COOKBOOKS GALORE

 Summer at last, or at least for a few days! Raspberries are my favourite summer fruit, so decided to make a cheesecake. I bought a jar of raspberry coulis in Waitrose. This is a baked cheesecake.  I adore the speculoos flavour of the Biscoff biscuits you get with coffee [and now in a jar], so used these biscuits as the base.  225g Biscoff biscuits, 3 eggs, 175g caster sugar, a jar of raspberry coulis [or you can make your own by sieving raspberries],75g butter, 675g cream cheese and 1 tspn vanilla extract, a few raspberries to decorate Preheat oven 180C/gas4            Line a shallow 23cm cake tin with baking paper. Put the biscuits in a large plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Melt the butter and mix with the biscuits. Spoon into the cake tin and flatten with the back of a spoon. Put in the fridge to set. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the cheese and beat together with the sugar and vanilla extract. Spoon it over the biscuit base an...

 Now that the English strawberries are good value, I thought I'd make a cheesecake. I had a pot of mascarpone to use, so used it with some cream cheese [such as Philly]. This is very easy to make when you don't feel like cooking! You need: 60g icing sugar, 200g digestive biscuits [or other biscuits of your choice], 50g butter [melted], 1 lemon, 250g mascarpone, 100g soft cheese [Philly] and 1tspn vanilla extract, few mint leaves Blitz the biscuits in a food processor or blender. Add the melted butter and mix together. Press into the base of a 23cm flan tin, pushing the crumbs slightly up the sides. Beat the mascarpone with the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Spoon into the tin on top of the crumb base. Smooth with a spatula. Cut the washed strawberries into 2 [or 4 if large] and put the on top of the cream mixture, cut side down. Cut the washed strawberries into 2 and put the on top of the cream mixture, cut side  Top with a few mint leaves and put i...

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 wanted to make something that wasn't a cake, so decided on a cheesecake. I love baked and non-baked ones, but this is my favourite recipe. We all love coffee, so this would be the flavour. To give it a good coffee flavour I used Nestle's Azera Espresso granules. When I've made it for an occasion I have added a little whisky, but this isn't necessary for an everyday cheesecake. 40g soft butter 200g digestive biscuits 700g Philadelphia cream cheese 20 g cocoa powder 6g instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbspn warm water 4 eggs 175g caster sugar For the sauce: 50g dark chocolate 35g water  1 tsbspn whisky[opt] Preheat oven 150C/gas2                       20cm base lined cake tin Crush the digestives into crumbs. In a bowl mix them with the soft butter and cocoa then put the mixture into the base of the cake tin, pressing it down with the back of a spoon. Put into the fridge. In another bowl mix t...

Having a BBQ tonight with friends so have made a cheesecake for dessert. Have made it many times and we love it because it's chocolate, but also has a hint of coffee in it.  It's an American recipe which I've changed from cups, so there are some odd sounding amounts! I use ordinary digestive biscuits with cocoa powder to get the chocolate base, as I find this works better than using chocolate biscuits; I think it gives a better chocolate taste. You need a 23cm springform tin.  Preheat oven 160C/gas3 Put 125g digestive biscuits in a processor and blitz till crumbs. Add 60g butter and 1 tbspn cocoa and blitz again till the mixture clumps together. Press this into the cake tin and put in the fridge. Whisk 140g caster sugar and 1 tbspn of expresso powder [or a good instant powder] together in a little bowl. Melt 350g dark chocolate [or a mixture of dark and milk] over simmering water or in the microwave. Keep this fluid but not hot. On a low speed on a mixer or a ha...

If you're on a diet, this isn't the recipe for you! It's a recipe for a special occasion, and as our French friends were coming to stay for a few days, I thought this was one of those occasions. It's another case of using up ingredients that are near their 'use by' dates; this time it was a tin of Carnation Caramel, a bag of pecans and a few Granny Smith apples. The idea for a cheesecake came from a programme I watched on Food Network - the chef was using walnuts and apples in a cheesecake. So what you have is the usual biscuit layer at the bottom, then a layer of the salted caramel, a layer of chopped pecans, a layer of apple purée, then the cheesecake and topping it off some whipped cream with a drizzle or so of the salted caramel. What's not to like? You need a 23cm springform tin or the same sized pie dish. Preheat oven 180C/gas4. To make the biscuit base - mix together 12 digestive biscuits with 3 tbspn caster sugar and a tspn of cinnamon. Melt...

