Jammie Dodger cheesecake picnic

The sun beamed down on Cardiff and some uni friends and I enjoyed a few hours chilling out on a blanket in the park. This was the best place to share the Jammie Dodger Cheesecake between friends - you can't get much closer to the concept of "Back to the Roots" than a picnic! It was so warm we were worried the heat may affect the cheesecake so we ate it all very quickly out of concern!!!

Don't melt in the sun!!

Perfect day for a picnic

Ruth enjoying her piece

Ellie and Kate digging in

Alex with the cheesecake

Must say they seemed to go down well. Just next time I'll keep the "Jammie Dodger" element to the raspberry jam filling as I suspect the jam from the Jammie Dodgers had something to do with the base falling apart slightly. But still there was not a crumb left!

Jammie Dodger Cheesecake



Baked Welsh Cake Cheesecake


Inspired by the latest Hairy Bikers installment I decided to have a go at making my first every cheesecake. I decided to give the one from the episode a twist though by making a Jammie Dodger cheesecake as I had plenty in the flat.




My first problem was that I'd left my springform tins in my Mum's house and didn't fancy paying £10.99 for a new one. I decided on a £1.99 square silicon "tin" instead and crossed my fingers hoping it would work...



Quite a few ingredients needed for this recipe.


I stuck to Derith's recipe but instead of using Welsh cakes I put a pack of Jammie Dodgers in the base with about 10 digestive biscuits and added a thick layer of raspberry jame inbetween the biscuit base and the cream cheese topping.

My freezer bags weren't big enough to pummel so I used a mixer instead.

Melt 50g butter to mix through the crushed biscuits.

Flatten in the tin.

Bake at 180 degrees for 5-10 mins.

Whisk all the other ingredients together...

...until smooth and creamy.

Meanwhile, spread a thick layer of raspberry jam on the cooled biscuit base

Top up with the cheese mixutre and bake for 40mins until it looks like this.

Gobble up and enjoy.

I spent this morning baking this cheesecake and it does taste super yummy and the jam definitely helps with the illusion of a jammie dodger. However, as I thought the silicon tin didn't help - it's ever so difficult to get it out of a tin unless it is a springform tin because the cake is so soft. I'm hoping that once it's been in the fridge a few hours it may set a little and make it stronger and if not I'm taking it into Uni tomorrow with plastic spoons and hopefully nobody will mind eating it straight out of the tin! Taste test coming soon...

Two new Hairy Bikers programmes

With all the Hairy Biker craziness, I thought I'd quickly report for those who don't already know that the Bikers have two new TV series in the pipeline: Hairy Meals on Wheels and Bakeation.

Their website uploaded this press release at the end of February.

Following the success of programmes such as The Hairy Bikers' Cook Off and Hairy Bikers: Mums Knows Best, David Myers and Simon King will form what the BBC said was a "key part" of BBC2's cookery output.

As part of the deal they will make two new shows, Hairy Meals on Wheels and Bakeation.
In Meals on Wheels they will show a new side by exploring the issue of local council food provision to those on benefits.

 Their mission will be to "reignite the Dunkirk spirit in order to get meals back on their wheels", according to the BBC.

 Bakeation sees the pair taking a 2,000-mile gastronomic road trip across Europe as the bikers seek out the best baking on offer.

King and Myers said: "We're chuffed to bits to be working with the BBC again in this amazing two-year deal. We can't wait to get on the road making some brilliant shows we hope everyone will enjoy."

 The BBC2 controller, Janice Hadlow, said: "It's been brilliant to see the Hairy Bikers evolve on the channel over the last few years to the point where I can't imagine our cookery offer without them."

Alison Kirkham, BBC factual, features and formats commissioning editor added: "The Hairies are such distinctive and well-loved faces on BBC2; we are looking forward to developing new programmes with them over the next two years."

Exciting stuff - well done boys! Can't wait to see them!

Hairy Bikers: Posh Food & Cheesecakes

Posh nosh most definitely!!

The Hairy Bikers came to Wales for tonight's episode of Mums Know Best and it did impress. Classy cakes and delicate dinners - it certainly got me itching to get in the kitchen.

My favourite recipe was Derith's Welshcake Cheesecake. A normal cheesecake with pieces of welshcake broken into the biscuit base and then a layer of whole welshcakes before layering the creamy-goodness on top.

