Baileys Cheesecake Brownies

Ok, I've fallen off my "get healthy for the 3-peak-challenge" diet in quite spectacular style. Up until yesterday I had been quite restrained but seeing a picture of cheesecake brownies on Tastespotting tipped me over the edge. Plus Summer Holiday Boredom is hitting big style and I sometimes I just NEED to bake to kill time. Anything to avoid watching the horrors of Jeremy Kyle & Loose Women.

Given that one of my most requested cakes from co-workers is my Baileys Cheesecake (I have refined my presentation of this dessert since that photo was taken!) I felt obliged to have a go at making Baileys Cheesecake Brownies. Well, I do have a penchant for sneaking in the odd glug or two of Baileys into various baked items. Right up there on the unhealthiness stakes, but goodness do they taste good.

The brownie part isn't exactly what I would call a brownie, but it is still a luscious, moist, rich and dense chocolate cake. The one minor criticism Hubby had to make about these was that I had used Baileys with a hint of coffee rather than plain Baileys as it's all I had in the house. Um...he hates coffee. I'm not complaining though as it means more for me! Saying that he isn't saying no when I offer him one with a cup of tea. Tonight we're having them for pudding with a generous spoonful of Cherry Beer Ice Cream.

Baileys Cheesecake Brownies
Makes 16 small but undeniably rich brownies

Brownie mixture
110 g dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa)
110 g butter
120 g vanilla sugar (or caster sugar)
60 g plain flour
2 eggs
glug of Baileys

Cheesecake mixture
225 g cream cheese
40 g caster sugar
1 egg
another generous glug of Baileys

1) Preheat the oven to 150oc then Line a 23 cm/8 inch square cake tin with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a bain marie. Remove from the heat, add the sugar and stir then leave to cool slightly (if you don't do this you may end up with scrambled egg brownies).

2) Beat the eggs one at a time into the brownie mixture, beating until it is glossy. Stir in the Baileys until well combined then gradually fold in the flour then pour into the cake tin .

3) For the cheesecake mixture beat the cream cheese and sugar together. Add the egg and mix then stir in the Baileys until all is well combined. Top the levelled brownie mixture with the cheesecake mixture and using a knife, gently swirl it into the chocolate mixture.

4) Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Leave to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Baileys Coffee Cream Pots

My love of Baileys, is well known. Not just for drinking it, but also cooking with it. My Baileys Cheesecake is one of my most requested desserts and highest google hits. Hubby's late great-Aunt was a woman very much after my own heart as they only thing she would put in her coffee was Baileys, no matter what time of day it was. A coffee called Baileys Blitz also fueled my university days.

Last week Baileys contacted me asking if I would like to try some of their new Baileys with a Hint of Coffee plus have a go at some of their recipes created by James Martin. Me being one to rarely pass on the opportunity to try a new alcohol or dessert recipe I jumped at the chance. It came at the perfect time as I had just finished my most recently bottle of Baileys and was trying to work out which Supermarket had the best deal for a bottle of it.

Hubby doesn't like coffee so rarely do I cook with it, even if it is one of my favourite ingredients. As I'm now on my Christmas break I took the opportunity to get up early (in reality far too early) and set about making some Baileys Coffee Cream Pots for myself as I knew it would take 6 hours to set.

After a lot of impatient waiting (and watching some quite frankly dire daytime TV) the 6 hours eventually passed, just in time to get a photo before the sunset. I have to say it was the perfect dessert for me. Creamy with a generous coffee hit. To often am I disappointed in restaurants with their coffee flavoured desserts as the coffee hit is never enough for me but this was spot on. If I could have 2 puddings on Christmas Day this would be my coffee course...now that's an idea 2 puddings...sorry I digress.

The only very slight alteration I had to make was the fact I didn't have any instant coffee in the house so instead used Lyons Coffee Bags that are usually reserved for our camping trips. If you would like to see the lovely James Martin make this dessert along with the accompanying shortbread click here

Baileys Coffee Cream Pots
Makes 6 ramekins

5 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
260ml milk
260ml double cream
5 tsp instant coffee granules
100ml Baileys with of hint of Coffee (or normal Baileys)

1) Preheat the oven to 150oc. Whisk together the egg yolks and 40g of the sugar.

2) Put the cream, milk, coffee and remaining sugar in a heavy based saucepan. Gently bring to the boil. When it has reached a boil take of the heat and stir in the Baileys, then add the whisked sugar & egg. Quickly stir then strain into the ramekins.

