Caramel Biscuit Cheesecake (Vegan)

This recipe is the simplest vegan cheesecake I've seen, and my partner/baby daddy adored it, saying it was their favourite cheesecake (and they eat non-plant based desserts!). A rich buttery spiced biscuit base and smooth caramel topping, what's not to love?

For the base, you can use store-bought caramelized biscuits (Lotus biscuits in the UK), or make your own, which is what I did for this base. For the filling, I used the Lotus biscuit smooth spread - in the future, I may try making my own version of this as well, as now I have 3/4 jar of the most addictive spread in my house!!

This takes around an hour to prepare if you make the biscuits for the base. If not, you can prepare it in less than 20 minutes. It needs to set in the freezer for around an hour before it is ready to serve, and once it has set, you can leave it in the fridge for a few days (not that it will last that long). Beautifully caramel flavoured, and surprisingly, not too sweet, it's a firm favourite of our household.

Makes one 20cm cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the biscuits*:

• 150g plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 75g light soft brown sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp dairy-free milk
• 110g margarine or butter (vegan)

* Instead of making the biscuits, you could use 200g of lotus biscuits

For the base:

• 200g home-made biscuits (see above) or Lotus biscuits
• 60g margarine or butter (vegan), melted

For the filling:

• 100g Lotus biscuit smooth spread
• 600g vegan cream cheese (I used Violife)
• 45g granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. To prepare the biscuits, preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4. Stir together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and sugar. Cut the vegan butter into cubes and use your hands to rub it into the dry mixture. Add the dairy-free milk and bring to a ball.

2. Roll the dough out onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment - as the biscuits are going to be crushed for the base, you can just spread this out without cutting it into shapes. You want the dough to be around 1cm thick, and you can use a rolling pin or your hands to achieve this.

3. Bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly browned. Leave to cool completely.

4. For the base of the cheesecake, preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4. Crush 200g biscuits (homemade or storebought) until they are a fine crumb, then pour over the melted butter/margarine. Stir until well combined.

5. Grease and line the base of a springform 20cm round cake tin with baking parchment, and pour in the biscuit mixture. Smooth down so it is level using the back of a spoon. Bake for around 10 minutes, until browning on the edges. Leave to cool completely.

6. For the filling, whisk together the biscuit spread, cream cheese and sugar until you have an even light brown colour. Pour onto the cheesecake base and smooth the top.

7. Cover with clingfilm and place in the freezer for around an hour to set. If you leave it longer, no worries - just bring it out to room temperature around an hour before you want to serve, and it will defrost nicely in that time. 

8. Enjoy!

GBBO 2018 Week 4 - Desserts - Pumpkin Spice Latte Meringue Roulade

This week on GBBO was dessert-themed, with meringue roulades being the signature challenge. Now, I'm not too good with meringue, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship when making it. However, following my success following bits of Dan's recipes before, I decided to give his meringue base a crack, and wow, it worked really well!!

However, I went very off-piste with the filling. I can't eat double cream without having a bad stomach, so I avoid it wherever possible. 99% of the roulade recipes I found used a whipped cream, which made me pretty sad. So, whilst walking today, I thought of this concoction - french buttercream is lovely and silky and holds it's shape well when spread. I've flavoured it with coffee before, and whilst thinking of this, I remembered my adoration of the pumpkin spiced latte.
So, this roulade is filling with a coffee creme aux beurre (French buttercream) and a lightly sweetened (but heavily cinnamon-ed) pumpkin (but I used butternut squash, which works just as well) puree.

This is brilliant for a relaxed after dinner dessert, not too sweet because of the coffee, but just enough so you know you're having a treat.

Enjoy!!!

Makes one roulade (serves 8-10)

Ingredients:

For the roulade:

• 4 egg whites
• 250g (1 & 1/4 cups) caster sugar
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cornflour

For the French coffee buttercream:

• 4 egg yolks
• 125g (5/8 cup) caster sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 125g (1/2 cup) butter/baking margarine, at room temperature
• 2 tsp ground coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water

For the sweetened pumpkin puree:

• 500g (3 & 1/3 cups) frozen pumpkin/butternut squash
• 60g (1/3 cup) light soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Zest of one orange

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 4. Grease and line the base of a 20 x 30cm swiss roll tray.

2. In a spotlessly clean bowl (I used the bowl in a stand mixer), pour the egg whites and whisk on a medium speed until they have at least tripled in volume and turned white.

3. One tablespoon at a time, add the caster sugar and continue whisking for 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted from the bowl, and the meringue is white and glossy.

4. Add the vinegar, vanilla and cornflour and gently fold in with a spatula. Pour onto the prepared baking tray and smooth out as evenly as you can.

5. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until the top has browned slightly and is crisp.

