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‘Desserts and Sweets’ Category

  1. Christmas cheesecake (GF)

    December 8, 2024 by Lisa

    This cheesecake is so easy, no-bake, gluten free, relatively low sugar and beautifully Christmassy. Double it for a bigger cheesecake but this mini one easily serves 8.

    Ingredients


    For the crust:

    • 150g gluten free ginger biscuits, crushed
    • 70g melted butter


    For the filling:

    • 250g cream cheese
    • 150ml double cream
    • 125g mascarpone
    • 40ml maple syrup
    • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

    Line an 8” springform or loose base pan with baking parchment. Mix the melted butter with the crushed biscuits and press into the bottom of the pan, pushing a little up the sides to form a little lip. Refrigerate while mixing the filling.

    Combine the cream cheese, mascarpone, maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl. Add the cream and mix until stiff peaks form. Add a little more maple syrup to taste if you like. You could also add some lemon juice for a lemon cheesecake but I love the subtle creaminess of the mix unadulterated.

    Add the mix into the pan and smooth it down, pressing into the pan. Refrigerate several hours or better overnight. Top with fresh cranberry sauce or any other festive fruit you fancy.

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  2. Soft Flapjacks

    January 14, 2024 by Lisa

    These are a thick, buttery, soft and crumbly flapjack. And when I say buttery, I mean there is a LOT of butter in this recipe.

    Ingredients:

    • 150g granulated sugar
    • 225g salted butter, melted
    • 115g golden syrup
    • 270g porridge or rolled oats
    • 185g plain flour
    • 1/4 tsp salt
    • Jam, peanut butter, biscoff spread or fruit, as you like. Or nothing at all, if you also like.

    Instructions:

    Mix the sugar, melted butter and golden syrup in a bowl. Separately, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then add the sugar and butter mixture and combine well. Add half the mix to a 16cm x 25cm rectangular baking dish lined with parchment paper and press down firmly. Add some generous dollops of whatever filling takes your fancy and then top with the rest of the flapjack mixture and press down.

    Cook in a 160C conventional/150C fan oven for 40 minutes. If you cook it longer, they do get considerably harder (I know because I didn’t hear my timer the second time I made these – oops). Cool for 5-10 minutes in the dish then use the baking parchment to lift onto a wire rack until cool before cutting into any size you like.

    I think you could use all manner of things in the middle of these. A chocolate spread would be delicious, as would some sort of salted caramel, both of which I will try next time I make them.

    Makes around 16 servings, more or less.

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  3. Gingerbread Cookies

    December 24, 2023 by Lisa

    These are soft, thick gingerbread cookies that are super simple to make.

    Ingredients

    • 225g salted butter, at room temperature
    • 213g light brown sugar
    • 170g black treacle
    • 390g plain flour
    • 2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
    • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
    • pinch of nutmeg
    • 1/2 tsp baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp salt

    Instructions

    Beat butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamed. Add the treacle and mix until combined. Add flour and spices and mix well. Add 1-2 tsp of milk if the dough doesn’t stick together well.

    Divide the dough into halves, and roll each one between sheets of parchment to 1.25cm. Place the rolled dough in parchment paper on a baking sheet and chill for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

    Preheat your oven to 170° C fan or 180° C normal. Cut your desired shapes out of the chilled dough and place a couple of inches apart on a baking sheet. If the cookies are no longer firm and cold to the touch put the sheet back in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 to 15 minutes.

    Bake for 8-9 minutes. They should look just set and slightly puffy. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before decorating.

    The dough can be made, rolled out, and stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before baking or baked, cooled, and stored in an airtight container for 1-2 days before decorating.

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  4. Fruit Crumble

    December 18, 2023 by Lisa

    Crumbles are super easy, but I always have to look up the proportions. This recipe is about right for a decent layer of fruit and a thick crumble. Honestly, I could eat crumble without the fruit, but we all need our 5 a day, right? Switch up the fruit as you like: apple, pears, maybe add some blackberries. You can use rhubarb if you’re feeling spicy – just pre-cook in a covered saucepan until soft and add sugar to taste. Use a rectangular baking dish. An 18×25 will serve 6-8.

