Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

I apologise that I am posting this a day late, but yesterday was World Baking Day! Did you take part? What did you make? The idea was to bake something outside of your comfort zone that you've never done before. But due to a limited amount of time (and a determination to take this particular bake in for my work colleagues) I made Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies. These have got to be one of my favourite things to bake - I love brownies, I love cheesecake so what's better than mixing them together?!

This recipe is adapted from Baked in America by David Muniz and David Lesniak. It will make one 12x9 inch brownie which can be cut into large or small squares.

For the brownie
115g unsalted butter
340g dark chocolare
160g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 large organic free range eggs
340g caster sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
250g fresh raspberries

For the cheesecake
115g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g full fat cream cheese, chilled
175g caster sugar
3 large organic free range eggs
3 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a 12x9 inch pan and set aside.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

3. In a bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla and mix until creamy. Set aside.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla extract and sugar until they thicken. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the melted butter and chocolate.

5. Carefully smooth three quarters of the brownie batter into the greased and lined pan. Scatter the raspberries on top and press them in lightly, then pour the cheesecake mixture over the top. Dollop the last quarter of the brownie batter onto the cheesecake mixture and then swirl it with a knife.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. The cheesecake will begin to brown and puff up. When a skewer is inserted it should come out clean. Let the brownie cool completely, and then leave in the fridge overnight.

This weekend was another good one involving food! My sister Lauren and I spent all day Saturday preparing and cooking Japanese food. This included sushi, gyoza dumplings, veggie noodles, spicy rice and tempura vegetables. We were in the kitchen from 12 noon until 6pm but it was so worth it. I never imagined everything would look and taste as good as it did. We made a lot of food (does anyone else ALWAYS over-estimate how much food to make?!) so needless to say, we had leftovers for lunch on Sunday! Do you ever have themed food nights? Usually ours will be Mexican or burgers, but Japanese night was in honour of Lauren and Pete going to Japan a couple of months ago.

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Rate My Cake App and Cake Decorating Magazine Giveaway

I love Instagram and if you follow me, you will know it mostly includes pictures of cakes and food (and my cat, Luna). I was really excited when I got an email from the creators of Cake Decorating Magazine about their new app Rate My Cake. I downloaded the app right away and was happy to find it is like Instagram but solely for CAKE. Can you imagine anything better?!

I love looking at other peoples cakes for inspiration and there are so many talented people using the app. It's free to download and use, you can customise your pictures with different filters and even share your recipes. There are already lots of people using it and I can easily loose 45 minutes looking at the incredible creations people have been sharing.

Giveaway
De Agostini have very kindly given me a brilliant prize to give away to one reader: a year's subscription to Cake Decorating Magazine. It is a weekly magazine with recipes, tutorials, walkthroughs and tips for cake decorating projects. The issues often come with tools helping you to build your collection.

How to enter

- Follow the Rafflecopter instructions in the widget below
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Mocha Bundt Cake with Speculoos Frosting

I am so pleased this weekend was a bank holiday! The weather has been perfect and I've had nice plans with my favourite people. I had a lovely day Saturday with my sister and our friend Kate. Kate came over and we baked cupcakes and bread, painted our nails, watched Pitch Perfect (my new absolute favourite film!) and then made Mexican food for dinner. Luna spent the entire time entertaining us - she has decided her new favourite place to sit is in the dish drainer! On Sunday I went to a village fete with my Mum, sister and her other half. The best part of the fete besides having tea and cake, was the dog show. It was hilarious and the dogs just did whatever they wanted! Sunday night Mark and I went to a friends house for takeout food. And I have spent today working for Food Blogger Connect.

Bundt cakes make me nervous. I have fallen out with them in the past as they've crumbled apart when I've taken them out of the pan. I decided the bank holiday weekend was the best time to face my fear, and I'm glad I did! Coffee and chocolate is one of my favourite combinations, and can only be improved upon with Speculoos. I have always loved Lotus Biscuits/Speculoos, but I can't get enough of the biscuits at the moment. My boss and I ate an entire pack between us in 45 minute meeting a couple of weeks ago!

This recipe is adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf and will make a 25cm bundt cake.

For the cake
2 tablespoons coffee granules
170ml cold water
450g unsalted butter, room temperature
450g caster sugar
8 large free range organic eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
450g plain flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cococa powder

For the frosting
300g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g Speculoos spread
50ml milk

2 squares milk chocolate to decorate, grated

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Grease the bundt pan generously and set aside.

2. Make a coffee essence by boiling the water and coffee granules until reduced by half. Set aside until completely cooled.

3. Beat the butter, sugar and coffee essence until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each is added. Mix in the vanilla extract. Beat in the flour, baking powder and cococa powder, mixing until combined and the mixture is fluffy.

4. Pour the mixture into the greased pan, ensuring the top is smooth and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Cover with tin foil if the cake starts to catch.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack.

6. Once the bundt is cool, the frosting can be made. Beat the icing sugar and butter until they come together. Add the Speculoos, milk and vanilla extract. Beat on a high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, for around 7 minutes. The frosting can then be smoothed on top of the cake. For decoration grate 2 squares of milk chocolate over the frosting.

When I come to make this bundt again I would make one adjustment, and use 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder rather than coffee granules. You can taste the coffee, but I'd like it to have a bit more of a punch!