6. Make the pumpkin puree by placing the pumpkin/butternut squash in a microwave safe bowl. Add a splash of water then put in a microwave on high power for 5 minutes. Stir and repeat, until the squash/pumpkin is cooked through (soft all the way through). Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

7. Blitz the pumpkin/squash in a blender/food processor until smooth. Pour into a mixing bowl, and then add the remaining pumpkin puree ingredients. Stir to combine, then set aside to cool to room temperature.

8. Make the coffee buttercream. Place the caster sugar and water in a saucepan on a medium heat. Heat until a sugar thermometer dipped into the mixture reads 121c/249f. Meanwhile, pour the egg yolks into the bowl of a stand mixer (with the whisk attached). Start whisking on a low speed.

9. Once the sugar is up to temperature, carefully and slowly, pour the hot sugar over the egg yolks, keeping the speed of the mixer low. Once all of the syrup has been added, turn the speed of the mixer up (to about medium), and leave to whisk for around 10 minutes, until the mixture is at room temperature.

10. Whilst whisking, add the butter in small pieces gradually and then leave to whisk for another few minutes. Add the coffee, then whisk for 3-4 minutes until you have a silky, spreadable buttercream. Place in the fridge until you're ready to assemble.

11. To finish the roulade, flip the meringue out onto a work surface. Carefully peel off the baking parchment. Spread over the coffee buttercream, followed by the pumpkin puree.

12. Roll the roulade up along one of the short sides. Cracks will happen, but that's okay (it adds to the charm I think!).

13. Enjoy!

Ice Cream Cones

The weather has been pretty glorious in the UK over the past week (apart from some rain today of course). I've made some pretty delicious ice creams previously (see my cookies & cream ice cream, salted caramel ice cream, and honeycomb and coffee meringue ice creams) but haven't ever tried to make the wafers to go with them.
A while back I purchased an ice cream cone maker to make Stroopwafels (see my recipe here) and thought I'd have a go at making some ice cream cones.

The trick to make the cones is to work very quickly as soon as they are off the pan - as they cool, they become really crisp!
I used an ice cream cone mould, which is the white cone-shaped instrument in the picture above. If you don't have one, you could fashion one out of a piece of card, and fill it with foil to keep its shape.
Alternatively, you could mould the waffle over the base of a glass or small bowl, and make cool looking ice cream cups - I'll have to give that a go next time I make them!

The recipe is really simple - the longest part is waiting for the waffle maker to heat up.

Oh, if you don't have a waffle maker, you could try using a hot frying pan (like you would cook pancakes) - I haven't tried this myself but I've seen others get good results doing this.

These are best eaten the day you make them.

Makes 5 big ice cream cones

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp butter, for greasing the hotplate
• 25g (2 tbsp) butter, melted
• 100g (3/4 cup + 2 tsp) plain flour
• 50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp milk

Method:

1. Plug your ice cream cone maker in and start to preheat it. Mine took around 10 minutes, so get this going first!

2. Pour all of the ingredients, except the 1 tsp butter, into a bowl, and whisk until smooth. Set aside for at least 5 minutes to rest.

3. Once the hotplate has finished preheating, add the teaspoon of the butter to the hotplate. Add 1&1/2 tbsp of the batter to the centre of the hotplate.

4. Close the lid and press down. Cook for 3 minutes - depending on your machine and the exact amount of batter this can vary. Open the lid - you want a nice golden colour. If the first wafer is very brown, decrease the time you cook the next one to 2 & 1/2 minutes. If the wafer is still pale, press the lid down again and cook for another 30 seconds.

5. Use a spatula to carefully remove the wafer from the hotplate. Working quickly, wrap the wafer around the ice cream cone mould (or glass base, or bowl, as mentioned above). Hold for a few seconds until it cools slightly. It will cool very quickly.

6. Once cool to the touch, remove from the mould. If you make the cones and end up with a hole in the bottom, place a bit of marshmallow in the bottom. This will stop ice cream leakage!

7. Repeat with the remaining cones.

8. Fill with your favourite ice cream.

9. Enjoy!

GBBO 2017 Week 5 - Berry Lime Trifle

The showstopper on Week 5 of the Great British Bake Off (Dessert week) were the British classic, Trifle, but they had to not just be slopped in a glass. These had to be shaped like a terrine, that could be sliced, and needed to look as pretty on the inside as it did on the outside. Sophie made an impressive trifle with raspberries and yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit), which got her star baker. I couldn't find yuzu anywhere (unsurprising), so decided to switch it for lime juice. I also used a mixture of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries in the jelly and mousse layer, which gave the trifle a lovely sweet but sharpness.

