COOKBOOKS GALORE

Time for another dessert, and this time it's a cheesecake. I love coffee flavoured cakes or desserts, so decided to make a coffee cheesecake. To make it more special I made a chocolate sauce and a caramel one as toppings.It has the usual biscuit base which is flavoured with coffee, but this is baked. You need: 200g digestive biscuits 40g soft butter 20g cocoa 700g cream cheese 6g strong instant coffee dissolved in 3 tbspn warm water 4 eggs 175g caster sugar For the sauces: The chocolate one I used this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3029673/simple-chocolate-sauce and for the caramel sauce : 85g butter 175ml double cream 175g soft brown sugar Preheat oven 150C/gas2                 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin Put the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat and stir till butter has melted. Turn up heat and boil for 3-4 mins stirring occasionally - it looks like runny custard. Pour into a bowl and leave for 30 mins...

I needed a dessert to take to a family lunch, so decided on a tart. This is one of my stand by recipes, so I know it tastes good; everyone likes chocolate! It's  lovely mixture of chocolate, mascarpone with a hint of coffee, all in a pastry case. Doesn't need much cooking - just the pastry case. You need: a pack of shortcrust pastry [or of course make your own] 200g dark chocolate 250g mascarpone 1 dspn instant Espresso coffee 3 egg whites pinch salt 80g caster sugar chocolate shavings to decorate [opt] Preheat oven 180C/gas4                     Grease a 21cm tart tin Roll pastry out to fit the tin, prick with a fork and bake blind for 10 mins. Break chocolate up and put into a pan; sprinkle a little water over and melt on a low heat. Once it's melted, take off the heat and add half the mascarpone and 1 dspn of instant Espresso coffee powder and mix well. Take the pastry out of the oven, cool then add the choc...

Another recipe for a loaf cake, my favourite type of cake. This time it has maple syrup, pecans and lemon zest in it. Easy to make using the rubbing in method. Preheat oven 170C/gas3   Grease and line the bottom of a 900g loaf tin. Sift 350g plain flour and 1 tspn baking powder together, then rub in 175g butter or margarine. Stir in 75g caster sugar and 125g chopped pecan nuts. In another bowl, beat 3 eggs with 1 tbspn milk and add zest of a lemon. Stir in 5 tbspn maple syrup and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the egg one and mix well, but don't over mix. Should be a nice dropping consistency. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 50 mins. till golden and risen. Leave to cool in tin for about 10 mins then turn onto a wire rack. Make some lemon icing by beating 1 tbspn lemon juice into 75g icing sugar. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake. The texture was quite dense, but I suppose the rubbing in method doesn't make for a fine crumb. The maple taste ...

Another easy to make, no icing cake. I had to make a quick cake for unexpected  guests, so found a lime in the fridge and remembered this recipe. There is no creaming of butter and sugar -  just mix dry ingredients with wet, bake and sprinkle with sugar. Quick and easy. It uses oil and yoghurt, so must be healthy! 250g whole full fat Greek yoghurt 80ml olive oil 200g caster sugar zest of one lime 4 tbspn lime juice 2 eggs 210g plain flour 1 1/2 tspn baking powder 1/2 tspn salt Topping 1 tbspn lime zest 2 tblspn sugar Pre-heat oven to 180C/gas4 and grease a 22cm baking tin. Mix yoghurt, oil, lime juice, zest and eggs in a bowl till well combined.  In another bowl, mix the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt together.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a wooden spoon till just combined [don't over mix]  Pour into the tin and bake for 45-50 minutes,till  the cake is lightly browned o...

Another simple cake - not keen on cakes with buttercream or any kind of frosting when it's hot. I've nearly finished using up odd packets and jars in my cupboard, but found some dessicated coconut. I also had some nectarines to use up [they seem to ripen very quickly ] so decided to use both in a cake. My daughter makes this recipe often with whatever fruit she has - raspberries, peaches, apples - sometimes she uses coconut and sometimes just makes a plain cake; it's such an easy recipe. The only extra addition is some vanilla yoghurt. Preheat oven 180C/gas4. Grease and base line a 24cm springform cake tin. It's the all-in-one method - put 180g butter, 215 g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 225g sr flour, 55g dessicated coconut and 175g vanilla yoghurt in a food processor and blitz till smooth. Pour into the cake tin. Arrange 4 halved and stoned nectarines on top and bake for about an hour. Take the cake our of the oven and sprinkle about 25g dessicated coconut on top th...