No-Bake

Oreo No-Bake Cheesecake

If you are looking for a sweet treat that doesn’t require baking, I’ve got your back. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a Oreo no-bake cheesecake.

As mentioned above, the cheesecake is no-bake, which obviously means you don’t need any sort of heat source. This can be made the night before you need it, that way them you’re not waiting around for the cheesecake to firm up… Which is a win-win in my eyes.

To stabilise the cheesecake you need something to thicken the mixture up, that’s where I used whipped cream. It helps to stabilise the cheesecake filling and also lighten it up, mostly so its not so heavy – you may find that some cheesecakes use gelatine, which just doesn’t taste right to me.

This cheesecake is heavily flavoured with Oreo, so if that’s not your favourite flavour, this cheesecake isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a different flavours, check out my other no-bake cheesecakes, starting with Neapolitan cheesecake, Mini Egg cheesecake, Reese’s peanut butter cheesecake, salted caramel cheesecake and trifle cheesecake.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Base:

125g Original Oreo’s.

35g Butter, melted.

Filling:

300g Soft cheese.

50g Icing sugar.

50-75g Original Oreo crumbs.

150ml Double cream.

Decoration:

150ml Double cream.

25g Icing sugar.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Whole original Oreo’s (as many as you’d like to use).

Original Oreo crumbs (1-2 Oreo biscuits crushed).

Methods:

Before you get started on cheesecake, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up your ingredients, get your 6 inch cake tin and get any equipment such as a stand mixer and a food processor.

To start, you’ll want to make the base. Grab a food processor and place the Oreo biscuits into it, the pulse them down until they are a fine crumb. This should only take seconds using a food processor.

You can then go ahead and add in the butter, then pulse until the butter has been incorporated and has taken on the consistency of wet soil.

Grab your cake tin and pour the biscuit mixture into it and compress it down using the back of a spoon or a small cup measurement (whatever works well for you). Once the base is done, place in the fridge until you need it later on.

To make the cheesecake filling, grab yourself a mixing bowl and place the soft cheese, icing sugar and Oreo crumbs. Then take your whisk and beat by hand until all the ingredients are well combined – you should notice that the mixture is a grey-ish colour.

Now add in the double cream and whisk in until the cream is fully mixed in and the mixture is thicker and holds it shape very well.

Take your base out of the fridge and place the cheesecake mixture into the tin, on top of the base. Level and smooth of the mixture as best you can, I find a small cranked/offset spatula works best but feel free to use whatever you have.

Place it back into the fridge and allow to firm up, I find 8 hours or overnight works best.

Before you intend on serving the cheesecake, you’ll want to make the whipped cream.

Take your double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract and place into a mixing bowl. Whisk together until all of the ingredients are combined and the cream is thick and can hold its own shape. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice (I chose a medium open star tip).

Pipe rosettes all around the edge of the cheesecake, that’s how I chose to do mine but feel free to finish it however you like.

Once the rosettes are piped on, I added some whole original Oreo biscuits and in-between the Oreo’s, I sprinkle some of the biscuit crumbs and then you’re done.

Feel free to personalise the decoration to suit you better, I kept it simple to be honest.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Rocky Road

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a super simple no-bake traybake… I’m showing you how to make a batch of rocky road!

If you were around last December, you may remember that I made a white chocolate rocky road and thought with how things are currently, it would actually be a great idea. You don’t need to use the exact same fillings I have one this recipe, you can see what you’ve got in the cupboard or whats readily available at the supermarkets.

This recipe is probably one of the easiest things to make, mostly because its a no-bake recipe. If you have kids or want something simple to make, this is for you. Just be cautious when melting the ingredients together, otherwise it’s pretty safe recipe. Even better that its no bake – tell me its not a win-win situation!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

170g Butter.

70g Golden syrup.

300g Milk chocolate.

150g Mini marshmallows.

100g Original Oreo’s.

120g Chocolate hobnobs.

150g Cookies.

Method:

Before you get into making the rocky road, you’re best to do some prep work first. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, lining a 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and getting any equipment such as a large mixing bowl and a saucepan ready.