Trifles traditionally are layers of lady finger sponge, custard, jam and cream, but Sophie added many more elements to the dish, with a white chocolate bavarois (basically a custard with folded in cream) and raspberry mousse. Although I couldn't see the different layers of white chocolate bavarois and lime custard, the flavours are really distinct and each layer tasted brilliant.

It's honestly not difficult to make! Don't rush the steps, and make sure each layer has set before adding the next, but other than that, the hardest bit to make is the sponge. You could always buy some sponge fingers if you want an oven-free bake (it will still taste amazing!).

Finally, I halved Sophie's recipe, simply because we had no one to share the trifle is, so we're currently eating slices of it after dinner. This recipe would still serve 6 people easily.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the lady-finger sponge layer:

• 2 medium eggs, separated
• Good pinch of salt
• 65g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 55g (1/2 cup) plain flour
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (optional)

For the mixed berry jelly:

• 2 leaves gelatine 
• 55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
• 100g (7/8 cup) mixed berries (I used a mixture of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)
• 125ml (1/2 cup) water

For the lime custard:

• About 1 &1/4 leaves gelatine
• 90ml (2/5 cup) double cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 medium egg yolks, at room temperature
• 35g (2 tbsp) caster sugar
• 50ml (1/5 cup) lime juice

For the white chocolate bavarois:

• 1 leaf gelatine
• 60g (1/3 cup) good-quality white chocolate, finely chopped
• 60ml (1/4 cup) whole milk
• 1 medium egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 90ml double cream, chilled

For the raspberry mousse:

• 3 quarters of 1 leaf of gelatine 
• 75g (5/8 cup) mixed berries (I used a mixture of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 60ml (1/4 cup) double cream, well chilled

Method:

1. Prepare the 2 lb (approximately 23 x 13 x 7cm) loaf tin: press the cling film into the tin so it lines the base and sides, and leave the excess hanging over the edge. Chill until needed.

2. To make the sponge: heat the oven to 190°C(170°C fan)/375°F/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line the base of a 20 x 30cm swiss roll tin with baking parchment.

3. Put the egg yolk into a mixing bowl, or the bowl of a food mixer, and the white into another mixing bowl. Whisk the white with the salt using an electric whisk or food mixer – until the whisk leaves soft peaks when lifted – then whisk in half the sugar. Set the bowl aside.

4. Add the remaining sugar and the vanilla to the egg yolks and whisk (there's no need to wash the whisk) until very pale, thick and the whisk leaves a distinct ribbon-like trail when lifted from the bowl. Gently fold the white into the egg yolk using a large metal spoon or plastic spatula. Sift the flour into the bowl and carefully fold in until thoroughly combined.

5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared Swiss roll tin and spread evenly so the corners are well filled. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden and springy when gently pressed with a finger. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the sponge. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, brush with lime juice (if using) and leave to cool completely. If not using immediately, wrap in baking paper and store in an airtight container.

4. To make the mixed berry jelly layer, put the gelatine into a bowl of cold water and leave to soak and soften for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, put the sugar and 100g of the mixed berries into a pan with the water and cook gently, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixed berries are very soft and pulpy. Remove the pan from the heat. Remove the gelatine from the water, squeeze out the excess water and whisk into the hot berry mixture until completely dissolved. Strain into a jug, pressing down on the fruit to give a smooth, pulpy liquid (discard the seeds). Pour into the chilled tin. Return the tin to the fridge and chill until set.

5. To make the lime custard, soak the gelatine in cold water as before. Pour the cream into a medium-sized pan and heat until almost boiling. Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk the vanilla, egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until pale and creamy. Gradually whisk in the hot cream in a slow, steady stream.

6. When thoroughly combined, tip the mixture back into the pan and stir over a low heat until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon – don’t let the mixture come anywhere near boiling or it will curdle. Remove the pan from the heat, squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine and stir into the custard until completely dissolved. Stir in the lime juice then strain into a jug and leave to cool, stirring frequently. Once the custard is cold (but still fluid) carefully pour it evenly over the jelly layer in the tin and chill until set.

7. To make the white chocolate bavarois, soak the gelatine in cold water as previously. Chop the white chocolate finely and pour into a heatproof bowl. Heat the milk in a saucepan until almost boiling then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla paste until pale and thick, then gradually whisk in the hot milk. When thoroughly combined, tip the mixture back into the pan and stir over a low heat until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon.

8. Remove the pan from the heat stir in the squeezed-out gelatine. Strain the custard over the chopped chocolate, leave for a minute, then stir until melted and smooth. Leave to cool, stirring frequently. Whip the cream until soft peaks form then carefully fold into the cold (but still fluid) custard. Pour half the chocolate mixture into the tin, on top of the custard, and chill until set. Keep the remaining mixture on the worktop and stir frequently to prevent it from setting.

