Marble cheesecake

So I'm finally done with my LPC exams and it feels so good to know that I'm done with exams for the rest of my life (at least I hope so!). I've spent a couple of days at my parents' place now and to celebrate the end of my school year and I decided to bake a lovely cheesecake. I usually make the classic cheesecake, but I wanted to try something new. Most of my favourite cheesecake recipes come from a book called Juustukoogid by Lia Virkus and Angeelika Kang (sorry my dear non-Estonian reads, but this book is only in Estonian) as they are relatively easy to make, don't require a huge array of different ingredients and so far every last one of them has come out absolutely amazing.

As the weather has been really bad here lately - I honestly can't remember the last time it was only +8C in the beginning of June - I wanted something slightly richer and less fruity that I usually would go for in the summer. So we were flicking through the book and a couple of possibilities caught our eye - carrot cake cheesecake, peanut butter cheesecake and Daim chocolate cheesecake to name a few - but the one that really stood out was this Marble cheesecake.

It takes slightly more time to prepare than the other baked cheesecakes I've made because you need to melt the chocolate, but leaving that aside it is as quick and straightforward to make as all the other ones. I love how you could taste a hint of curd cheese / quark (kohupiim - творог) in the cake itself and how the base reminded me of a chocolate version of a cheesecake I used to eat as a child more than 10 years ago. The cake is perfectly balanced - not too chocolatey and not too sweet and perfectly creamy. It makes a perfect teatime treat, which is guaranteed to please everyone. It tastes delicious either on its own or if you want to make it more summery or just add a twist, serve it with a lovely dollop of homemade jam or with fresh berries. 

Ingredients

(Serves 12)
Base:
- 130g butter, melted
- 75ml sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 50g dark chocolate, melted
- 250ml flour
- 1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
- 500g curd / quark / kohupiim / or ricotta cheese
- 500g Philadelphia cream cheese
- 250ml sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 2 tbsp flour
- 4 eggs
- 50ml milk
- 250g sour cream
- 100g dark chocolate, melted

Directions
To make the base whip together warm butter, sugar and vanilla sugar. Then add melted dark chocolate and the egg yolk. Finally add flour and salt. Put the base batter in a lined 24-cm springform tin and cook at 180C (fan) for 15 minutes.

For the filling, mix together curd, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla sugar, flour, eggs, milk and sour cream until smooth and creamy. Then divide the mixture into two parts - keep 2/3 in the same bowl and place 1/3 of it in another bowl and mix that smaller batch with the melted chocolate. Pour the light mixture on top of the base and then top it off with the chocolate mixture. To mix the layers a bit draw 8-shaped circles with a sharp knife, but be careful not to overdo it as you don't want the cake to look muddy.

Bake at 175C (fan) for 1 hour. Then let the cake cool down in the oven with the door open for another hour and then chill the cake overnight (or at least for 5 hours) before serving. In order to make it easier to take it out of the tin place the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes and then place on a serving plate, slice, top the individual slices with fruit / name if you wish and enjoy!

Recipe from a book "Juustukoogid"

  

White chocolate & blueberry cheesecake

I am currently visiting my parents in Estonia and it is nearly impossible to stay over and not make a cheesecake (or two). Although my mum was insisting that I'd make the classic one, I really wanted to try out something new and different. And to my pleasant surprise I made such a good choice that she said that she likes this even more than the other one!

This is slightly different from the other cheesecakes I've made as it uses curd cream (this is the one I used). Curd cream is something I've only seen in Estonia and I know it's available in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia as well, but if you don't have curd cream, use ricotta instead.

I love trying out new cheesecakes and have to say that they make a lovely summery dessert, even though they're quite heavy. The fact that you can have berries and the cake is served chilled makes up for the heaviness. This cake is really simple to make and takes a lot less work than the ones I usually make. On top of that the blueberries go so well with the creamy vanilla cake that it just melts in your mouth. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the white chocolate didn't make it too sweet and you can just barely taste it. All in all, a lovely summery dessert that's guaranteed to go down a treat.

