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Very Vanilla & Honey Baked Cheesecake

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Ever put something in the oven and had no idea what it would turn out like?

Last night I played about inventing recipes with a tub of the creamiest honey and vanilla greek yoghurt which I was very lucky to receive for free from Greek Gods Lucky me hey? The challenge was to create a recipe fit for a Greek God or at least for a loved up couple.. Hmmm. I had several ideas.. Chocolate, honey and vanilla mousse or perhaps honey and vanilla ice cream but finally I decided to see if I could create a baked cheesecake using yoghurt instead of cream/cream cheese. Well I am happy to say it worked! Woohoo.

I only had the one attempt and already I know what to do differently next time. I would double my filling recipe as I prefer a deeper cheesecake. I would add some ginger biscuits in place of half of the digestives for some extra zing but really it was beautiful. Just as creamy and delicious as a traditional cheesecake but with a lighter, fresher texture if that makes sense?

Anyway without further ado here is the recipe for my Very Vanilla & Honey Greek Yoghurt Cheesecake:

You will need:

For the base:

16 digestive biscuits
100g butter melted

For the filling:
Approx 450g or 2 cups of Greek Gods honey & vanilla yoghurt
150g or 2/3 cup of caster sugar ( I used my homemade vanilla sugar)
2 whole medium eggs
1 tbsp of cornflour
1 Vanilla pod – seeds scraped out ( or 2 tsp of vanilla extract or paste)

Preheat oven to gas mark 3 or 180.
Brush a little melted butter from your 100g over base of a 23cm springform tin and line the base only with baking parchment. Mix your digestives in a food processer until there are no big chunks then add your butter and mix until all butter is combined with your biscuit mix. Spoon into base of tin and level with back of spoon until flat. Bake uncovered in oven for 15 minutes and then leave to cool while you prepare your filling.

No longer weaning but still using my babycook!

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I like mixing by hand

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Tip your yoghurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour into a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth.
Pour onto your base ( which should have cooled for a min of 5 mins ) and bake for approx 30 minutes. Your cheesecake should look set with a slight jiggle in the middle and be starting to come away from side of tin. Do not overbake or the top will crack. Leave to cool in tin and then once cool chill in the fridge ( still in tin ) for at least 3 hours. When you are ready to serve remove the side of tin very carefully! Slice and plate up before drizzling some warmed honey over each slice. Enjoy!

I damaged the top by testing for a jiggle with my finger

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Yum!

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My verdict: it definitely feels less naughty than a normal cheesecake but just as indulgent to taste.

Myself and my OH enjoyed it with lots to spare and I’m sure he loves me that little bit more now 😉

I would recommend the yoghurt on its own too.. Creamy and sweet!

*This is my entry into the Greek Gods recipe competition

Superfood Smoothie

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Did I tell you that I am a member of Foodies100? It’s a bloggers community or a directory I guess of British food and drink bloggers. One of the best part about being a member is that you can get involved in various competitions and challenges. A few weeks ago I saw an interesting competition in connection with Almond Breeze milk. All you had to was register for some free samples of Almond Milk ( woohoo freebie ) and make up your own breakfast smoothie. Easy right? No. Not actually. My disaster zone of a kitchen will tell you that trying to invent your own exciting (but heathy – it’s for breakfast) smoothie is quite hard. Everyone knows how to make a banana smoothie or a strawberry one and I didn’t want to go too off the wall or indulgent either. Hmmm. Luckily they sent me two 1litre cartons so I had a good play around in the kitchen.. Lots of mess and tasters later I think I’ve made up my mind.

Drum roll for the ….Superfood Smoothie!

So it still contains banana.. As do the majority of smoothies and obviously almond milk but what else? Well Spinach for a start, Oats, Pineapple and Goji Berries.. Maybe it doesn’t sound that inviting but it’s pretty damn tasty.

To make your very own superfood smoothie you will need:

1 large banana ( ripe if possible ..mine was greenish but I prefer them a bit yellow/brown)
2 tbsp of chopped pineapple ( I used fresh but tinned would be fine)
Approx 200ml of Almond breeze Milk
5 or 6 Almond milk ice cubes ( these take around an hour in the freezer)
1 tbsp Goji berries
1 large handful of baby leaf spinach ( stems removed on larger leaves)
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 tbsp of oats

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If you have a smoothie maker this is easy work, otherwise a normal blender would do the job.

Add all of your ingredients and blend until smooth, add more milk if you prefer a thinner finish.

This makes two good sized glassfuls.