To start, place a saucepan filled about 1/3 of the way full with water and place on a simmer. Then grab a heatproof mixing bowl and place the butter, golden syrup and milk chocolate into it – transfer this bowl and place it on top of the saucepan of simmering water. This method is a double boiler or bain marie – allow the mixture to melt a little first, then continuously stir the mixture until everything is melted and is well combined.

Into another large mixing bowl, place the marshmallows, Oreo’s, hobnobs and cookies and give them a good stir until everything is well combined and fairly distributed.

You can then go ahead and pour the melted chocolate mixture over the fillings and give it all a good stir. Everything should be well coated in the chocolate mixture, at first it may look like theres not enough of the chocolate mixture but there is more than enough – don’t worry about it.

Once everything has been mixed together, you can then grab your lined cake tin and transfer the rocky road mixture into the cake tin. You will need to spread and level out the mixture, just to get it as level as possible.

Then you simple place this in the fridge and allow it to set – I recommend leaving it over night but 6-8 hours should be more than fine.

The following morning, I removed the tin from the fridge and then removed the rocky road form the tin (it’s much easier to remove the tin if you lined it with parchment paper).

Then you can go ahead and cut up the rocky road – how you do this is completely up to you. I either do 8 very generous bars or 16 smaller bitesize portions. You slice them to suit how you’re planning on serving them.

White Chocolate Rocky Road

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially Bakemas 2019! 🎉

If it’s your first bakemas here, welcome. It is my annual mini-series in which I show you how to make a various Christmas themed baked goods – perfect if you want to impress your family and friends or if you’re hosting a Christmas party!

I wish you a very Merry Christmas – hope you’re celebrating with those you love this holiday! Today’s recipe doesn’t actually involve any baking as its a no-bake recipe! I’m going to be showing you how to make a batch of white chocolate rocky road!

Today is the final bakemas 2019! It feels like its gone so quickly this year but I’ve had a fantastic time bringing you a selection of recipes -I’ll be back in the New Year with more baking recipes/videos for you to enjoy!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

150g Butter.

50g Golden syrup.

300g White chocolate.

120g Party ring biscuits.

150g Mini marshmallows (I chose the white ones but feel free to use the pink and white ones).

100g White chocolate malt balls (the ones I used are from Poundland, thats here in the UK).

150g Custard cream biscuits.

White chocolate spread.

**I opted for fillings which fitted the ‘white chocolate’ version of this rocky road, please feel free to alter the ingredients to suit you and others who may be eating this.**

Method:

Before you get into making this rocky road, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients into bowls (breaking the biscuits up into smaller pieces), line your 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and get yourself a medium saucepan and wooden spoon ready.

Into your saucepan, place the butter, golden syrup and white chocolate and place that on the hob over a medium-high heat, allowing the mixture to melt and come together. Stir together until they have all melted and come together.

While your mixture is coming together on the hob, get yourself a large mixing bowl and into it place the party rings, mini marshmallows, white chocolate malt balls and custard creams. Give them a brief mix, juts to incorporate all the different bits and pieces.

Once your white chocolate mixture has come together, pour it over the assortments of bits in the large mixing bowl. Give the mixture all a good mix to ensure that all of the fillings have been fully coated and incorporated. This doesn’t take very long.

Now that the rocky road is ready, you’ll want to chill it but before you do that take your 8 inch lined square cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Levelling it off as best you can with a spatula and then transferring it to the fridge to chill for a minimum of 3-4 hours (or overnight, if you’re not in a rush).

Finally, once the rocky road has been chilled, you can remove it from the fridge and finish it off.

To finish off the rocky road, take some white chocolate spread and melt it in a microwave (don’t melt for longer than 10-12 seconds at a time, otherwise it might melt), once melted, pour directly on top of the rocky road and level it off so there is a level coating of the white chocolate spread, the place back in the fridge, just until its firm to the touch.

Finishing time! You can now take your knife and cut these up, how you do this is completely up to you. I went with 8 more than generous portions, which could easily be cut in half and make 16 generous portions but again, this is up to you.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Mince Pie No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a no-bake cheesecake with a difference this holiday period?

Look no further, I have you covered. This mincemeat cheesecake is both festive and weird because why not?

If you know me and my baking (or no baking) habits, you’ll know that no-bake cheesecakes are one of my favourite things to make and eat, simply because of how easy they are to make and simple they are to make.

