Author Archives: kimsideas

Week Forty Three – Mary Berry’s American Cheesecake

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I thought this recipe was going to quick and easy for week forty three but between all the steps needed to make it and the chilling time, we are suddenly in Thursday and the blog won’t write itself! Mary Berry’s American Cheesecake sounded lovely and the base was easy enough, Mary tells you to melt the butter and add crushed digestive biscuits and press into the tin and chill.

Mary Berry's American Cheesecake

The middle section- the cheese of the cheesecake was next. As usual Mary wants full fat soft cheese and full fat greek yoghurt and double cream. Well by now, you know that I will be looking to try and make it slightly healthier so I shopped for low fat soft cheese, fat free greek yoghurt and the usual Elmlea double lite. These all had to be added together and then the juice of one and half lemons had to be added gradually. Pour this mix onto the biscuit base and chill at least overnight.

The final part was to add raspberries to the top of the cheesecake and some redcurrant jelly. Then- you guessed it, allow it to chill and set. I had initially used my trusty flan/quiche tin to make this but quickly realised when I added the cheese layer that the tin wasn’t going to be deep enough for the fruit topping. So I re-read the Mary Berry Baking Bible and she recommends using a spring form tin. Well, the hardship was going to do some retail therapy and buy a tin. Luckily it was only slightly bigger than the quiche tin so it transferred well. All I had to do was press the cheese layer to the edge of the tin so that the fruit topping and jelly didn’t go down the sides.

Kim's American cheesecake

The final cheesecake looked okay, I was pleased with it. I added the ingredients to the app on my phone which works out how many calories per slice…. the cheesecake serves eight, and one slice was THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX calories! God knows what the calorie count would have been if I had used Mary’s full fat ingredients..

American Cheesecake

Week Forty Two – Mary Berry’s Apple Strudel

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Week Forty Two and boy, has it been a hot weekend. I wanted something this week to make that didn’t involve slaving over a hot stove or bending too many times down to check cakes in an oven. Mary Berry’s Baking Bible didn’t fail me, the apple strudel fitted the bill perfectly.

Mary Berry's Apple Strudel

Best of all, Mary clearly states she buys her filo pastry so I did exactly that. Mary asks you to core, peel and roughly cut the apple, add the juice of half a lemon, Demerara sugar, sultanas and cinnamon. Mix it all together and spread it between the filo pastry sheets, brushing the sheets with melted butter and folding. I managed to make 6.

The dogs loved the off cuts of the cooking apple but remember, do not give them the core as apple pips are not good for dogs ( neither is any dried fruit) The finished strudels were brushed with the remaining butter and put in the pre heated oven for about 20 minutes. When they were done, Mary asks you to glaze them with some caster sugar melted in some water and then dust with icing sugar when they are cold.

Kim's Apple Strudel

After a long hot day, with the hairy hoolies in the garden with some water and a paddling pool, the strudels, still slightly warm went down very well indeed!

The Hairy Hoolies enjoying water fun in the garden

 

Week Forty One – Mary Berry’s Hazelnut Meringue

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So many recipes done , yet so many more to go! I thought it would get easier to make a choice on what to make but it hasn’t yet! This week needed to be a pudding to follow a b-b-q with my mum, hubby, my other mum and dad and the hairy hoolies!

Mary Berry's Hazelnut Meringue

I made the meringue as Mary Berry’s Baking Bible described, and folded in some ground hazelnuts at the end. Then I had to pour the mix between 2 lined sandwich tins which would help the meringue hold it’s shape. Then into the oven they went and I set the timer. When the pinger went, I took the tins out, allowed them to cool slightly and then tipped them out and put them on the cooling rack. I left them to cool totally and put them in an airtight container overnight.

The next morning, I added some weightwatchers thick cream and raspberries to the middle and top and put the whole thing in the fridge. Mary recommends you do this at least 3 hours before you want to eat it so that it will slice easily.

Kim's Hazelnut Meringue

Well, Mary was right, it did slice beautifully and made a nice light pudding to finish off the b-b-q  on a lovely summers day.

a slice of hazelnut meringue

Week Forty – Mary Berry’s Maple Syrup Cake

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What cake can I make for our seventh wedding anniversary? Well, hubby got his way and I set about putting together Mary Berry‘s Maple Syrup Cake! It was one of Mary’s throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix which is simple enough The cake mix went into the lined tin and into the oven for about one and a half hours.

