Dinner party number ten

This dinner party, in fact another Sunday lunch, was the very last meal with friends in our flat before we moved out to stay in a friend’s house for our last few days in Cape Town. I had thought ahead and frozen the leftover roast chicken from the previous weekend’s dinner party, as well as the leftover pastry from the pumpkin pie. (I have a complex about not having enough food to feed people, whether they’re guests or just my husband and I. The result is that I inevitably make far too much food. I take out four potatoes knowing that they’ll be enough, but then the doubt starts and I take out another one. And halfway through peeling, I’ll whip out a final sixth potato, just to be sure. Result: leftovers!)

But I digress. Leftover roast chicken and leftover pastry, combined with a quick creamy white wine sauce and some roasted root vegetables, leaves you with a creamy roast chicken and root vegetable pie. Add a salad and it’s a comforting, filling lunch.

So, the menu:

Creamy roast chicken and root vegetable pie

Spinach salad with avocado

Cappuccino bars

I was going to make another batch of brownies for dessert – they’re quick and easy and I know they’re good. But then I happened upon a recipe and accompanying pretty picture for glazed, chocolate-y cappuccino bars. I am a slave to pretty pictures of baked goods, so I decided: lack of baking implements be damned, I’m going to make these things. I had to become a little creative in the process given my single giant catering-size mixing bowl, one wonky wooden spoon and bent, charred baking slide, but the bars turned out anyway. They’re good, but they are incredibly rich; do cut them into small squares.

Cappuccino bars

Makes about 30 small squares

Dough:

1 c softened butter

1 c packed treacle sugar

1 tbsp instant espresso powder

¼ tsp finely ground espresso powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ c flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 c dark chocolate, chopped (I used Cadbury’s Bourneville)

Glaze:

2 tbsp milk

1 tbsp butter

¾ c icing sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Line a rimmed cookie sheet/baking slide with baking parchment.

Cream the butter, sugar, coffee powder and grounds, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix – the dough will be crumbly, which is all as it should be. Add the chopped chocolate and mix.

Dump the dough onto the lined baking slide and press it down into a smooth, solid sheet, using a rolling pin to smooth the top. If your baking slide is too big for the dough (you want it to be at least 1cm thick), the dough doesn’t have to go all the way to the edges; just be sure then to square off and trim the edges.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes; watch them carefully as they burn easily. You don’t want them to get too dark.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. While they cool, melt all the ingredients for the glaze together in a small pot, and spread over the bars.

Cool to room temperature, until the glaze has set, and cut into small bars or squares.