Simple white chocolate Cheesecake recipe

I've made this cheesecake using this recipe once before, it is one of my all time favourite desserts and it is so simple to make! So I thought why not share the recipe with you lovely lot so you can have a go yourselves...you could maybe even blog about your cheesecake and link it to me ;D

I was using an 8 inch round tin which you can remove the bottom from, I wouldn't advise using any other kind of tin because cheesecakes are a pain to remove! Also, there wasn't going to be enough of the mix to fill the cake tin I was using so I'll list the origional recipe, and you can improvise and add a bit more of each if you want to do an 8 inch tin like me!

You will need:

• 175g Digestive biscuits
• 75g Melted butter
• 300g Soft cream cheese
• 200ml Double cream
• 250g White chocolate
• Anything you may want to decorate with eg. Strawberries!

Instructions:

1. Put the digestives in to a sandwich bag and crush with a rolling pin until they're all broken down in to crumbs.
2. Melt the butter in a pan, mix in the crushed digestives with the butter. Flatten this mixture on to the bottom of your cake tin using the bottom of a table spoon to push it all down.
3. Beat the cream cheese and double cream together while you melt your chocolate. (I find the easiest way to melt chocolate without burning it is to fill up a pan with water, maybe 1cm of it, break your chocolate down in to smallish sections in to a mixing bowl, and place the mixing bowl of chocolate on top of the pan. Make sure the heat is at its lowest and don't burn yourself when you lift the bowl off of the pan!
4. Add the melted white chocolate to the double cream and cream cheese mixture and beat together.
5. Finally, spoon the mixture on top of the digestive biscuit layer and leave to chill in the fridge over night, or for at least 2/3ish hours (This being the absoloute minimum if you're desperate to eat it, overnight if you can)

When you're done feel free to decorate it however you like! Maltesers, Strawberries, Raspberries, flakes, whatever takes your fancy!

Happy Cheesecaking!

Love, Hol xxx

My cupcake recipe!

Hi all! When i say my cupcake recipe, i mean the one i follow, not some super secret exciting recipe i've created myself (I wish!) After my last cupcake post i asked if anybody would be interested in me posting the recipe i follow for cupcakes, so here it is! Along with some other cupcakes i made the other day for a little girls 10th birthday. Since i make cakes and cupcakes for people as a small business, i use a large kenwood mixer, which not everyone is going to have because they're expensive and a waste for people who don't bake alot. I highly recommend investing in an electric whisk to get the best cakes. You can buy them at reasonable prices for about £15. Needless to say i've burned out about 3 lots of electric whisks so i had to get something better!

You will need :

• 4 ounces margarine (I swear by Stork!)
• 4 ounces caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 4 ounces self raising flour
• Flavouring of your choice (vanilla/lemon/peppermint essence)

1. First of all, you want to start by softening your margarine a little, so give it a little whiz round with your whisk, or if you're totally game and want a dead arm afterwards, then give it a good old beating with your wooden spoon.

2. Add the caster sugar to the margerine. Cream together until light and fluffy.

3. Crack open your eggs in to a seperate jug, and beat in a little bit of the egg at a time to prevent your mix from curdling.

4. Fold in your flour using a large metal spoon. Using a metal spoon allows you to fold easier, it has a sharper edge than a chunky wooden spoon, allowing you to cut straight down to the bottom of your mix and bring it up to the top to fold.

5. Add flavouring of your choice, and beat/electric whisk one last time before putting in the cupcake cases.

6. Place in the middle shelf of your oven at 150 degrees for between 24 and 27 (ish) minutes. I bake my cupcakes for a longer amount of time on a lower heat because i find if baked at the usual 180 degrees, my cupcakes end up with a a massive bump/eruption in the middle of them, this is because the cupcakes are baking on the outside before the mixture has had a chance to rise properly! Please note my oven is fan assisted, they're usually roughly 10 degrees hotter than what you set the temperature to (or so i'm told) So in theory in a normal oven i would bake them at 160 degrees.

You can usually tell if you're cupcakes are ready by inserting a cocktail stick in the center of them, if it comes out clean then you're done! Leave the cupcakes in the baking tray to set for 10 minutes before placing them on a wire rack for the rest of the cooling time. Cupcakes are still very easily squashed when they're fresh out the oven so definetely avoid picking them up for at least 10 minutes.

When they are cool icing and decoration is really up to you! I more or less stick to piping swirls on them and adding springles and other shapes i've cut out. Here are a few i've done to give you some ideas.






I really hope this has been helpful to everyone, and that i have explained the steps i take as clearly as i can! I look forward to posting some more recipes for you all soon.
Love, Hol xxx