Ingredients
(Serves 12/16)
Base:
- 300g Digestive biscuits
- 150g butter

Filling:
- 500g Philadelphia cream cheese
-  380g vanilla curd cream (quark cream)
- 1 dl sugar
- 2 dl flour
- 1,5 tsp vanilla sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 dl cream
- 200g white chocolate
- 2 dl blueberries

Directions
First preheat the oven to 175C and line a round springform tin with baking paper. Then prepare the base. Crush the digestive biscuits and melt the butter. Mix together and press into the baking tin. Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside.

To make the filling, whip the cream cheese and curd cream. Then add sugar, flour and vanilla sugar. Add the eggs one by one and finally add in the cream. Melt the white sugar in a bain marie and add into the filling mixture.

Pour the mixture on top of the base, top it off with blueberries, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then leave it in the oven for another 30 minutes with the door open. After that place in the fridge and chill properly before serving.

Chocolate chip muffins

Before even going to my today's post I need to apologise for leaving such a huge gap between my posts. After finishing off my master's I basically went travelling for 2,5 weeks - flying back to Estonia to visit my parents and popping over to London to check on my flat and now I'm back in Singapore and have almost managed to get rid of my jet lag. I have to admit that it is a lot more difficult to make myself get up in the morning if there's no need for it - I could easily just stay in bed the whole day. I honestly thought that I'd have time to cook something new and share it with you, but it would have been really difficult to make my hungry family wait until I take my pictures so getting new material for the blog whilst I was in Estonia was nearly impossible. It's a different story with London as I was there alone for half of the time and my sister joined me for the other half of the week, so no issue of keeping the family waiting, but we were so busy with all the shopping and appointments that I just didn't have the time and the energy to whip up something worthy of sharing. So that's my explanation for not updating my blog. I'll try to be better over the rest of the summer, but I already know for a fact that there are at least 2 weeks when I'm travelling - so no posts coming then.

Now to the recipe then. In my honest opinion, every girl (or a guy for that matter) should have a simple basic muffin recipe which can be put together without having to go shopping for all the special components that some recipes require. This is a very simple and straightforward recipe and basically all one needs to do is to mix together the ingredients in a big bowl and then bake the muffins.

In order for muffins to be good, the recipe does not necessarily need to be complicated. I made these for  my little sister when she had a friend sleeping over. She actually wanted to make muffins herself from a  muffin mix, but I just could not let her do that - homemade ones are so much better! And all that was left over was "taken care of" by my other sister and my mum - even my dad had few, and that's something.

All in all, this is an amazing quick-fix for an upcoming party if you're short of time, but still want to make something tasty yourself, rather than resorting to ready made mixes or ready made muffins ... I promise that by serving these muffins - moist and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside -  positive comments are guaranteed. Or a lovely movie night in, picnic, having friends over for coffee or even better - if you feel like having something indulgent for breakfast. Enjoy!

Ingredients

(Makes 18)
- 2 medium eggs
- 200g caster sugar
- 250ml milk
- 125ml sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil)
- 400g plain flower
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 175g chocolate chips (can have more or less than that)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cups / grease the tray or use silicone muffin cups. Then beat the eggs in a bowl and mix in the oil and milk. Add the sugar and mix until its dissolved. Then add the dry ingredients - sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until smooth. Finally add the chocolate chips and give it a nice stir so they're scattered evenly throughout the batter.

Fill the muffin cases 2/3 full and bake for around 25 minutes. Enjoy right out of the oven or let them cool. For even more indulgence serve with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Basic muffin recipe from BBC Good Food

 

Blueberry & Chocolate mousse pots

Few weeks ago I prepared a cosy romantic dinner at home - fresh baguette with herb butter to start and beef with crispy potatoes as a main course. And for dessert I prepared these lovely mousse pots. I had quite a few ideas for dessert but because I wanted something that I could make in advance and that would not be too heavy, because as we were quite full already after finishing the first two courses, having a heavy dessert would have been out of the question.

