Butterscotch Pecan Cheesecake

Today I have a quick post for you with a recipe for Butterscotch Pecan Cheesecake.It's hard trying to find time to update the blog with recipes during the week when I have school and homework,so at the moment I'm really just posting whenever I can.I made this cheesecake last weekend for a relative who was coming to visit.I knew they had a particular soft spot for cheesecake and there was a bunch of cheesecakes I'd been wanting to try.I have made many cheesecakes before but this was the first time I made a baked one.Im delighted I finally decided to make a baked one as I love the texture of a baked cheesecake.This recipe caught my eye,butterscotch and pecans-what's not to like?

I read the recipe and realised that although a simple enough cheesecake to make,it was time consuming.To be honest this cheesecake would really have to be made the day before you actually want to eat it,or at least very early that morning.But if you keep that in mind then this really is a very easy cheesecake to make.

The cheesecake begins with a regular biscuit crumb crust.The filling is a combination of cream cheese,sugar,egges and chopped pecans.The glaze combines butter,light brown sugar,milk,vanilla essence and icing sugar to create that delicious butterscotch flavour.

I thought this cheesecake wasy quite tasty.The pecans were a nice crunchy contrast to the smooth creamy filling and the glaze delivered with a real butterscotch flavour.One thing which I noted is that I think I may have baked the cheesecake for slightly too long.The recipe stated the the middle should have a slight wobble when it was cooked and looking back now I'm pretty sure there was no wobble in the centre of mine when I took it out of the oven.Overbaking the cheesecake made the filling suffer slighly I think,making it more dense and less creamy than I would have liked.Also I think I should have whisked the glaze for slightly longer to make it smoother.If it was smoother I think it would have set nicer on the cheesecake and gave it a more polished finish(So if your being put off by my rather useless photography skills,please don't be-I promise it looks better in the picture in the book!).

For The Biscuit Base

220g(8oz)digestive biscuits

100g(3 1/2oz)melted unsalted butter

Cheesecake Filling

700g(1 1/2 lb)full fat cream cheese e.g.Philadelphia

120g(4oz)caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 large eggs

80g(3 oz)pecans,finely chopped plus 10-12 pecan halves to decorate

Butterscotch Glaze

60g(2oz)unsalted butter

45g(1 1/2 oz)soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp whole milk(I used skimmed)

120g(4oz)icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

One 20cm(8in)diameter spring form cake tin

1.Line the base of the cake tin with baking parchment then,in a food processor,whiz the digestive biscuits into fine crumbs using the blade attachment.This could also be done by placing the digestive biscuits in a bag and bashing with a rolling pin.

2.Place the biscuit crumbs in a bowl,add the melted butter and mix together with a spoon.Pour the buttery crumbs into the lined cake tin and press them into the base of the tin.Place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to cool and set.

3.Meanwhile,preheat the oven to 160(320F) Gas mark 3 and prepare the cheesecake topping.

4.Using a hand held electric whisk or a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment,mix together the cream cheese,sugar and vanilla essence on medium speed until smooth.Add the eggs one at a time,mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.Stir in the chopped pecans by hand and then pour the cheesecake mix onto the chilled biscuit base.

5.Wrap the cake tin in foil(I did a couple of layers)this prevents water from the water bath getting into the cheesecake.Place the wrapped cake tin in the roasting tin and fill the tin with water to about 5mm(1/4 in)from the top of the cake tin.This creates a water bath for the cheesecake to bake in,which will prevent the top from cracking while it bakes.Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cheesecake is a light golden colour,especially around the edges,firm to the touch and with only a slight wobble in the middle.

6.Allow the cheesecake to cool down at room temperature while still in the tin,and then place in the fridge to set for a few hours.

7.When the cheesecake is fully chilled make the butterscotch glaze.Put the butter,sugar and milk in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.Remove from the heat,stir in the icing sugar and vanilla essence,then whisk until the glaze is smooth.

8.Pour the glaze on top of the cheesecake and decorate using the pecan halves.Place in the fridge to set for a few hours or overnight if possible.Remove from the cake tin before serving.

P.s. The winner of last years Great British Bake Off,Edd Kimber,has just released his new book.I got it delivered the other day and it looks great!Expect to be seeing a few of his recipes being tried here in the next few weeks :)

Brown sugar,ginger and pecan cake with peaches.

I don't know about you but I don't really like fruit.On the other hand I love vegetables but I just never really liked eating fruit say,for a snack.I don't know if it's because maybe here in Ireland supermarkets don't stock really ripe,good quality fruit.The only way I usually eat fruit would be in desserts.Give me a fruit crumble,pie or tart anyday and I will most definitely go back for seconds.That's why it's unusual for me to choose a recipe like this where the fruit isn't actully used or cooked in the dessert but merely to adourn the cake itself.

I think what really persuaded me to make this cake was the images which accompanied the recipe.They were so striking and the colours of the cake were so pretty to look at.The peaches on the top of the cake were also arranged so beautifully that I felt I just had to recreate this cake for myself.My pictures and indeed my cake probably resemble nothing of the original but I was still very pleased with the results.This cake required no fancy piped icing,just simple sliced peaches.

