No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

For the base:

300g Crushed Digestives
120g Butter

For Filling:

500g Cream Cheese
100g Icing Sugar
300ml Double Cream

For Decoration:

Strawberries
Whipped Cream
Strawberry Gel

Make base by melting butter in large pan, then mixing in crushed digestives throughly.
Place in 8" loose bottomed cake tin and press down with back of spoon.
Put in fridge to cool.

For the filling, whip the double cream till thick, add icing sugar and cream cheese, and whip again until it forms peaks.

Divide the cheesecake mix into 3 separate bowls.
Add a little red colouring into 2 of the mixes, more in one than the other to have 2 different shades of pink.

When base is cool, spread the darkest pink mix onto base.
Add sliced strawberries around edge ( as shown in picture).
Then spread other pink mix on top gently, then finally white mix.

Decorate top with whipped cream and strawberries and chill in fridge until required.

Enjoy!

Cheese and Onion Pasties

Another use for any large cookie cutter, and even my VERY fussy 6yr old grandson loved these!

Pastry:

8oz SR Flour
4oz Margarine
1/2 tsp salt
cold water

Filling:
2 medium potatoes
2tbsp chopped onions
4oz grated cheese

Boil and mash potatoes (with a little butter and milk)
Mix in cheese and onions.

Mix pastry by rubbing together flour, salt and margarine until like breadcrumbs. Add a little cold water at a time until pastry combined. ( pastry is best made day before, wrapped in cling film, and placed in fridge)

Roll out pastry on floured surface and I used large heart cutter, (2 for each pasty).

Place bottoms on greased tray, damp round edges and put a dessert spoon of cheese mixture in centre,
Place other heart on top and seal edges. Make a couple of little cuts on top, for steam to escape.

Place in oven Gas 5, and bake until golden brown.
Remove, then place on wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Sultana Scones

Ingredients

8oz SR Flour
2oz Margarine
1oz sugar
2oz sultanans
1/2 tsp baking powder
milk

Method

Rub flour, baking powder and margarine till resembles breadcrumbs.
Mix in sugar and sultanas.
Add a little milk at a time till mixture is combined, but bot too sticky.

Roll out on floured surface and cut out with scone cutter, about half the depth of the cutter.

Place on greased baking tray, and brush tops with beaten egg.
Leave to rest for 10 mins, then brush with egg again, ( this gives a better golden top).

Place in top of oven, gas 6, for aprox 10-15 minutes until golden colour on top.

Place on cooling wire.

Fill with strawberry jam and clotted cream (yum!)

Enjoy

Viennese Whirls

9oz very soft butter
2oz icing sugar
8oz plain flour
1oz cornflour

Mix all ingredients till throughly mixed and creamy.

Spoon into piping bag with large star nozzle and pipe equal size swirled rounds onto non stick baking sheets.

Cook in centre of oven, gas 5, until just starting to change colour.
Place on wire rack to cool.

Sandwich together with a little jam and buttercream, and sprinkle a little icing sugar over tops.

Enjoy!

Apple and Blackberry Cobbler

Lovely hot dessert ideal for hungry families on a cold winters day.

4 large Bramley cooking apples
1lb blackberries
demerara sugar
1lb SR Flour
4oz margarine
milk
1tsp nutmeg

Peel and core apples, cut into large chunks and simmer in pan with a squeeze of lemon juice and aprox 2 oz sugar. Bring to boil then take off heat and strain.

Mix flour and margarine till resembles breadcrumbs, then mix in 2oz sugar, add milk till mixture combined.

Mix cooked apples and blackberries together gently and place in bottom of oven proof dish.
Sprinkle sugar all over mixture.

Divide cobbler mix into equal portions and roll gently into ball shapes and place on top of fruit mix.

Bake in middle of oven, temp gas 6 until cobblers are golden brown.

Serve hot with cream, ice-cream or custard.

Enjoy

Cheese Scones

Makes aprox 10

8 oz SR flour
2oz margerine
1tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
grated cheese
milk
egg( for glazing)

Mix flour, salt, pepper and margarine together till resembles breadcrumbs.
Mix in grated cheese .
add milk ( how much, can depend how much cheese you have added), until all ingredients combined, but not too sticky.

Place on floured surface and knead gently just so there are no cracks, then roll out and cut with scone cutter and place on greased baking tray.

Mix egg with a little salt ( this breaks down the albumen), and brush tops of scones, let rest for 10 mins, then brush again .

Place in top of oven Gas 6, aprox 15-20 mins, until tops are golden brown.

Place on cooling tray, again like the bread taps scone bottoms, they should sound hollow.

Best served with best butter!

Enjoy

Chocolates chip cookies

Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Make around 14

330g(10.5oz) plain flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

100g chocolate chips (or small bag)

150g(5oz) butter

125g(4.4oz) light brown sugar

100g(3.5 oz) castor sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp bicarb 

Melt butter in pan gently, allow to cool.

Put sugars in bowl and mix in melted butter, beat together.

Add vanilla, 1 whole egg and one egg yolk.

Mix till creamy texture.

Sift dry ingredients together and add to mix with chocolate chips until combined.

Use icecream scoop to measure each cookie amount and use lightly floured hands to gently roll into ball, place onto greased baking tray and flatten slightly, leaving space for them to expand slightly.

Bake for around Gas 5 for 15 mins until edges of cookies are toasted slightly , transfer to wire rack and let cool.

Enjoy!