9. While the bavarois layer sets, make the raspberry mousse layer. Soak the gelatine as in the other sections of the bake. Puree the mixed berries by whizzing them in a food processor, then press through a sieve to discard the seeds.

10. Pour half the puree into a pan, add the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and add the squeezed-out gelatine. When dissolved, stir in the remaining puree. Leave until completely cold, stirring frequently.

11. Whip the cream until at soft-peak stage then fold in the cold puree. Pour into the tin to make an even layer. Place in the freezer for a few minutes to set the raspberry mousse quickly.

12. Spoon the rest of the chocolate bavarois on top of the (set) raspberry mousse layer and spread evenly.

13. Cut the sponge into a rectangle to fit on top of the layers in the tin and gently press it in place. Tightly wrap the terrine using the cling film hanging over the edges of the tin and chill until set and firm. I left mine for 4 hours and it was set perfectly, but you could easily just make it the night before you need it.

14.  To finish, unwrap the terrine and turn it out onto a serving platter.  If not serving immediately, return to the fridge.

15. Enjoy!

GBBO 2017 Week 5 - Peanut Butter Chocolate Fondants

The technical challenge of dessert week on the Great British Bake Off was to bake perfect melt-in-the-middle Peanut Butter Chocolate Fondants. Fondants are notoriously difficult to bake as you have a tiny window of time when they go from being uncooked cake batter, to the perfect goo, to a solid chocolate cake I don't have pudding basins, which were used in the tent, so used ramekins instead.

These are far cheaper, and can be used for serving condiments as well as for baking souffles etc. (I.E. they are a lot more useful). My recipe makes two fondants, so perfect for a dinner date. However, you can easily scale up the recipe if you're having lots of guests over.

They can be prepared the day before you need them - after making the batter and dividing between the ramekins/moulds, cover them in clingfilm and chill until you need them. Just add a minute to the baking time to compensate for the starting temperature when they go in the oven.

Makes 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, for dusting
• 40g (1/4 cup) dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids
• 40g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 1 medium eggs
• 1 medium egg yolk
• 30g (2 tbsp) caster sugar
• 2 tsp plain flour
• 2 heaped tsp smooth peanut butter

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 200°C(180°C fan)/392°F/Gas Mark 6. Grease two individual pudding moulds or ramekins with butter and dust the insides with cocoa powder. Place in the fridge whilst you prepare the filling.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

3. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar together in a large bowl using an electric whisk, until thick and mousse like (and when you lift the whisk from the mixture, a ribbon of mixture lies on top of the mixture and is visible for a few seconds).

4. Carefully fold the cooled melted chocolate and butter into the egg and sugar mixture. Finally sieve the flour over the top and fold in, taking care not to knock the air out of the mixture.

5. Divide two thirds of the mixture equally between the prepared moulds (it will only fill them about halfway). Spoon a heaped teaspoon of peanut butter into the middle of each mould and spoon over the remaining chocolate mixture. If not using immediately, cover in cling film and chill until needed. Add an extra minute to the baking time if you chill the fondants prior to cooking.

6. Place the puddings on a baking tray and bake for 8-12 minutes, until the puddings are risen but not cracked. They should still have a slight wobble.

7. Turn out the puddings and serve. You could make this extra delicious by serving with some vanilla ice cream (YUM).

8. Enjoy!

GBBO 2017 Week 1 - Signature - Pineapple and Coconut Cake

The Great British Bake Off is officially back on our screens! I had some trepidation when the credits started rolling, what with going from the old-school quaint BBC to the outlandlish/off-the-wall Channel 4. 

However, I genuinely loved the episode, perhaps even more than I liked the simpler season last year. The new judge, Prue Leith, is very cool and her compliments to the bakers don't sound half-arsed or forced, both of which I've seen on some other baking shows. I also loved Sandi and Noel, and thought they were naturals.

But what about the challenges? I actually went crazy this week and made all three (gasp) cakes. In case you haven't seen my previous GBBO-inspired bakes, what I do is try to re-create at least one of the bakes (usually the technical but sometimes the signature). I then usually do my own thing in the showstopper :) I'm going to follow this formula this year as well, and started with the signature. 

The signature challenge was all about fruit cakes, where fresh fruit had to be used (no raisins or sultanas allowed!). If you've read more than a few of my posts, you've probably realised I love coconut, and there were two coconut cakes this week to choose from. The first was criticised for the amount of baking powder used, by the baker who actually left the tent (poor Peter). The other cake, made by the wonderful Sophie (who is definitely my favourite baker, if only because she is training to be a stuntwoman, which is super duper cool!) had another of my favourite fruits - pineapple.

She filled and frosted her cake with an Italian meringue buttercream and alas this is where my technique failed me. For some reason, it ended up too thin (maybe because I didn't whisk the egg whites for long enough?). I also personally found it too sweet. To rectify the cake, I made a lime buttercream and used this to top the cake.