3) Place the ramekins into a deep roasting tin and pour boiling water until it is half the way up the ramekins. Bake for 25-30 until they have a slight wobble.

4) Chill for at least 6 hours before eating. Serve straight from the fridge.

A Brilliant Brew

Hubby's family originally come from the home of brewing in the Midlands (incidentally also the home of the evil that is Marmite) and naturally his family know a good ale when they taste one. One of the first pubs Hubby's family introduced me to is also the best brewery in Burton - The Burton Bridge Brewery. Situated near one of the bridges over the River Trent, the pub tied to it has a great cosy atmosphere and a traditional skittle alley upstairs (popular in Hubby's family for parties). On our wedding day we had kegs of Burton Porter it went down incredibly well and in most of our wedding photographs you can spot a glass of it somewhere!

A recent discovery for us, on the beer front, is the various beers available from Samuel Smith Brewery based in Tadcaster, Yorkshire. The only stockists I know of in Derbyshire are Chatsworth Farm Shop and Sound Bites, a great organic, ethical shop in Derby. As I was in Derby on Saturday I decided to pay Sound Bites a visit to stock up on their beers. In the summer I tried their Raspberry beer and this time went for the cherry beer, strawberry beer and Best Ale. Trust me, I would have bought a lot more if I didn't have to carry them back up Babington Lane to the car.

I was first drawn to these beers by the labels, quite different from other bottle labels (yes I'm the type of person who chooses a book depending on how pretty the cover is). I'm yet to try the strawberry beer, but the cherry one was gorgeous. Almost like alcoholic cherry aid. I didn't realise until last night how strong it was; coming in at 5% alcoholic volume. I'm looking forward to the next time I'm in Derby so I can stock up.

The Fruits of Hubbys Labour

The advantage of living where we live is that there can be an abundance of wild food and many people prepared to tell you their wild food haunts. Since tasting my Father-in-Law's sloe gin at Christmas last year I was determined that this year we would make our own. Well the weather put a stop on that plan as the sloe harvest is really poor this year so had to settle on some other fruits we could forage.

Inspired by Hugh F-W, Hubby set out Ray Mears style to forage for free food. Although there was no sloes he did manage to find the last of the blackberries and a tree heaving in haw berries. Added to the 5kg of apples from Auntie's tree we had a plethora of free food to work with.

A few months back we picked up a copy of River Cottage Handbook: Preserves and today it certainly came into its own!



First to be made was Haw Ketchup. Haws eaten raw are incredibly sour (Hubby can vouch for that!) and you wouldn't expect them to be edible, but with a bit of cooking they can be made into a lovely fruity sour sauce that will be perfect with game. I'm looking forward to trying this with a dish in a couple of weeks.

Haw Ketchup
Makes about 500ml
From River Cottage: Preserves

500g haw berries (Haws), washed
300ml cider vinegar
300ml water
170g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper, to taste

1) Simmer the haws in the vinegar and water for around 30 min until the berries are soft.

2) Pass through a sieve to rid of stones and skins.

3) Return the juice to a clean pan, stir in sugar and gently boil for 5 minutes. Pour into a sterilised bottle. Keeps for 12 months.



Next was the turn of flavouring some alcohols. If we weren't going to have sloe gin for this Christmas we could at least have blackberry & apple gin plus some haw brandy. The method for both of these flavoured alcohols is the same, all your doing is changing the ingredients. The longer you leave them to steep the better. Ideally they say you should leave them for a minimum of 8-10 weeks. The tasting at Christmas will tell us if they are really any good.

Blackcurrant & Apple Gin

300g apples (2 large apples)
200g blackcurrants
200g sugar
700ml gin

Haw Brandy
225g haws
110g sugar
300ml brandy

1) Pour alcohol into bottle, followed by fruit then sugar. Give it a good shake until all ingredients are well mixed.

2) For the first week shake the bottle to stop the sugar settling to the bottom. After that shake on a weekly basis and taste after 8 weeks. Once it is ready for drinking filter through some kitchen paper/coffee filter. Enjoy!

