Chocolate and Caramel Ripple Cheesecake with Brownie Base.

I have said it before but I will say it again. Cheesecake is my favourite dessert. It is also one of my favourite foods to experiment with. I love thinking up and trying out new flavours. This weekend brought the idea of mixing things up with a brownie base instead of the usual biscuit base. Now I don't know about you but I love, love, love brownies. Particularly when they are fudgy in the middle but crispy, bordering on over cooked on the edges. Pair this with a delicious, light cheesecake filling and I think that sounds like a darn good sweet treat.



The cheesecake filling I used is a delicious, light and fluffy filling. It is light on flavour which lets the brownie base remain the star of the dessert. And the chocolate and caramel sauces which are rippled throughout just finish it off. The gelatine in the cheesecake filling also means that you don't have to worry as much about getting the perfect consistency or allowing the cheesecake to set overnight. 4 hours in the fridge and you are good to go.



No fluffy around this week, it's straight to the recipe!

This week's tips and hints:
* I use about half of the chocolate and caramel sauces to ripple through the filling and save the rest to drizzle over when you serve.
* Don't stress if your filling is a little lumpy when you fold all the ingredients together. While you want it to be as smooth as possible, you also don't want to beat all the air out of the whipped cream. As long as the cream cheese was whipped until smooth and it is relatively well combined with the cream you will still get a delicious and smooth cheesecake.



Enjoy! Xxx

Chocolate and Caramel Ripple Cheesecake



Serves: 8 - 12
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Setting time: 4+ hours

Ingredients

Brownie base
125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup plain flour
40g cocoa
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup choc chips

Cheesecake filling
3 tsp powdered gelatine
1/2 cup water
250g cream cheese
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tbls lemon juice
300ml thickened cream

Chocolate sauce
120g good quality milk chocolate
4 tbls thickened cream

Caramel sauce
2 tbls brown sugar
40g butter
4 tbls thickened cream

Method

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Line the base of a 20cm springform fan with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.

Melt butter in a saucepan, over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is thick and glossy.

Sift in flour and cocoa and stir until well combined.

Stir in the vanilla and choc chips.

Bake for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Once the brownie base has cooled start on your sauces and filing.

Caramel sauce

Place butter, cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Do not boil! Set sauce aside to cool.

Chocolate sauce

Place chocolate and cream in a small saucepan.  Stir over a low-medium heat until the chocolate has melted. Do not boil! Set aside to cool.

Cheesecake filling

Sprinkle gelatine over water in a cup and stand in a small pan of simmering water. Stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Beat cream cheese, lemon juice and sugar with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a large bowl.

Whip cream until soft peaks form. Fold cream into cheese mixture. Fold in gelatine mixture.

Pour half the cheesecake mixture into springform pan on top of brownie base. Drizzle 1/4 of the chocolate and brownie sauces over the mixture. Swirl with a wooden skewer.

Pour the rest of the cheesecake mixture into pan. Drizzle with another 1/4 of the chocolate and caramel sauces. Swirl with a wooden skewer.

Place in fridge to set for at least 4 hours.

Before serving heat leftover caramel and chocolate sauces for 15 seconds in microwave and stir until smooth. Drizzle over each slice of cheesecake as served.

DIY Lightbox and Triple Choc Muffin Recipe

The quality of the photos I have been taking for The Weekly Feast has been a problem for me since the very beginning. I only own a smart phone and a basic point and shoot which already lower the quality of photos I can produce. But I also live in a house which has a poor amount of natural light for taking photos. And, well, photography just isn't my greatest strength. Then recently a friend made her own photography lightbox and the difference it made was incredible! Being the procrastinator that I am, though, it has taken me months to actually get myself organised and make my own. Now that I have, I have spent most of my afternoon taking photos of all kinds of things just to play around with my new toy.

A side by side comparison. Same lighting, same position, taken within a minute of each other and both have received a little cropping and the same editing (brightening etc). Lightbox on the left, normal on the right. Look at the difference!

Over the last few months I have read lots of tutorials and tips on making your own photography lightbox. The idea of a lightbox is to diffuse light (whether natural or artificial) and provide your image with a uniform background. This gives you a crisp, clear, well light image. And the best part is that they can be cheap and easy to make. All you need is a box the size you want your lightbox to be (I used a small box today but might make myself a bigger one down the track), some white card (this will need to be at least 30% longer than the length of the box) and some white tissue paper.

Another comparison. I mean, really, which one would you rather eat? Oh wait, did I mention that's the same muffin?!?!