I don’t know the calorie content of this but it can’t be too bad. It’s so packed full of healthy things you will feel good about it all day long and maybe feel ok about eating that slice of chocolate cake in the afternoon.

I’d never tried Almond milk before but I’d definitely have it again. My OH loves it on its own and I’ve enjoyed it a Nutella hot choc with it too.

Some facts for you:

The unsweetened variant of almond milk boasts 60 per cent fewer calories than even skimmed milk, as well being low in saturated fat and a good source of calcium!

Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants

Goji berries have all 18 amino acids as well as mega doses of vitamin A (beta carotene), B1, B2, B6 and vitamin E.

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A day in the life of a toddler – in pics

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Recently we went to visit our friends in London .. Woo big city baby. As is our life now gone are the days of finding the best pubs and restaurants and instead we found the best parks and Izzy had a fab day. One of our friends just happens to be a professional photographer so I had to share some of the photos from our day out.

Thanks Ceri!

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Photos by Hula_

http://www.hulavisuals.tumblr.com

Hide the veggies pasta sauce

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My daughter will eat pretty much anything. I know I’m lucky and many of my friends and family really struggle with what their toddlers will or won’t eat. I am also sensible enough to realise this may not last forever and next month she may be as picky as picky can be.

Today I was making up a pasta sauce for my OH to take to work and decided to make up a batch for Izzy at the same time. Now as I said at this moment I don’t have any problems with getting her to eat veg but this is a sure fire way of knowing that she gets everything she needs.

So here we have a super easy but tasty tomato sauce which can be whipped up in 5 minutes and frozen if necessary.

You will need:

A carton of passata (500g)
A large handful of baby spinach leaves
2 handfuls of frozen broccoli ( steamed or boiled)
1 sweet potato ( diced
50g of cheese (grated)
1 knob of butter
1 tbsp of chopped parsley

Boil/steam your broccoli and sweet potato and set aside.
Sauté your spinach in butter until soft, add your passata, broccoli, sweet potato, cheese and parsley. Warm through and use a hand blender to thoroughly blend all ingredients.

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This made enough to feed my hungry man and toddler with another leftover for another meal. Next time I’ll definitely make double and freeze a batch.

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Picture me happy – PrinterPix Competition

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I’ve always liked taking photos and never really liked being in them. When I had Izzy I went into overdrive taking photos of her every 5 minutes it seemed. When I realised I had taken thousands of pics in her first year ..it seemed a bit mad. Is it mad though to want to capture everything? Childhood is so fleeting and that funny little face they made for 5 seconds when eating their first strawberry may last a long time in your memory but wouldn’t it be nicer still if you could have that image perfectly preserved forever? Even if its only ever used to embarrass them at their 18th birthday party. Definitely.

In 95% of the photos we have of Izzy, it’s her on her own or with family members or mostly with her handsome daddy but very rarely with me. I don’t like being in front of the camera and well her first year I felt like I had hardly a minute to brush my hair so I may not have been at my most photogenic during that time! In the photo below my OH has captured me and Izzy at last years Camp Bestival dancing around to Mr Tumble on stage, it was such a happy happy weekend for us and for once the absolute pleasure on her face far outweighed my tired eyes or lack of make up. I felt radiant in the glow of my love for my family. Cheesy? Yes for sure but true. This may not be the most perfect photograph and you could do better with an actual camera ( this was an iPhone snap) but to me it is me as a mother with my ever so beautiful little girl, smiling at the man we both love. It couldn’t be more perfect in my eyes.

Thank you to Tots100 for making me dig through my photos and reminding me of some special times. Its also made me realise that even if I don’t want to be in pics, I should be as at some point it will be lovely for my daughter to look back and remember. Tots100 are running a competition where you could win a stack of goodies from Printerpix. This is my entry. I am camera less at present so it would definitely come in handy!

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This post is Becky’s entry into the PrinterPix photo competition

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

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I love chocolate and I love cake. I mostly enjoy chocolate cake but sometimes it’s either not quite chocolatey enough or far too chocolatey. If you are a fan of chocolate cake you will understand what I mean. Too chocolatey and it’s can be sickly, too rich and leave an unpleasant aftertaste.. Not chocolatey enough and it’s well a rather bland brown cake. I’ve played with recipes for ages now and I have found or rather worked away at various combinations until I’ve found the ULTIMATE chocolate cake – well for my tastebuds anyhow. I thought you may like to try it and seeing as it wouldn’t be possible to send you all a slice I will share the recipe with you, hoping you will try it and let me know what you think. I should add its simple enough for even the clumsiest baker and would be ideal as a dessert for Valentines day. Chocolate is the food of love – in my house anyway.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

