Teasecake Time!

I recently finished my job in Exeter and am in the middle of a relaxing 3 weeks between jobs. I came back to Nottinghamshire this weekend after making the most of my last week in the place I've called home for the past 4 years! It's been emotional, but I'm excited about what's to come!

Obviously this has meant lots of goodbyes and get togethers. A friend from work invited me and a few colleagues over for a dinner party. I offered to make dessert, and given my free time I decided to make something a bit different...

I've never made a non-bake cheesecake before and didn't actually think I liked the (I'm a ridiculously picky eater), but after finding a recipe for a Malteaser Cheesecake, I didn't really think I could go wrong...

I wasn't mistaken.

The recipe is taken from BBC Good Food (I changed it a teeny bit but all credit to the genius that came up with this). It doesn't really even take that long to make, but will need 5 hours to chill & set.

I used a 24cm loose bottomed round tin. Remember to line it so you can get the cheesecake free easily!

Ingredients

200g malted milk biscuits

100g unsalted butter, melted (I didn't melt mine, which meant the base was a bit too crumbly so don't miss that!)

5tbsp caster sugar

600g soft cheese

300ml double cream

300g white chocolate, melted

200g milk chocolate, melted

2tbsp malt powder (I used half a sachet of the malteaser hot chocolate drinking powder which then meant there was enough left over for a drink too...)

37g bag malted sees

Method

Bash the biscuits up into crumbs. Putting a lot of effort into this will mean you burn off enough calories to eat a slice of this guilt free...maybe.

Mix together the butter, biscuit crumbs & half the sugar

Push into base, making sure it's level.

Leave this to chill whilst you make the topping.

Melt the two different chocolates separately in glass bowls over a simmering pan, or in the microwave.

Then, add the white chocolate to a bowl with half of the cream cheese and half of the cream.

In another bowl, you need the milk chocolate, malt powder and remaining 3tbsp sugar. Beat both bowls until they are super smoooooth.

Get the biscuit base back from the fridge and spread the milk chocolate mixture over the top, keeping it as even as you can on the top. Wipe round the side of the tin so your layers stay as neat as possible!

On top, add the white chocolate mixture and smooth with a spatula (let's just say I went for a more rustic look...) 

Finally, top with malteasers! The original recipe used white chocolate malteasers but I went for the milk chocolate version to give a bit of a contrast.

Refrigerate for 5 hours (if you can stay away that long!!)

And what you get, with surprisingly little effort (but sshhh) is a pretty impressive looking dessert! 

This goes pretty far, as it is quite rich so a small slice is plenty! Give it a go, you won't be disappointed! 

I'm going away to Suffolk this week so will hopefully have a new post up soon!

Feeling 22

I recently celebrated my 22nd birthday. I'm a firm believer that birthday celebrations should be spread out over as long a time as you can manage, and I think I did pretty well this year. I also got 3 birthday cakes so that has to count for something.

I kicked off celebrations a week early when I was treated to a beeeauutiful steak at Cafe Rouge before a night out in Exeter with all of my friends still around down here. 

 Obviously a new outfit was needed and after a verrrry big shopping spree on payday I settled on this dress from Topshop which I love!

I had a great night, feeling pretty horrific the next morning but it's nothing that can't be fixed with a morning snuggled up on the sofa watching Friends and a trip to my new favourite cafe in Exeter, Cakeadoodledoo. It's tiny, but the slices of cake are not, so I don't mind the occasional wait for a table.

On my actual birthday I was surprised at work with the first delicious chocolate cake of the day (I'm talking a lot about cake aren't I?!) 

Aaand that evening I had a bunch of friends over for curry, games and more chocolate cake thanks to the fabulous Cat - just LOOK at it! 

The next day I had a day off work and headed northwards to my parents' new house in a small village in Nottinghamshire for a weekend with friends and family which was lovely! 

Having not seen anyone since Christmas it was great to catch up, eat even more, and explore the new area...

...which, by the way, is pretty beautiful.

A fantastic few days with some of my favourite people! I'm looking forward to a lot of changes this year... who knows where I'll be at 23!

Baking Bonanza

Last week I went to a friend’s house for the afternoon. We have a mutual love of baking, and after her living abroad for a year, it was about time we got the ingredients out and got cracking.

A quick flick through my Hummingbird book (again!) and we had decided – we would bake two different types of cupcake – Eton Mess, and Cookies & Cream (the smaller versions of this)

The Eton Mess cupcakes are, as you’d probably expect, a simple vanilla sponge. The mixture seemed very runny compared to most recipes, so if you go on to make these, be aware that (somehow) that is absolutely fine – the cakes still tasted great.

Once baked and cooled, you cut a small hole out of the sponge and fill with chopped up strawberries, then place the sponge back onto the top ready to top.

They are topped with a custard type icing and strawberries. The recipe also suggests adding crumbled up meringue, too. We tried to make one of those… but unfortunately it didn’t really work!

