Monday No Bake - Lemon Cheesecake Spider Webs

I bought these halloweeny cases for cupcakes and then saw a recipe for individual cheesecakes in Sainsburys magazine.   I usually either make baked cheesecakes or cheesecakes made with condensed milk and lemon juice. This recipe uses gelatine which I have never used before.  The leaves are exactly as Nigella describes - little fairytale castle windows!  I found it very easy to use.

Ingredients:
1 x 160g pack Taste the Difference Lemon Shortbread Thins (or digestive biscuits)
40g butter, melted
6 sheets leaf gelatine
50g caster sugar
150g full fat cream cheese at room temperature
200ml double cream at room temperature
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 x 197g tin condensed milk
50g dark chocolate

Method:
Line a 12 hole muffin tine with paper cases .
Bash the biscuits in a freezer bag until they resemble fine crumbs.  Pour into a bowl and stir in the melted butter.   Divide between the cases, press down - I found this easiest with a shot glass.  Chill.

Soak the gelatine leaves in a shallow bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, remove by hand, squeezing out the excess water and place in a small saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water.  Stir over a very low heat until dissolved.

Put the sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl and whisk until combined,  Add the double cream, lemon zest and juice, condensed milk and dissolved gelatine, whisk with an electric hand whisk  until smooth and slightly thickened.  Divide the mixture equally among the paper cases, filling them to the top.

Pour the melted chocolate into a disposable piping bag and snip off the tip.  Pipe a spiral on to the top of one cheesecake and immediately draw lines from the centre out to the edge to make it look like a spiders web.  Repeat this with the remaining cheesecakes.  At first I piped four spirals on the top row of cheesecakes and then when I went back to draw the lines the chocolate had already set! 

Chill for 3 to 4 hours until set.

 

 



 

This could also be made as one big cheesecake in a springform tin - delicious! 

 

See you next week,
Bakebakegirl

Todays top three Spotify songs:

1. Never Tear Us Apart - Paloma Faith 
2. Carmina Burana - O Fortuna - London Philharmonic Orchestra
3. Devil Woman - Cliff Richard

Monday No Bake - Chocolate Dipped Honeycomb

 

I love halloween/bonfire night.  When I was a teenager BestFriends Aunt and Uncle would have a party every year and I loved the fireworks and the food!  Baked potatoes,  sausages, BestFriends mums slab cake....ooooh I must seek out a recipe for that! 

In this months Sainsburys magazine I spied a recipe for Chocolate dipped Honeycomb.  I have never made this before but felt the wizardry bit of the reaction of the bicarbonate of soda would interest Minibakebakegirl!

Ingredients:
25g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
100g plain chocolate

Method:
Line a 20x30 cm baking tray with nonstick baking paper.
Gently heat the sugars and the golden syrup in a medium pan, stirring until the sugar has melted.  Bubble vigorously for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda and see the mixture froth up.  Immediately pour onto the lined baking tray.  Leave to cool.

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl.

Break the honeycomb into shards and dip the ends in the melted chocolate. Set in the fridge.  Store in an airtight container.

Please be careful if you make this as the molten sugar is very hot - I burnt my finger....but we did oooooh when it frothed up like magic!

 

 

 

This is yummy - far too moreish and didn't last long in our house!

Bakebakegirl

Todays top three Spotify songs;

1. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr
2. Devil Inside - INXS
3. Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran

Monday Inspiration - Apple Streusel Cake

 

What beautiful autumn weather we have had again this weekend.  I love autumn when it is really cold with bright blue skys - I can wrap up and wear my winter boots.   One other thing I like about autumn is apples.  The house at the end of our road leaves out bags of apples for free and another house leaves huge bags of apples for £1.....but they haven't this year.  Am I too early for them, are people being stingy or are there just not as many apples this year.....I use them in so many recipes from simple apple sauce to puddings and cakes to chutneys - I need my free/cheap apples!  

We have had a small crop of apples from our little patio apple tree so I looked through my cook books for a special new apple recipe to use them in.  I found a recipe in the Hummingbird Bakery Book - Cake Days. 

 

For this recipe you make a sponge, put sliced apples on top and then a crumble mixure on top of that.

