Chocolate and Cherry Cheesecake Swirl Cake - Home Sweet Home Bakealong (36/100)

Like Gill I had a cake that bore very little resemblance to the picture! It had a great deal more rise in the chocolate sponge, with a much thinner layer of cheesecake (sorry, no interior pictures - just imagine the opening of a pair of parentheses and that's what it looked like).

My cheesecake mixture suffered the same trouble that I have *any* time I use cream cheese - it turned into a thin liquid - the piping bag was deeply redundant - a ladle would have been more appropriate. Does anyone know why this always happens?

The cake was pleasant to eat - tender and moist, with a good flavour. It also travels very well, due to the lack of delicate icing, and the sturdy structure. I didn't bother with the cherry glaze, and it was quite lovely anyway.

Ingredients:
For the chocolate sponge:
70g cocoa powder
180ml hot water
260g plain flours
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
180g soured cream
170g unsalted butter
380g caster sugar
3 large eggs
For the cherry cheesecake swirl:
450g full fat cream cheese
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
40g dried sour cherries, chopped (I replaced this with 50g of frozen cherries, finely chopped)
80g black cherry jam (I omitted this)

Next up: Lemon and Ricotta Cookies

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I'm entering this in the new #CookBlogShare, which is being hosted this week by Snap Happy Bakes

Chocolate and Coconut Cupcakes - Home Sweet Home Bakealong (35/100)

The cupcakes are always fun to come around to again - usually pretty and unusual to look at, with a quick and easy method too.

There is always far too much icing - I made 2/3 of the recipe, which was just perfect for the 12 (quite chunky) cupcakes I produced.

Like Gill I found the tiny amount of coconut milk a rather silly amount - although I keep cans in the cupboard, I didn't really want to open a can for so little, and the flavour is rather muted (in fact, I very slightly split my icing trying to add a bit more cocounut flavour!)

The cupcakes are cute to look at though, which is a redeeming feature.

Ingredients
for the sponge
70g unsalted butter
170g plain flour
250g caster sugar (I reduced this to 200g, having found previous incantations too sweet)
50g cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
210ml whole milk
2 large eggs
2-3 coconut chocolate bars (they recommend bounty, I used knock-off versions)
for the frosting
500g icing sugar, sifted (I used 300g)
160g unsalted butter (I used 100g)
60ml coconut milk (I used 35ml)
for the decoration
1-2 bounty bars (I used 6 treat size knock-off versions, and cut them in half)
60g desiccated coconut (I also didn’t weigh this out – just sprinkled)

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I'm entering this in the new #CookBlogShare, which is being hosted this week by Kirsty from Hijacked by Twins

Cheese and Rosemary Breadsticks - Home Sweet Home Bake Along 34/100

Not so many pictures this time, as these were made in the middle of a mad week of baking for a birthday-housewarming-tea-party type event. It was fun. And chaotic. And I keep finding icing and biscuit crumbs in strange places.

These are definitely better the day they are made - just cooled a little from the oven.

I'm hideously behind again, so for all the latest bakes, check out Tales of Pigling Bland!

Ingredients:
Dough:
180ml lukewarm water
1 1/2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp fast action yeast (they use 1+1/2 tsp dried yeast)
210g strong white bread flour
1/4 tsp salt
Coating:
80g parmesan cheese, finely grated
60g gruyere cheese finely grated
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
60ml olive oil (probably don't need quite this much)







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I'm entering this in the new #CookBlogShare, which is being hosted this week by Kirsty from Hijacked by Twins

Doughnuts - Home Sweet Home Bake Along 33/100

Well, my fear of deep fat frying has been well and truly conquered by this Bake Along! And, can I just say, I'm so glad it was.

These were rather good, and even when they were past their best the next day, people gobbled them down, mighty quickly.

I ended up with a very sticky dough, and had to add extra flour in order to be able to roll it out, rather than spread it, but Gill didn't have that problem.

Other than the stickiness, these were incredibly quick and easy to make - I made them after getting home from work one evening.

I'd make again - perhaps for a film night, or similar?

Ingredients:

2 tsp fast action yeast [they use 1tbsp dried yeast]
60ml lukewarm water
2 tbsp caster sugar
190ml warm milk
1 large egg
30g butter, melted
340g strong white flour
700ml [the volume required will depend on your pan, but you'll need the oil about 2 inches deep] sunflower oil for frying
For dusting:
100g caster sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon




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Fruit and Nut Chocolate Parcels - Home Sweet Home Bake Along - 32/100

These were quick easy and fun to make. More coordinated packet opening than true baking - they make a rather impressive looking sweet treats in no time at all.

These look rather like spring rolls, and are made and rolled in a similar way, except using filo pastry, rather than spring roll pastry.

They are best served warm, when they are still gooey and oozy, but they are perfectly acceptable when cool.

They're kind of like a poor man's baklawa, less sweet and sticky, but less work too!

I got in a bit of a muddle with my shopping order, so am running a week behind, but hope to catch up again shortly.

Ingredients:
50g mixed nuts, roughly chopped (I used a few walnuts, pecans, salted peanuts and cashews)
50g mixed dried fruit, roughly chopped (I used candied peel, dried apricots and sultanas)
2x58g Snickers bars, cut into chunks - I used 3x38g knock-off supermarket equivalents
1x 58g Mars bar, cut into chunks - I used 3x38g knock-off supermarket equivalents again
1x270g packet of filo pastry (I used a 250g pack, which had smaller sheets in a greater quantity!)
75g unsalted butter, melted
Icing sugar, for dusting

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