Mary Berry's Maple Syrup Cake

I set the timer and did the usual Sunday housework etc and soon enough, it was time to check the cake. Yep, it was cooked nicely and I left it to cool for a short while and then took it out of the tin onto a cooling rack.

When it was cold, came the fun part. Mary says, use a long sharp knife and cut the sponge into three equal slices……. well I cut it into three slices, not so sure about the even part though. Mary asks you to then whip up an obscene amount of double cream for the filling and topping. Well Mary, as usual I have substituted the double cream for Emlea double light. Then , add the maple syrup , stir it in and begin to create the towering cake.

layer twolayer one

layer three

I sandwiched together the three layers, and then had to cover the outside with the rest of the cream. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds and was very messy.

Maple Syrup Cake

Finally Mary asks you to decorate with some orange rind. I had nothing to create the fine wisps she uses, so mine were shorter and stubbier….

Kim's Maple Syrup Cake

Finally the cake was done, and it has to be kept in the fridge because of the cream. After dinner, we had a slice each….I then looked up how many calories each slice would contain and had a huge shock…so I won’t be eating now for at least a day!

A slice of maple syrup cake

So hubby, happy seventh anniversary, hope you enjoyed our anniversary cake and enjoyed the ingredient I forgot to mention…..pecan nuts!

Oh and our anniversary falls on 1st July, which is also Canada Day, so Happy Canada Day to all and sundry with our Canadian themed cake.

Week Thirty Nine – Mary Berry’s Easy Lemon Cheesecake

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This week , a pudding was needed for after dinner with my other mum and dad so I happily sat and browsed through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found this easy yet delicious sounding cheesecake. The base of the cheesecake was crushed digestive biscuits with melted butter, pressed into a flan tin and left to set. No problem there.

Mary Berry's Easy Lemon Cheesecake

The filling was the grated rind and juice of three lemons, not an issue but you soon know if you have a cut on your finger- or like me, manage to grate your finger with the rind!, to this, Mary asks for some single cream and condensed milk, well as Mary is very fond of the full fat varieties, I substituted the single cream for Elmlea lighter single cream and the condensed milk for the lighter condensed milk, it just cuts down on the amount of calories a little. You put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until slightly thickened and then pour it onto the base and allow to set for at least four hours or overnight if possible.

I left mine overnight and then looked at what Mary suggests to finish the cheesecake- double cream whipped, and strawberries…….well I made a Kim executive decision and took out the double cream. I then decided that strawberries were not the best company for a lemon cheesecake so I simply decorated mine with some clementine segments.

Kim's Easy Lemon Cheesecake

We all seemed to enjoy the cheesecake after dinner, and as usual, dad had a second helping. There was about a third of the cheesecake left and we divided that in half so that each household had a little more for supper….or so we thought….our half slipped off the plate…and as you can see, the dogs had a cheesecake feast!

The Hairy Hoolies Cheesecake Feast

Week Thirty Eight – Mary Berry’s Pound Cake

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Mary Berry‘s Baking Bible still has an awful lot of recipes that I have yet the pleasure of covering and this week I chose her Pound Cake. I love fruit cakes– my Nan’s speciality and my dad always had a slice or two so what better tribute for Father’s Day than a cake to celebrate his memory.

Mary Berry's Pound Cake

The recipe was one of Mary’s throw it all in a bowl and mix together so no fussing or faffing to do. I lined the cake tin and poured the mixture in. The recipe states to bake the cake for 2 1/4 hours but to cover the top of the cake with baking parchment after an hour. I needed to go food shopping so hubby was instructed after an hour to place the circle of parchment on top of the cake and set the timer for another 1 1/4 hours.

When I came back from food shopping, he had happily completed his task and soon enough the timer was pinging. I checked the middle of the cake with a skewer and it came out clean so the cake was done. I left it to cool in the cake tin for half an hour as Mary suggests before tipping it onto the cooling rack and removing the parchment from it. It smelt lovely and brought back a host of memories of Nan’s kitchen when I was a little girl.

After it had cooled, I sliced into it- have to quality control the taste testing and it was lovely , light and moist. Dad, you would have loved it, Nan you would be proud.

Kim's Pound Cake

My other dad got half the cake today for Father’s Day and within minutes, he was on the phone saying how lovely it was. Happy Father’s Day to both of you.