It's not my prettiest work, but it does taste great. It's one to eat with a fork, and I'd recommend it as a dessert rather than a cake to have with a cup of tea. The coconut flavour really comes through, and if you can't get hold of a fresh coconut (or don't want the effort of preparing it), I'm pretty sure desiccated coconut will work just as well.

Makes one 20cm cake (easily serves 10)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 100g (1 cup) fresh coconut (I chopped up one coconut, which gave me about 125g of coconut flesh), with any brown bits removed
• 150g (2/3 cup) fresh pineapple chunks (around 1cm cubes), plus a few extra chunks to decorate
• 170g (3/4 cup) soft baking margarine (or softened butter)
• 225g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 5 medium eggs
• 240g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting

For the buttercream:

• 200g (7/8 cup) softened butter
• 400g (2 cups) sifted icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp lime juice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/ 355f/gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of two loose-bottomed 20cm cake tins and dust lightly with flour.

2. Dry the pineapple chunks well with kitchen paper. Place the coconut flesh in a blender and blitz to a fine gravel.

3. Pour the margarine and sugar into a large mixing bowl and use an electric whisk to cream the two together until light and fluffy. 

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. From egg 3, add around a tablespoon of flour (this helps to stop the mixture from curdling). 

5. Pour the remainder of the flour into the bowl, with the pineapple and coconut. Fold in until all of the flour has been incorporated and the pineapple/coconut are well distributed.

6. Divide between the two cake tins, and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. The cake will be coming away slightly from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tins.

7. Whilst the cakes are cooling make the buttercream. Beat the butter until it is really soft and spreadable. Add half of the icing sugar and beat in using an electric whisk or a wooden spoon - I find the wooden spoon less messy.

8. Add the other half of the icing sugar and enough lime juice to bring the buttercream together to the point where if you lift a spoon from the mixture the buttercream holds it's shape, but it doesn't take too much effort to move. Start with one tablespoon of lime juice, then add teaspoon-by-teaspoon until you achieve the correct consistency.

9. Once the cakes have cooled, the cakes are ready to assemble. Take both cakes out of the tins, and use a serrated knife to level the tops (so that they are flat). 

10. Place a spoonful of the buttercream on the cake board/dish, and press the first sponge on top. This holds the cake in position.

11. Pipe or spread half of the buttercream on the top of the first layer of sponge. I spread mine using a palette knife, but you could fill a piping bag with the buttercream, cut off the end (about 2cm from the tip) and pipe blobs all over. 

12. Top with the remaining layer of sponge. Apply a thin coat of buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake. I wanted the cake to have a semi-naked look, so left it like this, but you could skip this step and leave the sides fully exposed, or add another layer of buttercream to fully cover the cake (if you do this, chill the cake for 15-20 minutes before adding the second layer of buttercream).

13. Place the cake in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up the buttercream. Place an large flower star (2D) nozzle in a piping bag and fill with the remaining buttercream. Around the edge of the cake, pipe little kisses by holding the piping bag directly above where you want to pipe and piping a small spike of buttercream. 

14. Pipe roses on the top of the cake by holding the piping nozzle where you want the centre of the rose to be. Pipe a spiral starting from this point outwards. Repeat as many times as you want. 

15. Leave the buttercream to firm up in the fridge for 10 minutes or so. Top with the reserved pineapple cubes.

16. Enjoy!

Cookies & Ice Cream

The Great British Bake Off is back!! Were you excited? I sure was, and I thought episode 1 was excellent and inspiring :) However, before I do any GBBO bakes, I needed to share this really quick and delicious recipe with you guys. I've made ice cream a few times before, but this one is even easier than those ones. With only three ingredients (four if you count salt...), this recipe made around 900ml of ice cream and cost just under £2 to make. AND it takes minutes to prepare, requires no churning, and tastes incredible!

What's the secret? Well, two ingredients form the base as in some of my other ice creams (see here) - double cream and condensed milk. I only used half a standard can of condensed milk, so you could double up the recipe to make use of the other tin OR make a half batch of the amazing miracle fudge I made last week (see here).

I haven't even mentioned the flavour of the ice cream yet. Cookies & Cream - aka Oreos. I was a slow learner when it came to how delicious Oreos are, but I think it's my favourite food from America. I love that they're cocoa-y, so not way too sweet, and they add an amazing flavour to the ice cream base.

Makes 900ml

Ingredients:

• 200g condensed milk (1/2 a  can or 2/3 cup)
• 300ml (1 & 1/4 cups) double cream
• 1 x 154g (around 1 & 1/2 cups) pack Oreos
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Find an old ice cream tub that used to have around 900ml of ice cream in (or just use a regular 1 litre tub).