You will need:

150g of Cake flour ( this is a special flour from Flourbin) SR would also work
30g of Hersheys cocoa powder (any good quality cocoa would do)
175g softened butter ( I used lightly salted lurpak as its what I had )
175g Caster sugar
1 level tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
1 tbsp milk ( plus 1 extra if required)

Preheat your oven 180C or gas 4. Grease and line 2 x 20cm cake tins or use silicone! ( much easier )
Place all ingdients ( except milk) in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until thick and creamy. You want a dropping consistency so add your milk and if needed the extra spoonful. Divide mixture between the tins and smooth until level.Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when pressed with 1 finger. Cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

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Filling:

If you served this as a dessert you could whisk double cream with 1 tbsp of baileys and a 2 tbsp of caster sugar until thick and use as a filling or you can do as I did and make a delicious chocolate & vanilla buttercream instead.

Chocolate and vanilla buttercream:

125g Butter – very soft
30g cocoa powder (sifted)
200g Icing Sugar (sifted)
1tbsp warmed milk
1tbsp Nielsen Massey vanilla or a vanilla pod or BOTH!

In a large bowl beat your butter with a wooden spoon or an electric whisk until light and fluffy.
Gradually mix in the icing sugar and cocoa powder until smooth and creamy.
Add the vanilla and sufficient milk to give a fairly firm spreading consistency. Delicious.

Icing:

I make a chocolate glacé icing to go on top. I used the silverspoon recipe for glacé icing and whisked in a little Hershey’s cocoa powder before spreading on top, leaving to set slightly and decorating with white vice versas as I thought it would look cute. There are so many ways in which you could make this cake extra special – such as by making a ganache to top or even completely cover your cake or by really going to town on the decoration!

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This cake is so moist it will taste delicious for several days but I doubt it will last that long.

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When making any kind of cake especially if for a special occasion always use the best, freshest ingredients you can afford. Always use free range eggs, the best vanilla ( Nielsen Masseys – not sponsored unfortunately) and its definitely worth using special Cake flour. This is a new discovery for me after a lovely parcel from The Flour Bin and I’m enjoying trying it in different recipes. Look out for my competition sometimes this week when you can win a £30 voucher to spend with them!

Happy baking x

Meal Plan Monday

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I’ve been a bit rubbish at meal planning the past few weeks, firstly we had a week away then a few things got on top of me and I just had a bit of a break from planning and social media etc but it just made me feel worse. Meal planning saves time and stops you worrying about what you have left in the fridge to eat the next day as you only shop for what you need – thus it also stops overspending and ensure you use up everything. So with that in mind I’m back in track and without further ado ( waffle ) here is this weeks meal plan:

Monday : roast dinner – cant really take credit for this as was cooked for me by OH’s dad.
Tuesday : Comforting Chicken Casserole – recipe here
Wednesday : Red Lentil Thai curry – recipe here
Thursday : Beef stew and dumplings
Friday & Saturday : Off to London to visit friends so takeaways or restaurant food 🙂

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Breaded Garlic Mushrooms

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I know I said that I was going to try posting healthier recipes but I lied. Well I didn’t lie. I did try and am still trying but sometimes an idea comes to me and I just have to act on it.

I enjoy the odd garlic mushroom. Normally as a starter or on a sharing plate during a pub meal, occasionally I have bought ready made ones at the supermarket but I’ve always been disappointed. They either do not taste of anything or they are soggy.

Well due to my current budgeting/frugal living I had a ton of breadcrumbs, I also had some mushrooms that were almost ready to die. Really I had no choice. I’ve never attempted to make them before and didn’t look up a recipe so this is probably (definitely) not the traditional way to make them. You will need just 4 ingredients.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms – any ones ( washed and dried)
Breadcrumbs
Beaten egg
Garlic paste ( in a tube like tomato purée)

Get two plates, put your breadcrumbs on one and your beaten egg on another. Mix in a few squirts garlic paste with your beaten egg ( leave to sit for 10 mins) heat the oil in your pan or deep fat fryer until bubbling. Roll each mushroom in egg ( cover well) then roll in breadcrumbs (also cover well)
Cook in hot oil until golden brown and crispy.

Serve with anything. A homemade garlic mayo alongside would be epic but sweet chilli is good too.

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Breadcrumbs tip – instead of throwing leftover bread away, mix with herbs until fine in a processor and freeze in small portions in freezer bags. It defrosts almost immediately and can be used in a number of dishes.