    The Fruit:

    • 2 large Bramley apples for an apple crumble, but use more or less as you like
    • 2-3tsp cornflour
    • 150g caster sugar (or less if the fruit is sweet, like pears or eating apples)
    • 1tsp cinnamon

    The Crumble:

    • 240g plain flour
    • 150g room temperature salted butter, cut into pieces
    • 120g demerara sugar
    • 1-2tsp cinnamon
    • 100g rolled oats

    Peel and slice the apples into 1-2cm slices. If you use pears, cut into chunks as the pears will cook quickly. toss in a bowl with the cornflour, sugar and cinnamon.

    In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon with the butter and rub together with your fingers until the butter is evenly distributed and it has the texture of wet sand. mix in the oats.

    I always add a thin layer of crumble to the bottom of the dish as I love the slightly gooey base, but you can go straight in with the fruit if you prefer. Add the rest of the crumble to the top in an even layer. You can give some of the crumble a bit of a squeeze to create some larger crumbs which will crisp up nicely. If you want a really crunchy top, sprinkle on some more demerara sugar, but watch carefully so it doesn’t burn.

    Cook for 30-40 minutes at 180C fan or 200C conventional. You can stab a fork in to make sure the fruit is cooked. Serve hot or cold with cream, custard or ice cream.

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  5. Possets

    May 13, 2023 by Lisa

    IMG_8988It’s been a minute, but I wanted to save this recipe because I LOVE it so much. You can also add this to a tart base or fill your desert pots with a biscuit crumb base. You can use lemon, orange or any citrus juice. Lemon is my favourite but I may try a grapefruit posset next time.

    Ingredients:

    • 300ml double cream
    • 100g caster sugar
    • 38ml citrus juice
    • zest of one citrus

    Put the cream and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar is melted. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and add the juice and zest. Pour into tart base or divide between small pots. Cool to room temp and then chill in the refrigerator until set.

    It’s really that easy!

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  6. Salted Clotted Cream Fudge

    December 27, 2017 by Lisa

    I haven’t posted in a very, very long time. I guess I’ve not really tried anything new! But that changed over Christmas as I had some time to make homemade things for hampers and found out how easy it is to make both clotted cream and fudge. Yes, you can make your own clotted cream and it’s really easy.

    This fudge recipe is based on a combination of quite a few recipes online and although I made only the one small batch, I’m pretty sure I have the foundations right. You can pretty much use any amount of clotted cream and sugar if you have a suitable sized pan. But let’s start with the clotted cream as you’ll need to start a day ahead. You’ll also want a jam thermometer as trying to determine the “soft ball” stage is more work than I was willing to put in. Mine was a good investment – essential for chili jam!

    IMG_2527Clotted Cream

    Pour enough double or whipping cream (heavy cream in the states) into a flat bottomed pan to give about 1-2 inches of cream.

    Place into a 80 C (180F) oven and leave it for 12 hours. After 12 hours it should have a golden yellow top. Take it out and cool to room temperature, then cover and place in the fridge for another 8-10 hours.  After that you should be able to gently scoop out the cream into a covered jar and keep it for up to 5 days. Easy! Oh, and so much cheaper than store-bought.

    Clotted Cream Fudge

    The amount you make will depend mostly on the quantity of cream you’ve made. This recipe assumes you have at least 225g of cream from your clotted cream making adventures. The syrup is really important, as it is, apparently what prevents sugar crystals from forming and gives this fudge the smoothest texture you can imagine. In general, however, just use the same amount of sugar as cream and make a guess as to the other ingredients. A little more or less vanilla or syrup isn’t going to make a huge difference.

    Start by lining a pan with grease-proof paper. You could butter it a bit as well, but make sure it covers the bottom and sides of the pan. I used a loaf pan for this amount of fudge.

    Ingredients:

    • 225g clotted cream
    • 225g caster (fine) sugar
    • 100ml golden syrup (or corn syrup)
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla paste or essence
    • pinch of flaked Maldon salt plus additional for the top

     

    Method:

    Place all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan and place over a low heat until the ingredients melt together. Try not to stir, but a little stirring didn’t hurt. This could take a rather long time – maybe half an hour or more. Have a cup of coffee.

    Once melted, put the thermometer in the pan and raise the heat to boiling, stirring constantly until the thermometer reaches “soft ball” or 118C (235F) and remove from the heat. Beat until the mixture thickens – about 10 minutes. It’s supposed to turn from glossy to matt textured, but mine really didn’t seem all that matt! Pour into the lined pan and press flat. Sprinkle with the Maldon salt flakes.

    Refrigerate until set, then remove and cut into whatever shape takes your fancy.

