Caroline's Chocolate Cheesecake

Well really it's the Hummingbird Bakeries cheesecake, but Caroline was the lovely lady to introduce me to this amazing recipe. Aside from the 1,000,000 calories per slice and the fact that you'll feel like some sort of tragic Bridget Jones character when you buy the ingredients (two big bars of chocolate, biscuits, cream cheese and butter), it really is worth making.

My main recommendation for this recipe is to use a good quality spring form tin. Mine cost a fiver from Argos and was pretty useless as the base didn't fit properly, resulting in butter leaking out all over the fridge. There is now a gross ring of congealed butter on one of the shelves which will stay there until I have the time and the inclination to clean it. Bleugh.

You can find the recipe here

Buttery biscuit base:

200g melted Green and Blacks - yum!

One baked cheesecake:

The finished article:

Chocolate Birthday Cake!

It was lovely Chris' birthday last weekend, so I made him the most chocolaty of chocolate cakes. I don't actually like icing so this cake is perfect, as the topping is basically just melted chocolate. As far as I'm concerned it's the best chocolate cake recipe EVER! I'm not sure where it was originally printed, but it's a hand me down from my madre. Anyway, I command you to make this cake:

For the cake:

165g self-raising flour

165g caster sugar

165g soft margarine

3 large eggs, beaten

1.5 level tsp baking powder

1.5 tbsp milk

2 rounded tbsp of cocoa powder

1. Butter the cake tins and line the bottom with baking parchment. Put the oven on to preheat to 170 degrees
2. In a large bowl blend all the ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth, but do not over mix
3. Divide into the prepared sandwich tins and bake for 25-30 min until a knife comes out from the middle clean

For the topping:

One small tin carnation evaporated milk

115g light muscovado sugar

115g chocolate broken into pieces

55g soft butter

Few drops vanilla essence

1. Combine the sugar and evaporated milk in a small heavy based pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, stirring often
2. When dissolved bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for 5 minutes without stirring
3. Take off the heat and add the remaining ingredients. Stir briskly until it all becomes smooth and glossy
4. Leave to cool (but not chill) before spreading on the cakes

 Cakes cooling:

Chocolate topping:

Finished cake for Creed:

Chocolate Brownies

Last weekend I went to Shropshire for the Wellington Mid-Summer Fayre. To make the 4 hour car journey more bearable I made some brownies for the trip, using a recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. They were very rich and crumbly and were a welcome reminder of how delicious home-made brownies are in comparison the dry ones you can buy in the shops. I made the basic recipe, but some chocolate chunks or nuts would have been a tasty addition.

Brownie mix:

Uber brownie:

Road trip ready:

Three Bean Chili

After a long weekend of meat eating in Shropshire, I decided to make us something vegetarian for dinner on Monday night. I really enjoyed this bean chili, but I'm not sure Chris is convinced by vegetarian food, as his first comment was how nice it would be with some chicken or beef in it. But considering this is a man who said 'I like vegetarian food, as long as it's got loads of meat in it', there probably isn't much hope of him becoming a fan of meat-free meals. Frezule and I will be eating the leftovers tonight, so lets hope she's a fan!

You can use any beans you happen to have in your cupboard, but I like to have a mix including baked beans; the sauce helps to prevent the tomatoes being too acidic and half a tin counts as one of your 5 a day. It's reasonably spicy, so a dollop of yogurt and some cooling avocado piled on top tasted great. It's also nice served with brown rice or with a roasted sweet potato, topped with cheese.

For the bean chili:
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
250g pack mushrooms, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 tin baked beans
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tin black eyed beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 squares of dark chocolate

1. Add the onion and garlic to a pre-heated pan with a little oil and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Then add the red pepper, courgettes and mushrooms and leave to cook on a medium heat for a further 10 minutes
2. Add the cumin, chili powder and paprika and cook for 1 minute, until the spices are fragrant
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and all the beans, bring to a light simmer, adding a little vegetable stock if necessary. Turn the heat down and leave to cook with the lid on for 1 hour
4. Once the sauce has thickened, add a few squares of dark chocolate and allow to melt into the sauce. Season and serve with roasted butternut squash, topped with yogurt and avocado

Vegetables with lots of spices:

Ready to eat:

With roasted squash, yogurt & avocado: