Oreo & Caramel Cheesecake

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I tasted a delicious pudding on the weekend which I was desperate to recreate. However this is a slight cheat as it's not really a cheesecake in the traditional sense.

Oreo & Caramel Cheesecake

Oreo & Caramel Cheesecake

  • Makes: 8 inch cake serving 8-10 (depends how big a slice you want!)
  • Preparation time: 30 minutes
  • Cooking time: caramel – 2o minutes
  • Setting time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • For the biscuit base:
    • 300g bourbon biscuits
    • 70g butter
  • For the caramel:
    • 200g condensed milk
    • 100g light brown sugar
    • 100g butter
  • For the filling:
    • vanilla instant-whip dessert (i.e. Angel Delight)
    • chocolate instant-whip dessert (i.e. Angel Delight)
    • 2 tablespoons of cream cheese
    • 4-5 Oreo cookies
  1. Break up the bourbon biscuits into fine crumbs (I blitzed them in a food processor).
  2. Melt the 70g butter in a saucepan and add the bourbon crumbs.
  3. Transfer mixture into a 8inch flan tin (for ease I used one with a removable base and inserted a cake liner too) and press down firmly all over to compress the mixture.
  4. Place in the fridge to cool and set for twenty minutes.
  5. Melt 100g butter in a pan and add 100g light brown sugar to dissolve. Pour in the condensed milk and raise the temperature very gently until it starts to simmer. Keep the temperature low and stir continuously for around twenty minutes until brown.
  6. Once thickened, pour over the set base and transfer to the fridge to set for twenty minutes.
  7. Mix the two packets of instant-whip desserts separately, use two-thirds of the milk that it suggests on the packet (this will help with the firmness of the filling). Add one tablespoon of cream cheese to each mixture.
  8. Spoon the two different mixtures over the base alternating into a pattern, then stir them through loosely to create a marbled effect. Place in the fridge to set for twenty minutes.
  9. Sprinkle the crushed Oreo cookies over the top of the dessert and serve immediately.

Oreo & Caramel Cheesecake

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Linking to Recipe Of The Week, Share Your Stuff Tuesdays and Tasty Tuesdays

Chocolate Marshmallow Stirrers

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We're huge fans of marshmallows in this household, The Boy adores them in hot chocolate when they turn gooey. These made from scratch marshmallow stirrers are straightforward but do require time and patience, something which I needed a little assistance with from Mr. TBaM!

Chocolate Marshmallow Stirrers

  • Makes: 25
  • Preparation time: 45 minutes (plus cooling)
  • Cooking time: 25 minutes
  • Setting time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

  • For the marshmallow:
    • sunflower oil, for greasing
    • 1tbsp cornflour
    • 1tbsp icing sugar
    • 200ml/7fl oz cold water
    • 450g/1lb granulated sugar
    • 100ml/3½fl oz hot water
    • 25g/1oz powdered gelatine
    • 2 large egg whites
    • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • To decorate:
    • 150g/5½oz milk chocolate, broken into pieces
    • hundreds and thousands
  1. Lightly oil an 18cm/7inch square cake tin (at least 5cm/2in deep). Line the base and two sides wih baking paper, then lightly oil the paper.
  2. To make the coating, sift together the cornflour and icing sugar into a bowl. Use a little of this mixture to dust the lined tin, tapping it firmly so the mixture coats the base and sides completely.
  3. Put the cold water and granulated sugar into a small deep saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sugar has dissolved.
  4. Bring the syrup to the boil and boil, without stirring, for about 5 minutes until the mixture reaches around 120°C/248°F on a sugar thermometer.
  5. Meanwhile, put the hot water into a small bowl, sprinkle over the gelatine and stir until dissolved and the liquid is clear. Put the egg whites into the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer and whisk until they hold stiff peaks.
  6. When the syrup has reached the correct temperature, remove the pan from the heat and add the gelatine mixture – it will fizz and bubble. Leave to stand for a few seconds, then slowly pour the syrup into a large, heatproof jug (take care because the mixture will be extremely hot).
  7. Switch on the mixer on low speed and gradually add the hot syrup to the egg whites in a slow, thin stream, whisking constantly. This must be done very slowly and carefully, otherwise the egg whites could end up slightly scrambled! When all the syrup has been added increase the speed to high and whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture is thick and glossy and leaves a thick trail on the surface when the whisk is lifted.
  8. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
  9. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and use a spatula to gently level the surface.
  10. Lightly dust the top with a little of the coating mixture. Leave to set, uncovered, in a cool, dry place for 4-5 hours.
  11. Run the tip of a lightly greased knife along the unlined sides of the tin to release the marshmallow. Using the lining paper, gently lift out the marshmallow and place on a chopping board. Cut into 25 squares with a lightly greased knife. Lightly dust each square with the remaining coating mixture.
  12. To decorate, put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water and heat until melted. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
  13. Gently push a lollipop stick into each marshmallow, or place onto a spoon. Pour over the melted chocolate and sprinkle on hundreds and thousands to coat. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and leave in a cool place to set. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Chocolate Marshmallow Stirrers

