Chocolate Concrete and Pink Custard Cheesecake – A School Dinner Classic Updated

I regularly make chocolate concrete as it is a firm favourite in my home, especially for my son. (The recipe for that is HERE). I tend to serve it either on its own or with plain custard, although I used to love the pink custard that accompanied it in school. I know the school pink custard was in fact hot blancmange, but I can’t remember if it tasted of strawberries or raspberries. It had such a subtle berry taste so we all called it pink custard rather than naming it by it’s flavour.

Whilst eating a piece of chocolate concrete recently I realised it would make a perfect base for a cheesecake, and so decided to make one with a topping based on the school pink custard. I didn’t want it to have a very strong flavour either, to keep it similar to the school pudding. Well, as similar as it can be with cream cheese included!

I thought long and hard about how to add the berry flavour and decided that as it is based on a childhood pudding, I would use another childhood favourite in the mixture… strawberry Angel Delight. I was going to puree some fresh strawberries but thought they might add too much flavour, and it would be easy to keep it subtle with Angel Delight. Don’t judge it until you have tried it! It helped to make the cheesecake topping the perfect texture too – creamy but set so that it can hold it’s shape when cut. I had a tub of it so used some of that for this recipe. I know the packets you can buy have 59g in so at first I tried it using that amount, but the flavour was far too subtle. For me it was perfect using 75g. If you can’t find the tubs, you can buy 2 packets and use the remainder of the 2nd one to make an extra dessert with milk, or keep it ready to make this recipe again.

The topping is a no-bake cheesecake topping as I’m not a fan of baked versions. But obviously the chocolate concrete has to be baked, so its a half-no-bake cheesecake. I added some fresh cream and chocolate-dipped strawberries for extra scrumptiousness, but you can leave those off if you prefer. The cheesecake is delicious with or without the decorations.

Some schools served chocolate concrete with mint custard rather than pink. You can easily adapt this recipe to make a mint version if you prefer. You would just need to swap the Angel delight for a few drops of peppermint extract to taste, and a touch of green food colouring. You could then add After Dinner mints (After Eights), mint Matchmakers, or mint Aero balls to decorate. I will be trying that version very soon!

It is best to make it in a springform tin or a loose-bottomed deep cake tin, to make the removal of it easier. I used a loose-bottomed 20cm (8 inch) cake tin for mine. Obviously if you use a bigger tin, your layers will be shorter. You can either line your tin with foil making sure you smooth out any creases, or line with baking parchment. If doing it with parchment, only grease the tin very slightly to keep the paper in place, and don’t grease on top of the paper.

CHOCOLATE CONCRETE AND PINK CUSTARD CHEESECAKE

FOR THE CHOCOLATE CONCRETE BASE:

100 g unsalted butter, melted

115 g granulated sugar

150 g self raising flour

20 g cocoa powder

1 medium egg (the smallest one you have), beaten

 

FOR THE PINK CUSTARD CHEESECAKE TOPPING:

560 g cream cheese (I used 2 x 280g tubs of Philadelphia)

300 ml double cream

75 g strawberry Angel Delight

60 g icing sugar

 

TO DECORATE (OPTIONAL)

100 ml double cream

Fresh strawberries

Melted chocolate (either milk or dark, and white)

 

TO MAKE THE BASE:

• Preheat the oven to 160C. Line your tin with either foil or baking paper (see last paragraph before the recipe).
• In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and the sugar together. Add the flour and cocoa and mix well. The mixture will be very stiff. Finally add the beaten egg and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, spread it around so it covers the bottom and press down firmly right up to the edges. Use your fingertips to sprinkle a few drops of water over the surface.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes. (It will feel a bit soft when you take it out of the oven but will firm up as it cools). Leave in the tin to cool completely.

 

TO MAKE THE CHEESECAKE TOPPING:

• In a large bowl mix the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth and creamy.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream until soft peaks form (when you lift the whisk the cream will form little peaks and the tips will fold back over).
• Add the cream to the cream cheese mixture, then add the Angel Delight powder and whisk until thoroughly combined and smooth.
• Spoon this mixture on to the cool chocolate concrete base, and use a spatula to spread it evenly up to the edges of the tin.
• Place in the fridge and leave until set (around 2-3 hours).
• When set, carefully open the tin (if springform), or push up from underneath the tin (if loose-bottomed) to remove. Very gently peel the foil or paper off the cheesecake and place on to a serving plate.

 

TO DECORATE (OPTIONAL):

• Wash and dry the strawberries. Dip them in to the melted milk or dark chocolate, and place on a sheet or parchment paper on a plate. Put the dipped strawberries in to the fridge until the chocolate has set.
• Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the strawberries using either a spoon or a piping bag with a tiny hole cut in the end. Place back in the fridge for around 10 minutes.
• Gently whisk the double cream until it forms soft peaks, then place in a piping bag with the nozzle of your choice, and pipe on to the top of the cheesecake around the edge. Top with the chocolate-dipped strawberries.