Today’s cheesecake is well… possibly the weirdest flavour combination possible. Mincemeat is somewhat like marmite, you love it or hate it – most people hate it. I like mincemeat and cheesecake so why not have a crossover between the two? Have I taken it too far?

As with all cheesecakes, it’s all about the base. I used a spiced digestive biscuit base, I’m not sure these exist but it’s just a combination of ground spices and digestive biscuits. As usual, you blitz the two together, then add the melted butter and blitz again to combine. You can do this using a food processor or place the biscuits and spices into a food zip bag and use a rolling pin to crush the biscuits, transferring the biscuit crumb into a small bowl, adding in the melted butter and giving it a mix with a spoon or silicon spatula. Use whichever method works best for you.

Transfer the buttery biscuit base into a deep sided 8-inch cake tin, you can line the base if you’d like too. Once all the buttery biscuits are in the tin, you’ll want to press them down as best you can using either a cup measurement or the back of a spoon until its tightly packed into the base of the tin. Place in the fridge and allow to chill in there while you make the cheesecake filling.

To make the cheesecake filling is super easy, into a large bowl place your soft cheese, mincemeat and spices and mix them all together using a whisk. Keep whisking it together until it’s all come together and is well combined, then you can add in your double cream and whisk it into the mixture until it’s become thicker in consistency and can hold it’s own shape.

Place the cheesecake filling on-top of the biscuit base, once it’s all in the tin, try and level it off as best you possibly can using a small offset palette knife or the back of a spoon, once level, set in the fridge and allow to chill for around 6-8 hours (or overnight).

The next day, remove the cheesecake from the tin and place it onto your plate or cake stand of choice, now it’s time to finish/decorate the cheesecake. I kept it simple by piping rosettes of fresh cream all the way around the edge of the cheesecake and place a good amount of mincemeat in the centre but feel free to finish the cheesecake however you like, it’s yours to customisable.

Ingredients:

600g Soft cheese (full fat).

300g Mincemeat.

2 tsp Ground cinnamon.

½ Ground mixed spice.

½ tsp Ground cloves.

300ml double cream

Additional mincemeat.

Methods:

Weigh up all your ingredients and line your tin with parchment paper (if you choose to use it).
To start on your cheesecake, you’ll want to start on the base. Crush your biscuits into crumbs using either a food processor or a rolling pin and a food zip bag.
Melt some butter in a saucepan over a low-medium heat or in the microwave, then add to the biscuit crumbs and mix them together until they are fully worked together.
Transfer the biscuit mixture into the cake tin and press it down using a cup measure or the back of a spoons will work equally as well. Press down the mixture compressing it well.
Start on the cheesecake filling by placing the soft cheese, mincemeat and spices into your mixing bowl of choice and whisk them all together until they are fully incorporated.
Add in all of your double cream and whisk until the mixture is thicker in consistency, if you’re doing this by hand, you’ll notice that the mixture becomes “heavier” to mix.
Once you’ve got the filling thickened, place it on top of the biscuit base and level it off as best you can using a small offset palette knife or the back of a spoon should work as well.
Set the cheesecake in the fridge and allow it to chill there for around 6-8 hours.
The following day, I removed the cheesecake from the cake tin and set it on my plate (feel free to use a cake stand or board, if you’d prefer.
To finish the cheesecake, I pipe rosettes around the edge and fill the centre with mincemeat – this is fully customisable so feel free to make it work for you.

Thank you for checking out my recipe for this (weird) chreesecake recipe – I hope you get to make it soon.

Homemade (sweet) Mincemeat

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

We have made it all the way to December already… That mean’s 2 things, Christmas is around the corner and bakemas is here.

Today I’m showing you how to make mincemeat, let’s get started shall we?

If you’re new around here, bakemas is my annual series where I uploaded various festive (and some not so festive) recipes, which will help you make and bake the best bits and pieces for your table, regardless of how you celebrate around Christmas time, there is something for everyone.

Something that most of you will have heard of is mincemeat and yes, it does sound like ground pork or beef but it’s evolved from that (in the past it has been a meat based filling) and become a fruity, sweet and spiced variety (which is much preferred by many). This is the perfect filling for mince pies or mincemeat streusel and the best thing about it? You can make it up to 6 months in advance as it matures and keeps getting better – YUM!

