Recipe provided by Dave’s mum.

Grease a 18cm springform tin.

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 dsp caster sugar
225g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate
2 tbsp whiskey
225 g crushed digestive biscuits
55g chopped nuts

Method

Beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy. Gradually add melted butter and chocolate beating all the time.

Fold in whiskey, biscuits and nuts. Pour into tin and chill to set.

Optional

Decorate with a thin layer of cream and chocolate flake or matchmakers (I didn’t as I thought that the cake itself was rich enough).

Pancakes

(from The Irish News 28 February 2006) Makes 12

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large eggs, separated
• 75ml/3fl oz milk
• 100g/4oz self-raising flour
• 4tbsp caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 100g/4oz blueberries
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying

Place the egg yolks and milk in a large bowl, sift over the flour, caster sugar and salt and mix well.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean grease-free bowl until they form soft peaks.

Fold into the flour mixture. (For a tastier mix gently stir in blueberries).

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan.

Drop three to four medium spoonfuls of the pancake mixture into the hot pan and cook for two minutes until crisp and golden.

Turn over and cook for a further minute until golden.

Transfer to a clean teatowel to keep warm. Cook the remaining batter in the same way to make 12 pancakes. Serve the warm pancakes stacked up and topped with sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.

I made these but used banana instead of blueberries. The whisked egg white made the pancakes very light and tasty.