The idea for this cheesecake came about because I had a punnet of cranberries and some cream cheese to use up, so I thought of a cheesecake. Crumble toppings seem to be in fashion and this would give an extra dimension to the dessert. So, there's a pastry crust, then the cheesecake, the cranberry layer then a final crumble layer. The cranberry layer has the same consistency as cranberry sauce, so you could use a jar of sauce instead of fresh cranberries. Preheat oven 180C/gas4       23cm tart or pie tin To make the cranberry filling - put   250g cranberries in a pan with 6tbspn granulated sugar, 1/2 tspn lemon zest, 1 tspn lemon juice and 120ml water. Bring to the boil on medium-high heat, then reduce to simmer for about 10 mins till cranberries are soft; leave to cool. To make the crumb base and topping - mix together 175g plain flour, 100g sugar, 1/2 tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn salt ; add115g butter cut into dice and rub together till breadcrumbs. Take o...

Couldn't think of a good name for this cheesecake, but as it has chocolate and coffee in it I thought this name would do. It's my normal cheesecake, but with an added something. It's a rich cheesecake, just right for an occasion, so am going to make another for Boxing Day.  It's for those who love dark chocolate and coffee. You need a 23cm springform tin. Preheat oven to oven 160C/gas3 Make sure that the cream cheese and eggs are at room temperature. Put 200g of chocolate digestive biscuits in a bag and crush with a rolling pin [or use a food processor]. Add 125g plus 2 tbspns of melted butter and 1/2 tspn almond essence and mix together. Press this firmly into the bottom of the tin. Put in the fridge to set. In a bowl mix together 140g granulated sugar and 1 tspn of espresso or any other strong coffee granules [more if you want a strong coffee flavour]. Melt 250g of 70% dark chocolate and 125g of 50% dark chocolate [or milk if you prefer] in the microwave...

We had some friends for a few days and it was G's birthday, so I wanted to make a nice dessert instead of a cake. He loves ginger, and I had a large jar of ginger confit bought on our last French trip. This could give the cheesecake a good ginger flavour, and be the decoration on the top. I read somewhere recently that ricotta makes a good cheesecake, so decided to use half ricotta and half my usual Philly. I used digestive biscuits, but could have used something with chocolate in them. 180g biscuits 250g ricotta 250g Philadelphia cheese 200g dark chocolate 2 eggs and 1 yolk 80g caster sugar 80g candied ginger and 50g for the decoration 60g butter Icing sugar for top Preheat oven 150C/gas2 You need a 23cm springform tin. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor or bash them with a rolling pin. Melt the butter and mix with the biscuits crumbs. Use your fingers to press it into the base of the tin, then put in the fridge. Melt the broken up chocolat...

We're going to have a quiet Easter this year, just the 2 of us on Easter Sunday, but we had friends coming on Good Friday. I'd made  Hot Cross Buns, but wanted to make a nice dessert to have after the fish pie. I fancied a cheesecake, but a baked one, and looked in my books and online for inspiration. I found this recipe, and as we love honey and I adore cinnamon, it was just the thing. It was on an Australian blog, in cups, so I've changed the measures and adapted the recipe to suit our tastes. It uses cottage cheese and cream cheese and I wasn't sure about this, but it tasted delicious. It's an unusual cheesecake in that it has a pastry base - so is it a cheesecake? Well, seeing how much cheese is in it, I think so! pastry: 225g plain flour 125g cold butter, chopped up 55g caster sugar 1 egg yolk 2 tbspn finely grated lemon rind about 3 tspns cold water Filling: 250g cottage cheese 250g cream cheese 265g honey 110g caster sugar ...