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.

Week Thirty Four – Mary Berry’s Cupcakes

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Week Thirty Four and I felt we were all a little “caked out ” so I wasn’t sure what to make.

I had been invited to a fund raising lunch for 2 friends at work who are bravely walking 20 miles around Leeds Castle soon in aid of a Breast Cancer Charity ( They did the Moon Walk last year) and so I decided to make and donate some cupcakes to help them with their fundraising.

Mary Berry's Cupcakes

Mary Berry‘s recipe was very straight forward, put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. I put some pretty cupcake cases in the tin, divided the mix between them. The only twist to this to make it my own was that I added 2 strawberry chocolate buttons in the centre of each cake and put the tin in the oven and set the timer.

Half an hour later, the pinger sounded and I checked the cakes. They were all evenly baked and risen so out they came while I made the butter icing topping.

Kim's cupcakes

Instead of adding a little vanilla essence to the butter icing, I added some strawberry essence. Once the cakes were cool, I spread some of this on the top of each cake and added a slice of fresh strawberry to complete the cake.

Kim's final cupcakes

The girls lunch fund raising seemed to be very successful and I will be thinking of them when they do their walk. Here is the link to read what they will be doing and when. There is a donate link within this if you would like to donate to this very worthwhile cause, even the smallest donation will help. I am sure they won’t mind me mentioning them- so good luck Fran & Clare ! xx

http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/fundraising-events/walks/pink-ribbonwalk-6

I would also like to take the opportunity to dedicate this page this week to a dearly loved friend and colleague who lost her battle to this disease, gone but not forgotten.

Lorraine Day, we will never forget you.

Week Thirty Three – Mary Berry’s Cheese Scone Round

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After the over indulence of chocolate and big cakes of the last few weeks, I searched Mary Berry‘s baking bible in search of something savoury and found this recipe that I had yet to cover.

Mary Berry's Cheese Scone Round recipe

The recipe seemed easy enough and Mary’s instructions as always are clear and concise. I assembled all the ingredients as instructed and ended up with a scone dough that Mary suggests shaping into a round and dividing into 6 sections. This is where I added my own twist and decided to cut them out as usual scone shapes which I think looks nicer and is easier to store. I managed to cut out 9 scone shapes , sprinkled the top of them with the leftover grated cheese and popped them in the oven.

The smell as they were cooking was mouthwatering! After the pinger went off, I had a look at them and they were a beautiful golden colour and pretty even so I was pleased with them.

Kim's cheese scones

I am afraid to say that one didn’t get to cool off totally, before it was sampled but I maintain that this is the cook’s perk!

Week Thirty Two – Mary Berry’s Cappuccino Cake

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Week Thirty two and a special bake this week as it was my lovely hubby’s birthday.

After the success of the victoria sandwich cake, I thought the cappuccino cake would go down well with him and reading the recipe, Mary tells you to pretty much throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together, but do not over mix (??!!) So, I weighed out all the ingredients, put them all in a bowl and with a quick whizz of the electric hand mixer, job done, just needed to divide the mix between two sandwich tins and into the oven for about half an hour.

Mary Berry's Cappuccino Cake

After the half hour was up and timer had gone ping, I checked the cakes but they were not quite done so another five minutes or so and out they came. They looked lovely and after a few minutes, i was able to take them out of the tins and put them on the cooling racks.

A while later I finished the cakes with quite a lot of whipped cream, and coffee. To add my own spin to it, I added a few chocolate flakes to the top, some chocolate hearts and some candles.

Kim's Cappuccino Cake

Happy Birthday to my lovely hubby, hope you enjoyed your cake! xx

Week Thirty One – Mary Berry’s Special Shortbread Biscuits

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This week I wanted a quick easy bake, I will tell you why a little later…. so I decided to do Mary Berry‘s Special Shortbread Biscuits as I always have a weakness for shortbread.

Mary Berry's Special Shorbread Biscuits

I needed just three ingredients for this, plain flour, butter and light muscovado sugar. Mary “just” says put the flour and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter and form into a dough….sounds easy huh? Well, I tried ….and I tried…..but it was so crumbly , and I managed to get it into a dough but then it fell apart when I tried to roll it out. Luckily, I thought I would take a peek at Rising To the Berry blog to see how Anneliese got on with this. I was thankful that she struggled with the crumbly mix too. I eventually put the mixing bowl in the microwave and put it on high for 10 seconds. I allowed the butter-which had been at room temperature already to soften a little further and keep the dough together. I managed to roll it out and cut out the biscuits. Even with the smallest cutter, I struggled to get the amount Mary says out of this. At the end of the recipe Mary recommends other varieties including cherry and walnut. They both sound delicious but when your hubby is one of the tasters and doesn’t like either of these, I had a little look in my cooking box and found pistashio nuts. I thought perhaps one or two biscuits topped with pistashios might be different but again hubby wasn’t so keen.

Into the oven they went and I set the timer. After the timer went ping, I checked them and to my surprise they were all a golden brown with a fairly even bake so I was pleased! I will even go so far as to say that the pistashio shortbread was lovely!

Kim's special shortbread biscuits

Next week is hubby’s birthday so I feel another Mary Berry “special” cake coming on.