I really felt this was so clever and gave me an idea of my own special cheesecake. I had a craving for Jammie Dodger biscuits today and my friend, Ruth, suggested mixing them in with digestive biscuits. So this week I'm going to attempt this with an extra layer of Jammie Dodgers and a thick layer of strawberry jam. Nom nom nom... my mouth is watering at the thought of it.

Tomorrow I am off to buy cheesecake ingredients...
Heck, tomorrow I'm off to buy the Hairy Bikers season two book!!

My Jammie Dodger Cheesecake post

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Around 100g of sugar (or more if you prefer it sweet like me!) to four lemons worth of juice. Add ice and sparkling water and mix. With the nice weather we've been having over the past few days this is a lovely wind down drink in the sun.

Add a cheeky splash of vodka, schnapps or top up with sparkling wine if you want to turn it into a post-work cocktail!

Hairy Bikers: High Tea

High tea - this was a fantastic episode with a beautiful looking beef and honey stew and a luscious lemon swiss roll. If you missed it, watch it here, but hurry it will only be online until the 7th of April!

My favourite bit of this week's episode was when the Bikers made two pies: a cornbeef and onion, and an egg and bacon pie. When I saw the pie plate they were using to bake the pies, I nearly jumped out of my seat. I have that exact plate in my cupboard! My Godmother, who sadly has just passed away, bought me this pie plate for Christmas a couple of years ago. I don't use pastry very often, so I have never used it. I think it is time to dust it off and give a pie a whirl, in dedication of my lovely Aunty Ann... Keep an eye out for a pie soon.

BBC iPlayer screen shot: Dave's pie



My pie plate from my Godmother



BBC iPlayer screen shot: amazing cupcakes of Si and Dave!

I also thought these cupcakes were fantastic! Baked by one of the Mum's daughters, they are a very close resemblance of Si and Dave, very clever.

Here's my blog post on episode seven: Posh food

Hairy Bikers: Distant shores

Si and Dave's sing song

"Monday night's Italian, Tuesday night is Thai,

Chinese on Wednesdays, Thursday night is Mexican,
Curry night Friday night, Saturday night it's Viva La France,
Sunday of course it's a good old British Sunday Roast!"

Episode five of Mums Know Best




My ideal "World Tour" week:
Monday Italian - Comforting minestrone with local bread.
Tuesday Thai - Nigella's curry: red thai curry paste, prawns, mango and coconut milk! Mmmmm thick or soupy?!?
Wednesday Chinese - Whip up some noodles with typical sauces like sweet chili and soy sauce. Lashings of veg in a stir fry and maybe some peanut butter!
Thursday Mexican/Spanish - Paella with Anglesey mussles cooked in my special paella dish, so colourful and comforting. (Check out my lunch time tortilla below!)
Friday Curry night - I'm a cheat with pastes, but I would like to try and slow cook some mutton in South Indian spices - it's always my favourite at my local Indian restaurant.
Saturday Viva La France - A slow cooked comforting cassoulet with sausages and beans.
Sunday Good traditional British roast - Welsh lamb with roast potatoes is a winner in my house. My mum is a genius when it comes to Sunday Roasts... looking forward so much to a visit over Easter!

Storecupboard essentials:
Fajita seasoning - make a big batch of your own.
Freeze tortilla wraps.
Pasta and rice goes without saying, but noodle nests are useful too!
Peanut butter, soy sauce and sweet chili dipping sauce - adaptable for Chinese or Thai meals
Tins of mexican mixed beans
New potatoes (tinned) saves time when making a Spanish tortilla (see below)
Indian and thai pastes - forget jarred sauces stick to pastes like Asia Spice Box

Other storecupboard essentials are some good recipes books...

My top foodie wishful destinations:
A proper New York bagel
New Orleans for gumbo
Morocco for traditional cous cous
Gorge on cake and pastry in French patisseries

A lunch time treat - Spanish Tortilla

Eggs, tinned potatoes and an onion. I used up some mushrooms which were
just past there best. A red peper would be nice too, to give it a bit of crunch.

Fry onions and vegetables, remove to bowl.

Fry off potatoes, place in the same bowl.

Whisk the eggs with salt and stir into veg.

Fry gently for five mins, then do the "plate trick"... slip onto a plate then place frying
pan ontop and flip... leaving the uncooked side to fry for another five mins.