I am now going to sit down with a big chunk of cake and a cup of tea, and watch The Big Bang Theory. Perfect way to spend a bank holiday! And I am already looking forward to this weekend as I am going to Blog Summit in Birmingham! I'm really excited as I am attending with Sophie and Laura. So it will be a day full of friends, workshops, talks and food.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Layer Cake

This weekend was really nice. Firstly; the new issue of Homemaker Magazine came out on Friday, and my blog got a little write up. I was so flattered and excited when their team asked if they could feature it. I love blogging and never thought anyone would enjoy my blog enough to write about it!

Secondly; on Saturday my sister and I caught up with one of our oldest (and closest) friends Kate. She is one of my best friends and has been for a long time. Without realising we go for long periods without seeing each other, but she is one of those people that when you see her, it's like you picked up where you left off 3 years ago. She's coming to my house one Saturday in May so we can spend the day baking and eating Mexican food. I am so excited! I love having things like that to look forward to.

As well as seeing Kate, watching films and eating Chinese food with my sister, I did some work for Food Blogger Connect. Somehow amongst all that I found the time to make a cake! I thought as I hadn't done a big layer cake since my Ferrero Rocher cake, I'd make one over the weekend. And dang I didn't regret it!

This recipe will make a 3 tier layer cake - you will need 3x 20cm cake tins. It is adapted from Baked in America by David Muniz and David Lesniak.

For the cake
4 large free range organic eggs
250ml whole milk
90ml rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500g plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
250g caster sugar
250g light brown sugar
130g unsalted butter, room temperature
170g smooth peanut butter

For the frosting
750g icing sugar
255g unsalted butter
130ml whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
60g cocoa powder

For the decoration
30g crushed peanuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line 3 20cm cake pans.

2. In one bowl mix the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set both aside.

3. Beat the butter and the sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. About 7 minutes. Alternately add the wet and dry ingredients in thirds, scraping down the bowl after each addition.

4. Divide the batter between the 3 pans and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

5. To make the frosting, mix the icing sugar and butter until combined. Add the milk and vanilla and beat on a high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Finally, add the cocoa powder and beat until just combined.

6. Now to assemble the cake: Place the bottom layer onto a cake stand and spread 1/3 of the frosting over the top and sides, and repeat with the next 2 layers making sure the finish is smooth.

7. Sprinkle the crushed peanuts around the edge of the top of the cake, finishing with a small sprinkle in the centre.

Peanut butter and chocolate has to be one of the best combinations on the planet, they just go together perfectly. This cake is no exception. The sponge is really light and flavourful and the chocolate frosting has just the right amount of cocoa in it, so that it doesn't over power the peanut butter.

It's only Tuesday and I am already looking forward to the weekend! Friday is Mark's birthday and we are going for a meal on Saturday to celebrate. We are going to our local pub, which happens to only serve vegetarian food (hurrah!) and is ironically named The Shoulder of Mutton. About 3 years ago it used to be a 'local' pub for 'older' gentlemen, and it had been for years. But it got taken over and the landlord decided to keep the name. If you are ever near Wantage I would really recommend a visit!

Banana Maple Pecan Loaf

Going back to work after 4 days off for Easter was hard. I spent the whole weekend eating Creme Egg Brownies and watching TV. I have really struggled to get out of bed the last couple of mornings, Luna makes it harder as when she realises I'm waking up, she will sit herself on my chest purring in my face!

I am really looking forward to this weekend for two reasons. The first; my sister has been in Japan for the last couple of weeks on holiday. I'm picking her up from the airport on Friday night and I am SO excited to see her. She is my best friend so I find it strange when she isn't around. And the second reason; two of mine and Mark's favourite people - Emmie and Rich - are coming over to our house for Mexican Food on Saturday. Mexican is mine and Mark's favourite food to eat and to make for other people. I would say we're pretty darn good at it (both eating and making it!)

I love banana in cake and desserts. I'm not fussed about eating banana on it's own, but put it in a cake or a pie and I love it. I decided to make a banana loaf as I had a couple going brown in the kitchen and thought it'd go well with Maple and Pecan. Dot Com Gift Shop very kindly provided the adorable loaf cases I used. They are really sturdy allowing the cake to keep a good shape, and the pattern is so pretty! If you fancy getting some loaf cases yourself you can find them here. There are also some larger ones here.

This recipe will make a large loaf, if you are using small loaf cases like I did, it will make 3-4 small loaves. The recipe is adapted from my Mum's banana bread. It doesn't use any sugar as I think there is enough from adding the maple syrup.

Ingredients
120g unsalted butter
150ml maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large organic free range egg
3 large ripe bananas
70ml milk
240g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
100g pecans, roughly chopped

For the topping
20g pecans, roughly chopped
Drizzle of maple syrup

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. If using a large loaf tin, grease and set aside.

2. Melt the butter and set aside for a few minutes. When the butter has cooled slightly, pour into a bowl and mix in the maple syrup and vanilla. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl then mix into the wet ingredients along with the milk.

3. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the chopped pecans.

4. Pour the batter into your loaf tin (or cases!) and then sprinkle with the extra chopped pecans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top of the loaf is golden brown. If you use the loaf cases like I did, bake for 20 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Once cooled, drizzle some maple on the top of the loaf and serve.