I recommend making this earlier than December but as long as it has about a week to mature a little, you’ll be as right as rain. When it comes to using the ground spices, feel free to change the amount of each used, that’s if you don’t like using a lot but you can’t really tell once it’s all combined, it works pretty well.

Seeing as this recipe is part of bakemas, I’ll keep the write up short and sweet as nobody has spare time around the Christmas period.

Ingredients:

185g Currants.

185g Raisins.

185g Sultanas.

95g Candied mixed peel.

35g Stem ginger, chopped.

150g Bramley apple, chopped.

125g Vegetable suet.

125g Demerara sugar.

35g Dark brown sugar.

1 tsp Ground cinnamon.

1 tsp Ground mixed spice.

1/4 tsp Ground nutmeg.

1/8 tsp Ground cloves.

165ml Brandy/whiskey (either works well).

Method:

Weigh up all of your ingredients into small bowls, this will save you from faffing around later on and prevent you from making mistakes with the amounts.
Get yourself a large mixing bowl and place all of ingredients into the bowl.
Give all the ingredients a good mix together until they are well combined.
Once you’ve got your mincemeat made, divide it between 4 sterilised jars, filling almost to the top.
Add a small circle of greaseproof/parchment paper on-top of the mincemeat in each jar, then secure the lid on and store.
You’re best to store the made mincemeat in somewhere cool and dark, ideally in a normal food cupboard or in a pantry would work well also. Feel free to make this up to 6 months ahead of time, the alcohol in the mixture helps preserve the mixture. It will mature the longer you leave it, meaning it will develop a better taste.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’ve come looking for either a Reese’s or peanut butter cheesecake which is no bake, then you’ve come to the right place. The recipe I’m about to share with you is super simple and takes no time at all and best of all, it requires no oven!

As mentioned above, if you’ve been looking for the perfect peanut butter no bake cheesecake then this recipe may be for you. This cheesecake is compromised of a classic buttery biscuit, topped with the creamy and rich cheesecake, which is perfectly flavoured. The peanut butter flavour is there just right for me, it’s not overwhelming or underwhelming but feel free to adjust the amount of peanut butter to suit you and whoever you intend sharing this cheesecake with. My guess is if you’re looking at this cheesecake, then you quite like peanut butter and the amount I use will suit you well. Anyway, I then finish my cheesecake with a good amount of Reese’s chocolate peanut butter spread (if you like normal peanut butter, then this is a whole other spread, you must try asap!!), then I pipe sweetened whipped cream around the edge of the cheesecake and finish with a generous amount of quartered peanut butter cups.

There’s quite a bit of peanut butter involved, isn’t there… Oh well, just have a smaller slice. May as well enjoy it in the moment.

When I was making this cheesecake, the United Kingdom was experiencing some sort of heatwave (it could well have been summer weather but we don’t have weather like that too often, so meh. I don’t know still.) and even here in Birmingham, it was reaching highs of 31˚c/88˚f which was a little too warm for me, so a majority of baking (and no bake desserts) were being made when it was slightly cooler in the evening, it was still too much with the oven at 180˚/350˚f… Anyway, this isn’t a weather report.

If you haven’t guessed already, trying to keep a no bake cheesecake cool in the warmer weather isn’t that easy. Although the cheesecake didn’t melt completely there was a couple of close calls when I almost dropped it when transferring it back to the fridge one I had removed it from the tin or when it came to slicing it up, it kinda looked like it had been in the sun… Oops, it still tasted pretty good though, I’m not going to lie.

The process behind making this cheesecake isn’t so hard, the most difficult thing about this cheesecake is waiting for it to firm up in the fridge or deciding how to decorate it.