 

By the way, my other half was appalled that I kept the leaves on the strawberries. Oops! I keep them on to make it easier to hold the strawberries both for dipping and eating! If you prefer yours without the leaves, just cut them off beforehand.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know if you make the strawberry or the mint version!

 

If you fancy trying another scrumptious cheesecake recipe, try THIS CHOCOLATE AND BAILEYS CHEESECAKE. Although this one is strictly for adults only! Enjoy 🙂

 

 

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Lotus Biscoff Caramel, Chocolate and Walnut Tart – September’s BakedIn Baking Club Recipe

There are so many things I love about BakedIn: their products are simply amazing and produce gorgeous results every time, their staff team is so friendly and supportive, and they have a fantastic Baking Club.

This month’s Baking Club recipe was absolutely divine! I always get excited when the bright green BakedIn box lands on my doormat, and I love opening it to find out what the recipe is each month, as it is kept secret until you receive it. I have to admit to letting out a squeal of delight when I saw the recipe card on top of the ingredients in this month’s box. I am a MASSIVE fan of Lotus Biscoff … biscuits and spread, so I was over the moon to see this recipe included both! Lotus biscuits, spread, caramel, chocolate, walnuts – heaven!

The recipe cards included always give you an indication of how much skill is required for each bake. They are often around the 2 out of 5 level, but this one was a 4 out of 5 (with 1 being super easy and 5 being tricky). This excited me too as it meant it would be more of a challenging bake. I love these most of all, as they take you out of your comfort zone and encourage you to try new techniques.

So what exactly was so special about this recipe? Let me tell you exactly what it was. (I say “was” as it didn’t last long in my house at all)!!! Imagine a crispy pastry base, with a thick layer of gooey Lotus Biscoff caramel sauce smothered over it, with chopped walnuts sprinkled all over that, covered with a rich fudgy chocolate filling, topped with a sweet caramel icing and finally decorated with crushed Lotus Biscoff biscuits. You’re drooling now, aren’t you? The sweetness of the caramel balances so perfectly with the richness of the dark chocolate filling. It would be the perfect dessert for any occasion!

There is always a tip on ways to enhance your bake, and this month it said you could serve it with double cream to make it extra indulgent. I decided to pipe some on top rather than pour some over it. Wow, what a treat this was!

I am so so happy to have this recipe forever in my collection now, as I will definitely be making this time and time again. There were a lot of steps involved to make it, but the end result was so worth it.

The Baking Club has a wonderful Facebook group where we all talk about the bakes and share photos of our creations. It has been so lovely this month to see some people saying this was their first time making pastry. Their bakes all looked amazing and they have picked up a new skill along the way. This is what I love most about the Club… it allows people to create something wonderful, no matter how long they have been baking for, and that sense of achievement is priceless!

If you would like to join the Baking Club and receive a new recipe and ingredients every month, CLICK HERE to sign up.

If you would like to make this scrumptious tart, (and therefore have the recipe to keep forever too) you can buy the kit HERE. It includes all the dry ingredients you need, as well as the Lotus spread and baking paper to use. Hurry though, as it will only be available to buy until the middle of October 2018 (unless it sells out sooner).

Happy baking!

 

 

 

 

Cardamom Rice Pudding With Blackberry Layer and Pecan Crumble Topping

I love rice pudding. I’ll happily eat it hot or cold. It brings back so many lovely memories from childhood. The school I went to served it up as a pudding with a spoonful of chocolate curls on top, which was so yummy. At home I used to enjoy it with a dollop of jam dropped into the middle.

When Boddington’s Berries sent me some of their delicious Blackberry Conserve to try, I just knew it would be amazing in a rice pudding, but I wanted to make it an extra special dessert. I decided to combine two of my favourite puddings into one… crumble and rice pudding layered with some of this fruity conserve.

One of the things I love about Boddington’s Berries products is the high fruit content. In fact, for every 100g of conserve, 80g of that is fruit! That equates to the most wonderful fruity taste and texture. It is like eating a mouthful of juicy ripe blackberries! You could use a different fruit conserve if you prefer but I would highly recommend choosing a Boddington’s one as they are such high quality. And the very high fruit content means it is like eating a fruit crumble with rice pudding.