Simply cut off the top of the box, and then cut out a rectangle 2.5cm from the edges on three of the four sides. Once you have popped the cut outs out, piece together the tissue paper to create a piece large enough to cover one side of the box. Attach the tissue paper to the side of the box with sticky tape, covering the whole you have made. Repeat with the other two sides. You then need to cut your white cardboard to the same width as the inside of the box. Place the card in the box, making sure it curves at the back. Now your lightbox is ready to use!
Place it an area with lots of light, or use some lamps to add light. Place your object on the flat part of the cardboard and click away!

A few shots of my new lightbox in use.

Now what would be the point of going to all this effort if I didn't have something delicious to photograph in my new light box. Enter my triple choc muffins! These babies are delicious and hit that chocolate craving right in the .... well craving. Haha!



This weeks tips and hints:
*  These are a great base. Mix it up with whatever you like. Fruit, nuts, marshmallows. Use you imagination.
* If the batter seems a little dry, add extra milk in small amounts until you are happy with the consistency.
* These are super delicious fresh out of the oven, or pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds before eating. They will stay fresh for a couple of days or can freeze well.

Enjoy! Xxx

Triple Choc Muffins


Serves: 12
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 - 25 minutes

Ingredients

60g butter, melted
2 cups self raising flour
1/2 brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla bean paste
1 cup choc chips (I used half milk chocolate and half white chocolate)

Method

Preheat oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan forced). Place muffin cases in 12 pan muffin tin.
Lightly beat together eggs, milk and melted butter.
Combine wet ingredients with flour, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Once combined stir through choc chips.
Divide mixture between muffin cases.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until firm on top when lightly touched.
Allow to cool on wire rack.

Scrolls

This week at The Weekly Feast HQ we are babysitting my littlest niece and nephew for a couple of days. Tuesday was a rainy and miserable day (so please excuse the terrible quality of this week's photos!) and Mr 4 was desperate to get outside and play. His attention span was wavering, being stuck inside. Lego had lost its excitement, we had already watched a movie, and he was just getting plain restless. So while Miss 17mths was having her nap I decided it was the perfect time to do some baking with Mr 4.

Scrolls are a perfect recipe to bake with kids who have a short attention span. They are super easy and are made up of several quick steps with breaks in between. They are also super versatile and make a great lunch box item for school or work and freeze really well. Today we chose to make 'pizza' scrolls using things we had in the fridge.



Mr 4 was quite excited to measure out the ingredients and feel the dough once it was mixed, but I think he was sceptical when I told him we were going to leave the dough to rest and that it was going to get bigger. So when I brought the dough out half an hour later he was quite impressed to see how big it was! He was very excited about the whole baking experience, until the scrolls came out of the over when, in true 4 year old style, he decided he didn't even want to try them. Oh well, more for the rest of us I say!



This week's tips and hints:
* As I said these are great for using whatever you have in the fridge. Today we used ham, cheese and tomato sauce but the possible fillings are as limitless as your imagination.
* I used my Thermo-style mixer, Dorris, to mix the dough which made the whole experience even easier, but you can easily make the dough by hand.
* I find it's a good idea to lightly oil the bowl you plan to prove your dough in the help stop it from sticking.

Enjoy! Xxx

Scrolls




Serves: 10 -12
Prep time: 50 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

310g (1 1/3 cups) warm water
1 sachet of dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
510g (3 1/2 cups) plain flour
30g (3 tbls) extra virgin olive oil

desired fillings, eg ham, cheese, tomato sauce

Method

Thermo-style mixer Dough Method
Add water, yeast, salt, sugar, oil and flour to bowl.
Mix on speed 6 for 12 seconds.
Mix on knead for 1.5 minutes.
Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and place in a warm spot. Allow to prove for 30 minutes.

Normal Dough Method
Place water, yeast, salt, sugar, oil and flour in a bowl.
Mix with a spoon until just combined.
Use your hands to form a ball and knead for 10 minutes.
Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and place in a warm spot. Allow to prove for 30 minutes.

While the dough is proving, prepare your filling.

Once dough has finished proving, turn out onto bench and punch down.
Form a ball again and then roll dough out to form a large rectangle (it doesn't matter if it's a bit wonky).
Evenly cover the dough with your desired fillings.
Starting from one side, roll up your dough until you reach the end and it forms a roll.
Using a knife (a bread knife will do) cut your roll into even sections and place on a baking paper lined tray.
Place the scrolls in a warm spot and allow to prove for another 15 - 20 minutes.