This recipe is one of many scrumptious marshmallow concoctions which can be found in the Parragon book 'Marshmallows Made Marvellous'. With an RRP of £6.00, it's available from a variety of online stores, including Waterstones.

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Linking to Recipe Of The Week, Share Your Stuff Tuesdays and Tasty Tuesdays

A Hit Of Happiness

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There's something we don't have in this house and that's biscuits. Not because I don't like them, but because once a packet is opened we won't  don't can't stop eating them until the last crumb has been fought over. It's not a pretty sight to be honest.

However, someone must have known that it was coming up to a stressful time of year in school for me, because they've sent us some biscuits to help me relax after a busy half term. Not only that, but they thought about the types of things that make little boys happy as well, and that is bubbles and a good, silly DVD.

HIT biscuits

On Friday we took delivery of a beautifully presented box containing a selection of Bahlsen 'Hit' biscuits, a Lorax DVD, a Bananagrams game, and a trio of bubble wands for The Boy.

This is a perfect collection of things to take away with us when we go on holiday with my parents later this week; a game to play in the evening while The Boy is sleeping, a DVD to watch in the car on the way down to Dorset, and some bubbles to blow on the beach at West Bay. And even more importantly, the all important family favourite chocolate biscuits to keep in the car as munchies while on our way to build sandcastles!

Thanks Bahlsen for our lovely Hit of Happiness!

Hotel Chocolat: Zebra Beastie Egg (Review)

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Hotel Chocolat Zebra Milk Beastie Easter Egg

I was sent the above Hotel Chocolate Easter egg to try out. Part of the 'Beastie' range that they have introduced this year, the 'Zebra Beastie Egg' is one of the better value eggs from the collection this year. Priced at £15.00 it comes beautifully wrapped in a stand and cellophane with six mini eggs in both salted caramel and praline flavours.

Hotel Chocolat Milk Beastie egg

The salted caramel truffles are one of my favourite things from the Hotel Chocolat range, and I was really pleased to see them included in this Easter egg. There are three of these smooth chocolates, and three of the praline flavoured mini eggs, which Mr. TBaM was only too happy to taste-test and declared them delicious.

The egg itself is made of thick milk chocolate , thicker than conventional Easter eggs, and this certainly helps to justify the pricetag of £15.00. I would like to point out that the 'Beastie Eggs' are aimed at children, and I do honestly feel that it's at least double the amount I would consider spending on a young child's egg. However, it would be an idea teenager's egg, especially with the zebra print made with an all-natural cocoa butter transfer, and I feel that £15.00 on a luxury egg for an appreciative teenager is a justifiable cost.

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

The Perfect Hot Chocolate

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I recently saw mention of the perfect hot chocolate recipe and a quick Google returned a whole load of recipes to use. I've combined the basic ingredients to perfect my own mixture which has gone down a treat in this house.

You'll need:

  • whole milk (enough for each person)
  • drinking chocolate (I use Galaxy Bubbles which gives a frothy, bubbly finish)
  • 1/4 small bar of chocolate (either plain or milk; plain chocolate tastes richer, milk chocolate is creamier)
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1tsp cornflour
  • small marshmallows (my one hypocritical act as a vegetarian; can't find veggie marshmallows anywhere!)
  • squirty cream
  • saucepan
  • balloon whisk
  • grater
  1. Heat the milk slowly in a saucepan with 2tsp of drinking chocolate per 200ml of milk whisked in, continue to whisk as the milk heats through on the lowest setting.
  2. Grate in most of the chocolate and whisk it into the milk, slowly allowing it to melt in.
  3. Add the vanilla bean paste and stir it through.
  4. Mix the cornflour in a separate pot with a small dribble of milk until it forms a white liquid and add to the milk mixture, slowly whisking in.
  5. Pour into the mug, stopping an inch below the surface.
  6. Place a layer of marshmallows on top of the hot chocolate; this creates both a surface for the squirty cream to sit on, and the heat of the chocolate melts the marshmallows directly.
  7. Squirt cream over the top, decorate with marshmallows and grate a small amount of chocolate over the top for garnish.

hot chocolate

The Ultimate Chocolate Brownie

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These brownies are quite simply the best ever known to all of mankind in all of history.

