A rich lava-like centre underneath a crisp crust, and a dark, brooding chocolate flavour - quintessential winter comfort, but a taste too grown-up to count as nursery food. What more can I say, except go, make, eat, snuggle up. Serves 6 100g soft unsalted butter 300g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids 120g caster sugar 4 lg eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 50g plain flour, and a little extra for dusting Put a baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven

These light-textured shortbread-like biscuits go down well with everyone from tinies through to nineties, probably because they are less solid and sickly than brownies and cookies (no, I’m sure yours aren’t sickly). The chocolate flavour comes principally from the cocoa powder, so it’s essential to use a top-quality brand. As for the chocolate, white looks and tastes good, but it doesn’t have to be white; and if you can get good chocolate chips, use them, but I always chip aw

These light, moist almond cakes, also known as financiers, are French in origin, but they’ve been taken up by the Australians and you’re now more likely to find them being drunk with a macchiato in fashionable cafés in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. I prefer to make small friands in mini muffin tins, but you can make larger ones – and I hardly need tell ice cream and mayonnaise-makers that these are a brilliant way of using up all those leftover egg whites in the freezer. Makes

Continuing on from last week's breakfast and brunch comes another alternative idea, this time an homage to that all-important brunch staple, bacon. You can eat these exactly as they come or buttered, but they’re also a treat with scrambled or poached eggs, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes and extra bacon, and you can vary the flavourings – adding grated cheddar or semi-dried tomatoes with or instead of the bacon. They’re so easy, you could almost make them in your sleep – not th