Brown Sugar Shortbread with a Peach (no-churn) Ice Cream

For those of you into numbers, this recipe will be brought to you by the number three.

It's not that I planned it that way, it's just how it is really. What follows are three, incredibly simple easy makes. Having them individually, on their own is fabulous but smooshed together on a hot summers day... Now you are talking my language!

Peaches are in season so perfect to buy ripe and juicy right now, but if you are lazy you can totally opt for canned.. No one is going to judge you! All recipes contain three ingredients. Three, no more and no less. Three exactly.

That's it.

Like honestly, you cannot go wrong with this. Make one or all and bask in your baking prowess.

Baked Peach Puree

3 whole peaches skinned, de-stoned and chopped in half
a little knob of butter for each peach half
sprinkle of brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F or Gas Mark 4.
In an oven proof dish, add all the ingredients and pop in the oven, uncovered for 25 minutes until the juices are bubbling the sugar has melted and the peaches are gone all squidgy.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then blitz into a puree with a hand blender or similar.

Peaches and Cream Ice Cream

500ml of single cream
1 can of condensed milk
the batch of peach puree

Whip the cream up until peaks form.
Add in the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick.
Fold through the batch of peach puree and transfer into a freezer proof container (I like to use a loaf pan). Cover the container with clingfilm or a lid.
Pop into the freezer for at least 4 hours to set.

Brown Sugar Shortbread

225g salted butter at room temperature
285g self-raising flour
110g soft brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F or Gas Mark 2. Line two cookies sheets with baking parchment.
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until it is one sticky mess.
Add the flour and mix until just combined.
Toss the dough out onto a pre-floured counter top and knead together.
Wrap the dough up into some clingfilm and pop into the fridge for 20-30 minutes, to allow the butter to cool.

Roll out the dough onto a pre-floured counter top and cut out your shapes.

I like to do little circles... JUST REMEMBER to space the cookies apart as they spread when they are baking.. I usually get about 16 cookies from my dough.

Bake for 15-20 mins on the lowest racks in the oven, until they have turned that beautiful caramel colour. They will be soft (and hot) to touch when you take them out. You need to leave them on the tray to cool completely. By doing so you will have that soft, melt in your mouth crumbly texture to them.

Just like shortbread should!

Once you've gotten through all the steps assemble how you please.

I like to do the scoop on top of a cookies, but you could sandwich the ice cream between two... or even crumble the cookies into crumbs and sprinkle it all haphazard like.

Whatever you do, enjoy it. That's the main thing!

Red, White and Blue

A gentle nod to my American friends and readers across the pond today. Wishing all y'all... a little phrase my Texan bestie Tammy taught me... a very happy 4th of July. A very happy day of festivities and fireworks and all things fun and aaahhh... American!

We don't celebrate the day here, obviously, but I wasn't one to just let it pass without doing something in those awesome colours. 

I also didn't have a lot of ingredients to hand. Seems to be the story of my life lately.... I really need to restock my pantry. So this is what I came up with.

Blue vanilla cake, layered with a white, creamy vanilla no bake cheesecake, topped with a soft set strawberry eeeehhh.. topping!! I was actually quite impressed with myself for pulling this together and it working out. It look the real deal.. tastes pretty darn decent and basically that's all you need.

It's also in the American colours, in case I needed to point that out, and it's so easy to make! There's no excuse. 

Strawberry Topping

450g strawberries
55g caster sugar
60ml water
1 tbsp cornflour

Mix the corn flour with the water.
Hull and quarter all the strawberries and put them in a pot with the sugar and the water/cornflour mix. Stir to coat the strawberries.
Over a medium heat let the mix bubble up, but not over boil. Take off the heat, pour into a bowl and all to cool to room temperature.

Blue Vanilla Cake

85g caster sugar
1 large free range egg
160g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
80ml buttermilk
80ml vegetable oil
blue food colouring

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F or Gas mark 4.
Line a 9 inch spring form tin with parchment on the bottom and spray with cake release around the sides.
Beat the sugar and the eggs until light and fluffy.
Add the flour and the baking powder, and give a quick mix. Follow with the buttermilk and oil, mix until just combined.
Add the blue food colouring, I use gel as you use a lesser amount than the liquid colouring, to the depth of blue you want. Mine took 4 good drops.
Cook for 20 minutes, until the top has slightly domed and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clear.