Once the scrolls have proved, place the tray in a cold oven.
Set oven to 180°c - 190°c and cook for 15 - 20 minutes until scrolls are golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Sunday Roast: Yorkshire Puddings

Sunday roasts have held a place in our family for as long as I can remember. When I was little my Nan would cook a roast every Sunday after church. As I grew older and then when we moved away from my grandparents Sunday roasts still happened but they weren't the huge family affair and they didn't happen every weekend. But like all things wonderful, the Sunday roast has come around again and has started a tradition for a new generation.

Life is busy and things get in the way of the little things we sometimes enjoy. But for the most part one of my brothers, his wife and their two little ones are at Mum and Dad's for a family dinner on the weekend. We mix it up every once in a while and have tacos or lasagne but most weeks it is a roast. And I have to say that I love the 'tradition' of it. The memories that are being made, the delicious food we share and the crazy, silly things we talk and laugh about at the table.



Last weekend we mixed it up with a Saturday night dinner and a simple meal of jacket potatoes using bolognese left over from my Super Charged Lasagne. So when Sunday came around and I was longing for that roast and a little bit of nostalgia as well.

As I mentioned, as a kid it was my Nan who cooked the Sunday roasts and let me tell you they generally had all the trimmings. One of my favourite trimmings is Yorkshire Pudding. I mean how much more of a nod can there be to my family's heritage than gorgeous little golden puddings to go with your roast beef and gravy! I haven't had Yorkshire Pudding in... well I can't even remember when the last time was. So my mission last weekend was to give this nostalgic classic a go. My puddings ended up with a hollow centre but let me tell you they did not disappoint! I am going to do a bit of research and try them again in the near future to figure out what went wrong but they tasted super yummy so I'm not stressed. I have a feeling it might be from leaving the fat filter in the oven after the roast which has a tendency to mess with baked goods.



This week's tips/hints:
* These little babies are just wonderful with your roast beef and lots of delicious gravy.
* Once they have cooled, pop the leftovers in the freezer. Now you can have Yorkshire Puddings ready whenever you want them!
* Make sure you get the pans and the oil really hot. The batter should sizzle when you pour it in.
* Make sure you let the batter rest for at least 30 minutes. This is a really important step in ensuring that your batter is smoother leading to deliciously light and crispy puddings.

Enjoy! Xxx

Yorkshire Puddings

Serves: 12
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15 - 20 minutes

Ingredients

3 eggs
115g plain flour
285ml milk
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil

Method

Whisk eggs, flour, milk and salt together until well combined.
Pour batter into a jug and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

While the batter is resting, preheat oven to 225°C.
While the oven is warming up, place a 12 pan muffin tray in the oven, on the top shelf.
Once the oven is up to temp and the muffin tray is hot, carefully remove the tray and close the oven again to maintain the high heat.
Place a tablespoon of vegetable oil in each muffin hole.
Pop the tray back in the oven for 5 minutes or so until the oil is smoking hot.
Slide the shelf with the tray half way out and fill each muffin hole with Yorkshire Pudding batter and gently slide back into the oven, as quickly as possible.
Allow the puddings to cook until they are golden and crispy, about 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DURING THIS COOKING TIME! It will lead to sunken puddings.
Remove from the oven and serve as soon as possible.

Comfort Food: Supercharged Lasagne

Comfort food. It is a marvellous thing and everyone you know has at least one type of comfort food. Now I'll be honest, none of my comfort foods could be termed 'healthy'. I like to comfort myself with salt and carbs and greasy food. Two of my big comfort foods though are lasagne and mac & cheese.



I remember, as a teen, that my best friend's Mum made THE BEST MAC & CHEESE EVER! I'm sure she still does but it's not really convenient for me to turn up on her door step requesting mac & cheese anymore. So for years I have been trying to perfect my own recipe. I still haven't managed it but I will not give up!

Lasagne, however, I have got down pat. Basic lasagne is in my regular rotation of meals that I cook, sometimes though you just want or need that little bit extra. Enter my supercharged lasagne. This baby takes the classic to a new level, with added bacon, mushrooms and five types of cheese.

The added bonus is that I cooked up a double batch of bolognese mince so that we can have jacket potatoes for a cheeky Saturday night dinner as well.

This weeks tips and hints:
* I chose to use a packet of shredded four cheese blend and some extra parmesan cheese. You can use any cheese you want. I often just use tasty cheese.
* This recipe is great for adding hidden veggies for those stubborn kids (or grown ups ;) ). Simply grate some carrot and zucchini into the mince.
* You could add the mushrooms to the mince, instead of layering them.
* Similarly you could keep the bacon as whole short cuts and layer it through instead.
* I have found that using fresh lasagne sheets makes a huge difference. You can buy them from the fridge section at the supermarket. They are also great for cannelloni, no more breaking dried pasta tubes, simply roll them around your filling!

