No Bake Lemon Cheesecake

This cheesecake is a cinch to throw together! The buttery biscuit base is quick and easy to make and the creamy filling is an all in one mixture, no folding or whipping of cream in a separate bowl, just tip the lot into a large mixing bowl and hay presto you're done. No gelatine either so you only need to boil the kettle if you're having a cuppa!

Cheat's Posh Dessert!!

We were in our local SuperValu cafe this week having a spot of lunch, when this beautiful dessert caught my eye. It looked and tasted really delicious (they were divine), but what was best of all is how simple it is to put together. This will be a show stopper the next time I'm cooking for friends. If you are really short on time, this will be just as dramitic with good quality shop bought cookies and ready whipped cream, and I suggest that you use the chocolate ice cream sauce that sets when it's poured over ice cream, it will drizzle easier and stay put!!

Serves 4

Ingredients

12 Chunky chocolate chip cookies

250ml Whipping cream

2tsp Caster sugar

Chocolate ice cream sauce

Icing sugar to dust

Method

Whip the cream and sugar until it is at the soft peak stage. Insert a medium sized star nozzle into your piping bag and fill the piping bag with the cream.

Pipe a small rosette in the centre of your presentation plate, this will stop the whole creation sliding off the plate!!

Set a cookie on top of the rosette and press down firmly, pipe a swirl of cream onto the cookie.



Continue to layer until you have a tower of three cookies.

Drizzle with the chocolate sauce and then dust with the icing sugar. This will keep in the fridge for 1-2 hours but the cookies will become very soft if left too long.



 

Speedy Banoffee Pie

This is the quickest dessert to put together and requires no cooking, a winner all round. I use chocolate wholegrain for the base sometimes to give an extra chocolaty taste, but any crumbly biscuit you have will work. If you were really in a rush, a shop bought tub of whipped cream would mean nearly no washing at all (although I suppose we have to work off the calories somehow).

Serves 4 -6

Ingredients
200g Digestive biscuits
100g Butter, melted
394g Carnation Caramel (or use 250g Alpro Soya Caramel Dessert instead)
2-3 Bananas
250ml Whipping Cream
1tbsp Cocoa Powder

Method
Grease the sides and base of a 20cm loose bottomed tin, set aside

Place the biscuits in a freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin or liquidise until the biscuits are a fine crumb.

Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter.

Spread the mixture over the base of the 20cm loose bottomed tin, press down firmly with the back of a spoon and place in the freezer for 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile whip the cream until it is at the soft peak stage. slice the bananas into the cream and fold everything together gently with a large spoon. Remove the base from the freezer and spread the caramel sauce all over the base.

Top with the banana cream mixture and sprinkle with the cocoa powder. Serve.

Victoria Sponge Cake

Looking at these photographs, it is such a temptation not to whip up another cake right now, it is just so delicious and usually it only gets one outing in our house! 
  As a result I make this cake regularly, because it is quick and fuss free. This is the exact same recipe as my Simply Wonderful Cupcakes just divided between two sandwich tins...neat eh!

Black Forest Gâteau

I have very fond memories of this cake, in our house if there was a really special occasion, we were taken out for dinner to the Bridge House Restaurant, Tullamore. The Bridge was of great renown locally and it was a great treat to have your birthday dinner here. The pastry chef was very talented and she made the most spectacular Black Forest Gâteau, it was moist, slightly boozy and a work of art to look at. When the appointed time would arrive, I would try to act nonchalant as they dimmed the lights in the restaurant, out would come the cake with a halo of blazing candles (they'd probably need a fire officer on stand by for such an occasion now!) The cake was finished in the proper German fashion with cream all around the top and sides and then dashed with grated chocolate, completely beyond me that skill. It was also made up of four layers, which you could easily do here by splitting the two sponges and layering up as usual. I opted for a more rustic look here, because I plan to make it more often now especially if I don't have to worry about splitting sponges and all that. Enjoy.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
Cake
175g Soft margarine
175g Caster Sugar
140g Self-raising flour
35g Cocoa powder
3 Eggs
2tbsp Water

Filling
410g Can Black Cherries in syrup
or
500g Fresh cherries (380g Stoned cherries)
125ml Water
150g Caster sugar
25g Cornflour
2tbsp Kirsch or Rum
250ml Whipping Cream

Decoration
25g Dark chocolate, grated

Method

To Make the Sponge:

Grease and line two 18cm sandwich tins with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/350ºF/ Gas 6.

Place the margarine, sugar, flour, cocoa, eggs and water in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer for 3-4 minutes.

Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and bake on a middle shelf for 20-25 minutes. To test if the cake is done, insert a clean skewer into the middle of the cake - if it comes out clean then the cake is ready. ‬

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

To Make the Cherry Filling:

Place the halved and stoned cherries in a small saucepan, add the water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, until the cherries are soft. Meanwhile mix the sugar and cornflour together, removing the lumps.

When the cherries have cooked, add the sugar and cornflour mixture, stir continuously, heat the mixture for another 5 minutes until the filling has thickened and become glossy. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. When cooled add the Kirsch to the cherry filling or the tinned cherries.