Two large lunch portions or serves four - six as tapas

This episode is worth watching purely for Si in a tutu and biker boots while Dave tries to make a Pavalova!! Watch it here on iPlayer! Enjoy!

Here's my blog post on episode six: High tea
Here's my blog post on episode seven: Posh Food and my Jammie Dodger cheesecake post

Up to a fifth of food wrongly labelled local

Strangely enough while I was at my local greengrocers this morning trying to pick out British apples from New Zealand varieties, I heard a BBC Wales report from the radio the greengrocer was listening to: "British and local labels on many foods are false, study suggests."

Apparently nearly a fifth of foods which claim to be local are falsely labelled.

Inspections found "Welsh lamb"  from New Zealand, "Somerset butter" from Scotland and "Devon ham" from Denmark!

As there is no legal definition of the term "local" it seems that some foods have slipped through the cracks, which is extremely worrying as in some cases local food, especially meat is more expensive.


Plum tomatoes from Cardiff?!?!



Butternut squash from Argentina?!?!



Pancake Day Special

As requested this is a Back To The Roots Pancake Day Special. Shrove Tuesday is this coming Tuesday, so here's a list of recipes and toppings to inspire you to make yummy scrummy pancakes.

Original and simple:
This is the recipe my mum sent me off to uni with. As you can see, very simple for a clueless chef!

• 4 x heaped tbsp flour
• 1 x egg
• 1/2 pint milk
• pinch salt

Add flour slowly while whisking egg and milk, add pinch salt.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and melt a knob of butter before adding a ladle of batter.
Cook on either side until golden brown.
Enough for 1-2 persons.

Serve with lemon and sugar

BBC Food's American-style:

• 135g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 130ml milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and melt a knob of butter before adding a ladle of batter.
Cook on either side until golden brown.
Enough for 4-6 persons.

Serve with golden syrup

More ideas:
Hairy Bikers' banana and bacon pancakes
Cream cheese and smoked salmon canapes
The retro classic, crepe suzette - My mum uses an extra shot of brandy
Saturday Kitchen's mushroom pancake mamon

Local and in season:
Seasonal fruit is a bit thin on the ground this month, but how about a savoury version using some local vegetables and a pancake instead of a tortilla wrap: grated beetroot or carrot, sliced potato, salad and some chutney or sweet chili sauce?? This would be great to use up left over pancakes for lunch on Wednesday.

Your favourites:
Jasmine - "Crepes with fried banana slices and Nutella, mmmmm... OR natural yogurt with jam or honey."
Ruth - "Apple and cinnamon - amazing!
Jo - "Cheese for a savoury crepe or good old lemon and sugar."
Hannah - "I like thick buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup. Oh and you have to have them with crispy bacon, which you then dip into the maple syrup. NOM NOM!"
Harriet - "Strawberries and blueberries with chocolate! Or bananas!"
Susan - "Lashings of butter and maple syrup."
Gary - "Lemon and sugar, the classic. Or, if it's not a sweet one, anything with Tabasco in it."
Lucas - "Thin crepes with cream cheese and Marmite! Or, it MUST be sweet, raspberry jam!"
Dafs - "Ice cream"
Kate - "Mmm American pancakes with loads of maple syrup, blueberries and chocolate chips."
Rekha - "Pancakes oozing with banana, toffee and Malteasers... More calorific content the better!"
Gem - "Thinly sliced Mars bar in a hot pancake = nom."
Sarah - "I always have lemon and sugar."
Grace - "Sugar and lemon, or Nutella and banana."
Elgan - "Nutella with golden or maple syrup."
Abbi - "Sour cream with avocado and tomato (bacon if you so desire)."
MY FAVOURITE - Cherry pie filling with a good quality vanilla ice cream, they used to serve this in the Little Chef when I was a kid!

This just shows that everyone's taste buds are different and there is much excitement to celebrate the good old pancake. As yogurt and nutella-loving Jasmine says, "I believe pancake day should be a public holiday!" Agreed!

Happy flipping!

Easter egg ideas coming soon.

Welsh cheese tasting for a tenner

Madame Fromage hidden away in Castle Arcade, Cardiff

On my visit to Madame Fromage I thought I would conduct a Welsh cheese taste test. I wanted to see how much cheese I could get for a tenner, well in the end £11, and then taste test them in the oh-so scientific flat of mine, with my friend!
A lovely man called Steve, who has worked at Madame Fromage for five years, helped me choose my hoard, with a range of hard, soft, blue, goats and flavoured cheeses.