Supercharged Lasagne

Serves: 4-6
Prep time:
Cooking time:

Ingredients

1-2 cups cheese
fresh lasagne sheets
3 Portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced

Bolognese Mince
1/2 onion, diced
2 pieces short cut bacon, diced
500g beef mince
1 tin crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt & pepper, to taste
dried or fresh herbs (I use thyme, oregano and basil), to taste

Béchamel Sauce
30g butter
60g plain flour
500ml milk
1 cup cheese
salt & pepper, to taste
nutmeg, to taste

Method

Fry off onion in a large frypan until them begin to change colour.
Add the diced bacon and gently fry until the onion is golden.
Once the onion is a nice golden colour, add the mince and brown on a medium-high heat. Use a spoon to gently break apart the meet as it cooks.
Once the mince has browned add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs and salt & pepper, lower heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the sauce has reduced down and thickened.

While the mince is simmering, melt butter for béchamel sauce in a saucepan.
Add flour and cook for a minute or two, stirring regularly.
Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly.
Bring sauce to the boil, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until it begins to thicken.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Set aside until you are ready to assemble. Stir occasionally to stop a skin from forming.

Gently fry off mushrooms in a little butter and olive oil.

When you are ready to assemble preheat oven to 200°C.

Now get ready to layer!
Scoop a little of the sauce out of the bolognese and spread around the bottom of you baking dish.
Place a layer of lasagne sheet on top of sauce, cut pieces to fit.
Place a third of the béchamel sauce.
Place half of the mushrooms.
Top with half of the bolognese.
If you are feeling particularly naughty, add a little cheese.
Place another layer of lasagne sheets.
Place another third of the béchamel sauce.
Place the rest of the mushrooms.
Top with the remaining bolognese.
Place a final layer of lasagne sheets.
Top with the remaining béchamel sauce.
Finish off with a layer of cheese (I add a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan here) and a sprinkle of herbs.

Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour, depending how crispy and golden you like your cheese.

Serve with your favourite sides. In our house we love to have potato gems, garlic bread and salad. Enjoy!

Deluxe Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are without a doubt one of my favourite foods. I know, I know, mystery meat, preservatives, calories, carbs but do you know what? I just don't care. I love them!

My dad is also a hot dog lover, and while I don't think he shares my level of devotion, I know he enjoys a good hot dog, particularly with all the trimmings. So I figured for a treat this Father's Day I would up my hot dog game and cook up some deluxe hot dogs, combining some of the best foods (in my opinion) with hot dogs, cheese, bacon, onion and of course tomato sauce.

While they may not look like stunners, these fancy suckers are super delicious, super decedent, super impressive, and I'll let you in on a little secret, super easy!

This weeks hints & tips:
* I cooked my hot dogs in the oven but you could just as easily cook them on the bbq or in a fry pan.
* You can add any of your favourite hot dog toppings to these deluxe dogs. I add onion, avocado and spicy red tomato sauce. My Dad added onion, mustard and spicy red tomato sauce to his. It's all up to you!
* Make sure you get the skinless hot dogs (known as American style or Footy franks), they are generally available pre-packaged in the fridge aisle of the supermarket.
* If you are an extreme bacon lover, you could finely dice the left over bacon and fry it off to add as a garnish to your deluxe dogs.

Deluxe Hot Dogs

Serves: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
Hot dogs
6 skinless hot dogs
6 bacon rashers
Cheese Sauce
25g butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
1.5 cups milk
2 cups grated cheese
25g grated parmesan cheese

6 bread rolls
any extras you choose

Method
Preheat oven to 190°C.
Trim the bacon rashers, removing the short cut and the rind so you are left with just the tail.
Wrap the tail around the hot dogs, securing with a tooth pick at either end.
Place hot dogs in the oven for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan.
Once the butter has melted, stir in the flour and cook off for a couple of minutes.
Slowly add milk, whisking constantly.
Bring your sauce mixture to a simmer, stirring regularly.
Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until it has thickened.
Stir in all the cheese until melted and season to taste.
Let sauce cool slightly, stirring regularly.
Once the hot dogs have finished, go crazy! Place your hot dog in a bun and top with cheese sauce and all your favourite toppings!

Mixed Berry and White Chocolate Friands

As a general rule I am more of a savoury snack type person. I love pretzels and salty little morsels. Sit me down with some cheese and crackers, or some chips, and I will be one happy little Corinne. There are times however when you just want something sweet. And there are a few sweet things I will never say no to. Last week I told you my all time favourite dessert was cheesecake. This is so true I could eat cheesecake any time of the day or night. This week I am going to share my favourite afternoon tea sweet. Berry and white chocolate friands.