This is the second time I've made these mousse pots - first time was for a dinner I made for my sister - and I have to say that if I'd have to entertain a bit bigger crowd that just two persons I would seriously consider serving this. It's quick and very straightforward to make, doesn't require baking, isn't too heavy, can be made in advance, has nice berries in it (you can mix different berries) and on top of everything it contains chocolate! And trust me, after tasting home-made chocolate mousse you'll never ever reach for the stuff they sell in shops.

All in all, it is light and fluffy, but at the same time gives you the melt-in-your-mouth feeling and satisfies both the people who try to keep their eating healthy as well as those devoted chocoholics who don't consider anything a proper dessert unless it contains chocolate. I'd like to point out that even though the recipe calls for dark chocolate, it does not taste bitter at all (and has all the antioxidants!) and in my honest opinion it would be a bit too sweet if made with milk chocolate instead.

Ingredients
(Serves 4 - approximately 160 cal per serving) 
- 75g dark chocolate, melted
- 4 tbsp low-fat yogurt
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 350g blueberries (or other berries or even a mix of different berries)

Directions
Firstly melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool for 5-10 minutes. Once it has cooled down, mix in the yogurt. Then wash and dry the berries and place in small glasses or ramekins.

Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, then add sugar and beast until sugar is dissolved and the egg white has turned into stiff glossy peaks. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture - firstly loosen the mixture with a spoonful of egg white and then carefully fold in the rest of the mixture, trying to keep as much air in as possible.

Finally, divide the chocolate mousse between the ramekins and chill in the fridge until set (or until serving). Enjoy!

Recipe from BBC Good Food

Valentine's Day strawberries

When it comes to romantic food it is difficult to go wrong with strawberries, chocolate and whipped cream (and not forgetting a nice bottle of champagne) and as this is our very first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple (he popped the question 5 days ago while we were on a long weekend break in Bangkok) I thought of treating my fiancé - love the way it sounds - to a romantic and relaxed evening at home.

For the main course I made simple homemade pizza and for dessert I went with the timeless classic. To be honest, I'd been looking at dessert recipes for months now to see if I could find anything special, but the choice hasn't been anything as good as one would have thought. Although we both love cakes (especially cheesecakes) it's quite pointless to make a cake that is meant for 12 as it will simply go off before we'll manage to eat it all. And on the other hand I needed something that I could make in advance as I'm coming home from a quite late lecture and I won't have time to prepare a dessert that will make few hours to make. So faced with all these problems I decided to go with the simple yet classic (and a bit of a cliche) option to serve strawberries. The more I thought of the idea the better it sounded - it can be made ahead, it looks delicious, tastes really nice and it's meant to be eaten with your fingers, meaning that the whole process can be very romantic as well.

So, long story short, this is a perfect treat for the loved one for any occasion you want them to feel special. Experiment with different chocolates and different flavours - sprinkle some nuts or cookie crumbs and drizzle with some (salted) caramel. I do realise that it is not a recipe per se, but it just looked so pretty that I could not resist sharing it with you.

Ingredients
- 450 fresh strawberries, washed, dried and leaves removed
- 200g white chocolate
- 70g dark chocolate
- Silver balls or other sprinkles for decorating
- Whipped cream, optional

Directions
Place the white chocolate in a bowl and put it over a pot of hot (nearly boiling) water and let it melt. Do the same with dark chocolate. In the meantime, wash and dry the strawberries.

To decorate dip most the strawberries into white chocolate and place on a plate covered with baking parchment (to prevent them from sticking). Sprinkle some of them with silver balls and drizzle other ones with dark chocolate and leave some plain white. Place another sheet of baking parchment on a separate plate and put the remaining strawberries there. Drizzle them all with dark chocolate and decorate some with silver balls.

Leave to set for a bit and then place them in a nice bowl and serve. If you wish, serve with fresh whipped cream on the side. Enjoy!