I added cardamom to the rice pudding as it is a flavour I love and it compliments the blackberries perfectly. You can buy ground cardamom but the flavour and aroma is much better if you buy green cardamom pods and grind the seeds yourself. (They are available in little jars in the herbs and spices section of all supermarkets). I love foods with lots of different textures too so added pecan nuts to the crumble topping for extra crunch. I usually bake rice pudding in the oven so it gets that delicious skin on top, but I didn’t want that for this recipe so cooked it on the hob. I wanted the crumble topping to be super crunchy so baked it on it’s own in the oven in a shallow baking pan. You can eat this dessert hot or cold. We ate ours cold and really really enjoyed it. I served it in small tumbler glasses and it made 4 full portions. I like serving cold desserts in glasses, and it is lovely to be able to see the individual layers that way. It is up to you how you layer the different components. I put a thin layer of crumble in the glass first, then rice pudding, followed by a layer of blackberry conserve, with more rice pudding on that, and topped with a final layer of crumble. You could arrange it however you prefer.

The crumble topping is so tasty I made double the amount and used the leftover over the course of a few days as a topping on ice cream and mixed in with yoghurt. (I might have sneakily eaten a little bit on it’s own too but no one saw me so that’s ok).

 

Cardamom Rice Pudding With Blackberry Layer and Pecan Crumble Topping

FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:

90 g plain flour

45 g unsalted butter

30 g caster sugar

15 g demerara sugar

30 g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

 

FOR THE RICE PUDDING:

100 g pudding rice

700 ml milk, plus an extra splash if desired

7 green cardamom pods

2 level tbsps caster sugar

 

4 tbsps Boddington’s Berries Blackberry Conserve

 

TO MAKE THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan.
• Place the flour and butter into a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. (Or you can blitz it in a food processor).
• Stir in the sugars and pecans until evenly distributed, then tip into a shallow baking pan and spread it all out so the layer is as thin as possible.
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. (It will go even crunchier as it cools).
• Leave to one side until needed.

 

TO MAKE THE CARDAMOM RICE PUDDING:

• Press the cardamom pods to make them split open, then remove the seeds from inside. Use a pestle and mortar to grind the seeds as finely as possible.
• Place the rice, milk, sugar and cardamom into a large saucepan and stir. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, then quickly reduce the heat so it doesn’t bubble over! Cover, then simmer on a low heat for 30-35 minutes, stirring from time to time to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.
• Taste a bit of the rice to make sure it is soft. If it is, remove from the heat. If not leave for a further 5-10 minutes.

 

TO ASSEMBLE:

• The rice will thicken as it cools, so add an extra splash of milk if needed to loosen it up a bit.
• Stir the Blackberry Conserve in a small bowl to make it easier to spread out.
• Place a layer of crumble mixture in the bottom of each glass, then add a thick layer of rice pudding to half fill the glass. Spread a tablespoonful of conserve on top of the rice, then add more rice and finish with a golden layer of crumble topping.
• Enjoy!

As I said before, you can enjoy this dessert hot or cold. If you are serving it hot though, make sure it is not boiling hot or else your glass might shatter! I know I said it is good to have lots of different textures but glass splinters do not count!!!

To see the full range of delicious conserves that Boddington’s Berries has to offer, CLICK HERE to go to their website.

 

DISCLAIMER: I received the Blackberry Conserve for free in exchange for a recipe idea. I only feature products on my blog that I genuinely would recommend, and all my views are my own honest opinions. 

 

 

Chocolate and Baileys Cheesecake

I know we’re 9 days into 2018, but as this is my first post of the year I’ll take this chance to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

The year started badly for me, with all 3 of us getting flu. I’ve had bad colds before but this was my very first time getting flu. Not bad for 43 years, but it is definitely something I wouldn’t want again thank you very much! When I started to feel a bit better I decided to make my favourite CHOCOLATE AND BAILEYS MOUSSE to cheer myself up. It looked yummy as always, but sadly I quickly discovered my taste buds had gone so I didn’t enjoy it. Yesterday I finally got my taste back so thought I would make it again as I missed out before, but when I went to my cupboard I realised I didn’t have enough gelatine. Not to be put off, I made a no-bake cheesecake based on it instead. Oh my word, it was soooo scrumptious! I absolutely love the mousse, but think the cheesecake is even better!

Literally anyone can make this, it is that easy, and no stage of it can go wrong, so you are guaranteed a delicious creamy dessert. The actual preparation is very quick too but it does need a few hours to firm up in the fridge. It can be made the day before you need it, in fact it is perfect if left in the fridge overnight. I had a slice of mine today as a mid-morning treat and it was even nicer than yesterday (and it was amazing yesterday)!