Coffee dates with friends, while super trendy and lots of fun, can be a little boring for me when it comes to ordering. I don't often drink hot drinks and when I do order one I usually only drink two thirds of the mug before I lose interest. This means that at catch ups I am often the one sitting there with a glass of water or soft drink while everyone sips away at their hot beverages. Because of this I always try and ensure that we are headed somewhere that serves something tasty to eat. I love looking at all the delicious, pretty little sweets in the glass fronted cases. I do not, however, enjoy making a decision on which sweet to buy. Decision making and I are not exactly buddies, in fact I hate it! Friands are the exception to this rule. If I spot friands in that glass fronted cabinet all bets are off, the decision is made and I am guaranteed to not have ordering remorse.

That's a thing right? I'm not the only one who suffers from buyers remorse at restaurants am I? You know, when you um and ah over the menu, eventually making a last minute decision when pressed by the waitstaff and regret your decision as soon as it arrives. I am notorious for it.

Anyway friands never give me ordering remorse. They have also become one of the most requested sweets for me to bake by my family. So I thought it was time to share one of my most popular recipes with you.

This week's hints/tips:
* I used mixed berries today, I usually use just raspberries but thought I would mix it up this time. I was also out of raspberries, haha. So basically you can top them with whatever you think will work.
* I usually bake my friands in muffin cases. This is for a few reasons: it makes cleanup easier; I am too lazy to grease my pans; I don't own a proper friand pan.
* Save your left over egg yolks. They can be used to make pudding or lemon curd or custard. Store in an airtight container, covering the yolks in water, for up to two days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Mixed Berry and White Chocolate Friands



Makes: 12
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
6 egg whites
185g butter, melted
1 cup almond meal
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup plain flour
100g white chocolate chips
100g (roughly) frozen berries

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line or grease 12 pan muffin tray or friand tray.
Place egg whites in a bowl and whisk lightly with a fork to combine.
Add butter, almond meal, sifted icing sugar, and flour. Stir to combine.
Add chocolate chips and stir through.
Divide batter evenly between pans.
Bake friands for 10 minutes, then top with berries. Bake for a further 15 - 20 minutes, until golden.
Cool on wire rack (right side up).
Drizzle with melted white chocolate or dust with icing sugar before serving.

International Cheescake Day 2015: Chocolate & Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Did someone say cheesecake?! International cheesecake day? A whole day to celebrate the wonder that is cheesecake? Count me in!

I could not resist using this photo. Not only because it is a great picture of the cheesecake but
notice my photobomber in the background. He thought it smelt amazing. He was no more than
a metre away the entire time I was photographing.

If you asked me to list my favourite desserts there is no doubt that cheesecake would top the list. If you asked me to list my favourite cheesecakes however, I would really struggle. Cheesecake is such a versatile dessert, which is one of my favourite things about it. Chocolate, mint, caramel, lemon, black forrest, vanilla, the possibilities are endless.

Some of my favourite recipes that I have created are cheesecake recipes. The challenge of deciding on a flavour or flavour combination. Picking the right ingredients. Balancing the flavours and texture. And of course unveiling the masterpiece and tasting your victory. It really is one of those recipes that are deceptively simple and once you have mastered the basic recipe the possibilities are endless.

This recipe (as proven by the vote on my facebook page) is super popular and is so delicious. The combination of caramel and chocolate is classic and the addition of the salt really makes the cheesecake sing.

This weeks tips/hints.
* If you aren't a fan of salted caramel simply omit the salt from the recipe to make a nommy chocolate and caramel cheesecake instead.
* The pretzel crumb is optional. I personally love the salty, savoury, crunch it adds to the cheesecake. Again if it's not your thing, leave it off.
* The salted caramel sauce recipe makes a lot. Just pop any left overs in an air tight container in the fridge and warm up as necessary. It's great on ice cream.
* This is quite a soft cheesecake (I had forgotten about that since I last made it!). If you wanted it firmer you could play around with the cream cheese to top n fill ratio. Alternatively it would work wonderfully as individual cheesecakes in glasses or jars. Or next time I am going to add a small amount a gelatine to achieve the consistency that I want, I will update you!

