Baked Chocolate Cheesecake - Baking Challenge Update

Last night, my lovely friend Lucy, of Mrs Bishop's Bakes and Banter hosted a chocolate tea party, in aid of The Sick Children's Trust.

We all donated £3 to charity and bought along something chocolatey to add to the buffet table. There was also a raffle, and Lucy made and sold these lovely little pots of Jamie Oliver's Epic Hot Chocolate. I didn't need to try Lucy's, to know that this hot chocolate is lush! I have made it and given it as Christmas gifts in the past and it is well worth a try.

Lucy's photo (hope you don't mind, Lucy!)

As well as having a lovely evening, Lucy raised over £115 for the charity, so a good night all round!

So now to the point of my post. My chocolate offering. I had thought that I would take chocolate macarons along, but then the thought occurred to me that I haven't made amazing progress with the baking challenge I set myself earlier this year yet. So, I thought about what I could make chocolatey, and the cheesecake seemed the obvious choice.

Eric Lanlard's version. Photo: Channel4.com

I decided to use this recipe for Baked Chocolate Cheesecake by Eric Lanlard. Especially since the version I had planned on making for the challenge was by him too. I altered the recipe slightly. Partly because I can't help myself, and partly because I left the shopping for ingredients until Easter Sunday and the supermarkets were shut! What? It had not occurred to me that they would be shut!

Anyway, our local Budgens (that has been visited by Jamie Oliver no less) shuts for nothing, so I was saved. But marscapone is far too big an ask of them, so I had to settle for a combination of extra cream cheese (400g total) plus a 200ml pot of creme fraiche. I also added a bit more sugar (about 15g extra I think) to make up for the fact that the marscapone would have been sweeter.

I also omitted the chocolate essence, but substituted with a good slug of Amaretto liqueur. What do you mean, that's not a like for like substitution? In my humble opinion, there is nothing that can't be made better by the addition of amaretto, especially if it's chocolate, so I jumped on the excuse. Oh, I also used 4 medium, instead of 3 large eggs.

The cheesecake was really quick and easy to make. I loved the idea of Bourbon biscuits as the base, as that chocolate bit in the middle of them can only make it extra scrummy, surely?

I made a slight error of judgement in lining the cake tin. I should have cut a circle of parchment paper for the bottom, but was being lazy, so I used a pre-cut baking tin liner. That would have been fine, but the fluted edges separated a bit and the mix got in between them, so the sides of the cheesecake are a bit messy. But that only affects what it looks like, it still tasted yummy.

Of course, I forgot to take a photo before it was sliced in to, but here it is, dusted with cocoa and a few sparkly sprinkles. Not quite as professional looking as Eric's, but if I'd lined the tin properly, I don't think it would be far off.

Really yummy, and really easy. Give it a go. It would be delicious served at the end of a meal, with raspberries on the side, to cut through the chocolate a bit.

 

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Hairy Bikers' Layered Beef and Mushroom Suet Pudding

Photo courtesy of bbc food.http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/layered_beef_and_36022

So, part one of my self-imposed recipe challenge. I was having a bit of a pantry clear-out and found a pack of Atora suet. I can't remember buying it and what recipe I had in mind, but decided it's time it got used. Beef suet pudding sounded like a lovely comforting meal for a wet and windy Sunday, so I set about an internet search for a recipe.

I settled on this Hairy Bikers recipe. Looks yummy and fairly easy. What I didn't do, was read the recipe properly before starting. If you fancy a go at this, beware, it is not a quick recipe. The beef filling takes a couple of hours, before you make the pastry and form the pudding. Then you need another couple of hours to steam the pudding. I didn't fully appreciate this until after I'd started cooking, so I ended up making the filling one day and forming and steaming the pudding the next. We ended up with pizza for Sunday dinner!!

So, I made my beef filling, as per the recipe, and then let it cool. Once again, I didn't read the recipe properly and didn't take the 5 ladlefulls of sauce out for the gravy. The next day, once the sauce had cooled and kind of congealed a bit, I couldn't take one ladlefull out, never mind 5. I didn't think this would matter - I'll just make extra gravy for serving - but as you will see, it was going to matter! Lesson learned here. Read the recipe!!

The suet pastry was ridiculously easy to make. Here are my different sized balls of pastry, ready to be layered up.