I like a thick biscuit layer on my cheesecakes, but if you prefer a thinner base just use reduce the ingredient quantities that I used. Or, rather than just pressing them on the bottom of the pan like I did, spread them up the sides too and press firmly into place. The advantage of the thick biscuit layer though (don’t judge me for this, I’m only human hehe) is that you can eat a piece of it on the go! Most of the time I am civilised and eat cheesecake with a spoon or dessert fork, but sometimes, just sometimes, I really really want some but am in a rush or busy with a million things to do. So it is perfect to be able to cut a piece and pick it up to eat it just like a piece of cake! Ok I’m a savage, but I’m ok with that 🙂

 

CHOCOLATE AND BAILEYS CHEESECAKE

FOR THE BASE

250 g digestive biscuits (which is 17 McVities ones)

110 g unsalted butter, melted

 

FOR THE CHEESECAKE TOPPING

460 g full-fat cream cheese

75 g icing sugar, sifted

220 ml double cream

3 tbsps Baileys

3 Cadbury Flake bars

 

FOR THE DECORATION

150 ml double cream

1 tbsp Baileys

1 Cadbury Flake bar

 

• BISCUIT BASE: Line a 20cm cake pan (springform is best for cheesecakes for easy removal) with foil. Completely cover the inside of the pan, pressing the foil down well to get rid of large creases.
• Place the digestive biscuits in a food processor and blitz until the biscuits have turned into small crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, place the biscuits in a ziplock bag, press the bag to remove any air before closing, and bash them with something like a rolling pin until you have small crumbs.
• Add the melted butter to the biscuit crumbs and mix well. Tip the crumb mixture into the foil-lined pan, spread the crumbs to cover the base, and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Make sure you go right up to the edges. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• CHEESECAKE TOPPING: Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat until it is smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and mix well.
• In another bowl, whisk the 220 ml double cream until it is quite firm and thick.
• Add the whisked cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold them together, using a spatula or large spoon.
• Add the Baileys and continue folding the mixture until it is well combined and smooth. (It will be lovely and thick but with no lumps).
• While the Flake bars are still in their packets, use your fingers to roughly crush them up. You want to make a mix of sizes of chunks so don’t overdo it. Tip the chocolate into the cheesecake mixture and fold in gently until evenly distributed.
• Spoon the cheesecake mixture on to the chilled biscuit base and use a small spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it evenly up to the edges. Place the cheesecake in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours (preferably more or overnight).
• DECORATION: Remove the cheesecake from the pan using the foil to lift it out, then carefully peel the foil off the cheesecake, and place the cheesecake on to a serving plate.
• Place the 150 ml double cream and the 1 tbsp Baileys into a small bowl and whisk until it reaches soft peak stage. The cream will be thick but still creamy and when you lift your whisk out, small peaks will form but the tips of the peaks will fold back over.
• Spoon the cream mixture into a piping bag fitted with your choice of nozzle, and pipe the cream on the top around the edge. I piped 16 rosettes on mine (hold the piping bag vertically with the nozzle just above the cheesecake and squeeze the bag slowly until the cream mixture makes a pretty shape on the top… repeat all the way round).
• Take the Flake bar out of it’s wrapper and carefully cut it into pieces. Place one piece on to alternating cream rosettes, and crush up the remaining chocolate. Sprinkle this all over the cream decorations.
• Serve and enjoy! Or return it to the fridge until it is needed.

This cheesecake will keep well in the fridge for a few days, as long as the cream and cream cheese would still be in date. I hope you love this as much as I do!

 

 

 

 

Cinnamon Honey Roasted Grapes – A Perfect Dessert or Topping

I was recently sent some grapes to sample from The Grape Artisan, who supplies Marks and Spencer Food with the most delicious grapes I have ever tasted, with varieties including Candy Floss grapes. Candy Floss!!! I’ll talk about those beauties in another recipe post. I really had no idea grapes could taste so different! I had previously thought all black grapes tasted the same, all red tasted the same, and all green tasted the same. How wrong was I!?

One of the varieties I received was a punnet of seedless Sable grapes. The packaging says “Mouth wateringly sweet with hints of muscat and blackcurrant, Sable grapes reflect their exotic origins of blended white and Persian black grape varieties.”

These grapes are just beautiful. They are very sweet, but not quite as sweet as 2 of the other varieties I received. They have a hint of a delicate floral honey flavour which is just sublime.

We have recently bought a waffle maker and have been trying lots of different toppings to go on the waffles. I wanted to make a hot, fruity topping which would be nice and juicy. I wondered what grapes would be like if they were roasted, and imagined the juice bursting out making a lovely syrup. I decided to try it and am so glad I did! The result was so good!

Roasting grapes really brings out their sweetness and makes them extra juicy. As they get hotter, they plump up and then split a little, causing some juice to escape. I think it is best to use red or black grapes for this, as the syrup that is made in the process takes on the beautiful colour of the grape. At this time of year (well any time really but especially this time) I love cooking or baking with cinnamon, so I used some in this recipe. It goes so well with the grape flavour! I also added a spoon of honey to help the syrup caramelise slightly.