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Cheesecake
Prep time: 30 minutes
Set time: 5+ hours (overnight is best)

Ingredients
Base
250g choc ripple biscuits
100g melted butter

Filling
380g cream cheese
380g tin of Caramel Top n Fill
1 tbs lemon juice
salt, to taste

Ganache
150g milk chocolate
150g thickened cream

Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 thickened cream
60g butter
salt, to taste

Crushed pretzels (optional)

Method

Place biscuits in food processor and blitz until they create a crumb. Add melted butter and blitz until mixed.
Pour crumb into 19 cm springform pan and press gently into base and up sides (about 3/4 of the way).
Place in fridge while you make the filling.

Place cream cheese in mixer/processor and beat until smooth. Add caramel top n fill and lemon juice and blend until smooth and creamy. Salt to taste.
Pour filling over base and return to fridge to set (4 hours or overnight is best).

Once cheesecake has been setting for a few hours start on your ganache and salted caramel sauce.
To make the ganache place chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Return to microwave and cook for a further 30 seconds. Remove and stir until all the chocolate is melted and the ingredients are well combined. If necessary return to microwave for a further 10 seconds at a time. Let ganache cool and thicken for half an hour or so, stirring occasionally.

To make the caramel sauce combine ingredients in a saucepan and place over medium high heat until butter is melted, stirring occasionally. Once butter is melted simmer mixture for 4 minutes stirring constantly. Set sauce aside and allow to cool.

If adding pretzels, place a handful in food processor and blitz for a few seconds.

Once your sauce and ganache have cooled, remove cheesecake from the fridge. Drizzle ganache and caramel sauce over the top. Sprinkle pretzels over the cheesecake. Return to fridge for a short while to allow the toppings to set.

Enjoy!

Satay Chicken Skewers

I did it! I finally tried one of my new recipes that I have had planned for weeks! Super simple satay chicken skewers. These were adapted from the Woman's Weekly Five Day Diet recipe book. I love the idea of this book. It is full of delicious looking, fresh, simple food and allows you to have your weekends free to eat whatever you want. My only (personal) problem is that while each recipe has the nutritional information the days don't seem to stick to a calorie intake amount. This is all personal preference though, I find I get better results if I set myself a calorie goal. So I took what I felt would work for me from the book and adapted it to fit. I often find that calorie controlled recipes (Woman's Weekly, Michelle Bridges, etc) are lacking in a variety of vegetables as part of the meal so I often bulk them out with extras because I love veggies (and I'm not going to beat myself up for going over my goal with veggies).

So the first recipe I decided to try was the satay chicken skewers. They sounded tasty and super easy. And they didn't disappoint. I tried the pickled carrot and cucumber but found it a bit lacking only having the two types of vegetables and will probably have a salad next time. I also cheated and used 90 second rice, which I guess is only really cheating on the cooking time, but I hate cooking rice so I loved this. I was just cooking for myself tonight so I also appreciated that the recipe is very simple to halve. Add a glass of white wine and I was very happy.

My hints/tips this week are:
 Soak the skewers in water for about 30 minutes before you want to use them. It makes it easier to skewer the meat and stops them from burning when you are cooking.
While you can use any type of peanut butter, I think crunchy would work best. I used smooth as that was what I had in the pantry but think the extra crunch would have been awesome.
This recipe serves two.
Enjoy!

Satay Chicken Skewers



Ingredients
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon grass
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
250g chicken tenderloins (I cut mine into 6 strips of similar size)
2 tablespoon peanut butter
1 cup chicken stock
brown rice, to serve

Method

Combine lemongrass, cumin, coriander, turmeric and chicken tenderloins in a bowl. Allow to stand for 15 minutes.
Thread chicken onto skewers.
Cook chicken in frying pan over medium-high heat until golden and cooked through.
Remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
Add spices leftover from marinating chicken, peanut butter and stock to pan. Stir until combined and allow to simmer over a low-medium heat until the sauce thickens.
Serve with your choice of sides. Drizzle satay sauce over the top of the skewers.

I served my meal with brown rice and a simple pickled carrot and cucumber salad. To make the salad finely slice 200g carrot and 150g cucumber. Toss is 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 2 teaspoons of caster sugar. Allow to stand for 30 minutes. Drain off excess liquid and serve.

Nan's Pavlova Roll with Mixed Berries and Pistachio

Ahhhh what is that saying about life and the best laid plans? Let's just say that despite my meal planning, shopping and excitement about my list of new recipes to try, I am yet to try one. Thanks to Aunty duties (which I love), gastro, a busy weekend and now a lovely (note the sarcasm) cold. I did manage to sneak in a dessert to use up some leftover egg whites though.

