Baileys and Mars Bar Cheesecake

Yummy yummy, cheesecake for my tummy! I think it’s pretty hard to go wrong with cheesecake, they’re always good.  This one definitely is, with its chunks of Mars Bar scattered throughout.

 
Serves 8

200g malt biscuits
125g butter, melted
2 x 60g Mars bars
1 ½ x 390g cans sweetened condensed milk
250g cream cheese
⅓ cup good commercial chocolate topping
¼ cup Baileys liqueur
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
¼ cup hot water

Whizz the biscuits finely in a food processor.  Add the melted butter and spread on the base of a 20cm round spring-form tin.  Chill.
Chop the Mars Bar and place over the biscuit base.  Beat the condensed milk and cream cheese together until well mixed and light (about 8 minutes).  Reduce the beater speed and the chocolate topping and the Baileys.  Increase speed to mix well.
Dissolve the gelatine in the hot water.  Reduce the beater speed and slowly add the gelatine.
Pour the cheesecake mix over the base.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Still Baking…

Yup, that’s me at just over 38 weeks pregnant! I am very ready to meet this little man now, he is due sometime over the next week so fingers crossed he is nice and punctual like his Mum.

I have managed to do some baking lately but will have to fess up to lazy baking and using a packet mix. I felt like a yummy chocolate slice and saw this Edmonds mix at the supermarket, it was super easy to make and very delicious, well worth a go if you are short on time.

 
Melissa or I will update you when my little man (who we have already named Max) arrives, and if I manage to get any baking done before then I will get it posted ASAP!

White Chocolate and Blueberry Crumble Muffins

White Chocolate = Yum.  Blueberries = Yum.  Crumble topping = Yum.  Muffins = Yum.  All these things mixed together = Mega Yum!

 
Makes about 16 muffins.

Muffin Mix:
450g plain flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
175g caster sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
zest of ½ lemon
250g blueberries
200g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
50ml unsalted butter, melted
350ml full fat milk
1 egg, beaten

Crumble Topping:
50g plain flour
65g caster sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
25g unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 190˚C.  Line two muffin tins with muffin cases.
Start by making the crumble topping.  In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon.  Chop the butter into small pieces then pinch through the flour mixture until it forms a breadcrumb texture.  Set aside.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and then mix in the sugar and salt.  Add the rest of the remaining ingredients and mix together until all ingredients have amalgamated.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cases.  Sprinkle the crumble topping over the top of the batter.  Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out cleanly.

And, here is a picture update on my crochet blanket:

This project is going to take me a while as the blanket measures about 145cm wide and each row (because I’m a slow beginner) takes me a little under half and hour to do.

Chocolate Brown

On our way back from Ruakaka yesterday, Simon and I stopped in at Warkworth to check out Chocolate Brown as I had been told I would love it.  And love it I did :)

The place houses a café which also turns into a restaurant at night from Thursday to Saturday.  We had a quick bite for lunch while we were there.  Next door to the café is a shop containing gorgeous looking chocolates, sweets, fudge, wafers, truffles, pralines and powders to make your own hot chocolate from.  I liked the couple of little clip boards they had around the shop which had recipes on them which you could help yourself to.  Behind the counter was a big glass window through which you could see people making chocolates out the back.  Simon and I both got ourselves some of their delicious fudge.  I want to come here again so I can try everything else – particularly the truffles and chocolate wafers.

    
Pictures explained from top to bottom:
1 and 2: Simon perusing the fudge selection and the counter with the window through to the chocolate being made.
3: One of the cute products that would be great for Valentines day.
4: Part of the huge selection of English sweets.
5: Truffles.
6: Wafers – I want to go back and get some of the Rose and Pistachio ones to try!
7: The fudge we purchased.
8: Simon’s spider.
9: My hot chocolate – complete with a little piece of fudge on the side :)

Chocolate Brown is definitely worth a visit.  Opening hours are available on their website, and their contact details are listed below:

Chocolate Brown
6 Mill Lane, Warkworth, New Zealand
Ph: +64 9 422 2677
Fax: +64 9 422 2675
E: info@chocolatebrown.co.nz
www.chocolatebrown.co.nz

Food Roadie North of Auckland

Simon and I headed up to the beach (Ruakaka – family has a Bach) on Saturday to chill out for the weekend since Simon had Monday off work.  The weather was horrible!  Severe wind and rain, but it was great to be somewhere quiet (well not really, Simon started playing Final Fantasy on his Xbox which meant I had to put up with its constant and repetitive music).  I got some baking done and we stopped in at a few food shops on our way to and from the beach.

Our first stop was in at Matakana to visit their farmers market and we stopped in Morris and James, a local pottery place:

So, lots of yummy food at the Matakana Farmers market – fresh produce, baking, beverages and lots of little things like hot filled rolls to eat there.  Matakana also has a Nosh store and their own local brand of ice cream, Blue, which is delish (tried some on my way back from snorkelling at Goat Island earlier in the month).  The village has some other gorgeous stores too, my fave is Red Letter Day – an awesome specialty stationery store.