2. Set aside 3 Oreos, then crush the remaining Oreos until they are fairly fine (you want to have some slightly bigger chunks, i.e. not a fine crumb).

3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cream and condensed milk, using an electric whisk if you have one (a normal whisk will work - it's just a little more effort). Whisk until the mixture forms stiff peaks (i.e. when you lift the whisk from the mixture a peak forms that doesn't fall to one side).

4. Fold in the crushed Oreos. Once evenly mixed through, pour into the tub.

5. Break the remaining three Oreos into uneven pieces (e.g break one into quarters, another into thirds and a third into eighths) and scatter over the top of the ice cream. Place in the freezer for at least three hours, until set. This ice cream won't form ice crystals, and you don't need to worry about it freezing too firm. If, for example, you left it a few days in the freezer before devouring it, just leave it at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving - then it'll be a nice soft scoop :)

6. Enjoy!!

Bacon Brownies

I wanted to bake something a little different this week, but didn't have loads of time to do something crazy. So instead I decided to put bacon in brownies :) Using bacon in sweet dishes is nothing new in America, but over in the UK, it's still pretty weird. The key is to make the bacon very crisp, so that it's not soft in the brownie. That, and if you can, use streaky bacon - I find it gets much crispier than standard rashers and imparts more bacon flavour.

Makes 20 brownies

Ingredients:

• 150g (2/3 cup) butter, plus extra for greasing
• 100g (1/2 cup) dark soft brown sugar
• 150g (3/4 cup) light soft brown sugar
• 75g (1/2 cup) chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans would work great)
• 50g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
• 50g (3/8 cup + 1 tsp) ground almonds
• 150g (1 & 1/4 cups) plain flour (a gluten free plain flour would work equally well if you're gluten intolerant)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 75g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate chips
• 200g (1 cup) streaky bacon, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/ 355F/ gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 20 x 20cm baking tray with butter and dust with plain flour.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until all of the butter has melted. In a separate frying pan, fry the bacon (in a little butter) for 3-5 minutes, until it becomes really crisp. Take off the heat and pour the maple syrup over the bacon. Stir through then pour onto a plate to cool.

3. Whisk the eggs with the vanilla, light soft brown and dark soft brown sugar until lighter in colour and it has at least doubled in volume. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and ground almonds onto this egg/sugar mixture, and pour over this the melted butter. Fold in, so that you can no longer see any flour speckles.

4. Add the chopped nuts, crispy bacon and chocolate chips. Fold in briefly to distribute the walnuts/bacon/chocolate evenly, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

5. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the top is crisp, but when you shake the tin a little, the middle of the brownie wobbles a little.

6. Cool, slice into squares, and serve warm with ice cream for dessert, or at room temperature for an afternoon snack.

7. Enjoy!

Mango, Berry and Coconut Custard Tart

Here's my latest invention - a take on the classic creme patisserie (a kind of custard that doesn't need to be baked in the oven to set), with a nod to health conscious people (only a small nod mind...) Encased in a brown sugary shortcrust pastry is a berry compote layer, topped with a thick layer of coconut custard and mango jelly. Supremely yum, and looks pretty special too.
I made mine in a 20cm cake tin, but if you wanted, you could use a loose bottomed tart tin instead - if you do this, HALVE the amount of custard and jelly used, or you'll end up with a lot left over. Or use pour the extra custard into glasses, top with the remainder of the jelly, and you'll have a super creamy dessert :D

Makes one 20cm deep tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 140g (2/3 cup) butter, chilled and diced (or use Stork/margarine - this affects the taste a little but is easier to work with)
• 250g (2 cups cups) plain flour
• 100g (1/2 cup) light soft brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk

For the berry compote:

• 250g (2 cups) frozen mixed berries
• 30g (2tbsp) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp water

For the custard:

• 8 egg yolks
• 120g (1 1/4 cups) light soft brown sugar
• 50g (1/3 cup) plain flour
• 4 tsp cornflour
• 560ml coconut milk

For the mango jelly:

• 300g (2 1/3 cups) frozen mango (or equivalent of fresh, peeled mango), defrosted
• 2 leaves of gelatine

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/355f/gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 20cm springform cake tin.

2. Make the pastry. Rub the butter and flour together between your fingertips, until the mixture is a fine breadcrumb texture. Stir in the brown sugar (making sure there are no big lumps of sugar in the dough).

3. Add the egg and milk, and bring the dough together into a ball. This is easiest to do with your hands, and be careful not to overwork the pastry - as soon as it sticks together, don't mix it anymore. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 20-30 minutes in the fridge.

4. Roll out the dough between two sheets of clingfilm, to a circle about 30cm in diameter (make it as thin as possible - about 1/2cm maximum) - if you find that the pastry is cracking a lot, don't worry. Place the dough in the cake tin, and patch up any holes with excess pastry. The dough should cover the base and go up the sides of the cake tin.

