Lemon Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake in early January and it is absolutely delicious. The refreshing zing of lemon cuts through the richness of the cheesecake and somehow makes it feel less naughty. I made my cheesecake by making slight changes to Mel's 'Lemon Cheesecake Slice' recipe and setting it in a cake tin as opposed to a slice tin. This is a perfect weekend dessert and my vanilla ice cream was the perfect accompaniment for it.

Ingredients:

Base

200g round wine biscuits

100g butter, melted

Cheesecake

250g cream cheese, room temperature

3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

395g condensed milk

⅓ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon gelatine

2 teaspoons hot water

Method:

Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper. 

Process the biscuits and in a food processor until fine. 

Add the butter and mix through to combine. 

Press the mixture into the prepared tin and put into the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and lemon rind in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. 

Add the condensed milk and juice, beat until smooth. 

Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve. 

Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again. 

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the base. 

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight to set, before cutting into slices and serving.

Decorate with lemon zest and serve with some refreshing vanilla ice cream for the perfect summer dessert.

Banana Berry Icecream

This Banana Berry Icecream is so simple, yet so delicious.  It is vegan and lactose free and made from only two ingredients – yup, just two ingredients!  Using just banana and berries, you can make this healthy, frozen treat, which I have found just heavenly on the hot Summer afternoons we have had lately. 
The texture kind of a mixture between icecream, sorbet and frozen yoghurt.  I found it tasted quite sweet and it was hard to believe that there wasn’t sugar added in.  You could experiment with this recipe – maybe take out the berries and try adding mango, or try mixing through some chocolate syrup to make a banana chocolate treat.

5 bananas
1 cup frozen mixed berries

Thinly slice the bananas and place them in a container, in the freezer for 3 – 5 hours.
Place the frozen banana slices in a blender.  Add in the cup of frozen berries and then pulse together until smooth (I found using the ‘chop’ function on my blender the most effective setting).
You can serve immediately, or place in a sealed container in the freezer to firm up and eat later.

*Blender c/o KitchenAid.

Easy Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I don’t know if there is anything better on a hot summer’s day than a vanilla ice cream, especially if you make it yourself! This recipe is super easy, I remember making this ice cream with my Nana when I was quite young. She’s spent quite a bit of time in hospital in recent months and wasn’t sure where the recipe for this would be, so I’ve had to have a play and am incredibly happy with the result.

Ingredients:
600mls cream
395g condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Method:
Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Add the condensed milk and vanilla paste to the cream and continue to beat until very thick.
Scrape into a loaf tin (or similar that is suitable for freezing) and cover in cling wrap. Freeze overnight (at least 6 hours) before serving.

This recipe could not be simpler, it as fantastic by itself as well as making a delish side for the cheesecake in the picture above. Max (who is nearly 3!) enjoyed the ice cream just as much as I did, it was lovely being able to share a baking (well technically not baking, but you know what I mean) memory from my childhood with him.

Lick Ice cream GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to the awesome people at Lick Ice cream + Sweetshop we have five lots of 2x Single Scoop ice cream vouchers to giveaway.
To enter, leave us a comment below (perhaps you might want to share with us your fave ice cream flavour or ice cream dessert) and include your email address so we can get a hold of you later to get your postal details off you and send you your prize.
Get yourself a bonus entry by ‘sharing’ our message on Facebook about the competition or becoming one of our followers on blogger.
Remember, Lick Ice cream + Sweetshop is in Auckland so the competition is probably only good for people who live there or know someone who does that you are happy to pass them on to (or, the vouchers are valid for a year – you could plan a trip!).
The competition ends 6pm Tuesday 20th March, New Zealand time.  Winners will chosen through a random draw and will be announced on the blog that evening.
For more info on the Lick Ice cream + Sweetshop check out our post or find them on Facebook.

LICK Ice cream + Sweetshop

Lick Ice cream + Sweetshop is a new addition to the Blockhouse Bay shops, opening just over two months ago.  If you feel like something sweet this place is sure to satisfy your cravings.  Also, if it’s a nice day you can always take your treats away and enjoy them down at the local beach around the corner :)

Lick Ice cream + Sweetshop offers a large selection of ice cream and gelato flavours to choose from.  If you really feel like indulging yourself get them to whip you up one of their sundaes.  They also make milkshakes and have a great looking range of specialty shakes including flavours such as Rocky Road, Pineapple lump and Choc chip banana crumble.  I’ve tried their specialty Oreo Shake and it was delicious! 

There is more to Lick than just the ice cream and milkshakes though.  There’s also some fancy desserts you can try, like gooey chocolate fudge brownies and Eaton mess - yum!  I think Simon and I need to pop in and give these a taste test one night soon. 

One thing you should try out is one of their hot chocolates.  They come in a range of flavours and are made using real melted chocolate.  I’ve tried their Gingerbread hot chocolate and really enjoyed it – just the right amount of flavour and I liked the taste that using real chocolate gave it.  However, if none of the choices mentioned above appeal you can always try their American candy selection :)

For more information and to ‘like’ Lick Ice cream and Sweetshop, head on over to their Facebook page.  Make sure you take the time to ‘like’ our Baking Makes Things Better page too!

Thanks to the awesome people at Lick, we have 5 lots 2 x Single scoop ice cream vouchers to giveaway.  The competition will start on Friday, so check back on the blog to enter!