My Dad

Week Thirty Seven – Mary Berry’s Strawberry Pavlova

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I faced the usual dilemma this week, what to choose from the still numerous recipes from Mary Berry‘s Baking Bible that I haven’t yet covered. My decision was made when my other mum and dad invited us to Sunday lunch so I said I would provide the pudding. I had plans to do a lot of gardening on Saturday so I needed something that would be fairly quick as usual and could be put together in parts- the strawberry pavlova fitted the bill nicely.

Mary Berry's Strawberry Pavlova

Mary’s recipe wasn’t too daunting, whip the eggs whites until stiff, add the caster sugar, a little at a time and continue to mix well. The final part of the recipe had me a bit stumped, Mary asks for you to mix a little white wine vinegar and corn flour and whisk in to the meringue– if you have any idea why this is necessary, I would love to hear from you. I then drew a circle on some greaseproof paper and spread the meringue mix until it roughly filled the circle. I added the last of the mix to a disposable icing bag and swirled it around the sides to build them up. It was now ready to go into the pre-heated oven.

Kim's meringue base ready to bake

An hour later, the timer pinged and I simply turned the oven off and allowed the meringue to cool down inside the oven. Mary recommends this in her recipe to give the meringue a softer middle. The next morning, I retrieved the meringue, chose some Emlea Double Light cream to whisk – I try to cut a few calories where I can! I then sliced some strawberries and added both to the meringue and took it with us for a delicious dinner.

Kim's finished Strawberry Pavlova

The meringue went down well, especially with my other dad, he politely had his given slice, and then sat there with big puppy dog eyes, waiting to be asked if he would like some more!

Kim's Strawberry PavlovaPlease can I have some more?

Week Thirty Six – Mary Berry’s White Cottage Loaf

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It’s been an interesting week and this weekend, in particular. I hadn’t got a lot of time this week for my bake, my dog Bailey has not been too well and seemed to get worse over the weekend so , as I have made plenty of white bread before, I am not ashamed to say that I used my bread maker to cut the physical amount of time I needed to spend in the kitchen.

Mary Berry's White Cottage Loaf

I added all the ingredients that Mary Berry uses in her recipe and set the machine off to do the mixing and rising that was needed, it even baked it too! I must say that I get the bread machine out from time to time and we love the smell of freshly baked bread in the house, it’s heavenly!

The loaf came out well, the machine did it’s usual sterling job, and don’t fear, there are plenty of other bread recipes in Mary Berry’s Baking Bible that I will go on to make, and hopefully some of them by hand!

Kim's White Cottage Loaf

As for Bailey, he got to visit the vet, be sedated, have blood tests and x-rays and get discharged back to his very worried owners with various medications. He is extremely dopey and flopping around  but we are all glad that he is ok and home with us where he belongs.

poor dopey Bailey

Reblog: The Novice Series – Macro Photography – Part 1: The gear

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Andrew Stevenson's avatarAndrew's blog....

Reblog of an article on macro photography by Johannesburg based photographer Pascal Parent in the Novice Series.

Macro Photography – Part 1: The gear

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Week Thirty Five – Mary Berry’s Wimbledon Cake

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Week thirty five and I had a good reason to make a cake this week. It was my niece‘s birthday recently and we were going down to stay with family for a few days. I sent a text to my niece to ask if she wanted a sponge and strawberry kind of cake or a chocolate kind of cake. To my surprise, she chose the sponge and strawberry kind of cake and Mary Berry‘s Wimbledon Cake fitted the bill.

Mary Berry's Wimbeldon Cake

This recipe is quite different in that the sponge mix does not use butter or the usual flour but separated eggs , both used in various stages and semolina. The sponge mix doesn’t rise much so the sponges look quite flat when they come out of the tin and as I used my mum’s fan assisted oven, they were a little browner than I would have liked them.

Kim's Wimbledon Sponges

Any way, I got the sponges baked and cooled and then whipped some cream. I then filled the centre with cream and chopped strawberries, I didn’t add the passion fruit as none of my family are keen on that. I decorate the top with half strawberry pieces and dusted it with icing sugar.

Kim's Wimbledon Cake

It was rather tasty and my niece liked it so much she had 2 pieces! The only thing I would say is that I would probably use a Victoria sponge recipe to make the sponge next time.  I would like to dedicate this blog to my niece Emily in celebration of her 16th birthday, with love x.