 

Chocolate swirl cheesecake

I went home to visit my parents for two weeks and I decided to use the chance to do some serious baking and cooking - it is so much easier to cook for many people and I didn't have to worry about cakes going off because to be honest, eating a cake just between the two of us before it goes off is a bit tricky, especially if you don't want to have cake for all three meals of the day.

My mum is a huge cheesecake fan (who isn't?) and as my dad likes them as well, because they are quite fresh and not sweet, I decided to try out a new cake. And it turned out so nice that I made if for my cousin's 18th birthday as well - and everyone loved it.

I've made quite a few different cheesecakes over the years and I have to admit that this one is by far the easiest and the quickest I've made. It takes just 15-20 minutes to put everything together and then all you need to do is to chill it for at least 5 hours (or preferably overnight). I love how the dark chocolate gives a little twist to the creamy and moist cheesecake. I'm in love with this cheesecake and have already come up with an idea how to vary it and obviously will keep you updated as to how that goes.

Ingredients
(Serves 9-12, depends on the size of the slices)
- 175g caster sugar (or normal white sugar)
- 450g Philadelphia cheese (I used a mixture or low fat and full fat)
- 1 vanilla pod (can be substituted with 1 tsp vanilla sugar)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 175g creme fraiche (or 10% sour cream)
- 475ml double cream

- 150g good quality dark chocolate
- 125ml double cream

- 8 digestive biscuits
- 25g butter, melted

Directions
First, line a 22cm springform tin with baking paper and then prepare the chocolate swirl. For that, cut the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl together with 125ml double cream and place the bowl over hot (or even simmering) water and let it melt. When it all has melted, take the bowl off the hot water and set aside to let it cool a bit.

To prepare the base, crush 8 digestive biscuits and mix the crumbs with 25g melted butter. Feel free to double to biscuit and butter quantity if you prefer a bit thicker base, but I prefer the thinner base version (I've tried both). When all the crumbs are evenly covered with the butter, put the mixture into the cake tin and press down firmly.

Lastly, prepare the filling itself. For that take two bowls. In one mix together the sugar, Philadelphia cheese and the seeds from the vanilla pod, then set aside. In another bowl (a bigger one) whist together lemon juice, cream and creme fraiche (10% sour cream) until it forms soft peaks. Then add the cream cheese mixture to the double cream mixture and mix well.

To finish the cake, spoon a layer of the cream cheese mixture on the biscuit base, then swirl 1/3 of the chocolate and repeat this three times so you end up with three layers of chocolate and three layers of cream cheese mixture. And to create the swirl stick a knife blade into the cheesecake and swirl the cheesecake. Just don't try to smooth the surface as that would create a muddy effect.

What I did for my cousin's birthday was that I just created two layers of chocolate and three layers of cream cheese and then swirled the mixture. After that I piped his name and some decorations on the cake with the leftover 1/3 chocolate mixture.

When everything is ready, chill the cake for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight) and keep chilled until you need to cut it. I've also discovered that if you place the cheesecake in the freezer for like 15-20 minutes before serving it is a lot easier to take it out of the springform tin and the chances that the biscuit base will break are reduced.

Recipe adapted from Gordon's cheesecake recipe on BBC Good Food 

 

Christmas flavoured cookies

With Christmas coming closer every day I though of sharing something a bit different with you. I know how difficult it is to come up with Christmas presents and frankly, store bought cookies and sweets just won't do the trick. And as home-made presents are in this holiday season I decided to make a huge batch of Christmas flavoured cookies and give them as presents. Trying to make the cookies taste of Christmas, I made white chocolate and cranberry cookies, dark chocolate and orange cookies and dark chocolate and mint cookies. So far all the feedback I've received has been positive. I have to admit that I did munch on quite a few cookies before wrapping them up and they honestly were delicious and most of all they made me feel very Christmassy. Of course, they are also perfect to be enjoyed with a nice cup of tea or coffee and they make a great snack. 