Madame Fromage have a huge selection of cheeses
and a very wide selection of Welsh varieties

Value for money?

We chose six pieces of cheese:

Gorwydd Caerphilly £2.20/100g

Hafod Organic Cheddar £2.30/100g

Perl Las £2.30/100g

Perl Wen £1.90/100g

Pantysgawen Goats £2.40/100g

Red Devil £1.95/100g

TASTE TEST

Quality biscuits and quality cheese, but is this a worthwhile amout for £11.00?

1. Hafod Organic Cheddar
Heledd: "Earthy hues. Almost tastes like the countryside, like a bonfire in my mouth. It tastes like St Fagans!"
Caroline: "Full of character, tanging off the sides of my mouth."

2. Gorwydd Caerphilly
Heledd: "It melts in your mouth, but then hits the back of your throat."
Caroline: "This one tastes almost like a blue cheese, very strong."

Top: Hafod Organic Cheddar
Bottom: Gorwydd Caerphilly

3. Perl Wen
Heledd: "Eurgh! This tastes like a foot"
Caroline: "Trying to be a brie but failing. I find it actually quite tasteless."

4. Perl Las
Heledd: "Slightly pungent and really tasty and creamy."
Caroline: "Wow, this is almost alcoholic in strength, but all the same a beautiful blue cheese."

Top: Perl Wen
Bottom: Perl Las

5. Red Devil
Heledd: "Lush! I don't like hot food, but I really like this."
Caroline: "Mmm like a curry. This Red Leicester with a hit of chili, doesn't kick in straight away. When it does it only lasts a second. Really nice."

6. Pantysgawen Goats
Heledd: "Creamy, but almost with a bitter after taste."
Caroline: "Like Philadelphia, very creamy and the same consistency, but a bit stronger."

Top: Red Devil
Bottom: Pentysgawen goats cheese

Winner

And the Back To The Roots Welsh cheese tasting award goes to...Red Devil for a fiery dragon punch!

And my personal runner up is the Pantysgawn goats cheese. You tend to either love goats cheese or hate it and I loved this one - melt in the mouth.

Value for money

You are always going to have to splash out a bit more for decent quality cheese. If you buy the cheapest cheddar in the supermarket then it usually isn't even worth grating on top of your enchiladas! 

Sadly my favourite cheese, the goats cheese was the most expensive, but on the other hand the Red Devil was one of the cheapest.

If you consider the Hafod Organic Cheddar, it was quite expensive at £2.30/100g, but it was a very good cheese. However, I suspect that the "organic" label would increase its price slightly. So you are most definitely paying extra for better quality ingredients.

Personally, I am glad the Red Devil is the cheapest as it is the most unusual cheese on the list. I can buy my every day cheddar slightly cheaper elsewhere and therefore be able to buy tasty, unusual cheeses within my budget as well - I'll just have to save my goats cheese for special occasions.

However, over all value I feel was very good. For £11.00 I had a selection of six Welsh cheeses which could have just stretched to feed four people as an after dinner treat. So if you fancy trying out a taste test of your own it would cost around £2.75 a head. Add a bottle of wine to that and you've got a entertaining, but smelly, night in.

Must haves for the cheese board

• A good cheese knife
• A good chutney - caramelised onion marmalade is my favourite
• Tasty cheese biscuits
• A selection of grapes
• An after dinner tipple

Many thanks to my cheese-loving friend, Heledd Williams

for helping me test run these cheeses.

Hairy Bikers: Lazy weekends

Another consistent hit from the Hairy Bikers last Thursday: Lazy Weekends. What struck me the most about this episode was the sweet tooth element. The 1950s posh peach paradise pudding looked absolutely immense, as well as the simple yet delicate looking plava cake.

During the recipe fair, there was also a courgette cake, which caught my attention as it is similar to a recipe for beetroot brownies which I love. Apparently the vegetables are naturally sweet that's why they combine so well with a chocolate cake.

