Procrastination...

I seem to be adept in this aspect of novel writing, finding every opportunity to do so. I'm fairly sure that if there were a qualification in it, I would hold a PhD in procrastination.

So, with that in mind, I found myself one night thinking about baking. And what I could make if I put my imagination to good use away from the page. The following day, I attacked my new project with gusto. The result was a rather marvellous salted caramel pie.

I have been asked to circulate the recipe, so for the benefit of procrastinators everywhere, indulge!

Ingredients:

Bourbon biscuits

Butter (for melting and greasing)

Condensed milk caramel in a tin

About 100g of dark chocolate

Salt, to taste

Double cream

Method:

This recipe can be manipulated to suit the size of tin or pie dish you are using.

Smash up the biscuits to make the base, and add a little melted butter to make it firm (about a desert spoonful with probably do it).

Put into the fridge to set for half an hour.

Whist that is cooling, put a tablespoon of caramel into a disk and add enough salt to it to suit your taste buds. A quarter of a teaspoon should be enough. Stir until smooth.

Pour the cream into a bowl, setting aside a tablespoon in a separate cup. Whip up the majority of the cream, and make sure it is very stiff. Then, fold in the salted caramel mixture. You're going for swirls of caramel rather than fully mixed together. Put back into the fridge to cool down again.

In a saucepan, pour some boiling water in and set a heat-proofed dish on the top. Add the chocolate in and let it melt over a low heat. When melted, add the cream from the cup and stir well until glossy. Then add in two to three tablespoons of caramel (depending on the size of your pie dish) and mix well. Add more salt (again, a quarter of a teaspoon should do it unless you really like salt).

Pour it over the biscuit base, and leave in the fridge for an hour, or until firm. Once it has solidified a little, spoon the cream over the top, and eat.