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  7. Amaretti Tiramisu

    May 4, 2014 by Lisa

    A nice twist on the classic Italian dessert. This is a small quantity suitable for 4 to 6 people.

    250 g mascarpone
    2 eggs
    35g caster sugar
    Amaretti biscuits
    tablespoon tia maria
    tablespoon Amaretto
    1/3 cup strong coffee
    Dark cocoa powder

    Separate eggs. Whip the whites until stiff then set aside. Beat the yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Blend in the mascarpone until smooth, then gently mix in the whites, being careful not to overmix.

    Combine the coffee, Tia Maria, and Amaretto in a shallow dish and soak the Amaretti biscuits for a few minutes. Put two layers of biscuits in the bottom of a small dish, then top with the mascarpone mixture. Smooth the top and dust liberally with cocoa powder.

    Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

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  8. Oatmeal Cookies

    March 21, 2012 by Lisa

    This recipe makes nice chunky cookies that won’t go flat when cooked. The additional flour means they are ever so slightly cakey, but still chewy inside and crisp on the outside. I used both self-raising flour, soda and baking powder, which may seem like over-kill, but it works out in this case. An alternative would be plain flour and then double the quantities of soda and powder, but that’s another experiment for a later date.

    Ingredients:

    • 4 oz butter (1/2 cup / 113g) – room temperature
    • 1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla
    • 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking powder
    • 1/2 (5ml) tsp salt
    • 1 cup (128g) self-raising flour
    • 1 1/2 (128g) cups rolled oats (porridge oats)
    • 1 cup chopped dates, chocolate chips, nuts, raisins or any combination of the same (optional)

    Cream together the sugars and the butter with an electric mixer. You can use a spoon, but it will take a while – the result should be fluffy and well-mixed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt and mix into the sugar mixture. Add the oats and then the other ingredients if you’re using them. Refrigerate the mixture for an hour or so.

    Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan/350F). This cookie mix will be very stiff, so you’ll need to roll it into loose walnut-sized balls – about 2 inches in diameter – and place on a non-stick cookie sheet. Cook for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

     

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  9. Pear Crumble

    March 7, 2012 by Lisa

    Crumble topping:

    • 100g plain flour
    • Half a block of butter
    • 40g porridge oats
    • 100g brown sugar
    • 1/4 tsp salt

    Pear filling:

    • 4 pears, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp caster sugar
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 2 tsp cornflour

    Preheat oven to 180°C. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, combine the butter, salt, brown sugar and flour until crumbly. Mix the pears, vanilla, cinnamon, caster sugar and cornflour in a separate bowl. Place a thin layer of crumble on the bottom of a medium baking dish then pour in the pear mixture and cover with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy.

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  10. Chili Jeli

    January 24, 2012 by Lisa


    This is a delicious and spicy (obviously) jam that makes a great gift. Amazing with a bit of brie or camembert on toast or a biscuit or in a sandwich with cold meats. Use hotter chilis or increase the proportion of hot chilis to make a spicier jam.

    The chilis are so low in pectin, that a little help in the form of liquid pectin helps it set. It you are a jam expert and think you don’t need the pectin, leave it out, although I found that I had to re-boil the jam to get it to set before I started adding it as a matter of course.

    Ingredients:

    • 150 g long fresh red romano peppers, deseeded and cut into pieces.
    • 150 g hot chili peppers, deseeded and cut into pieces
    • 1 kg jam sugar
    • 600 ml apple cider vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon pectin
    • 10 x 130ml sealable jars

     

    Sterilize the jars and leave to cool. I put them in a pan of water, filling each jar 3/4 with water and placing the lids on top, then bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

    Place the cut-up chilies in a blender and pulse until they’re finely chopped.

    Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a large pan over a low heat. Use a pan larger than you think you’ll need as it easily boil over and you need it to boil vigourously if you have any hopes of the jam setting.

    Scrape the chili-pepper mixture out of the blender and add it to the pan of dissolved sugar. Bring the pan to the boil, then leave it to boil. A jam thermometer is highly recommended as it needs to reach 105C (221F) and then boil additionally for 10 minutes. You can check to see if it’s set using the frozen saucer method: place 4 or 5 saucers in the freezer at the beginning of your jam making session; check for a set by dropping a bit of jam onto the frozen saucer and push it around with your finger. If it gels, it’s probably going to set properly.

    Take the pan off the heat and allow it cool for 45 minutes or so. Skim off any foam, pour into your jars and seal tightly. It may take several hours or overnight for the jam to set.

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