A short while ago I was eavesdropping on a twittervation between a few friends and saw mention of something called 'slutty brownies'. Not a fan of the 's' term, I was slightly intrigued to see a chocolate cake described in such a way and followed the link posted to see this recipe on The Londoner's blog. Simple enough for anyone to make, it results in a brownie which is worthy of such a better title and is guaranteed to make grown men and women weep.

Ingredients are simple:

  • packet of chocolate chip cookie mix
  • Oreo cookies
  • packet of chocolate brownie mix
  • water

And my own additions to the original recipe:

  • Galaxy chocolate
  • white chocolate drops

slutty brownies

  1. Make up the cookie mix first following the directions and spread it on the bottom of the greased or silicon baking tray.
  2. Layer the Oreo cookies.
  3. Make up the brownie mix and place on top.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes on 200°C.
  5. Serve warm.

Chocolates by Genevie (Review)

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I get offered quite a few things to review, mostly toys or household/kitchen items, and the vast majority of them I'm happy to accept. Some of them are completely off course for our family which contains a three year old boy, but mostly they fit really well. Especially chocolate!

When I was asked to review a new line of chocolates by a new start up business, "we are a small family business dedicated to making chocolate that is second to none", I was more than happy to do so because I feel it's important to support the independent businesses. I also love chocolate and it's got to be a pretty grotty chocolate to not have me impressed.

The pretty box of chocolates from Chocolate By Genevie arrived in the post. Admittedly they were a smaller box than I expected, but I decided that it was quality not quantity that was important.

20120821-225437.jpg

I liked the look of the white chocolate one and bit in. To discover a filling which I couldn't put my finger on. I wasn't even that impressed with the quality of the white chocolate to be honest.

It's at this point that I searched the box for the description card, to no avail. This I found a little disturbing. In this day and age when there are so many of the population with allergies, it's really important to disclose which of the chocolates have nuts or other ingredients in. (I didn't realise until today when I read another review that there is also no use-by date.)

However, I plodded on with the pot luck situation of the chocolates and quickly discovered that in all honesty I couldn't work out any flavours other than praline and possibly a bit of nut. Very disappointing indeed for a box of chocolates which cost £8.99. On that note, it works out to be more than £1 a chocolate. £1 per chocolate! Having reviewed several boxes of chocolates for Hotel Chocolat, I can safely say that these are more expensive and a far lower quality. In fact, they were reminiscent of a supermarket box of truffles.

I had this box to review back in July, so why has it taken me so long to review them? Because I didn't know what to say. I felt bad for this small, home-grown business which was investing in bloggers to promote their brand. The company had offered me a box for a competition as well, but having tasted them I wasn't really keen to endorse them and have been hanging back on writing this review.

What's made me write it tonight? This post here.

It transpires that a few other bloggers who'd been sent this box of chocolates were sufficiently concerned about the lack of product descriptions, ingredients and use-by date, and did some investigations. I'll leave you to read them. Nonetheless, the original 'about me' description of the company (which I quoted above) has been changed. Instead of reading: "Everything from making the chocolates to finishing the boxes is done by hand making sure you receive a product which is both unique and special; we are a small family business dedicated to making chocolate that is second to none" it now says "We have… finally found a small Belgium supplier who makes chocolates that are just divine – all of our chocolates are produced in Belgium by chocolatiers who excel in the art of chocolate. We are a small family business dedicated to sourcing and supplying chocolate that is second to none."

Now as far as I can see, that's a completely different claim. That means that the Genevie who told me that she handmade the chocolates herself (with her family taste-testing and boxing them) doesn't actually do that. And that indeed this family buy them in and repackage them to sell on their site over in the UK.

I'm one of those rare people that don't like Belgian chocolates. I don't like the nutty tastes, I don't like the texture of the chocolates. If I'd known it was a box of Belgian chocolates, I'd have said no.

I have genuinely been toying with my review for the past month. Finding out that the company involved appear to be misleading people as to their origins annoys me. I don't like being lied to.

Regardless of the honesty of the company, would I recommend these chocolates? Well to me, they are standard Belgian chocolates with indeteminable flavours, in fairly attractive but indistinctive packaging, which work out at £1 a chocolate. So, no I wouldn't.

As for the competition promoting the company? Are you having a laugh?

I was sent these chocolates for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and probably unbiased, but I'm still cross about being lied to.

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