To make the biscuit base, you only need 2 ingredients and if you don’t have fancy equipment, don’t worry. All you need to do is crush the biscuits until they are a breadcrumb consistency or sand consistency and you can choose between the two methods on how to do it. Method 2 would be to place your biscuits into a food processor and blitz them together until they have broken down enough and look like breadcrumbs or sand and method 2 would be to place your biscuits into a food safe bag and securing the end. Then bashing the crumbs with a rolling pin until the biscuits have been bashed enough and they resemble either breadcrumbs or sand. Add in the melted butter (feel free to melt it in the microwave or in a saucepan over a medium heat until just melted) and mix the 2 together until it starts to look like wet sand (thats the best way I can describe it really. Transfer the buttery biscuit mixture from your food processor or food safe bag and place in the bottom of your 8 inch round baking tin and press it down using a cup measurement or whatever you have (a spoon works really well too!). Once the base is level, place the tin in the fridge and allow to chill and firm up while you make the cheesecake filling.

To start the cheesecake filling, get yourself a large mixing bowl (or use a stand mixer bowl, whichever you have or prefer) and place the soft cheese, peanut butter and icing sugar and using a whisk, whisk it together until its all come together and is well combined. This will only take a few minutes, depending on how quickly you’re mixing it together to be honest with you. Once you’ve achieved this, you can then add in your double cream and again whisk the mixture until the double cream has been completely worked in. This again varies on how quickly you’re whisking the mixture together. You will be able to both see and feel the cheesecake filling thicken as the double cream is worked in, it will hold its shape pretty well once whisked enough. Just be careful not to over-mix at this stage, otherwise your cheesecake will be too stiff.

Once the cheesecake filling is done, you will then want to place the cheesecake filling on top of your buttery biscuit base, getting as much as that rich and creamy filling into the tin as possible. Level it off as best you can using either a silicon spatula or a small offset/cranked palette knife (I recommend one of these, they are a life saver when it comes to baking!), I like to level the top off so its as smooth/level as possible, it makes it look better and helps when it comes to decorating. You can then transfer the cheesecake to the fridge and allow to chill for 8 hours or overnight until set (I left mine overnight, so I recommend doing this to you also).

So, the following morning I removed the cheesecake from the fridge and removed it from the tin, transferred it to a cake stand and placed it back in the fridge while I prepare my final decoration bits and pieces. I required some cream for the edge of my cheesecake, so I placed my double cream, icing sugar and vanilla into a bowl and whisked that until it was thicker and placed into a piping bag with a closed star piping nozzle. I placed a couple of tablespoons of the chocolate peanut butter into a separate piping bag, fitted with no nozzle and chopped my peanut butter cups into quarters and placed them into a bowl. Now I have all the final bits and pieces I need for my cheesecake, I can finally get on to finishing it.
To finish the cheesecake, you can do it however you like. It’s really easy to customise and make it suit your occasion. My cheesecake wasn’t for any special occasion, so I didn’t have a theme. I piped over a ‘drizzle’ effect with the chocolate peanut butter, then all around the edge of the cake I pipe small amounts of whipped cream. To finish I place a few of my quartered peanut butter cups in the centre, then place the odd quarter onto the whipped cream around the edge.

This cheesecake is really easy to make and doesn’t require a lot and best of all its no bake and can be made ahead, so why not whip one of these up soon?

Ingredients:

Base:

250g Digestive biscuits.

100g Butter, melted.

Cheesecake:

600g Plain soft cheese.

200g Peanut butter.

100g Icing sugar.

Toppings:

250ml Double cream.

100g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla bean paste.

2-3 tbsp Chocolate peanut butter.

A few peanut butter cups, quartered.

Method:

Base:

Place your biscuits into a food processor or food safe bag and blitz/beat until the biscuits become a sandy consistency.
Melt you butter either in the microwave or in a saucepan over a medium heat, then add into the biscuit crumbs and mix until the crumbs are all coated and look like wet sand once well combined.
Transfer the biscuit mixture to your 8 inch round cake tin and press it down using either a cup measurement or the back of a spoon until the base is level and smooth looking.
Place in the fridge, so the base can firm up and you can get on with making your cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake:

To start, get yourself a large bowl and place your soft cheese, peanut butter and icing sugar.
Whisk the 3 together until the mixture comes together, this may take a couple of minutes (it all depends on how quickly you’re mixing them together). You will know once its come together, it will be one solid colour and not a trace of a single ingredient.
Add in your double cream and again whisk the mixture together until it becomes thicker in consistency and it holds its shape well (you will be able to see and feel the difference once its combined. Try not to over-mix at this stage).
Transfer the cheesecake filling and place it on top of the buttery biscuit base you made earlier on, getting as much of the cheesecake filling into the tin as possible. Level it off as best you can using either a silicon spatula or my favourite, a small cranked palette knife.
Once you’ve levelled the top off as best you can, place the tin into the fridge and allow to chill and firm up for around 8 hours or overnight for the best results.