Obviously, feel free to play around with different tastes - try different flavoured chocolates or add nuts to the cookies. Also, the quantities here are not fixed, I just noted down what I added to my Christmas flavoured cookies. And when it comes to presents and baking in general don't forget the magic ingredient - make them with love, because it does make a difference. I wrapped them up in a see-through wrapping paper but there are amazing biscuit tins and jars and gift bags out there, which means that each and every present can be unique.

Ingredients

(Makes approximately 40 cookies)

- 950ml flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt- 150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled down
- 480ml packed light brown sugar
- 240ml white sugar
- 2 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract

- 1/2 orange zest, grated

- 100g white chocolate, chopped (or   use chips)

- 100g good quality dark chocolate, chopped (or use chips)

- 30g cranberries 

- 100g After Eight, chopped 

Directions
Preheat the oven to 160C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a bigger bowl mix the melted butter, brown and white sugar. Then beat in the egg and egg yolk and lastly add the vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until evenly moistened. Divide the dough into three and place in different bowls. Add white chocolate chips and cranberries to one bowl, dark chocolate and orange zest to another bowl and after eight pieces into the third bowl. Mix well until well combined



Roll the dough into balls and press down the cookies on the baking tray with your palm to make them flat.

Then bake them for 5-7 minutes for smaller cookies or 12-15 minutes for larger ones or until the edge looks golden brown and the middles don't look quite set. Bake them for a bit longer if you prefer your cookies crunchier (I like mine a bit soft inside so I take them out a bit sooner).

 

Gooey chocolate brownies

It was Singapore's 47th National Day on 9th of August and to celebrate I decided to make a nice batch of brownies. I've baked brownies before but only from a ready made brownie mix, but this time I decided to do it properly - from scratch. Honestly, I'm never going back to ready made brownie mixes after trying these. When I had the first bite I was in a brownie-heaven - nice and crunchy on the outside and perfectly gooey in the inside. I liked them so much that the day after I might have finished half the batch just by myself.

They are not the easiest to make (i.e. you can't just put all the ingredients together in a one bowl and voilà), but the small effort you need to take to make those brownies is worth every second spent. And it's not that they're difficult to make, but more that you need separate bowls for everything. Other than that - they're straightforward to make and trust me, you'll understand that outcome was worth using every bowl in your kitchen. What I really love about this recipe is that it makes a decent batch of brownies. I didn't put a quantity in this recipe, as it all depends on how small or large you prefer to have your brownie pieces. But it does make a huge quantity (a whole big baking tray) so they're great for parties with loads of guests as you can prepare the dessert / snack in one go or you can make them when you need a chocolate fix which is something, trust me on this, you will definitely get after eating them.

Those brownies are great for everything - you can have them as a snack (or a meal if you're chocoholic), serve them as dessert with some ice-cream (that would be especially good if the brownies were still a bit warm), put them in packed lunch, make them for a party with many guests or take them with you when going to a party. No matter how or where you eat them, I guarantee you that you'll find yourself in chocolate brownie heaven, just like I did.

Ingredients
- 370g unsalted butter
- 400g good quality dark chocolate
- 170g plain flour
- 80g cocoa powder
- 100g white chocolate
- 6 large eggs
- 550g caster sugar

Directions
Firstly cut the butter and dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl over a pot of hot water. Mix it every now and then until everything is smooth and nicely melted and then take the bowl off the water and set it aside to let it cool down a bit.

Preheat the oven to 160C fan / 180C and line a big baking tray with baking paper.

Chop the white chocolate (or if you want to you can use milk chocolate or mix of both) into small pieces and set aside. In a medium bowl, sieve together the flour and cocoa powder and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and caster sugar until thick and creamy and then pour the cooled chocolate in it and mix until the mixture is evenly brown. Then add in the flour and cocoa powder and mix until even. Lastly, add the chopped white chocolate and give the mixture few stirs. Then pour the mixture into a baking tray and even out.