Boozy Cherry & White Chocolate Crème Brûlée

This dessert has been a long time in the planning, but I struggled to find British cherries anywhere. As you know I'm passionate about British produce and where possible if it can be grown in the UK I will always try to buy British and only when it is in season. It would turn out Derbyshire or the East Midlands in general is a bit of a desert for British cherries. Searching the local markets and farm shops proved to be unhelpful as most were selling cherries from warmer climes. Morrisons eventually came to the rescue, but I was rather put out having to pay equivalent of £10 (yes £10!) per kg of British cherries whereas the Spanish cherries sitting next to them on the shelf were on offer and far cheaper. Why, why, why can't British supermarkets support British produce for a change. Sorry rant over. If your interested in supporting the great British cherry pop along to CherryAid (thank you Beth for reminding me!).

Ever since we received a cook's blow torch for a wedding pressie, pyromaniac Hubby has been itching for us to make crème brûlée. A while back I made a baked custard, but never a crème brûlée so this was a bit new for me. Come to think of it, before this I've never eaten a proper crème brûlée.

I was really pleased how they turned out and they were very, very tasty. The cherries & liqueur refreshingly cut through the creamy custard and Hubby had caramelised the sugar perfectly. The sugar had a very satisfying crunch as you put the spoon through it. Rach & Nick, if your reading this don't be surprised if I make them for us in a couple of weekends time!

Boozy Cherry & White Chocolate Crème Brûlée
Serves 2

12 cherries, halved and stoned
2 tbsp Crème de Framboise
190ml double cream
35g Green & Blacks white chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/2 vanilla pod
2 egg yolks
2 tsp golden caster sugar, plus more for topping

1) Slowly heat cream, chocolate and vanilla pod seeds. Once the chocolate has melted take off the heat and allow to infuse for 15 min. White the cream is infusing share the cherry halves between the ramekins and cover with 1 tbsp of Crème de Framboise each.

2) Preheat oven to 150oc. Beat together the egg yolks and sugar then gradually stir in the cream. Strain into a jug and pour into ramekins on top of the cherries. Some of the cherries may float.

3) Place the ramekins in a deep roasting tin and pour boiling water into the tin until the water is 1/2 the way up the ramekins. Bake for 20-25 min until custard is set and has a slight wobble in the middle. Chill for at least 5 hours.

4) Generously sprinkle the top with golden caster sugar. With either a blow torch or grill caramelise the sugar. Allow to cool for a few minutes before eating to allow the sugar to harden.

Bank Holiday Foodiness and tags

I had all good intentions of this post being about the beautiful blueberry polenta cakes I made earlier, but my new silicone muffin tray decided that the cakes were far too nice to release from the moulds in one go. Cute little lopsided cakes with half of one side still stuck in the muffin tray doesn't make good photos no matter how hard I try! The cakes were delicious and I'm going to have another go with them in a couple of weeks, hopefully they will work out more photogenic.

The Bank Holiday weekend has bought a bit of food craziness to the house. I've made some lemon and lime vodka as inspired by Serena at Rock Cakes while hubby has been making a pulley system allowing him to hang more meat to dry in the outhouse and is currently at his parents making a cheese press for his next project. I'm a bit sceptical that the cheese will work, but I'll be interested to see the whole process in action. I don't know what's come over Hubby. He's gone from the Vesta meal/cheap meat loving student I first dated to a chicken/pig hugging, local food, Hugh wannabe...not that I'm complaining.

I've been tagged quite a bit over the last few weeks, apologies if I have missed anyone out.

Firsty The Cottage Smallholder gave me a new twist for this tag.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

I'm currently taking advantage of the Food section in my local library as frankly I have no room left on my bookshelves for any more foodie books. Amongst other foodie books I'm currently reading Toast by Nigel Slater.

The three sentences are:

“Stevie, my brother;s new girlfriend, was everything in the kitchen my mother was not. When she came over for the evening she would always cook something for my brother. She cooked greens that shone emerald on the plate”

I tag:
A Forkful of Spaghetti
Gourmet on a Grant
A Slice of Cherry Pie
Dinner Diary
Claire's Cake Bake

Stressed Out Mum has also presented me with a You Make My Day award, for which I'm incredibly flattered. It's difficult to choose any particular blogs out there as all make my day :)




To finish off this post, I've been tagged by Maria at The Goddess's Kitchen and Nilmandra at Soy & Pepper Little Corner of Mine for a meme to write my Six Word Memoir.

Blue-eyed cake loving science geek.

I should tag, but I'm leaving the door open. Feel free to write your own six word memoir.