And then you just start layering.

Until you get to the top.

I had to watch a couple of you tube videos to work out how to tie the pudding up, ready for steaming. And needed a trip to the garage for my lovely pink garden string.

Here we are, all tied up and ready to go.

I had to get my biggest pan out - the one usually reserved for Ham in Coke. You need to stand the bowl on an upturned saucer, so that it doesn't come into direct contact with the bottom of the pan, and this means you need a bigger pan.

I reccommend using proper cooking string, rather than garden twine. Especially if your garden twine is pink, as it will do this to the water. Not a problem for the pudding, as it doesn't come into contact with the water, but if your husband sees it, he'll wonder what on earth you've been doing!

After 2 hours of steaming, and great anticipation, you get to turn your pudding out. Now it should look like this. See those pretty layers? But remember those 5 ladlefulls of sauce?

If you fail to take them out, like I did, your pudding will be too wet, and this will happen.

Hmm, not so pretty. And I almost decided not to write this post after all. But then we tucked in, and oh my gosh, it was yummy! Second helpings all round and clean plates from the girls. A definite success.

Here it is, served up with the husband's black pudding mash (from the freezer) and frozen veggies. Because if you've spent more than 5 hours making the pudding, you kind of forget about the rest, until the last minute!

Believe me, this recipe was delicious. I will definitely make it again, but next time, I will read the recipe all the way through, before I start!

Give it a go, you will love it. Please let me know if you do.

 

Recipe Challenge

I was talking with my lovely friend Lucy this week about baking (no surprise there then!) and the monthly baking challenge she set herself here. It got me thinking about what would be on my challenge list. I'm not going to set myself a monthly target, but I thought I'd come up with a list, with the aim of trying to complete as much as I can this year.

So, in no particular order, here's my list:

Suet Pudding. I've never cooked with suet before, so I'm actually going to do this one today, using the Hairy Bikers' Layered Beef and Mushroom Suet Pudding recipe. I'll post about it later.

Baked Cheesecake. How have I never made a baked cheesecake? I love them. I reckon this recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Cheesecake by Eric Lanlard, looks amazing!

Creme Caramel. I love the mass produced kind that comes in a little plastic pot from the supermarket, with the sauce at the bottom, so a homemade version has got to be amazing, especially if Mary Berry's showing you how!

Fresh Pasta. This is something I really need to do with Evie. She loves making her own pizza, or bread rolls, and she loves pasta, so making her own will be great. It's also something that will be really useful for me to be able to make for myself, once I start eating Gluten Free. With that in mind, I think I'll have a go at this recipe from Doves Farm.

Chocolate Fondant. "The road to Masterchef is paved with failed Chocolate Fondants" said Greg Wallace during one episode, and for some reason, it stuck with Joe and I, so that whenever we are faced with a menu containing said dessert, you can bet your life one of us will repeat it, in our best Greg voice. I think I'll try this recipe by Gordon Ramsay.

French Onion Soup. I think I'm going to have to go with Delia for this one.

Gnocchi. Another recipe that will be very useful once we go GF. I've been recommended this recipe from Serious Eats.

 

Bedfordshire Clanger. I was going to say Cornish Pasty, but really, I should keep it local and go for a Clanger!

Staffordshire Oatcakes. While we're talking regional specialities, I should go back to my teenage years and recreate the Staffordshire Oatcake. Delicious for brunch with beans, bacon and melted cheese!

Syrup Sponge. I've never made one of these, but I'm pretty sure my 'anything with custard' husband would love it. Plus, how cute do these mini ones look?

Hash Browns. Luuurve hash browns! The absolute best bit of a McDonalds breakfast! A homemade version is surely going to be healthier and yummier? This recipe on the Wicked Yummy blog looks scrummy!

Potted Shrimps. My starter of choice at Loch Fyne. Felicity Cloake's excellent "How to cook the perfect ...." series in The Guardian featured a recipe here, and I haven't found one of her recipes to fail yet, so I'll be giving that a try.

Stollen. This will probably wait until the end of the year, as Christmas is just not Christmas without Stollen! I'll be Gluten Free by then, so think I'll give this recipe a try.

So there it is, my bakers dozen of food challenges. Will I get them all done by the end of the year? Watch out for blog posts on each one. What would be on your list?

 

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