Assembling the Cake:

Set aside 8 cherries for the top of the cake. Place the two rounds on a chopping board and spoon some of the cherry syrup evenly over each disc and leave to soak in. Whip the cream until firm, place 4-5 tbsp onto a piping bag with a medium star nozzle, set aside. Place one of the rounds on a large serving plate, spread with about one third of the cream, evenly distribute the cherry filling, top with more cream. 

Carefully place the second round on top and gently press down with your open hand, spread the with the remaining cream and sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top of the cake.

Pipe eight rosettes around the edge of the cake and one large one in the center, top each rosette with a reserved cherry. Chill until needed. Sumptuous!

The tinned cherries are also perfect for the top of the cake too.

Luxury Lemon Cheesecake

I was shopping recently and saw an own brand cheesecake much like this, that was priced at a staggering €12, I was horrified. This is much more economical and considering the times we're in....!
This is fairly simple and is just beautiful, the lemon cuts through the silkiness of the cream cheese. If you are not a fan of  jelly, just pipe fresh cream rosettes on top or better still a handful of fresh summer berries dusted with icing sugar. All in all a spectacular cheesecake at a fraction of the price, but more importantly than that, it's the satisfaction of knowing "I made that".

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
200g Digestives biscuits, crushed
100g Butter, melted
400g Full fat cream Cheese
150ml Whipping cream
1 lemon, juice and rind
100g Caster sugar

Topping
150ml boiling water
6 Squares of lemon jelly

Method
Melt the jelly and set aside to cool.

 I sometimes use my stand mixer to crumb the biscuits or place in a bag and bash with a rolling pin, add the melted butter.

Mix thoroughly, tip the biscuit mix into a deep 20cm round loose bottomed tin, smooth out the base firmly with the back of a spoon and chill or freeze for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the remaining ingredients together with in a stand mixer or a hand mixer on high until it forms a stiff peaks.

Spread the lemon cream over the base.

Smooth the top and pour or spoon the cooled jelly gently over the cheesecake up to the rim of the tin and until the whole surface of the cake is covered and chill for 6 hours or overnight. To remove the cheesecake, easy does it is the key here. Heat a sharp knife in a mug of boiling water.

If you rush this stage you will get a jagged edge to the jelly and it wont have the professional finish. Slowly ease the knife around the edge.

Gratin Dauphinoise

This is simply wonderful and a hearty accompaniment to the BeefBeef Wellington. This can also be made up the day before and popped into the oven hassle free when needed. If you have any leftover (unlikely) it is beautiful with crunchy bread as a midnight feast!

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 Garlic clove, crushed
Butter
450g Waxy potatoes, thinly sliced (such as Roosters, Desirée, Golden Wonder or King Edward)
300ml Double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Rub a gratin dish liberally with the garlic and butter. Layer the potatoes into the dish, making sure each layer is seasoned. Pour over the cream and cook in the oven for 1¼ hours.

Turn up the heat to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and cook for a further 15 minutes until the top is golden. Serve.

Basic Swiss Roll

I was in Woodies DIY recently stocking up on some kitchen essentials and I got talking to a former work colleague of mine, Margaret. We got into a conversation about shop bought swiss rolls and how they taste of nothing and could last six months without going off! So this one is for you Margaret and I'm afraid you will have to sieve the flour, if only to remove the lumps!

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
3 Eggs
80g Caster sugar, plus extra for finishing
1tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Warm water
80g Self raising flour
Pinch salt

For the filling:
2-3 tbsp Strawberry jam, warmed
125ml Cream, whipped to soft peak stage

Method
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5. Grease and line a 23 x 30cm (9in x 13in) Swiss roll tin or small roasting tin with greaseproof paper.

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with an electric whisk until the mixture is very pale yellow, foamy and mousse-like.

Fold in the warm water with a large metal spoon. (This helps prevent the Swiss roll from cracking when you roll it later.) Sift over the flour and salt and fold in gently with the metal spoon. (Don't over mix here or you will knock out the air and the Swiss roll will lose its sponginess. The trick is to incorporate all the flour with as few 'folds' as possible.)

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level it gently with a palette knife or the back of a large spoon.

Bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes, or until the sponge has shrunk a little from the sides of the tin and feels springy to the touch.

Remove the sponge from the oven and turn the cake out onto a sheet of baking paper sprinkled with caster sugar.

Leave to cool slightly, then gently peel the lining paper off the sponge.

To assemble the cake, trim off any rough edges of the sponge with a sharp serrated knife to get the sides nice and tidy. Spread the jam and cream all over the sponge, leaving a small margin so it does not squelch out when it is rolled.

With the shortest side facing you, begin to roll up the sponge (away from you) using the baking paper to help. Try to do it as tightly as you can for an impressive-looking finish.

Once you have rolled it all up, make sure the join is underneath so it does not come undone. Carefully lift onto a serving plate - you can do this with your hands or use two fish slices or spatulas.