Long Island Cheesecake

This is one of the more indulgent baked cheesecake recipes I have encountered before now, and is notorious for the amount of eggs and cheese it uses. For that reason alone, it intruiged me when i first encountered it. Having tried it for myself I fell in love with it, and have adored it ever since. This recipe is meant for a large cake ring (10 in diameter). If you find you want to make a smaller version, by all means half the recipe volumes.

This is a standard mix, but I have found you can add whatever you like, be it having a berry theme, or a citrus one. use your imagination. Adding fruit to the base before adding the cheesecake mix can give impressive results. Go mad.


For the sponge base:

100g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
100g butter
2 eggs
Vanilla Essence

Cream butter & sugar until mix turns white
Add eggs one by one, and beta until uniform
Add tsp vanilla essence
sieve flour and fold in bit by bit.

Place in a 10 in cake ring and backe at 180C until cooked. Usually you can test this by piercing with a knife, when the knife comes out clean, its ready.

For the cheesecake mix:

750g of cream cheese full fat
225g of caster sugar
12 eggs
270ml of double cream
4 lemons, juiced and zested

Beat all the ingredients together

Place on a sponge base

Cook at 180 degrees till golden brown, for about 30 minutes (longer may be required).

Allow to cool, then devour. You wont be disappointed :)

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Image provided courtesy of the baking pan.com

This is the original (and best) sticky toffee pudding recipe that i came across during my time in the catering industry. NOT at all to be confused with treacle sponge and other variants (which are more than often passed off as sticky toffee pudding), this recipe uses dates and their wonderful caramel-esque flavour to provide our stickiness and toffeeness. Its not for the fainthearted.

When putting this together for the first time, much like me you'll think "this will never work". Trust me it does. And I promise you one thing.... you'll never confuse sticky toffee pudding and treacle sponge desserts ever again.

Ingredients:

12oz dates
1 pint water
1 earl grey teabag
2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
4oz butter
12 oz caster sugar
4 eggs
12 oz self raising flour.

Preparation:


Boil the dates in the water, with tea bag
Once boiled for 5 minutes, add the bicarbonate of soda and remove from the heat, Remove tea bag.
Cream the butter and sugar
Add eggs gradually
Add flour and fold in
Remove the tea bags from the water and add the dates and the water to the mix
Mix together

Bake in loaf tins (you should get about 2 out of this mix.) at about 160 degrees C or thereabouts. To test if done pierce with a sharp knife. When the knife comes out clean, its ready.

Serve with butterscotch and ice cream. Enjoy eternally.

Scones

Image courtesy of The Guardian.

Scones are a wonderful accompaniment usually taken with afternoon tea, or elevenses. A British favourite scones are an umbrella term for a number of baked items, usually no bigger than a muffin or similar. Here is a standard recipe that never fails me, for regular scones. Feel free to add a handful of fruit, be it blueberries, chopped raspberries, cranberries, raisins, sultanas, currants. Adding the zest of half a lemon or orange will also give this recipe an uplifting beat.


Ingredients

225g/8oz self raising flour
pinch of salt
55g/2oz butter
25g/1oz caster sugar
150ml/5fl oz milk
1 free-range egg, beaten

The do-ing bit :)

Heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Mix together the flour and salt and rub in the butter.

Stir in the sugar and then the milk to get a soft dough.

Turn on to a floured work surface and knead very lightly. Pat out to a round 2cm/¾in thick. Use a 5cm/2in cutter to stamp out rounds and place on a baking sheet. Lightly knead together the rest of the dough and stamp out more scones to use it all up.

Brush the tops of the scones with the beaten egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and golden.