Method (cookies)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. Add the butter and sugar into a bowl / the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whip to until light and creamy.
3. Add the milk. Whip again until combined.
4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda. Mix until just combined.
5. Fold in the freeze dried raspberries.
6. Scoop the cookie dough into 45g balls using spoons or an ice-cream scoop.
7. Optional step – Sprinkle some chocolate chips over the cookies before baking.
8. Place the cookies on the lined tray (leave the dough in balls, don’t press them down!), leaving room in between as they will spread when baking.
9. Bake in the middle of the oven for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
10. Once baked, remove the tray from the oven, use a round cookie cutter to help shape the cookies. Use a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to scoot the cookies into a circle.
11. Allow the cookies to cool fully on the baking tray / cooling rack. They’ll be soft when first out the oven but will crisp up.
12. Set aside while you prepare the pastry cream.

Method (chocolate pastry cream)

1. Add the milk, sugar, cornstarch / cornflour, cocoa powder and chocolate to a medium sized saucepan and whisk together to remove any clumps. Set to low / medium heat.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook on low / medium heat for appropriately 5-8 minutes. Continuously whisk the mixture using a hand held whisk until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon and doesn’t drip off the whisk easily. Use a heat proof rubber spatula to make sure the pastry cream doesn’t stick to the bottom and sides of the pan. The mixture will become thick once the cornstarch is cooked,  remove it from the heat. DO NOT over cook or it can become rubbery!
3. Once cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the butter, you want this to be fully incorporated in.
4. Pour into a separate bowl, cover the bowl with clingfilm to prevent a skin from forming and allow the cream to cool. You can transfer into the fridge once it’s cooler for an hour before using. You want to use it when its cool.
5. It will thicken up when set, so to bring it back to a creamy consistency for piping, use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with medium round tip nozzle.
6. Pipe a swirl of the chocolate pastry cream on-top of each cookie.

Method (sugar shell)

1. Coat the chocolate pastry cream with a sprinkle of granulated sugar, appropriately 1 tablespoon per cookie.
2. Use a kitchen blowtorch to brûlée the top of each cooke until they’re golden, smelling toasty and amazing!! Be very careful doing this step.
3. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes as the sugar will be VERY hot! 
4. Top with a fresh raspberry on each cookie, tuck in and enjoy!