I have to admit this is now my new favourite topping. In fact I could easily eat a bowl of these on their own or with a dollop of cream. They make a wonderful topping for waffles, pancakes, or just ice cream. I even think these would be amazing as the fruity base of a crumble. I served mine on a Belgian waffle, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the hot syrup poured over that. You can use any red or black grapes, but I would highly recommend the M&S Sable ones. Delicious!

 

CINNAMON HONEY ROASTED GRAPES – 2 generous servings

200g Sable grapes

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp runny honey

Quarter of a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, or a touch more if preferred

 

• Preheat the oven to 170C fan/190C Conventional.
• Put the butter into a non-stick roasting pan, and place in the oven until the butter has melted.
• When the butter has melted, add the honey and cinnamon to the pan. Mix well with a wooden spoon (so that you don’t damage the non-stick surface).
• Add the grapes to the pan and toss them in the mixture until they are all coated.
• Place in the centre of the oven and let them roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently toss the grapes in the delicious syrup that is now developing. Return them to the oven for a further 5 minutes, or until the grapes have slightly burst and the skin is starting to go a little bit wrinkly.
• Remove from the oven and serve straight away.

 

 

 

Prosecco and Strawberry Cake Kit – A Stunning New Recipe from BakedIn

As you will know by now I am a HUGE fan of BakedIn, a wonderful company who produce baking kits so that anyone can bake scrumptious cakes at home. All of their kits contain the dry ingredients you need for the recipe already weighed out for you for convenience. Many of them also contain equipment you will need so that you can bake, even if you don’t own a cake tin!

BakedIn are always coming up with new amazing recipes, and I was beyond excited when I saw they had introduced a new range of extra-indulgent cake kits with a bit of an alcohol theme. The first in the range is the sensational Prosecco and Strawberry Cake Kit.

I knew I had to try this so rushed to order it straight away. It certainly won’t be the last time I order it either!

The kit comes complete with all the dry ingredients needed, a 200ml bottle of Prosecco (real prosecco… not just flavouring!!!), 4 disposable cake tins with baking paper pre-cut for each tin, a skewer to test when the cakes are ready, a butter measure guide, a cake board to serve your cake on, and the recipe card telling you exactly how to make it, all wrapped up in pretty pink tissue paper. All you need to provide yourself is butter, eggs, a splash of milk, and fresh strawberries.

I’ve blurred out the recipe on the picture above in fairness to BakedIn.

BakedIn cake kits are nothing like packet mixes, even though the dry ingredients are in packets. Packet mix cakes are often packed with added ingredients and preservatives to give them a long shelf life, and can result in artificial aftertastes. BakedIn kits are purely the dry ingredients needed, such as flour or sugar. Sometimes if a stage of the recipe requires 3 dry ingredients to be added together, BakedIn weighs them and packs them together for convenience. Nothing extra is added though. They use only top quality ingredients, such as locally produced flour, and finest Belgian chocolate. Packet mixes often just tell you to stir in some oil or an egg and the mix is ready to bake. To me, that is nothing like proper baking. BakedIn kits have a recipe to follow and the methods are just like ones you would see in recipe books. This makes them great for anyone with a love of baking already, or who wants to learn how to bake.

Naked cakes (cakes which are left uncovered rather than iced) are very on-trend right now with their classy elegant appearance. Even more beautiful though, in my opinion, are the semi-naked cakes… cakes which have a very thin coating of buttercream which lets the sponge still show through.

The Prosecco and Strawberry Cake is a semi-naked cake, a stunning showstopper. This cake consists of 4 layers of delicious vanilla sponge, each drizzled with prosecco syrup, which you make using the ingredients provided. The layers are sandwiched together with fresh strawberries and prosecco buttercream, and the whole cake is topped with another layer of the buttercream and covered in white chocolate curls, with strawberries for decoration. It tastes absolutely heavenly. My Other Half even went so far as to say it was the nicest cake he had ever eaten, and he has eaten a lot of cakes! I have to agree though, it is pure indulgence. The sponge is soft and light, the buttercream is fluffy and creamy, and the prosecco taste takes it to another level. The combination of prosecco and strawberries is a winner!

This cake would make a perfect alternative to traditional Christmas cake. I am going to get another one for the Christmas period. It would be ideal for New Year’s Eve celebrations too. In fact it would be perfect for ANY celebration or occasion! It would also make a fantastic gift to give to someone, and they would be extremely lucky to receive it!!!

 

If you would like to buy one of these wonderful kits, CLICK HERE to go to the BakedIn Bake Shop. It costs just £20 which is amazing value when you consider everything you get in the box! You wouldn’t be able to buy a cake like this ready made at that price. It really is brilliant value for money. Go on… treat yourself. You’re worth it 🙂

 

 

Peach Schnapps and Raspberry No Bake Cheesecake Hearts

One of my all-time favourite desserts has to be a no-bake cheesecake. So simple to make, yet with so many different flavour combinations to try. My favourite up until now has been THIS ROSE AND PISTACHIO CHEESECAKE but I think I’ve now come up with a worthy contender for the title of my number one recipe.