Toppings:

To start on the toppings, place the whipped cream, icing sugar and vanilla into a bowl and whisk together until its well combined and holds its shape well.
Transfer the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a closed star piping nozzle.
Place a few tablespoons of chocolate peanut butter into a piping bag, with no tip.
Cut a few peanut butter cups into 4’s and place into a bowl.

Assembly:

Remove the cheesecake from the fridge after 8 hours and place onto your cake stand or plate of choice and place back into the fridge to chill while your prepare your toppings.
Decorate your cheesecake however you like, it’s easy to customise it at this stage and feel free to use more or less of something. Make it suit your occasion best.

Many thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed. Don’t forget to check out my other recipes, if you’d like.

Trifle Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today’s recipe is for an easy no-bake trifle cheesecake, it could be considered two desserts in one. Who doesn’t want more dessert?

This recipe is perfect if you’re currently experiencing the warmer weather, its no bake, so you won’t be getting hot in the kitchen while you make this. You can get this cheesecake made in under 60 minutes and seeing as it doesn’t require baking, you only need to chill it in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight for the best results.

I’m not going to lie, this was a random accidental creation. I saw the trifle kits in the supermarket and was buying the ingredients for a cheesecake and thought about doing a combination of the two a trifle x cheesecake but wasn’t sure how I was going to make it work. I got home and spent sometime working out how I could incorporate the different elements to make this combination work, not long after I had got the idea of how to make it work.

So, working from the bottom up, it would compromise of a traditional buttery biscuit base, topped with a vanilla crème pâtissière/pastry cream cheesecake filling, which is topped with a strawberry jelly topping and finished with freshly whipped cream and sprinkles. It’s a completely different flavour to what I’d normally do but thought why not try a combination?

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pastry Cream:

250ml Whole milk.

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

60g Egg yolks.

50g Granulated sugar.

30g Plain flour.

Cheesecake Base:

250g Digestive biscuits.

100g Butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:

600g Soft cheese.

The pastry cream you made.

100g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste.

Yellow food gel/paste. (optional)

300ml Double cream.

Cheesecake Decortion:

1 package of strawberry jelly (follow package instructions for the best setting results).

A couple of sponge fingers, chopped.

150ml Double cream.

100s and 1000s (or your choice of sprinkles).

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’l want to do some prep work. Weigh up all your ingredients, line a 8 inch round cake tin and get any equipment ready you may need, such as a food processor and a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.

Pastry Cream Method:

Place the milk, vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high speed.

While you wait for the milk to come to a boil, you can whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl until they have become thicker in consistency and lighter in colour. Once you’ve achieved that, add in your flour and mix until smooth.

Once your milk has reached a boil, pour in between 1/3 and 1/2 and whisk the milk and egg mixture together, this is to ultimately ‘temper’ the eggs then add the remaining milk to the mixture, whisking well. Then transfer the mixture back to your saucepan and return to the heat, lowering the temperature slightly.

Once you’ve got your saucepan back on the heat, constantly stir it using a silicon spatula or a whisk until the mixture has become thicker, then remove from the heat.

Off the heat, you’ll want to transfer your pastry cream to a bowl or baking tray (the thinner you spread it out, the quicker it’ll cool down) and allow cool completely. Don’t forget to cover the pastry cream with cling film to prevent a skin from forming.

Cheesecake Base:

Line the sides of cake tin and melt the butter either in the microwave or on the hob, set aside to cool slightly.

Crush your digestive biscuits down until they reach a crumb/sand consistency, using either a food processor or a plastic food bag and a rolling pin, then add the melted butter and mix until it resembles wet sand.

Place the mixture in to the bottom of your prepared cake tin, compressing it down using a cup measurement or something similar. Set in the fridge while you make your cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake Filling:

To start on the cheesecake filling, place the soft cheese, pastry cream, icing sugar and vanilla into your mixing bowl and beat them together on a medium-high speed until they are all well combined. It’s here that’ll you want to add your yellow colouring, if you’re using it.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl, to incorporate any parts that may not have been fully worked in.