5. Prick the base of the dough all over with a fork. Place a layer of baking parchment on top of the dough, and fill with baking beans/flour. Bake for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the baking parchment (with the beans/flour), and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the top of the sides is golden brown, and the base is firm to the touch. Take out of the oven and leave to cool fully.

7. Whilst the tart case is baking, make the berry compote. In a medium saucepan add the frozen berries, sugar and water. Cover the pan, then cook on a low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until the berries have softened. Keep an eye on the water levels, adding a little water if required.

8. Blend the berry compote, and set aside to cool.

9. Once cooled, set aside 1 tablespoon, then pour the rest of the berry compote onto the base of the tart. Smooth over evenly.

10. Make the coconut creme patisserie. Heat the coconut milk in a large saucepan until bubbles are appearing on the top of the milk.

11. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks together with the brown sugar, cornflour and plain flour - just until the mixture is smooth. Place the bowl on a tea towel (this helps the bowl to keep still for the next step). Whilst whisking the egg mixture, gently pour in the coconut milk. Keep whisking until all of the coconut milk has been added.

12. Pour the mixture back into the pan, then continuously stir using a wooden spoon/spatula whilst heating (on a low-medium heat). It will only take a few minutes to thicken, so don't stop mixing. Once it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, and the custard drops off the spoon (rather than pouring), take off the heat. Don't worry if you see some lumps - whisk well and they'll disappear! Pour into the tart case.

13. Make the mango jelly. Place the two leaves of gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes, until they are soft. 

14. Blitz the mango in a food processor until smooth, then heat until simmering.

15. Squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine, then add to the hot mango puree, and whisk. It will dissolve very quickly.

16. Pour onto the tart. Drizzle over the reserved berry compote. Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.

17. Enjoy!

Swedish Baking - Ostkaka (Cheesecake) and Kladdkaka (Sticky Chocolate Cake)

Ostkaka

Kladdkaka

For the fun festivities of Eurovision, I decided to bake a few dishes from the host country, Sweden. The first is Ostkaka, a baked cheesecake made with cottage cheese. Not as sweet as it's English or American relatives, but I found it great for breakfast or as an afternoon snack with some berries. 

The second dish is the brownie's  yummy stickier cousin, Kladdkaka. It’s a very simple cake to bake, but you have to be very careful with the baking time – it needs to be soft in the center, as if you cook it for a few minutes too long, it becomes like a dry chocolate cake.  To be honest, on this attempt I baked mine for 1 minute too long so they weren't quite as perfectly sticky as needed, but still ended up very moist and delicious.

I found these recipes quite hard to find online, so if you know improvements/adaptions of the recipes, or if you know any other amazing northern European baking recipes, I'd love to hear from you.

Ostkaka

Ingredients:

• 680g (24 oz) cottage cheese, strained through a sieve to remove excess liquid *
• 4 eggs
• 60g (¼ cup) caster sugar
• 60g (¼ cup) plain flour
• 120g (½ cup) ground almonds
• 1 tbsp amaretto

To serve:

• Berries or fruit compote

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220c/ 425f/ gas mark 7. Grease a deep 20 x 30cm baking tray.

2. Whisk the eggs with the caster sugar until light and fluffy. This only takes a few minutes.

3. If the strained cottage cheese is very lumpy (which I find happens with English cottage cheese*), blend briefly in a blender until smooth.

4. Fold in the plain flour and ground almonds, followed by the strained cottage cheese and amaretto.

5. Pour into the prepared dish and cook for 30 minutes. Check the cheesecake, and if the top is becoming very brown, cover with kitchen foil.

6. Cook for another 10-20 minutes, until the top feels springy to the touch.

7. Serve warm with a fruit compote, or berries.

8. Enjoy!

*I found that cottage cheese from the UK turned the cheesecake a little grainy, so if you can, use another kind of curd cheese – you can find twarog in most polish shops, which would work excellently. Even better would be Swedish cottage cheese, but I personally don't know any UK retailers who sell it.

Kladdkaka

Ingredients:

• 100g (7 tbsp) butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 200g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 150g ( 1 ¼ cups) plain flour
• 4 tbsp good quality cocoa powder (I used Green and Blacks)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/350f /gas mark 4. Grease and line a 15cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

2. Whisk the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Fold in the flour, cocoa, vanilla and salt. When no more flour speckles can be seen, pour in the melted butter, and fold in until you have a dark and smooth chocolaty mixture.

4. Pour into the cake tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes. After 15 minutes, check the cake often! It needs to be soft in the center, but not gooey. Once you can press the mixture and the top cracks slightly, it is done. 