I was kindly sent a fantastic mini hearts pan to use from The Little Cook Shop and I’ve used it in a few recipes now as it is so versatile. (See HERE and HERE for a couple of other recipes using it). I was going to make one big cheesecake but decided that mini hearts ones would be much nicer, especially as the topping was going to be bright red. I was also going to make a peach puree to mix in but decided to use peach Schnapps instead. I used Archers as I always have a bottle in the house. You can’t beat Archers and lemonade on a Summer’s evening!

The secret of a no-bake cheesecake is in the pan you use. Never make one in a pan that has a fixed base, or else you’ll have a nightmare trying to get it out in one piece (unless you line it with strong foil first and lift it out). That is why this heart pan is so perfect. Each heart has a loose base so that you can easily push the cheesecakes out of the pan when they are set. It is such a good quality pan and washes up so easily too. I really can’t recommend it highly enough!

I made these cheesecakes yesterday and half of them disappeared very very quickly. I’ve eaten another one today and it tastes just as good, if not better! These will keep well in the fridge for a few days, but I doubt you’ll have any left after two!

PEACH SCHNAPPS AND RASPBERRY NO-BAKE CHEESECAKES

160g digestive biscuits (about 10 biscuits)

60g unsalted butter, melted

150g full-fat cream cheese

30g icing sugar

85ml double cream

2.5 tbsp Peach Schnapps, or more for a stronger taste

150g fresh raspberries, rinsed

30g caster sugar

0.5 tsp lemon juice

extra raspberries to decorate if required

• To make the biscuit base, either blitz the digestives in a food processor, or place them in a ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin, until you have fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well until completely combined.
• Divide the mixture equally among the heart shaped cavities, and press down firmly with the back of a teaspoon until flat and well-compacted.
• 
• Place in the fridge for an hour to firm up.
• Place the cream cheese and icing sugar in to a bowl and whisk until smooth. Place the double cream in to another bowl and whisk until it reaches soft peak stage. (This means that peaks will form when you lift the whisk out of the cream, but the tips of the peaks will fold back down).
• Add the cream to the cream cheese and fold in until combined. You’ll notice it becoming thicker as you do this. The more you fold, the thicker it will become. Add the peach schnapps and keep folding to mix it in well, until smooth. (Taste a tiny bit at this stage and add more schnapps if required).
• Divide the mixture between the hearts. I found it easier to use a piping bag to make sure I covered the bases completely. Use a small palette knife or spatula to level the tops, then place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set. The longer the better.
• While the cheesecakes are in the fridge, make the raspberry sauce: Press the raspberries through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the seeds (or blitz in a food processor and then pass through the sieve). Pour the seedless raspberry juice into a small saucepan, add the sugar and lemon juice, mix, and place over a low heat on the hob. Let the mixture come to a boil, stirring regularly, and keep on the heat until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• When the cheesecakes are set, remove from the fridge and push the bases up from underneath to release them from the pan. Use a knife to gently ease the metal heart base off the biscuit. Place on to a serving plate.
• Stir the sauce until smooth and pour in to a disposable piping bag. (If the sauce has thickened too much, just mix in a little bit of boiled water that has cooled down). Cut a tiny end off the bag to make a very small opening. Drizzle the sauce over the cheesecakes, and add a raspberry on top of each if required to decorate.
• Enjoy!!!

As these are so small with a decent amount of biscuit base, they are easy to pick up to eat. Or you can be more civilised and use a spoon, of course.

You could substitute the Schnapps for any flavour or alcohol you prefer. I can think of many cocktail-inspired cheesecakes to try with various alcohol and fruit toppings. I’m looking forward to making many more!

Cinnamon Sauce and Cream Cheese Icing Recipes for Fluffy Pancake Toppings

This time last year there was a huge amount of excitement in our house as we were just a couple of weeks away from flying out to Orlando to see Mickey Mouse and friends. Half of me was dreading it (I imagined it would be just like a jam-packed Alton Towers for 2 weeks) and the other half of me was excited for the Disney magic. I have to say now though it was absolutely fantastic! The people were so friendly and fun, the weather was just glorious, the whole atmosphere was laid back, and the magic was definitely there. I had been kind of dreading the food too. I’d imagined just fried chicken and burgers for 2 weeks. Isn’t it funny how wrong our preconceptions can be? Three particular meals will always be remembered as some of the best food I have ever eaten. A Mexican feast in a gorgeous restaurant called Chuy’s on International Drive. A delicious meal in a restaurant called The Plaza, in Magic Kingdom. And a humungous breakfast in Denny’s Diner on International Drive. For this breakfast I chose pancakes with egg, hash browns, bacon, sausage and I think there were beans too. Can’t quite remember that part so well.  It was all soooooo good but the best part by far was the pancakes. They arrived on a separate plate and they had a cinnamon sauce and cream cheese icing drizzled over them. (Cinnamon seems to be a very big thing in Orlando).