Even though this cake turned out very well,while it was baking I was almost considering not posting about it.See I realised just as the cake went into the oven that I had made a rather huge mistake during the preparation of the cake.Not jus a minor omission of a teaspoon of vanilla extract.No,I had unbelievably doubled the amount of butter required for the cake.You may think that sounds like a very silly mistake to make but the ingredients list gave the butter measurement in cups and when I converted the cup measure to grams I forgot that the cake only required 1/2 a cup of butter!I was so dissapointed and had resigned myself that the cake was never going to work.However,I left it in the oven just to see what would happen and amazingly enough,the cake turned out fine even if it was a tiny bit sunken in the middle!The frosting covered up the slight dip in the cake nicely and no one was any the wiser.This cake required that you use fresh peaches.When I read this I almost decided to use tinned peaches instead as I was worried that I would have a hard time finding really tasty,ripe,juicy fresh peaches.In the end I decided to stick to the recipe and go with the fresh peaches.To be honest I can't really fault this cake.The cake itself was delicious,the extra butter actually added to its flavour and kept it unbelievably moist.The dark brown sugar really came through to give the cake a lovely deep sweetness.The bits of pecan added nicely to the texture.The unusal frosting was delicious and was perfect for the cake.The only slight downfall came where I expected.The peaches I got although not terribly hard,lacked that sweet peach flavour.If I was to make this cake again I would almost certainly use tinned peaches to ensure the peaches were really sweet.As a little extra thought,I also think this cake would work with a lot of other fruits for example,plums.

You can find the recipe here on a great blog called Dessert for Breakfast.The photos are particularly good!

Carrot & Ginger Cake From Cake Days

I love,love,lovee carrot cake.It is easily one of my favourite cakes to eat!When I saw that there was a recipe for a carrot cake in Cake Days I knew I would have to bake it soon.I then got a request from someone to make a cake and I decided I would make this Carrot & Ginger Cake and see how it turned out.This recipe makes a massive four layer cake and therefore is only really suitable when catering for a large group of people.Alternatively you could half the quantities and make a smaller two layer cake which is what I think I will do when making this for my family.I found this recipe very easy and had no trouble with it at all.When the cakes came out of the oven they smelt divine and I wanted to have a slice right there and then but unfortunately this cake wasn't for me so I couldn't.While the cakes cooled I made up the cream cheese frosting and set it aside while the cakes cooled completely.When the cakes were cool I placed the first one on a plate and spread a small layer of frosting on top.I then placed the next cake on top and spread a small layer of frosting on it.I continued doing this until all four cakes were stacked one on top of the other.I then coated the whole four layer cake with a light covering of the cream cheese frosting.known as a crumb layer.This was suggested in the back of the book as it makes it much easier to frost the cake evenly.When I finished the crumb layer I then spread the rest of the frosting all over the cake and smoothed it out with a palette knife.I added a decorative swirl on the top of the cake using a palette knife as suggest in the book.I finished the cake off by topping with pecans.The cake was whisked away the next morning and as I didn't get to taste the cake myself I can't really comment on its taste.However,I did recieve rave reviews for this cake and was told not a crumb of it remained by the end of the day :P I think I will definitely be making this one again soon so I can taste it.

Carrot Cake

Sponge

450g(1lb) peeled,finely grated carrots

2 tbsp peeled,grated root ginger

80ml(3fl oz) buttermilk

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

350ml(12fl oz) vegetable oil

420g(15oz) caster sugar

500g(1lb 2oz) plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

1tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

80g(3oz) pecans,roasted & chopped

Frosting

100g(3 1/2 oz) softened unsalted butter

600g(1lb 5oz)icing sugar

1 tbsp grated orange zest

250g(9 oz) full fat cream cheese

Pecan halves to decorate

1.Roast the pecans by heating over a medium heat in a saucepan for two to three minutes until they start to turn brown.Remove from the pan,chop and set aside.

2.Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C (325F),Gas mark 3,and line 4 20cm(8in) diameter cake tins with baking parchment.

3.Using a hand held electric whisk or freestanding mixer fitted with the paddle attatchment,mix together the carrots,root ginger,buttermilk,eggs,vanilla essence,vegetable oil and sugar until the ingredients are well combined.

4.Sift together the flour,baking powder,bicarbonate of soda,salt and ground spices,then slowly beat these into the egg and carrot mixture,adding the dry ingredients in three batches.Mix well after each addition,scraping down the sides of the bowl.Stir in the chopped pecans into the batter and mix until the cake batter is smooth and even.

5.Divide the batter between the four prepared sandwich tins and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top of each sponge bounces back when lightly pressed.Allow the cakes to cool completely,on a wire rack,while you make the frosting.

6.To make the frosting,using an electric whisk or freestanding mixer fitted with the paddle attatchment,mix together the butter and icing sugar on a low speed until combined but still powdery in consistency.Add the orange zest and cream cheese,increase the speed to medium to high and mix well until the frosting is smooth,light and fluffy.

7.When the sponges feel cold to the touch,spread some of the frosting between each layer and sandwich all four together.Use the remaining frosting to cover the top and outside of the assembled cake,then decorate with the pecan halves.