 



 

 

We had a slice after tea with custard but it would be fine on its own with a cup of tea/coffee, oooh or with icecream or just cream.   Nice warm or cold!  I'll definitely be making this again - so many possibilities!

 

 

 

Keep cosy, see you next week.

 

Bakebakegirl

 

This weekends top Just Dance 4 songs:

 

1. Rock Lobster - B52's

2. Maneater - Nelly Furtado

3. Crucified - Army of Lovers







Monday Inspiration - Sticky Toffee Pudding

 

I have been away this weekend with 4 friends staying in FriendV's holiday home in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.   We had such a beautiful weekend - the weather was fantastic.  Bright blue skys and lots of sunshine.  We did 2 large walks and  lots of chatting and laughing - it was really good to spend a good chunk of time together but the time went too quickly.  I shared a room with BestFriend and we realised we hadn't done that since the night before her wedding....14 years ago!

FriendS brought a bag of Mojito to have before dinner - what a great idea for a party - seemingly they do Cosmopolitans too - so may have to pop to Asda to investigate..... 

With pudding on Saturday night we tried Chocolate Wine.   I really liked it, more like sherry than wine, smells of chocolate, very sweet but with the chocolate taste at the end.  (Good grief - what an awful description - I am no Jilly Goolden!) 

As I was travelling back from Edinburgh today my baking comes from last week.  I made Lorraine Pascals sticky toffee pudding from her Baking Made Easy book. I used this recipe as I wanted to use the pudding tins I bought for nigellas Chocolate Baby Cakes and made individual portions.    However I found this recipe filled 8 pudding tins - so I think next time I will half the quantities.  The sauce is gorgeous and a perfect amount though!  It was a good recipe and everyone enjoyed it!  I usually make one large sticky toffee cake (sometimes Rachel Allens chocolate one - yum!)

 



Finally here are some more pictures from my weekend away - hope to see you next week.  (If you double click on the first picture you can scroll through them.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekends top radio songs:

1. Gangnam Style - Psy
2. Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5
3. Where is The Love - Black Eyed Peas
  

Minibakebakegirl Monday - Victoria Sponge

Hello, Minibakebakegirl here :o)  I am in year 6 at school.  I went to look round secondary schools last week, there were a lot of cool things to see and do which included having your hands set on fire in chemistry!  Well my hands had a tower of bubbles on them and then they set fire to that - it was cool! 

On Thursday I went to the British Schools Museum.  I went into a Victorian classroom and had some lessons.  Somebody got the cane and one person had to wear the dunces hat.  I had a really good day but I prefer going to my school!

We had to take a victorian lunch so to have after my sandwich we made a victoria sponge cake.

So I am going to show you how to make the Victoria sponge me and my mum made.  This is a very easy recipe and it tastes so good.  My mum used this for her Jubilee Cake.

Ingredients:
Cake:
200g caster sugar
200g margarine
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp milk
200g self raising flour
Jam - any flavour
Icing sugar to dust

Buttercream:
250g butter - softened
450g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp milk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190c/Fan 180c/GasMark5
Grease and line the bottom of two sandwich tins.
Cream the sugar and margarine together until light and fluffy. 
Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each one. 
Add the vanilla extract and milk and beat again. 
Sift in the flour and carefully fold in. 
Split between the two tins and bake in the oven for 20 mins. 
My mum makes this recipe in two bowls putting half the ingredients in each one - so she knows both cakes will come out even.
When the cake is cooked (when an inserted skewer comes out clean - if it doesn't pop the cake back in the oven for another 5 minutes - then check again - repeat as necessary.
Leave to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing soften the butter by beating with a wooden spoon then mix in the icing sugar, vanilla and milk.  Mix until smooth and creamy.   My Mum puts all the ingredients in her Kitchen Aid, covers with a tea towel and lets it do all the hardwork!

Cover one cake with a layer of jam and then spread the buttercream on top, place the other cake on top.  Dust the cake with icing sugar.

 

 

 

See you soon.

1. Bom Bom - Sam and the Womp
2. Forever Yours - Alex Day
3. Beggin - Madcon