Dark chocolate and pistachio is one of those perfect pairings – quite simply, a match made in heaven.  This recipe brings together dry-roasted pistachios from Pistachio Provenance and Seven Hills Dark Chocolate with Roasted Salted Almonds to create light, fluffy baked doughnuts, finished with a generous glaze of melted chocolate and a sprinkling of nuts.

Ingredients

260g plain flour

4 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

150g granulated sugar

60g butter

120ml milk

120g crème fraiche

2 eggs

To decorate:

1 90g bar of Seven Hills Dark Chocolate with Roasted Salted Almonds

A big handful of Pistachio Provenance Pink Pistachios with Sea Salt and Lemon

Makes a dozen

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (160°C fan). Start by weighing out the dry ingredients and stirring them together. Then add the butter, chopped, and rub it into the dry ingredients with clean hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

2. Beat together the milk, crème fraiche and eggs, and then stir through the dry ingredients – don’t overwork the mixture or the doughnuts will end up tough. Just stir until all the big lumps have disappeared.

3. Grease a doughnut tin with butter, and then pipe the mixture in (this will help the doughnuts rise in a beautiful even ring). Bake for 10 minutes, until the doughnuts are well-risen and springy. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and leave until completely cold.

4. Break up the chocolate and microwave in thirty second bursts, stirring each time, until melted and glossy. Shell the pistachios and chop roughly. Carefully dip each doughnut into the melted chocolate, return to the cooling rack, and sprinkle with the chopped nuts.