Simple Bear cake!

Simple last minute cake......

The girls nickname was "claire bear",A simple but yet effective cake!

Happy Baking!

Shirley

No Bake Lemon Cheesecake!

I was on dessert duty this Christmas and had great plans of doing my trio of desserts with a raspberry flavour theme,unfortunately I wasn't feeling the best Christmas eve,so I had to use my "go to" lemon cheesecake,it literally takes no time and is scrumptious!

Recipe for Lemon Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 12 digestive biscuits
• 1/2 weight of biscuits in butter / margarine
• 300g tub of Philadelphia cheese
• 400g can of condensed milk
• Juice of 2 or 3 lemons (to taste)

Instructions

1. Weigh the digestive biscuits then weigh out exactly half the weight of the biscuits in margarine. Place the biscuits into a blender and give it a quick whiz.
2. Melt the butter in a pan, then add to the crushed biscuits and blend until the butter has combined with the mixture.
3. Spread the crumb mixture into a 8" springform pan and place in the fridge for 1 hour to set.
4. In a bowl, empty the Philadelphia cheese, condensed milk and lemon juice and mix well with a blender until there are no lumps. Pour the mixture on top of the base and smooth over with a spatula, then refrigerate. You can probably eat the cheesecake after 2 – 3 hours, but it is much better if left over night.

This cheese cake is light and zesty.It is always a winner in my house!

Happy Baking!

Shirley x

30th Birthday Cake!

My sister Jacqueline celebrated her "dirrrrty thirrty" and I had the great pleasure of making her cake.It was my first attempt at a topsy turvy cake and although it wasn't as "topsy turvy" as I would have liked it,Jacqueline loved it so I was happy!

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the cake,so my sister emailed me on some so apologise for the blurriness. We also didn't get photos until the next day,hence the cake being slightly battered!

On the front I placed an extremely glittery "30" (the picture doesn't really do it justice) and on the back I had a little fun with a block of cheese (a personal joke between my sisters and I) and a headstone of "Jacquelines youth"!On top I placed a plastic cosmo glass which is one of Jacq's favourite drinks.

The cakes were chocolate with a chocolate ganache and sponge with lemon cream cheese frosting...yum!

Happy Baking!

Shirley

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

My friend Aoife decided to have a games night so naturally I volunteered to bring "game night" themed cupcakes (Any excuse to bake right?!). Naturally my first thought was fondant but instead I went for something even easier.

Here's what you need....

Mini marshmallows + black edible marker = dice cupcake toppers!! Simple!

I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate cream cheese frosting...yum!
I must also give a mention to a recipe I found for "The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake",I loved this recipe,it really is worth a go but I must warn you it is more expensive than usual.It uses vanilla pods which cost me €6 for two!!! So maybe just for special occasions :)

The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Yield: 16 cupcakes

• 1 cup (225 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 3/4 cups (175 grams) cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup (75 grams) full-fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil (60 ml)
• 1 tablespoon pure (not imitation) vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean. (For those of you who are new to using vanilla beans, check out this video to learn how to get the seeds out of the bean.)
3. Using the back of a spoon, move around the bowl and apply pressure to break up any clumps of seeds and to better infuse the vanilla flavor into the sugar. Set aside.
4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until well combined.
6. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.  Because there is so little butter, you'll end up with a very fine crumb texture.
7. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
8. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.
9. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined.  The batter will be liquid.  (Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong.  It's supposed to be that way.)
10. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full.
11. Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it.  The cupcakes should appear white with specks of vanilla bean. They should not turn a golden brown.  If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes.
12. When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don't own a cooling rack) to cool.

Recipe from "cupcake Project"

Happy Baking!

Shirley