Category: Deserts & Puddings

Lemon Cheesecake

This is a no-bake cheesecake. The recipe is a mash-up from other recipes, and vaguely like one made years back, but can’t find. Lovely and fresh tasting. This is version one, and i might change it a spot over time. More lemon maybe.

The Base:
300g digestives (crushed/crumbed)
150g melted butter

The filling:
5-6 lemons
1kg mascarpone
250ml double cream
5 tblspoons of icing sugar

Mix the butter and biscuit crumbs and press into an 11″ loose-bottomed round tin. put in the fridge to firm up.

For the filling – beat all the ingredients together and pop on top of the base. Leave overnight in the fridge to set a little.

Lemon Meringue Pie

One of my Dad’s favourites. Two ways to cook this – one way is low and slow, so that the meringue is crisp all the way through (mum did this!) or cook it hotter for about 20 minutes so that the meringue is brown on top, but soft sweet marshmallow inside. Both good, but crisp preferred by me.

225g shortcrust pastry

Lemon filling:
Juice and grated rind of 3 large lemons
4tbl cornflour
50g caster sugar
300ml water
3 egg yolks

Meringue:
3 egg whites
100g caster sugar
vanilla essence, if making a soft meringue

First, line a 23cm round flan dish with shortcrust pastry.

Mix the lemon rind and juice with the sugar, water and cornflour. heat in a nonstick pan until thickened. (taste and tweak the filling here). Cool slightly and beat in the egg yolks. Pour on to the pastry case. Should fill the case.

for the meringue -put the egg whites in a clean dry bowl and whisk till soft peaks. add the sugar and mix. add to the top of the pie.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 170°c till golden brown, if you like it soft.

Bake for 2 hrs at 150°c and leave to cool in the oven if you like it crisper.

Meringue mix

3 large egg whites
175g caster sugar (25+50per egg white)
1tsp corn flour

beat the eggs to soft peaks. Add the sugar 1/4 at a time and keep whisking until soft and glossy.

Rub a drop between your fingers – if you can still feel grainy sugar, keep it mixing.

for basic nests spoon out onto baking sheets, and bake at 120c (fan) for 1hr. Turn off the oven, and let the meringues cool in the oven.

 

Microwave Golden Syrup Steamed Sponge Pudding

100g self raising flour
100 g butter
100 g sugar
30 ml milk
2 eggs (beaten)
few vanilla essence (optional)
grated zest of half a lemon (optional)
3 tablespoons of golden syrup

This is about the fastest treat you can make. put everything in a bowl together and mix. It’s a steamed pudding, so it doesn’t matter if it’s a little dense.

Put the golden syrup in the bottom of a two pint bowl,and put the mixture on top. Seal with cling film on top of the bowl, and prick the film with a fork. (you can put a plate on top of the bowl if you haven’t got any cling-film, but the re’s something really good about peeling off the film when it’s cooked.
Cook for 3 minutes on high, then let it stand for a minute before serving. Serve with custard.

If you make a smaller one, with 1/2 the ingredients,

Mum’s Chocolate Orange Chestnut Desert

10oz plain chocolate
6oz unsalted butter
6oz sugar
1 can (15oz) unsweetened chestnut purée
1 orange (juice & grated rind)
2 tbl grand marnier
Whipped double cream to decorate

9″x4″ loaf tin

whip the chestnut puree till light & soft. Beat the butter with sugar until sugar disolved. Melt chocolate, add to the chestnut. Combine remaining ingredients, add to the lined (clingfilmed) load tin and cool overnight in fridge.

Olivia’s Baked Lemon & Raspberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base
300g digestives (crushed/blitzed)
100g butter

Cheesecakey bit
600g cream cheese (full fat – lets not mess around eh)
30g plain flour
200g sugar (white,Caster if you have it)
2 lemons (zested and juiced)
3 Eggs
175g creme fraiche
250g frozen raspberries

raspberries, dried raspberries, coulis

preheat oven to 220ºc (200ºc fan) – make the biscuit base to a 20cm round springform cake pan.

Add the cheesecakey ingredients (except raspberries) to a mixer bowl and mix till smooth, then add the raspberries. Add to the cake tin on top of the biscuit base.

Bake for 10 mins at 200ºc then reduce the temp to 110ºc/90ºc and bake for a further 25-30 minutes. Then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven, with the door ajar for 2 hrs.

Once cool, wrap in foil (still in its tin) and refridgerate overnight. Next day remove from the tin and deccorate. (raspberries, dried raspberries, coulis)

Raspberry Fool

From an old recipe card. Few changes/updates for the time (basically, less sugar than in them ol’ days)

200g raspberries (fresh)
30g Icing Sugar
2 tbp Chamborg or raspberry liquor
3 tsp powdered gelatine
125ml double cream
2 egg whites

Ok – its got raw egg in. Are we ok with that still? Good, lets go on –

Blend & sieve raspberries to remove seeds. Add icing sugar.

Add 1 tblsp of hot water and liquor in with gelatine and mix – add to raspberry puree and icing sugar.

Whisk cream into soft peaks, fold in raspberry mix and chill for 10 minutes until it starts to thicken. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, and fold into puree.

Spoon this into ramekins and chill for an hr. (add a raspberry on top of each)