Pour in all of your double cream and incorporate this by whisking it on a medium-high speed until the mixture has become thicker in consistency.

Scrape down the side and bottom of your bowl again, then transfer the filling into your cake tin, on top of your buttery biscuit base. Level/smooth off as best as possible using a small offset spatula or spoon.

Set in the fridge while you make the jelly topping.

Jelly Topping & Finishing Method:

Make your jelly but following the instructions on the back of the package, this will achieve the best results.

Pour this mixture on top of your cheesecake and place a few bits of the chopped sponge fingers into the jelly, pushing them down into the cheesecake so they’ll stay in place.

Place in the fridge and chill for a minimum of 4 hours but I recommend leaving it overnight or for around 8 hours for the best results.

Once you’ve removed your cheesecake from the fridge, remove from the tin and discard the parchment/greaseproof and place onto your place or stand of choice.

The finishing of the cheesecake is completely up to you, I piped small rosettes of freshly whipped cream onto the cheesecake but feel free to spread an amount of it on top instead, if you wanted to get a more authentic trifle looking finish. I then sprinkle on some 100s and 1000s and I’m done.

Cut yourself a slice and enjoy.

This recipe doesn’t require a lot in all honesty, its just the time it takes to set which is the major downfall, however its all worth it.

Chocolate Hedgehogs

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you remember these chocolatey cornflake mounds from school, this recipe is going to give you a throwback!I have seen people call these ‘chocolate hedgehogs’ and ‘Chocolate cracknell’ but I have always known them as chocolate hedgehogs.

I have seen these chocolate hedgehogs and other old school bakes rise in popularity, especially over on social media. People have been posting asking for recipes and I’ve even seen people start making these from home and selling them, which is great but some of them are a bit hit and miss, if I’m honest. If you remember these, this will sure take you back to your school days.

Anyway, if you’re not sure exactly what these are, I’ll tell you. They are a really simple, no bake dessert that use to be served in schools in and around England. As always with these old school recipes, I’m never sure if they are local or national, I know they can have several names for the same bake. So basically they are cornflakes coated with a chocolatey syrupy mixture which is then scooped up into a large ice cream scoop, compressed, then placed in the fridge to chill for a short while, easy enough right? This is the perfect recipe if you’re looking for something chocolatey, crunch and sweet this might just hit the spot.

There isn’t really a whole lot to do when making these, so these would be ideal to make with kids. Anyway, melt the butter and syrup together, either in a microwave or in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once melted, allow to cool for a few minutes while you mix together your cornflakes, sugar and cocoa powder, then pour over your liquid mixture on top of the cornflake mixture and mix very well until its all well combined. You will notice a change in the colour of the cornflakes, this is due to the cocoa powder. Once it’s all well combined, get your ice cream scooped scoop up a good amount and then compress them down using either a spoon or a smaller cup measurement, either will work well.You will then want to transfer each your compressed mounds of the chocolate cornflakes onto a lined baking tray and once you’ve filled your tray, place in the fridge for around 30-45 minutes, then enjoy. These are quick and easy and best of all are no-bake and don’t require any baking (which is ideal as the UK is currently experiencing a heatwave and just the thought of being in a warm kitchen makes me not want to bake). These are best enjoyed on the day you make them but can be enjoyed the following day if you have left overs or are making them in advance.

Ingredients:

180g Cornflakes.

65g Granulated sugar.

25g Cocoa powder.

128g Butter.

110g Golden syrup.

Method:

Start by weighing up all your ingredients and lining your baking tray with grease proof/parchment.
Melt your butter and golden syrup together, you can do this one of two ways. Either in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted or in the saucepan over a medium heat, stirring until melted. Allow to cool slightly before using it.
Place your cornflakes, sugar and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and stir them until well combined.
Next you’ll want to pour over the syrup mixture and give it a really good mix, you’ll want all of the cornflakes to be coated roughly the same, take your time and get them well covered.
Once it’s all well combined, using your ice cream scoop you’ll want to scoop up a generous amount and then compress that using either the back of a spoon or a smaller cup measurement will work well. Apply enough pressure so it holds its shape once out of the ice cream scoop.
Transfer the mounds onto your prepared baking tray and once you’ve got a tray full, place it into the fridge and allow them to chill until they are firm. I find that around 30-45 minute works perfectly but remember yours may need more or less time, it all depends on your fridge.
After they’ve done chilling in the fridge, remove them and enjoy them on their own. They are perfect chocolatey, crispy and can be made in under an hour… What’s not to like about these?