Bake it for 40 minutes (or until ready). You can check whether the brownies are ready by putting a toothpick in and taking it out and if it is clear then the brownies are done. When the brownies are done, take them out of the oven and leave to cool in the tray. When they are cooled, cut them into pieces and enjoy.

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food

White chocolate & macadamia nut cookies

I am a big fan of cookies and some of my friends have even given me a nickname 'the Cookie Monster'.   Before moving to the UK all I knew about big cookies was what I had seen on TV- big oversized cookies kept in a cookie jar on the kitchen counter. However, after moving here I could get the cookies from everywhere and they looked exactly like I had imagined them. Whenever I went home to visit I always brought few packs with me as they were my sister's favourites (although she prefers just the milk chocolate chip ones). There is one big problem with shop bought cookies - they are not homemade and more importantly you can't dictate what goes in them.

These white chocolate & macadamia nut cookies have a really cute story behind them. The first time I made them (to welcome my other half home) all the shops I went to had run out of macadamia nuts and as I did not want to give up on my idea to bake them I bought loads of mixed nuts and handpicked the macadamia nuts out. Thankfully, all the following times I have not had to do that.

They are relatively sweet so I find it difficult to have more than one, but everyone else seems to have no problem finishing the whole plate off in one go. So if you prefer cookies which are a bit less sweet reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe (as white chocolate is already quite sweet just on its own). Also, feel free to substitute the nuts and white chocolate for whatever is your favourite combination. These irresistible cookies are perfect for dessert, as a snack or just to enjoy with a nice and strong cup of coffee at any time of the day.

Ingredients
(Makes around 12, depending on the size)
- 475ml flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled down
- 240ml packed light brown sugar
- 120ml white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 350ml chopped macadamia nuts
- 475ml white chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 160C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a bigger bowl mix the melted butter, brown and white sugar. Then beat in the egg and egg yolk and lastly add the vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until evenly moistened. Then stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.

Roll the dough into balls and press down the cookies on the baking tray with your palm to make them flat.

Then bake them for 12-15 minutes or until the edge looks golden brown and the middles don't look quite set. Bake them for a bit longer if you prefer your cookies crunchier (I like mine a bit soft inside so I take them out a bit sooner).

 

Chocolate cheesecake

Over the last weekend we had a huge celebration at home - all of us had something to celebrate and all the relatives and family friends were over at ours ... and I was put in charge of desserts (this explains why the blog is flooded with desserts right now). As I am a proper chocoholic, the combination of cheesecake and chocolate sounds like heaven to me and as I noticed, I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

I made the cheesecake with Geisha chocolates ( http://www.fazer.com/Brands/Geisha/About-Geisha-/ ) but as I have not yet seen them in the UK and I do not think it is possible to order them online, any other chocolate sweet would do just as well - one could even use real truffles in the cake for an extra special occasion.

As the cake is made with dark chocolate (way to fool the mind to thinking that what you're eating is actually healthy and good for you) it is not too sweet. Just a perfect balance between sweet and bitterness put in a silky smooth texture with a hint of sweetness created by addition of Geisha. When I was enjoying my tiny slice of it only one thing passed through my mind: "It's way too good to be true." But it was so true and so good ... the only bad thing was that the cake didn't last long enough.

Ingredients
(Serves 12)
Base:
- 150g cocoa biscuits
- 50g butter, melted

Filling:
- 175g good quality dark chocolate, melted
- 500g Philadelphia cheese
- 2 dl sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 1.5 dl sour cream
- 100g Geisha (or any other) chocolates

- Decorate with physalises, icing sugar, chocolate leaves and anything else of liking.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 24-cm springform tin with baking parchment.

For the base, crush the biscuits and mix together with melted butter. Then press the crumbled biscuits into the tin and set aside.

To make the filling, melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water and then let it cool down a bit. Mix Philadelphia, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and sour cream until smooth. Then add the chocolate. Last, halve the Geisha chocolates and mix them into the rest of the mixture. Pour it on the base and bake for 1 hour. Chill for overnight and decorate right before serving.

