chorizo sliced into pieces. 5. Drop in the cubes of beef, turning them in the pan with the chorizo and onion mix to brown the meat. 6. Stir in the tomato puree, ketchup, drained kidney beans and chopped tomatoes. Add water and bring to the boil. 7. When just starting to boil, add the chocolate pieces over the chilli and stir, then transfer to the over. 8. Cook at 150oC for 3 hours, leave over night for more improved flavour.

Hot Chocolate Schnapps  >> Top << Preparation time: 15-20 minutes Makes enough for 2 cups INGREDIENTS 500ml full-fat milk 100g Thorntons 85% Extra Dark Chocolate Block (2 required) 4 teaspoons sugar 1 x 25ml peppermint schnapps Whipped or double cream and Thorntons Mint Humbugs for serving METHOD 1. Whip cream and put to one side 2. put the milk and the chopped chocolate into a pan and slowly warm, until the chocolate has melted 3. add the sugar and stir well, bring to almost boiling point (never letting it boil)	Hot Chocolate Schnapps 4. Off the heat, stir in the peppermint schnapps, and leave while you crush one of the mint humbugs (leave to one side) 5. pour the hot chocolate schnapps into 2 mugs and top with the whipped cream and sprinkle with the crushed humbug
For an alcohol free alternative replace the peppermint schnapps with a couple of drops of natural peppermint flavouring

Rocky Road  >> Top << Difficulty rating: easy Makes: 24 pieces INGREDIENTS 250g of 85% Thorntons Extra Dark Chocolate Block, chopped 135g Thorntons Belgian milk chocolate ( 2 Bars), chopped 175g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 4 tbsp golden syrup 200g amaretti biscuits 150g Thorntons Milk Chocolate Brazil Nuts (2 bags... with a few left over for you!) 150g red glacé cherries 125g/4oz marshmallows chopped 1 tbsp icing sugar Add a touch of sparkle with edible glitter METHOD 1. Place the both the Thorntons chocolate pieces into a heavy-based pan. Add the butter and golden syrup and cook over a low heat to melt and combine. 2. Place the amaretti biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin to make crumbs of various sizes. 3. Place the Thorntons Chocolate covered Brazil nuts into another freezer bag and bash in the same way.

Rocky Road 4. Take the pan of melted chocolate mixture off the heat and add the crushed biscuits and nuts. 5. Add the glacé cherries and mini marshmallows. Fold the mixture carefully to coat all of the solid ingredients with the syrupy chocolate mixture. 6. Pour the mixture into a 25cm/10in x 30cm/12in greased and lined baking tray and smooth the surface as much as possible (although it will look bumpy). 7. Refrigerate for two hours, or until firm enough to cut. Dust with icing sugar, then sprinkle with edible glitter if you wish. 8. Remove the block of rocky road from the tray and cut into 24 rectangles.

TAITTINGER CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL  >> Top << INGREDIENTS (Makes 6) 6 x 15ml tablespoons Quince Liqueur 6 x sugar Lumps 75cl Taittinger Champagne METHOD 1. Place 1 sugar lump into each Champagne glass (saucer style is best). Pour the Quince Liqueur over each lump to soak it. Top with Taittinger Champagne and enjoy!	Taittinger Champagne Cocktail

TOFFEE BANOFFI DESSERT  >> Top << Preparation time: 2 hrs 30 Difficulty rating: easy Serves: 6 Cooking time: 10 minutes INGREDIENTS Base: 180g Digestive biscuits - finely crushed, 75g Melted butter Toffee sauce: 250g of Thorntons Original Special Toffee, 200ml Double cream Filling: 75g Quark or Cream cheese, 1tbsp Lemon juice, 280ml Double cream, 46g Caster sugar and 1tsp Vanilla essence Decorate: Mint leaves, 3 bananas sliced (1/2 per pudding) and sliced almonds METHOD 1. Line the inside of 6 mini pudding basins (small bowls or coffee cups) with clingfilm. 2. Melt the butter in the microwave on high for 50 seconds (or use a saucepan) and mix into the finely crushed digestive biscuits. Divide evenly between the six puddings and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes to set and make the filling while waiting. 3. Whip together the cream, caster sugar and vanilla essence until it becomes semi-whipped or ribbon stage. (This means that when you have stopped whipping the cream you can see the whip marks. Be careful not to overwhip.) 4. Take the Quark and mix in the lemon juice. Add 1/3 of the cream into the Quark mixture and mix gently, then fold this back into the remaining cream. 5. Spoon the cream mixture into the puddings onto the biscuit base and flatten with a spoon. Place in the freezer.

Toffee Banoffi Dessert 6. For the toffee sauce, break the toffee into small pieces with a rolling pin. Melt toffee pieces and cream in a saucepan over a low heat, bringing to the boil slowly while stirring continuously until all the toffee has melted. 7. Once chilled, de-mould the puddings by lifting the cling film. Decorate with sliced bananas arranged in a circle covering the top of the cream, and sprinkle over the sliced almonds. Spoon enough of the toffee sauce (divided equally among 6) over the bananas and almonds until it flows down the sides and onto the plate. 8. Decorate with a mint sprig in the middle. Serve with vanilla ice-cream and broken toffee pieces. ADDITIONAL TIPS These are individual pies, but you can make one big pie using the same method but in a larger bowl or cake tin. If you want to make Chocolate Banoffi mix 50g of melted plain chocolate into the melted butter, and mix with crushed biscuit. Why not use the Banana Special Toffee for the toffee sauce?