 One of my Dad's favourite desserts is pavlova. I recently made my first ever pavlova and was quite surprised by my success. I wanted to try something slightly different this time though and my Nan makes a fantastic variation with her pavlova roll. Thanks to my 'best laid plans' I had a variety of berries in the fridge begging to be eaten, so all I needed was some cream and I decided to spice it up with some pistachios. This is a super easy recipe, which takes very little time to prepare, only 15 minutes to cook and then a little while to cool, roll and decorate. And it is delicious!

My couple of tips or words of warning. I overwhipped my meringue, there was about 20 seconds between not whipped enough and over, I was doing it in Doris my thermoblend though which I haven't mastered yet. Luckily it still worked well, but just be careful. Also while you need to roll the pavlova while it is still slightly warm make sure you give it some time to cool or you will melt the cream. After rolling I placed it in the fridge for about 15 minutes before I decorated the outside. Finally the sky is the limit with your filling and topping. I used berries because that is what I had and I love berries but anything that you would top a traditional pavlova would work. My family love peppermint crisp with pavlova and I think that would be awesome with this variation!

Well, with out further ado unto the recipe! Enjoy! And please let me know if you try it out.

Nan's Pavlova Roll with Mixed Berries and Pistachio

Ingredients
6 egg whites
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 cups fresh mixed berries
A handful of crushed pistachio nuts
500ml whipped cream

Method
Line a tray with gease proof paper.
Preheat oven to 170°C.
Beat egg whites until firm peaks form.
Add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating until dissolved.
Blend in vinegar and vanilla.
Spread meringue evenly into pan.
Cook in oven for 12-15 minutes.

Assembly

While pavlova is in the oven, whip the cream, chop up the berries and crush the pistachio nuts.
Remove pavlova from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Once slightly cooled spread 1/3 of the cream onto pavlova. Place 1/2 the berries down the centre of the pavlova (length ways).
Roll the pavlova, so that the berries run down the centre of the roll.
Place pavlova roll on plate and refrigerate for 15 - 30 minutes.
Once completely cool cover the pavlova roll with remaining cream and top with remaining berries and the pistachio.

Go-to Cake and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

Sorry for the radio silence everyone. I've been in a slump, lacking inspiration and motivation in the kitchen for the last few weeks and as a result I let The Weekly Feast slide.

Do you ever find yourself at the end of a project looking at your finished product and being disappointed, even though it is perfectly fine? That is how my slump started. A few weeks ago I decided to try my hand at thrice cooked chips. They are something that are always raved about on cooking shows and I was intrigued. Deep frying is not something I have much, okay any, experience with. We don't even own a deep fryer. But I decided to give it a go the old fashioned way, with a saucepan full of oil. I took the time, researched the technique, I made sure my chips were all very similar size and I even used a timer. All up I think I spent 2 hours on these chips, and I was disappointed. To be perfectly honest they tasted no better than store-bought oven chips, actually they weren't even as crispy as oven chips. They tasted fine but lacked that distinctive crunch. I don't know if it was the oil I used, my technique, my timing or the fact that I was just guessing with the temperature of my deep frying oil. But the end result left me disappointed.

Now while the chips were a small failure, the rest of the meal was quite tasty, but I was already in that funk. I had decided to have pork spare ribs with the chips. I mean what a classic combo, ribs and chips! After searching and procrastinating I landed upon this recipe for slow-cooker southern pork ribs. Looking back now I can appreciate this recipe, however I will admit that at the time the whole meal left me disappointed. I didn't even bother to plate it nicely and photograph it. The problem was that the whole meal did not match up to the picture I had in my head. But now I can see it was not the disaster I imagined it to be. The chips, while not crispy, were tasty and the sauce from the ribs was delicious. 

Since the 'failed' feast I have lost my mojo in the kitchen. I have been keeping things simple and boring. Cooking so I can eat, not because I am enjoying it. I decided to skip last weekend as I was going away and hoped I would come back refreshed and ready to get back in the kitchen. It was just what I needed. I headed down to the Hunter Valley to see the Eagles play at Hope Estate. They are one of my all time favourite bands and I've been hanging for this concert since 2013 when Glenn Fry mentioned the possibility of them returning in the near future. Couple that with the fact that we had seats closer to the stage than I have ever dreamed of being (21 rows from the front!!) and I was pumped! Well let's just say that the concert was...Spectacular! Amazing! Fabulous! Everything I wanted, basically. And it worked. I came home and spent Sunday evening and Monday trawling through my recipe books and picking out new and exciting things. To add to my new inspiration I went out to lunch on Tuesday, just a simple meal at the ex-services club but it was so tasty and presented so beautifully that it made me want to get in the kitchen and work to evolve some of my own recipes to make them something special. So keep an eye out for some of my own recipes hitting the blog in the future! Then I spent today grocery shopping for the next fortnight, when I will be trying out lots of new recipes. I promise to share my stories on time! 