Recipe from a book "Juustukoogid"

Strawberry & chocolate cake

Today is my sister's birthday and I made her a proper birthday cake. It wasn't as easy as I though to come up with an idea as she is quite picky with things she eats. I was told that it has to contain berries, cream cheese filling and chocolate and it has to be decorated with silver pearls. Really wish that I could dictate what I want in my birthday cake and then it would magically appear out of nowhere, but that's never going to happen. Anyway, while I was making the cake, my sister scraped the bowls for the cake and for the filling so already during making it I knew the cake would be delicious. The moist and perfectly chocolatey sponge, the sweet and juicy strawberries coupled with the cream cheese filling just make an irresistible combination...

Ingredients
Sponge:
- 3 eggs
- 200g flour
- 200g sugar
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 200g butter, softened
- 100g milk chocolate chips

Filling:
- 50g white chocolate, melted
- 150g fat free Philadelphia
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 400g strawberries, sliced
- Silver pearls, to decorate.

Directions
Heat the oven to 160C fan / 180C. Butter and line a springform baking tin or a bundt cake tin. In a big bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, soft butter and sifted flour. Lastly add the chocolate chips and stir until they have spread out evenly. Place the mixture in a cake tin and bake for around 25 minutes (if using normal springform tin, then a bit longer). Leave to cool in a tin for 5 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling, melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water. Then let it cool a bit and whip in the Philadelphia cheese and the icing sugar, keep whipping until the filling is smooth.

To assemble the cake, cut the cake into half. Spread 2/3 of the filling on the bottom half of the cake, then cover it with strawberries and place the other half on top of the strawberries. Then spread the rest of the filling evenly on the top of the cake and decorate with the rest of strawberries. Then sprinkle over with some silver pears or icing sugar or any other cake decoration.

Chocolate cheesecake muffins

When it comes to desserts and sweet things, chocolate is unarguably my all time favourite. However, over the years I have tried out new and interesting desserts and chocolate has acquired few competitors:- macaroons, cheesecakes, cupcakes, muffins, special flavoured ice-cream... To be honest, this list could probably go on forever as I have an insatiable sweet tooth. So, whenever I am confronted with a desserts menu it always takes me ages to make up my mind - I want it all and at the same time!

Fortunately for me, some geniuses have come up with the idea of mixing all good things into one dessert. For example, I do not know a single person who does not like chocolate chip ice-cream (= ice-cream, chocolate, biscuits). Therefore, at least for me and my boyfriend (and for a quite few of my friends) these chocolate-cheesecake muffins tick most boxes when it comes to dessert - they have just enough of everything in them! The combination of chocolate and cheesecake just make those muffins melt in your mouth. They are great for picnics and parties (as they are fancy enough) and for satisfying all cravings at once. And just to top it off - they are soo easy and quick to make that there is never a good enough excuse not to give in to the temptation.

Ingredients
(Makes 12)
Chocolate mixture:
- 3.5 dl flour
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 125g unsalted butter
- 2.5 dl dark demerara sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1.25 dl hot chocolate powder
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1.5 dl semi-skimmed milk

Filling:
- 300g Philadelphia cheese
- 0.75 dl sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 egg

Directions
Heat the oven to 175C. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a big bowl. Whisk warm (at room temperature) butter with demerara sugar and add eggs on at a time. Then add the hot chocolate powder and vanilla sugar to the egg mixture. Finally, add milk and the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

For the cheesecake filling, whisk together room temperature Philadelphia cheese, egg and the vanilla sugar.

Put muffin cases in a 12-hole muffin tin and fill with the chocolate mixture halfway. Then add 2 spoonfuls of filling on one side and then add chocolate mixture to the other side.

Bake for 25 minutes (or until ready), let them cool down and keep in the fridge until serving.

Recipe from a book "Juustukoogid"