Dark Chocolate Cookies with Espresso Mascarpone Cream

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Heat until the chocolate and butter are melted and whisk until smooth.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Add the chocolate mixture, eggs, vanilla and the chopped chocolate and stir to combine. Chill the mixture for half an hour.

Once chilled, roll small tablespoons of the dough into balls (I made 28) and place on the lined baking trays, allowing room for spreading. Try and make them as evenly sized as possible as you will be looking for matching pairs to fill.

Gently flatten each ball slightly and bake for 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Espresso cream: Mix the espresso powder and water in a medium bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add the mascarpone and icing sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Chill for 30 minutes to firm up slightly.

To assemble: Just before serving either pipe or spoon the chilled espresso cream filling onto one biscuit and sandwich with an equivalent-sized cookie. (I used a piping bag and a Wilton 1M tip.) Makes 14 filled cookies