Showing posts from December, 2011

Chocolate Vanilla Cheesecake

This was my greatest triumph at Christmas and it was so good I'm making another one for New Years Eve. The cheesecake is made in a 25cm springform tin so it serves at least 8-10 people, but as it's so rich you could probably stretch it out to serve 12. The other beauty of this dessert is it freezes really well, minus the cocoa powder topping, so it's a useful dessert to have stored away in your freezer to pull out for unexpected guests or impromptu get togethers. When raspberries come into season I will try it again with a handful of raspberries in the cheesecake mix and a few TBSP of raspberry liqueur, that would be lovely I think. Have a wonderful New Year. I will be resuming normal service on the blog next week. CHOCOLATE VANILLA CHEESECAKE | Serves: 10 | Prep Time: 20 Minutes | Cook Time: 45 Minutes | Total Time: 1 Hour 5 Minutes | Ingredients: for a 25cm Springform tin For the base 85g Hot melted butter 14 Dark Chocolate Digestives, blitze


Smoked Salmon Pate

A few weeks back you will remember I received this fab seasonal box from Forman and Field in association with Knorr . In it was some gorgeous London Cure Smoked Salmon, which I have duly transformed into an ideal Christmas Day starter to serve 8. A little smoked salmon goes a long way in this recipe, helping keep the costs down but not compromising on flavour or quality. Will you be serving a starter on Christmas day, or do you and your family prefer to get stuck straight in to the main event? SMOKED SALMON PATE | Serves: 8  | Prep Time: 5 Minutes | Cook Time: -  | Total Time: -  | Ingredients:  200g tub of Cream Cheese 200g Smoked salmon 1 heaped TBSP of Horseradish sauce Juice of 1 Small Lemon 3 TBSP Chives, snipped plus extra for garnish Instructions: Step 1; Blitz together all the ingredients in a processor, season and garnish with extra chives. Step 2: Serve with melba toasts or brown bread. | Author: Beth Sachs | Date: 12th December 2


Christmas Chestnut Cupcakes

Last Christmas I bought some tins of Creme de Marron (sweet chestnut puree) but unfortunately they did no more than linger at the back of my baking cupboard.... until today that is. Getting into the Christmas spirit I was flicking through Delia's Happy Christmas this morning when I spotted a recipe for chestnut cupcakes using creme de marrons. I decided to adapt Delia's recipe a little bit to suit what ingredients I already had in the house and came up with these little treasures.  If you're not keen on mince pies or heavy fruit cake, these would make a great sweet alternative. CHESTNUT CUPCAKES | Serves: 8 | Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Cook Time: 30 Minutes | Total Time: 45 Minutes | Ingredients:  150g Creme de Marron 110g Soft Butter 2 Eggs, beaten 110g Plain Flour 11/2tsp Baking Powder 4 TBSP Milk Topping: 100g Cream Cheese 100g Sour Cream 100g Creme de Marron (handily creme de marron usually come in 250g tins) Cinnamon and Pretzels to f