Level up that Christmas leftover ham in a Croque Monsieur plus Chocolate Torte and Berry Trifle recipes

Every household has their own favourite Christmas recipe. Dish editor and food blogger Sarah Tuck helped Sunrise hosts Nat and Shirvo reimagine theirs.

Chocolate-covered almonds bring back fond memories for Shirvo of Christmas at his nan’s house. Sarah’s recipe brings the flavours together in a grown-up take.

For Nat, it was all about the Christmas leftovers, and nothing quite beats a ham sandwich. Sarah has elevated it into a classic French dish.

Traybake Croque Monsieur or Madame

You will need a large oven dish lined with baking paper.

Ingredients

• 8 large slices sourdough
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 12 thick slices Christmas ham off the bone
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 8 slices Swiss cheese
• 1 cup grated gruyère cheese
• fried eggs if making Croque Madame

For the sauce

• 40 grams butter
• ¼ cup plain flour
• 1 cup full-cream milk
• ½ cup cream
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• sea salt and ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Heat the butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat until just melted.
2. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the milk in three lots, then the cream, stirring continuously until well incorporated. Whisk it while cooking until the sauce is thickened and smooth, it should end up being thick and silky.
4. Add the parmesan, mustard and nutmeg and stir to combine.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper, pop in the bay leaf, then refrigerate to cool.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C fan bake.
7. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Lay four pieces butter side down on a piece of baking paper. Spread each piece with three tbsp of béchamel sauce then three pieces of ham, spread with mustard, then add two slices of Swiss cheese.
8. Top with the remaining bread, butter side up.
9. Spread with three more tbsp of béchamel sauce each.
10. Sprinkle with gruyère cheese and pop in the oven until golden and bubbling, about 15–20 minutes.

Tip: For a Croque Madame just top each one with a fried egg.

Chocolate Almond Torte

Ingredients

• 250 grams dark cooking chocolate (50-70 per cent cocoa), roughly chopped
• 200 grams butter, chopped
• 175 grams caster sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• ½–1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon amaretto
• 3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 2 cups ground almonds

To Serve

• 200ml cream
• 3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 150 grams mascarpone
• chocolate-covered almonds and hazelnuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan bake. Grease and line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second bursts until the chocolate is melted.
3. Leave to sit for a few minutes then whisk until smooth (repeat with more bursts in the microwave if needed. Add three-quarters of the sugar, the egg yolks, extract and amaretto and stir to combine, then add the cocoa and ground almonds and mix through.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Continue beating while adding the remaining caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, to create a meringue-like consistency.
5. Add one tablespoon of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir to loosen slightly.
6. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites and pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes then leave to cool.
7. The cake may appear a bit knobbly on top and drop in the middle, but don’t worry, this is perfect!
8. Whip the cream to soft peaks, sieve over 2½ tbsp of dark cocoa and fold in mascarpone. Dollop onto cake then swirl across top and dust with of remaining cocoa powder and chocolate-covered nuts.

TIP: Remove from the fridge half an hour before serving.

Mixed Berry and White Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients

• 400g frozen raspberries
• ½ cup berry jam
• ¾ cup Cointreau
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 300g blueberries
• 250g white chocolate, chopped
• 575ml cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 40g icing sugar
• 2 trifle sponges, cut horizontally to create 4 slices (3 layers plus 1 for patching)
• 1 cup cream, softly whipped
• 3 pink store-bought meringues, crumbled
• 2 tbsp pistachios, finely copped
• edible flowers

Method

1. Put frozen berries in a large pot with jam, Cointreau and sugar. Cook, stirring, over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes quite liquid. Stir through the blueberries and set aside.
2. Melt white chocolate with half cup of cream. Whisk until smooth and cool to room temperature.
3. Whip the remaining 450ml cream to soft peaks, then fold in chocolate mixture, vanilla extract and icing sugar. Trim and put one layer of sponge into a large trifle bowl and top with third of berry mixture.
4. Top with third of white chocolate cream. Repeat twice.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for five hours. Top with whipped cream, crumbled meringues, pistachios and edible flowers to serve.

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