You can’t tell from the picture but these beauties were enormous! Actually you can tell…. the plate they are on is a dinner plate! I can honestly say these were divine! The pancakes were super light and fluffy, and the sauce and icing were… it’s hard to find a word to describe how amazing these were. You know the extremely famous scene with Meg Ryan in the diner in “When Harry Met Sally”? Yes, THAT scene? Well I think she had just tried a mouthful of this dish when she filmed that! Enough said.

I have craved these pancakes ever since returning home but had no idea how to go about making them. Two days ago it was Pancake Day and I was determined to recreate the only pancakes I have thought about in the last year. It took a bit of trial and error to get the sauces right but I was deliriously happy to eventually sit at the table with a stack of fluffy pancakes and two squeezy bottles full of the 2 most delicious toppings in the world. And as I would feel selfish keeping these recipes to myself, I’m going to share them with you. These taste EXACTLY like the ones I had a year ago in Florida. I am so happy now I can enjoy them every day!!!

You can use your favourite recipe for fluffy pancakes if you already have one. I used THIS RECIPE and it made 5 good sized very light and perfectly fluffy pancakes. Some people use buttermilk but these were just perfect as they were. I actually made 2 batches so had 10 pancakes. They were just as good the next day warmed quickly in a dry frying pan. I should imagine you could warm them quickly in a microwave too in around 15 seconds. Or eat them cold! Here are the recipes for the sauces:

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CINNAMON SAUCE

200 g granulated sugar

25 g plain flour

1 level tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

140 ml water

30 g unsalted butter

• Put all of the ingredients except the butter in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the sauce starts to bubble and thickens. Let it boil gently until it is the thickness you prefer. I boiled mine for around 5 minutes, still stirring it.
• Take the sauce off the heat and add the butter. Stir until the butter has melted and is thoroughly combined.

 

This sauce is at its best served slightly warm or room temperature. It is perfect for pancakes, waffles, churros, or glazing cakes. It would make a delicious dipping sauce for fruit too.

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CREAM CHEESE ICING

100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

50g cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tbsp milk

half tsp vanilla extract

220g icing sugar, sifted

pinch of salt

• Using a handheld electric whisk/beater, mix together the butter and the cream cheese until combined.
• Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until creamy.
• Finally add the icing sugar and salt and continue to beat until very smooth and any lumps have disappeared.

This icing is perfect for pancakes, waffles, to use as a dipping sauce, or drizzling over cakes. Leftover icing will need to be kept in the fridge and ideally used within a few days.

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I had 2 squeezy bottles which I used to put mine in and they made it so easy to drizzle the sauce and the icing over my pancakes. They also make them very easy to store. Both of these recipes made enough to fill 1 and a half bottles of each, so if you don’t want that much, just halve the recipes. Although I am absolutely certain that when you try them both, especially together, you will be wanting a permanent supply of them!

As you can tell from the photo of the ones I made, I put quite a bit more sauce and icing on them than the ones I ate in Denny’s Diner. When you try them, you’ll understand why. I have no shame in saying I could even eat them on their own straight from the bottles!!! I hope you love them as much as I do. I’d love to hear what you use them for if you make them. Enjoy! 🙂

Coconut and Ginger Panna Cotta with Orange Sauce

I recently discovered how easy it is to make panna cotta (see THIS POST for a panna cotta topping recipe) and have to admit I’ve made it several times since. As well as being easy it is also a cheap dessert to make, yet super tasty and perfect for all occasions.

In the June Degustabox, one of the items I received was a can of Amoy Coconut Milk. I instantly had 2 ideas for yummy desserts to turn this in to…. coconut cheesecake, or coconut panna cotta. My new-found love of the latter won.

There is a bit of an art to making a perfect panna cotta, in that it contains gelatine. Too little and you’ll have a splodge of unset cream on your plate. Too much and you’ll end up with a rubbery blob you could bounce off the walls. (Not that I’ve tried that!!!) To make the vanilla one I used in the recipe I’ve linked to above, I followed Simon Rimmer’s recipe which can be found HERE. Every one I’ve made since has used the same basic recipe but changing the flavours. This coconut one is also based on that recipe. The amount of gelatine he uses gives a perfect result every time, as long as you keep the liquid ratios the same. It holds it’s shape perfectly yet when you break into it with your spoon, it is deliciously soft and creamy.