We also stopped at Kaiwaka and went to the Dutch Deli, where we got some fancy chocolate sprinkles, hollandaise-mayonnaise and some specialty cheese:

On our way home we stopped in at Warkworth and went to Chocolate Brown, but I will post about that tomorrow as I took lots of pics and I have already put up heaps in this post.  It’s also an awesome place that deserves its own post :)

If you’re planning on taking a trip North from Auckland you could always stop in at Puhoi as well.  I went there not so long ago, so we didn’t have a look on this trip.  Puhoi also has a farmers market, cheese shop and even has a mustard maker.

Cinnamon Scrolls

 
With less than two weeks to go until my baby should arrive I’ve had a craving for cinnamon so I whipped up a batch of Cinnamon Scrolls, nice and easy when you have a bread maker! I hunted around on the net for a recipe and just adjusted things to make my own.

Ingredients
½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
2 ¼ cups plain flour
1 egg
1 ½  tablespoons butter, softened
1 ¼ teaspoons yeast

Filling
3 Tbsp melted butter
¼ cup brown sugar (or slightly more to taste)
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon white sugar

1. Place all the dry ingredients in the bread maker first and wet ingredients on top and set the machine to dough.  Allow it to mix and then rise for 30 mins in the machine.
2. Lightly dust a clean smooth surface with plain flour and roll out the dough, once rolled out dough should measure roughly about 35cm x 20cm, try to keep the dough as rectangular in shape as possible.
 
3. Brush the dough with melted butter and dust with cinnamon and sugars.


4. Roll the dough, starting from the bottom.
5. Once the dough has been rolled it should be cut into four and then four again.


6. Pieces (with smallest pieces in the middle) should be put into a pyrex dish which had been brushed with melted butter. If you have any melted butter left you can brush it over the scrolls lightly for a nice glossy finish.
 
7. Cover the pyrex dish with a clean tea towel and place somewhere warm (like the hot water cupboard) and allow the dough to rise for 30 mins.
 
8. Place in the oven at 180c for 20-30 mins (depending on your oven).


9. Remove from the dish, pulling apart scrolls and place on a cooling tray.
10. Scrolls can be served as is or if you choose you can drizzle some runny vanilla icing over them.

Enjoy! I did :-)

A Break from Baking and a Chocolate Thick shake

At the moment it’s school holidays so I’ve got a glorious six weeks off work.  I thought I would get a lot of baking done, but I haven’t.  There has been trips to the beach, visiting friends and having BBQ’s, snorkelling at Goat Island and Christmas all mixed into my days.  When I have had some down time to myself I have been getting crafty and watching movies (seen 10 this year already).  Here’s some stuff I have made recently:

Presents for Courtenay’s bun in the oven; baby Max.

 Owls for my little cousins.

Sock monkeys and presents for baby Matthew McDonald.

I even set myself up a shop on felt, which I don’t see doing much, but it was fun sticking stuff up.  Yesterday, being a lady of leisure, I zoomed around Auckland stopping in at little shops I have wanted to check out.  It was so much fun that I wanted to share it with you, despite there being no baking being made on my behalf.  I just thought my day summed up what I have been up to lately.

The first stop of my day was in Point Chevalier.  I went to a bead shop - ‘The Bead Hold’.

Where, after spending ages ogling their vast selection, I purchased a few beads which I am going to turn into earrings.

Next, I wandered down the road into this place; ‘Organic World ’:

 
I bought a Tomato and Lentil pie.  It was one of the ugliest pies I have ever eaten, yet one of the tastiest.

 
Then, just a little bit further down the road I stopped into The Little Craft Store.

Going here was the main reason for my trip.  I’m glad I went too – it is such a cute little shop; the owners is lovely, the fabrics are so pretty and I got myself a sewing pattern to make a birdie pillow (there’s a picture of it further down the post).

While out I decided a stop in at Icing on the Cake was in order, so I could pick up some cupcakes for Simon and I to eat later on, as we had planned on watching Black Swan.

These were delicious, but I didn’t get to eat them until 9pm-ish, as Simon decided we were going mountain biking (where I almost died) after he finished work, before watching the movie!

Also on my tour around some of Auckland’s little shops I stopped in at Bread and Butter on New North Road.  It has only been open a week – stocks some cute crafty items and vintage clothing.  I felt a little out of place as I was the only one not in a vintage dress – I love them, but I don’t think I can pull them off :(

I made a quick dash into Flotsam and Jetsam too because I wanted to get an old milk bottle to use as a vase for some pom pom flowers I had made.

 
When I got home I was mega thirsty as I hadn’t had a thing to drink all day, and all I had eaten was that pie, so I made myself one of the bestest chocolate thick shakes.

 
If you want to make one you will need:

1 tablespoon sugar
3 – 4 heaped tablespoons Milo
5 – 6 massive scoops of vanilla ice cream
1 x 150g pottle of chocolate yoghurt
1 cup milk

Mix it all in a blender until you get your desired consistency.  Makes 2 large glasses.

After indulging in a glass of thick shake I got to work on my latest project.  I’ve just started making a large striped crochet blanket and I’m loving all the different colours of wool I’ve got waiting to be used!  Now, don’t freak out that I am abandoning baking – I promise I will have made something by the end of next week.