I haven't been in the kitchen yet but as a sorry for going MIA I'm going to share my go-to cake and white chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe with you. What I love about this recipe is that the frosting isn't sickeningly sweet and the cake is so versatile. Add some cocoa for a simple chocolate cake, add your favourite flavoured essence, colour it, shape it. The sky is the limit. As you can see I love rainbow cakes. I simply make a double batch of batter, divide evenly and colour, then bake each cake. So enjoy the recipe and I will be back soon! I would love to see your creations if you try out the recipe.

Go-to Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe



Ingredients

Cake
125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup (125g) milk

Frosting
170g white chocolate
455g cream cheese
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste

Method
Cake
Preheat oven to a moderate temperature. I generally set my oven to 160°, but every oven is slightly different. Grease and line cake pan/s.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time until combined.
Stir in flour and milk, in batches. Be sure not to over mix in this stage, you want your batter to stay light.
If adding colouring now is the time.
Pour batter into cake pan/s.
Bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean, generally between 25-35 minutes depending on the thickness of you cake.
Allow to cool in pan/s for 5 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack to cool completely.

Frosting
Whip cream cheese until soft and smooth.
Add butter and whip until smooth and light in colour. The longer you whip the paler you frosting will be.
Add icing sugar and vanilla. Whip until pale and fluffy. If the mixture stays on your paddle/whisk/spoon when you hold it up you have reached the right consistency. If it is too runny, try placing in the fridge for an hour.
Melt white chocolate. I melt mine in the microwave but you can use a double boiler. If using microwave, place in a safe bowl, microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring with a metal or plastic spoon in between.
Allow chocolate to cool.
Once cool beat chocolate into frosting and refrigerate for several hours to firm up.

Assembly
Once cake has cooled and frosting has set, it is time to assemble your cake. This part is all about your imagination! I love assembling as a layer cake with frosting sandwiched between each layer. This recipe makes A LOT of frosting but it's my favourite so I would rather have too much, than not enough.

Savoury Muffin Recipe

Last week I mentioned my love of kitchen gadgets. This extends from things like strawberry hullers through to gadgets like the Thermomix. I've been to several demos and I drool over a friend's machine everytime I visit. I even borrowed one for a week and loved every second of it. Unfortunately $2000 for a kitchen machine simply isn't in my budget at the moment, no matter how much I love it. Lucky for me I got given the next best thing for my birthday this year! A Kogan Thermoblend. There are several key differences from the Thermomix, including being belt driven, not having a reverse function and lacking in built scales. All that aside I love this machine. It is perfect until that mythical day when I can afford the real deal. Now like all members of the family she needed a name. Many of my possessions have names. My car is called Luna, my sewing machine is Betty. After much deliberation I settled on Dorris for the Thermoblend. So I would like to officially welcome Dorris to the family!

This week I decided to make some savoury muffins to use up leftovers from the fridge. I love muffins. Savoury, sweet it doesn't matter. Savoury muffins are a fabulous way to use up leftovers and create a healthy snack that you can eat on the go. I couldn't find my usual recipe and I wanted to try out Dorris so I decided to trial my own recipe. The great thing about this recipe is that you can mix it up by using the base batter, which stays the same, and add whatever extra ingredients you want or have on hand. These are great warm with a little butter. Delicious!

Savoury Muffins

Ingredients
Batter
2 cups SR flour (I used wholemeal)
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
125g butter
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Extras
200g cheese
1/2 red onion
handful sundried tomatoes
thyme

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Grease or line 12 whole muffin pan.
Place cubed cheese into bowl. Grate on for 30 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.
Place onion in bowl. Process for 10 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.
Place butter in bowl. Melt for 2 minutes on speed 4 at 60°C.
Add the rest of batter ingredients. Mix for 30 seconds on speed 6.
Scrape down sides of bowl.
Add cheese, onion, sundried tomato and thyme. Mix for 5 seconds on speed 5.
Give a quick mix with spatula to ensure extras are evenly mixed.
Spoon, evenly, into muffin pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and skewer inserted comes out clean.

n.b. This recipe is for use in a thermo-style appliance. You could simply grate, chop, melt and mix the ingredients by hand.

My muffins simply used leftovers I had in the fridge. I think they would be super tasty with creamed corn, cheese and ham. Or maybe just a vege muffin with zucchini, carrot, mushrooms, peas, corn or anything really!

Thanks for stopping by. If you try out the recipe please let me know what you think and I would love to hear what ingredient combination you try!
Xxx