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!

Strawberry and White Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you are looking for a summery recipe that doesn’t require any baking, I have the perfect recipe for you. I’m showing you how to make a strawberry and white chocolate no-bake cheesecake – even better there is no gelatine in this recipe. What’s not to love?

As mentioned above, this recipe is perfect for the summer season. It’s bursting with flavour, the combination of fresh strawberries and white chocolate is always a winner but even more so with this cheesecake. Don’t worry about adding fresh strawberries into this cheesecake, it won’t change the consistency at all – it just enhances the natural flavours, meaning you don’t have to add any artificial flavourings. Now isn’t that great?

This cheesecake doesn’t require many ingredients or a lot of time to make it, the only drawback is it takes time to set. I find that cheesecakes set in 4-5 hours but leaving them overnight will yield you the best results – thats the best advice I could give you when it comes to making any no-bake cheesecake!

Anyway, this cheesecake has the most basic but iconic base in the history of no-bake cheesecakes, the buttery digestive biscuit base. It sure isn’t anything fancy but when you partner this with the creamy cheesecake, it’s a sure winner with almost all cheesecakes. On top of this buttery biscuit base lays the best and most flavourful cheesecake ever. It’s a simple recipe that doesn’t require many ingredients or for you to be a culinary expert to make it, just a little time and effort and you can knock one of these out!

What makes these cheesecakes even better is you don’t need a stand mixer, a simple mixing bowl and whisk will make this, it just requires a little more elbow grease. Granted, I opted for a stand mixer on this occasion as I wanted to make something but wanted it to be quick and easy so this fitted the bill so well. I believe that most of the ingredients I use are available around the world, but if not feel free to leave me a comment and I may be able to help you!

When I was coming up with the idea of this, I was thinking what I could partner with the strawberries. It hit me after about 3-4 hours, strawberry and white chocolate, they partner well together so why not try them in cheesecake form. To start the cheesecake you’ll want to make the base. Blitz your biscuits either in a food processor until it reaches a sandy/breadcrumb consistency, then add in the butter and mix until it looks like wet sand. If you’re doing this stage by hand, place the biscuits into a plastic food bag and bash the biscuits using a rolling pin and follow the same method as the food processor from here. Push the biscuit base down so its compact in the base of your 8 inch/20cm cake tin and set in the fridge while you make the cheesecake filling.

To make the cheesecake filling, place the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla into your mixing bowl of choice and mix until it’s well combined, then scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl. Add in all of the cream and whisk this on a medium high speed until its become much thicker in consistency, once that’s been achieved you can add the strawberries and white chocolate and fold that in using a spatula until well combined and the fruit is fairly distributed. Feel free to add a small amount of food paste in at this stage, I thought mine would turn out pinker but adding a small amount of colour paste helped me achieve this. Place this mixture on top of the biscuit base and smooth it off as best you can, then place in the fridge for a minimum of 4-5 hours or preferably overnight.

To finish the cheesecake, remove it from the tin and place onto a plate or cake stand. You can then pipe on small amounts of freshly whipped cream, top half of them with fresh strawberries and the other half with grated white chocolate. Then slice and enjoy – its fresh, fruit and creamy all in one mouthful. The perfect addition to any summer day.

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:

250g Digestive biscuits.
100g Butter (melted).

Cheesecake Filling:

400g Soft cheese.
100g Icing sugar.
1 tsp Vanilla bean paste/extract.
200ml Double cream.
150g Strawberries, roughly chopped.
100g White chocolate, roughly chopped.

Decoration:

Whipped cream.
Strawberries (as many as you wish to use).
White chocolate (I opted for grated but feel free to use it however you like.

There is no baking required, however this cheesecake does require chilling time. Over night (8+ hours in the fridge) or for 6-8 hours before removing from the tin and slicing.

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!

No-Bake

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