Still, the cakes tasted lovely and went down well with our families!

I have to admit though, the Cookies & Cream cupcakes definitely won hands down.

They have a chocolate sponge, and we put small pieces of Maryland chocolate chip cookies into the mixture.

Once cooked, we put a buttercream style icing on top (which we added vanilla extract to) and decorated with crumbled up Oreos.

Heaven.

The icing on both was, again, pretty runny, so in the future I’d probably add more icing sugar, but with a fork (or some sticky fingers) both cakes were very very yummy.

We were pleased with ourselves.

And my Mum even said the Cookies & Cream cupcakes were “possibly the best things she’d ever tasted”.

High praise indeed!

Annie's Burger Shack

On Thursday, myself and a couple of friends went to Annie’s Burger Shack in Nottingham. I’d received good news about a new job during the day and this seemed like a good way to celebrate. We’ve been meaning to go for a while and finally managed to get a date which suited, and a table.

 It was well worth the wait.

Annie’s started off as a burger kitchen in a pub, but in the past year or so has developed into a popular restaurant in the old Lace Market area of town. It’s now a two storey affair, selling burgers on the ground floor, and the basement is a bar. The perfect night.

We started off with a strawberry milkshake as we waited for a table.

They split the restaurant in half; one half is bookable, the other is for people dropping in. We tried to book a few days before and were told it was fully booked, and so arrived an hour before we wanted to eat in order to ensure we got a table. It wasn’t too busy so we didn’t have to wait that long, but it was a week day evening. Big groups and weekends I’d certainly recommend booking in advance if you can.

It was fine though… we needed plenty of time to give the menu our full attention and decide which burger we wanted. There are thirty options… THIRTY. And each one is available for vegetarians or vegans as well as meat.

It’s a big decision.

It ranges from the classic cheeseburger to some pretty surreal ones. I was tempted by The Gringo, a burger with a tortilla basket on top full of spicy rice, refried beans and salsa, but figured I’d NEVER finish it! There’s even a Sunday Dinner burger, complete with roast chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pud. I love burgers, I love Sunday dinners… I just couldn’t quite imagine them together drenched in gravy! 

Maybe next time…

Emma ordered The Jamie Blackmore, which comes with BBQ’d pulled pork, salsa and Red Leicester.

Claire went for the Delta; cheese, olives, onion rings, jalapenos, and added bacon…

I stayed pretty safe and ordered the Reggie, which is served with cheese & bacon and a crispy hash brown in between those and the patty.

I wasn’t disappointed. It was delicious. Served with curly fries (you can choose from a range of sides), I’m not sure any burger I’ve had before competes. It was huge, but it was delicious.

A bottle of cider later I plodded on home, full, but very happy.

We’re planning our next trip to Annie’s already.

Hummingbird Happiness

For my birthday a few months ago, my friend bought me a Hummingbird Bakery recipe book.

Almost 300 pages of yummy treats; cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies, pies...

But the section that has captured my attention the most (so far!) is home to the huge, 3 layer mountains of goodness.

They are deeeeelicious, and have got me so many compliments from people! I've always loved baking, but had previously stuck mainly to the traditional Victoria Sponge and simple, iced cupcakes.

These are on a whole other level!

If I'm honest, they use far more ingredients (and therefore money) and take up much more time than I should probably have been spending on a lot of these, particularly since they were mostly made throughout revision time (oops!)

 But they are certainly worth it!

This is their Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, probably my favourite

Chocolate Malt Cake with yummy fudge sauce in between the layers (as well as the cream cheese frosting, they don't do anything by halves!)

Cookies & Cream Cake

Mississippi Mud Cake, a little sickly I thought but others didn't think so!

I'm looking forward to my next baking day so I can try out another of their great recipes! Has anyone got any cake or biscuit recipes they think shouldn't be missed?!

N x

Insta Update

Since there was quite a gap between my previous couple of posts, it means there's plenty to fill you in on! So I thought I'd just do a little update from my instagram photos showing a few bits I've been up to over the past couple of months (other than revision!)

A beautiful sunset walk down to Exeter quay taking my mind off work for a couple of hours

An afternoon in the sun (finally) relaxing and drinking milkshakes in the Exeter Cathedral grounds

Treating ourselves at my favourite burger place (so far!) - Hubbox in Exeter

Aaand a bit more - huge, delicious pizzas at Firehouse - one of the best places in Exeter for sure!

University Awards night

Beautiful Nerja (which you can read about here)

My friend's 21st - including a Teddy Bear picnic!

Back in my hometown and straight out for cocktails 

In Chiquitos 

More cocktails...

Homemade Tapas - possibly the most stressful kitchen experience of my life

Friend's birthday celebrations

Beautiful sky on one of my runs - burning off all the cakes I've been baking (post to follow!)

If you want to follow me, click here - I'd love to check out your photos too!

N x