At the weekend I love baking and making something sweet, my favourites being:

• Jamie Oliver's peach cobbler, from his Jamie's America book
• Nigella's margarita ice cream, from Nigella Express.
• Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes - all shapes, flavours and sizes! Perfect for Sunday afternoon baking as I take any extras into uni with me the next day.
• Lemon drizzle cake or another loaf tin shaped goodie - I love how they rise in the tin and their surface gentle cracks.
• Meringue nests - usually a mid week recipe actually. Only simple assembly required. Mix yogurt with honey and blueberries and layer the mixture ontop of the meringue, with a dollop of creme fraiche.
• Brownies, with a good splat of vanilla ice cream. I love using my brownie tin - as long as you grease it well, it makes life so much easier. Beware there are not usually enough left to take in on a Monday morning though!

This brownie tin was a gift, I've seen them in Lakeland

In fact, this month’s Olive magazine has gone overboard on the sweet stuff – in a good way! Actually, I think I prefer food magazines at Easter than at Christmas. Easter recipes are light and sweet, and the pages and photographs themselves are also lighter, with the feel of spring! Pick up a copy to try out some grasshopper squares, they are next on my list.



My lazy weekend baking, or more correctly

my lazy weekend procrastination!



Doughnut cupcakes - just fill your cupcakes with jam and bake as normal

TOP TIP! When breaking egg shells, don’t break it on the edge of a bowl, tap it on a flat surface – this means that you’re less likely to get shell into your cake!

The Hairy Bikers love everything! Do they ever turn their nose up at someone's cooking, or have to nod and fake "mmmmm" noises?

What recipe would you take to a Hairy Bikers recipe fair?

Here's my blog post on episode five: Distant shores
Here's my blog post on episode six: High tea
Here's my blog post on episode seven: Posh food and my Jammie Dodger cheesecake post







Using up puff pastry: Tomato, mascarpone and pesto tart

If you follow my blog at all, you will know that I hate wasting food. Living on my own it is more difficult as I'm not able to feed hungry housemates. However, what I find infuriating is that I find food often comes in such large packages, I can't usually eat eight tortilla wraps or a giant bag of salad before it goes off. Ready rolled pastry is another difficulty for me. I made Hairy Biker pinwheels a couple of days ago and used half a pack, but I didn't know what to make with the remaining half.

There's almost too much to choose from. In every cookbook and food magazine there are hundreds of pastry recipes. But yesterday I came across a lovely blog by journalist Katie Bryson, called Feeding boys and a firefighter, and decided to make a tart which she featured as I had all the ingredients in my fridge already: Half a pack of Puff pastry, tomatoes, half a jar of pesto and a quarter of a tub of mascarpone which was about to go to waste! I love not wasting food!

Mascarpone and pesto layered with tomatoes
and into a hot oven for about an hour

I also added some leftover mozzarella half way through baking

My attempt at artistic food photography (!)
Served with a simple green salad, a lemon yogurt dressing
and what looks like a pesto slug!

Madame Fromage in Cardiff

After using The Good Food Finder for the first time yesterday, I discovered a beautiful little find - Madame Fromage, a cheese shop, cafe and deli in Castle Arcade, Cardiff.

Tucked away in Castle Arcade is a little local secret

I decided to go and visit this gorgeous shop in the afternoon to buy some interesting cheeses. After a brief read online, I assumed that was all it would be, however, I was wrong. Arriving with my friend our eyes were instantly attracted to the beautiful cupcakes on display in the window. We noticed there was a little cafe up some stairs on the left of the establishment, so we decided to take some time to have a coffee and a cake.

Tempting window displays lure customers in,
with delicate cakes and rich cheeses

The cakes came with many different decorations and themes,
from Oreos to bananas

The cafe had a very Parisian feel with specials written on chalk boards, mis-matched tables and chairs, and a detailed mural on the wall. Our coffees and cakes were very reasonable, an offer on a my latte and very generous sized banana cupcake came to only £3.50. The cupcake was more of a muffin size, and consistency - the cake tasted of banana and had a huge portion of icing and banana shaped foam sweet. If anything, it was too big! And I had to leave a bit of the icing as it was very sweet. But the cake itself was fantastic.

A man spending his afternoon working at his laptop with a coffee -
Much more inspirational than the clones of coffee shops that line the city streets

Bargain! A coffee and a cake for £3.50!

Nom nom nom, nearly gone!

We thoroughly enjoyed our relaxed hour away from the stresses of uni life. It's a perfect place to take some revision or even to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere with friends and family on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Keep an eye out for a post coming very soon: A cheese taste test of six Welsh varieties for a tenner from Madame Fromage.