Using a clean cloth/tea towel, push the cake down gently so that you have a flat top. Allow the cake to cool fully in the tin.

No Bake hard to photograph Cheesecake

200g of cream cheese (use the best quality brand you can afford)

150ml single cream

1 vanilla pod

60g caster sugar

Whip the cream cheese until smooth and add the cream and vanilla seeds from inside the pod. Add the sugar and whip until thick, but still light and soft. Be careful not to over whip. 

Put the cheesecake on top of the cooled, blue cake and smooth out the top.

Put the whole pan into the fridge for at least two hours to set up. 

When you think the cheesecake has set up enough, take it out and using a hot, sharp knife, run it around the edge of the tin. Clip open the tin and gently lift it off over the cake. Pour over the strawberry topping,, cut and serve.

You could pour the strawberry topping in over the cheesecake, once it's set up and leave it over night. The jam parts solidify and make for a yummy, sticky topping.  

If you are needing to go to an American themed party and you want to bring dessert or you want to wow your buddies with a patriotic themed easy bake... this has got you covered!!

Have a good day you guys!! Be safe, mind each other.

Mango and Ginger No Bake Cheesecake

I should really fill you in, before you even read on any further; that this cheesecake is made with cake. An actual cake base, not biscuit. Cake.  

I don't like cheesecake with a biscuit base. Unless it's a baked cheesecake. I know that might sound mad, but I just think no bake cheesecakes are all kinds of gross if they have a biscuit base. 

I love the cheesecake toppings of a no bake. Just not the usual biscuit bases... You feel me? I just don't like them!  I will always, when I can, substitute the bottom of the cheesecake with a sponge type bottom. Red Velvet Cheesecake, Vanilla Cream Mascarpone Cheesecake, Baileys Chocolate Cheesecake and now Mango and Ginger Cheesecake... you get the idea.

It's also a no make, no bake, you just putting together ingredients kind of recipe so in all fairness, this could not be any easier! You buy a few small, readily available ingredients and bobs your uncle, you have a cheesecake. It's domestic god/goddess at it's finest and you really won't have lifted a finger!

Mango Cheesecake with a 

Mango Mirror Glaze on a Ginger Cake Base

Start off in the supermarket and grab yourself the following ingredients;

2 loaves of ginger cake

2 tubs of cream cheese

250ml single cream

1 vanilla pod

60g caster sugar

1 250ml bottle of mango puree

1 tsp from a sachet of gelatin powder

1 tbsp hot water

Cut up the two loaves of ginger cake and squash them into the bottom of an 8 inch round spring form tin.

Whip the cream cheese together until smooth and add the cream and vanilla seeds from inside the pod. Add the sugar and whip until soft and light. Be careful not to over whip. 

Fold in half the bottle of mango puree into the cream/cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated.

Pop half the mixture in on top of the ginger cake and smooth it out. Add the other half in and smooth out the top as best you can.

Put the pan in the fridge for at least two hours, or until set. Over night is best.

After about one hour, the cake should be firm enough to hold the mango mirror glaze.

Add one tablespoon of hot water into a bowl and sprinkle in the gelatin powder, stir around until it's fully dissolved. If it doesn't fully dissolve put the bowl into a hot water bain marie, and keep stirring until it does.

Pour in the rest of the bottle of mango puree into the dissolved gelatin and give it a quick stir. Pour that mixture than straight on top of the cheesecake mixture and smooth it out evenly.

Put the whole thing back in the fridge to set up, again, over night is best.

Removing the cake... 

To remove the cake from the spring form tin. Put a sharp knife under some hot water and run arounf the edge of the inside the tin, before popping the clasp. The cake will come away much cleaner from the sides.

The Great Irish Bake Off has started up again and this year I have a  friend baking in the tent. I got to know her through my own time on the Bake Off in Season 2 and I was delighted to see she got off on a very good start the other night!! This week was desserts, and the technical challenge was a very persnickety gelatin infused, biscuit baked, no bake mango and something or other (I really can't remember!!) cheesecake.

On account of my dislike for biscuit bases, I refused t follow the recipe exactly but have paid homage to the mango in the recipe above. So it's almost the same thing right? A no bake, cheats make, cheesecake that is genuinely great!!

One to pull out for the next dinner party... You're friends will love you for it!!