Lick Ice cream + Sweetshop
509 Blockhouse Bay Road, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland
Ph: 09 626 4246
find them on Facebook.

Kohu Road Cafe and Creamery

Simon and I stumbled across this awesome place on Saturday and we are very excited about it as I totally love the style of the place, they make yummy milkshakes with their super ice cream and it is in our ’hood - it is only a couple of minutes away from our place –win!

We had been in New Lynn (Auckland, NZ) as we had to stop in at the AA to organise a new drivers licence for me after some disgusting child at school stole my wallet on Friday afternoon (side story: AA’s motto is ‘Keeping New Zealander’s moving’ – I was waiting in the line to get to the counter for over an hour and the line wasn’t even 5 meters long!) and were heading to our local library as that was another one of the cards I needed to replace, when Simon saw this ‘Kohu Road’ sign so we decided to stop and check the place out.

I’m glad we stopped; the place is awesome and it totally brightened my day.  Walking through the door I was unaware I was going to be greeted by such an awesome cafe.  As I’ve said, I really like the style of the place; they have a vintage shop till perched on the counter – which looks like an old garage bench or made from scaffolding.  There is an old vintage car and caravan for kids to play in and they can put on DVD’s inside the caravan to keep them entertained.  I liked the beer crate and bottles that were used as vases when you walked in.  Also, by the entrance they have their inspiration board for the place on display which I thought was a cool touch.  As well as being a cafe this place is also the Kohu Road ice cream factory :)

Simon and I had milkshakes made from their ice cream and some cake.  We will be popping back in here another day to try out their lunch offerings :)

Kohu Road
44 Portage Road, New Lynn, Auckland 0600, New Zealand
Ph: 0800 Kohu Road (0800 564 876) or 09 373 5837
E: info@kohuroad.co.nz
www.kohuroad.co.nz
You can find them on facebook too.

Potato Ice cream?

I just saw this on one of the tumblr. blogs I follow.  Looks like yummy ice cream right?  Well, here’s what the caption read:

These are mashed potatoes. Anytime you see an ice cream ad on TV (scooped or being scooped all slow and creamy style) it is 90% of the time coloured mashed potatoes because they look like ice cream but won’t melt like it under the camera lighting.

This kinda grosses me out, but it is very clever if it is true :)

Summer Treat: Ice Cream Cake

 
I saw this in one of the weekly woman’s magazines a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a go when we had Melissa and Simon over for a BBQ last weekend.

To make you will need:

1 small chocolate swiss roll
1L vanilla ice cream
1L chocolate ice cream
1 family sized bag of maltesers (155g)
100g of dark chocolate chopped
⅔ cup of cream
1 small handful of chocolate chips to decorate

1. Grease a 24cm round spring form cake tin then line the sides and base with baking paper.
2. Cut the swiss roll into pieces, approx 2-3cm thick each and arrange in a single layer over the bottom of the tin (tip – I broke up the left over pieces to fill any gaps).
3. Place the vanilla ice cream in a bowl and let it stand until it reaches room temperature and has just softened.  Mix it with a wooden spoon, add maltesers and stir through. Spoon this mixture over the chocolate swiss roll and place in the freezer until firm.
4. Place the chocolate ice cream in a bowl and again stand until it has reached room temperature and just softened. Mix with a wooden spoon and place it on top of the vanilla layer. Take extra care to make sure the top of the chocolate layer is smooth and place in the freezer until firm.
5. Place chocolate and cream in in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and stir until smooth, remove and cool then pour over the frozen chocolate ice cream and return quickly to the freezer where it must be left until set.
6. To serve you will need to remove the cake from the pan and slide it on to a serving plate. Decorate with the chocolate chips and let it stand for 5 minutes to soften slightly before cutting.

This cake can be made up to 4 days in advance and is sure to impress.  Enjoy!

More Morsels from Melbourne

We returned!  I had to go back to Little Cupcakes today because Simon had a surprise lined up for me apparently.  So, we went, we ordered more cupcakes (yes, what torture) and then someone was touching my shoulder.  I turned around to be greeted by my friend Anjana who had popped down from Brisbane for a visit!  Awesome surprise – thank you guys!

And, just because I think the Raspberry white chocolate cupcake is one of the yummiest of Little Cupcakes very amazing cupcakes, here is another photo, with it in the foreground :)

After this special treat, Simon and I later lined up and had ourselves high tea at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms.

I think I have put on a couple of kg’s in the week I have been in Melbourne.  We have been at cafes and restaurants for pretty much every meal.  We’ve also been nibbling on truffles from the chocolate places around town too.  However, I was really excited when last night, while we were at the Mary Poppins stage show, Simon came back to our seats during the intermission and informed me that the magnum ice creams were sold out, but he had found these tubs of ice cream instead.

Ben and Jerry’s!  I was more than fine with there being no magnums.  I, for some unknown reason, have been on the Ben and Jerry’s website before and ever since I visited it I have wanted to try some.  Yum!

Inspiration: Ice cream

I know it isn't baking, but I desperately want it to be summer again in Auckland.  Hence the inspiration collage this week is of ice cream so I can stare at it longingly whilst dreaming of days filled with sand and salt air.  I hate that it is dark and cold when I wake up, that my car is covered in a layer of ice when I need to leave for work, and I hate that I wore my coat (although my coat is quite awesome) all day.  Bring back the beach going heat please.