5. Serve warm with berries and yoghurt.

6. Enjoy!

Two Ice Creams from One Base - Honeycomb, and Coffee Meringue

Coffee And Meringue Ice Cream

It’s finally Spring!! I may have gotten a little excited about winter being over and decided to make two different kinds of ice cream. The base is the same for both – half I added my special honeycomb too, and the other I gave a coffee twist. The original recipes were made by Mary Berry and Nigella (both of which I’ve adapted slightly), so you know they must be good! Both ice creams are insanely tasty, and even better, they require ZERO churning and ZERO custard-making! The ice cream doesn’t crystallize when placed in the freezer, and sets soft, meaning it is always perfectly scoopable.

Makes two 300ml tubs of ice cream

Ingredients:

For the base:

• One 397g tin of sweetened condensed milk
• 600ml double cream

For the honeycomb ice cream:

• 75g caster or granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the coffee and meringue ice cream:

• 1 shot of espresso coffee, plus extra (to taste)
• 200g broken meringue pieces (I bought meringue nests)
• 1 shot of kahlua (optional)

Method:

1. Make the honeycomb. In a medium non-stick pan add the sugar and golden syrup. Place a tray lined with grease-proof paper on a surface near to the pan, and have your bicarbonate of soda and whisk ready.

2. Place on a low to medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved into the golden syrup. Stop stirring at this stage. Leave the mixture bubbling, swirling the pan occasionally, until it is a medium caramel colour – this will take between 4 and 6 minutes, but depends on the heat of your hob/pan (so keep an eye on it).

3. Add the bicarbonate of soda and whisk vigorously. The mixture will froth up a lot so be very careful! Pour onto the prepared tray and leave to set for half an hour until it is rock-hard to touch. If you are pressed for time, you can place the honeycomb in the fridge after it has cooled down.

4. Make the base ice cream. Pour the condensed milk and the cream into a large mixing bowl. Whisk the mixture to firm peaks – this is easiest using an electric whisk. Firm peaks means that when the whisk is lifted from the mixture, a peak of cream forms that does not tip to either side.

5. Split the mixture into two.

6. For the honeycomb ice cream,  add one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Break up half of the honeycomb into shards. Crush the other half to a fine dust. Add all of the dust and shards to the ice cream, and stir in. Once evenly incorporated, pour the ice cream into a tub and freeze for 3-4 hours.

7. For the coffee ice cream, add the shot of espresso and meringue pieces. Stir and once fully incorporated, taste. If needed, add more coffee and/or kahlua (depending on how much you love coffee). Pour into a tub and freeze overnight (this mixture is softer due to the addition of coffee, so needs longer to set).

8. Enjoy!

Decadent Sugar-Free Chocolate Orange Cake

Only 20 days to go until Easter Sunday…for those of you who have given up refined sugar, I have an amazing recipe allowing you to enjoy a guiltless chocolate cake! In Bear Gryll's cookbook (Fuel for Life), he has a recipe for a chocolate cake, which I've adapted by adding orange juice to make the cake have a lovely terry's chocolate orange tang (as well as varying some of his quantities of ingredients as I felt his base was way too thick).

This cake is quite cheesecake-like in texture, with the topping soft, smooth and luxurious in it's healthy chocolate-y-ness. It really does pack the shot of chocolate a lot of us need after a hard day.

The cake is really easy to make, and requires no baking. The only requirement is a food processor.

Makes 1 20cm cake

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 100g cashew nuts
• 55g dessicated coconut
• 40g dates, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp melted coconut oil
• Pinch of salt

For the topping:

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 75ml maple syrup
• 50g coconut oil, melted
• Zest of 1 orange
• 60ml juice (from 1 large orange)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp water
• 150g cashew nuts

To finish:

• 12 cashew nuts

Method:

1. Prepare your cake tin by greasing the base of a 20cm springform cake tin. Line the base with greaseproof paper.

2. Make the cake base. Pour the cashews, coconut, dates, coconut oil and salt in to a food processor, and pulse until a sticky ball is formed (you may need to add a little water to the mixture, depending on the dryness of the dates). 

3. Place the ball in the cake tin, and use the back of a spoon (or your hands) to flatten the ball over the base of the tin, making sure it is level. Set aside.

4. Make the filling. In a large bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, orange zest, juice, vanilla and water, until smooth. Blitz the cashew nuts in a food processor until it is mostly finely ground but some larger chunks remain (you can make it completely smooth if you prefer).

5. Stir the ground/chopped cashews into the chocolate filling until evenly incorporated. Pour onto the base of the cake.

6. Cover the cake tin with cling film and freeze the cake for at 2-3 hours, until set. Top with the reserved cashew nuts. The cake can then be left in the fridge and will last at least one week.

7. Enjoy!