This coconut version tastes so good with or without the ginger, but I just wanted to add an extra depth to it. The orange sauce goes beautifully with it all. I made my sauce very thick but you can choose how thick you want it and adjust the simmering time accordingly. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have!

COCONUT AND GINGER PANNA COTTA

3 leaves of gelatine

250 ml double cream

250 ml Amoy coconut milk

25 g caster sugar

1 level tsp ground ginger

ORANGE SAUCE

250 ml fresh orange juice

50 g caster sugar

25 g unsalted butter

half level tbsp cornflour

• Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl and cover with cold water while preparing the next stage.
• Place the cream, coconut milk, sugar and ginger into a pan. Mix together, then heat gently until just starting to simmer. Remove from the heat.
• Squeeze the gelatine leaves to get rid of as much water as possible. Throw away the water.  Add the gelatine to the pan and stir until it has completely dissolved.
• Pour the mixture equally into 4 ramekins, and leave to cool. When cool, place them into the fridge to set. The longer you leave them the better, but at least 3 hours is ideal. (Overnight is fine too).
• To make the sauce, place the orange juice, sugar and butter in a small pan and bring to the boil. In a small cup, mix the cornflour with a litle bit of the hot orange mixture until it is smooth and lump-free. Remove the pan from the heat, pour the cornflour mix into the pan and stir well. Bring back to the boil and heat until it is the consistency you require. The longer you heat it, the thicker it will get. (It will also thicken a bit more as it cools). Leave to cool.
• To unmould the panna cotta, carefully run a sharp knife around the edge, and then dip the ramekin into hot water for around 10-15 seconds, making sure no water gets in to the ramekin. Turn the ramekin upside down on to a plate and give it a gentle shake. The panna cotta should slide out. If it doesn’t, just dip it into hot water again for another 10 seconds. When you dip it into the hot water it will cause the outer edge to melt slightly, which will make it slide out.
• Use a spoon to drizzle some of the orange sauce around the panna cotta, and some over the top too. Enjoy!

I served mine with crystallised/candied orange peel, which I made using THIS RECIPE.

The beauty about this dessert is you can make it in advance. I tend to make panna cotta the day before I actually want it. Don’t unmould it until you will serve it though. Enjoy!

 

Rosehip and Rhubarb Gin Liqueur Jelly…. Jelly for Grown Ups!

This weekend I made a dessert which turned out to be a huge success on my Twitter account. One person even commented that it was Michelin Star worthy! High praise indeed!!! I have to admit I am really proud of this and I will be making many more varieties over the next few months as it was so delicious.

It all began when my sister asked me recently if I had tried a new jelly by Hartley’s called What’s Your Flavour? I replied that I hadn’t, but on my next trip to Sainsbury’s my son spotted it on the shelf. He asked if we could try it, so I bought a pack. (You get 2 sachets/1 pack for 70p there).

The directions were simple… dissolve the sachet contents in boiling water, then add your choice of drink to make the flavour. My son made one sachet using his favourite summer fruits squash and he said it was the best jelly ever. I decided I wanted to try something more grown up with the other sachet. We had bought a beautiful rosehip and rhubarb gin liqueur at the Foodies Festival recently and I thought it would be perfect as a jelly flavour. You need 200ml of your chosen drink for these jelly sachets but I didn’t want to use that much in case it didn’t work, so I used 100ml liqueur and 100ml lemonade. As this jelly would be for adults only I wanted it to look special so I poured it into a Nordic Ware Brownie Pan to set. To make it look extra special I added some dried rose petals to each jelly too, and put them in the fridge to set.

They came out of the pan perfectly when they had set, after a quick dip in hot water. If you do this, make sure you don’t get water on the actual jelly, just dip the base of the pan. They looked so beautiful and elegant.

I tried one straight away to make sure they tasted good, and all I can say is WOW! They tasted exactly the same as the bottle of liqueur, and they still had that lovely strong kick from the alcohol. I decided they needed to be served with something equally grown up, so for the first time in my life I made vanilla panna cotta in ramekins, and placed a jelly on each one after they had been turned out. The soft creaminess of the panna cotta went perfectly with the jelly, and the rose petals were a pleasant bit of texture.

What’s Your Flavour jelly is now going to be a cupboard essential for me. It is amazing to think you can choose any flavour you want and turn it easily into a jelly. I am going to have fun experimenting with new flavours and combinations, and coming up with new ways to make jelly a worthy dessert for all occasions, some for children and some strictly for adults! I think I can safely say that Whats Your Flavour is my new favourite product. Who said jelly was for kids???

What would your flavour be? I’d love to find out what exciting ideas you all have 🙂

DISCLAIMER: I bought this product myself and Hartley’s have no idea I am writing this about them. All views and opinions are my own.