Red Nose Cake Balls

I'm really sorry for posting this late, I know its not Red Nose Day anymore but I still wanted to share these with you.  Yesterday ended up being far busier than I expected and I only had time to take the photo's.  So for anyone who doesn't know, it was Red Nose Day yesterday for Comic Relief where they try and raise as much money as possible for vulnerable people here in the UK and in Africa.  

I just so happened to be going to a little house warming party last night with my Mum and decided that some kind of Red Nose themed cake was needed.  So, inspired by the lovely Bakerella, I decided to make some cake balls since I didn't have any lollypop sticks needed for Cake Pops.  I wanted them to be roughly the same size as the actual red nose's that you buy in the shops, so they were pretty big. 

Anyways my idea didn't really go to plan as you can probably tell, they didn't end up like I wanted looks wise but they taste amazing.  Who knew that just by mixing sponge cake and buttercream together that you'd get such an incredible tasting cake!  I will definately be trying to make them again, my only problem is covering them with melted chocolate. 

Now, anytime I try and do anything with melted chocolate I end up in a right mess.  Chocolate everywhere, nothing looking how I wanted and the chocolate always starts to harden before I've had chance to do anything!  But I won't give in, I am going to master working with melted chocolate...one day...

For the chocolate cake and buttercream I used the same recipe as I did here for my Mint Choc Chip cupcakes just without the chocolate chunks and peppermint essence. 

They are really simple to make, just crumble up your chocolate cake into a bowl and add in the buttercream.  Give it a good stir to mix it all together and once combined you can take out spoonfuls and shape into balls.  Place the cake balls onto a tray covered with greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for a few hours.  Finally you can cover them with melted chocolate (I used white chocolate with red food colouring) and decorate however you wish. 

My plan was to try and make them look just like the Red Nose's that I'd bought but after the mess I had with the melted chocolate I gave up and covered them in edible glitter instead!

New Year

I apologise for the lack of any posts these past few months, I just haven't felt like blogging at all.  I've still been baking plenty but I've just not wanted to post anything.  So I'm sorry for the quiet but I am back and in the right frame of mind.  This is just a quick update to show that I'm still here and still baking and there are lots of treats that I want to share with you.

Here's a sample of what I have made these past few months...

A Thomas the Tank Engine cake for my Nephew's 3rd Birthday party.  My first time at attempting any kind of theme, let alone such a well known character!  I also made chocolate and vanilla fairy cakes with Thomas the Tank Engine cake toppers.

A variety of gingerbread in readyness for Christmas. 

My first attempt at making Sorbet, a wonderful orange flavour but a bit too icey compared with sorbet's I love in restaurants.

And finally Triple Chocolate fairy cakes for a party that my Mum held.

Thats it for now but I'll be back in a day or two with flapjack!

Cheesecake Brownies

Sorry for not posting this sooner, I had planned to share this recipe at the start of the week but I’ve been quite unwell this past week.

I’ve only ever made cheesecake about 3 times in my life, despite having eaten a hell of a lot of it! The first time I made it, it tasted amazing but collapsed the second it came out of the tin. The second seemed to have great potential but just didn’t live up to it. And the third was incredible. Quite honestly one of the tastiest cheesecakes I’ve ever eaten, and I’m not just saying that because I made it! My family loved it, my Mum and I were quite disappointed when it came to an end! And the best bit about it? It’s so very simple. I’ve read recipes for cheesecakes that have had hundreds of steps, you have to do this followed by that and then a bit more of this, they can be never-ending.

I’m definitely going to be making these again, when they are so quick and easy it would be a shame not to. Though I might have to make double the recipe as an attempt to make it last longer!

Cheesecake Brownies - from The Complete Book of Cupcakes, Cheesecake and Cookies

For the brownie base:
125g butter, chopped
150g dark eating chocolate, roughly chopped
1 egg
150g caster sugar
110g plain flour
35g self raising flour

For the cheesecake topping:
250g cream cheese, softened
1tsp vanilla extract
75g caster sugar
1 egg
125ml cream

1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
2. Grease a deep 19cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.
3. Combine the butter and chocolate in a small pan, stir over a low heat until smooth. Allow to cool.
4. Beat the egg and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy.
5. Stir in chocolate mixture and sifted flours.
6. Spread mixture into pan and bake for 10 minutes.
Whilst that is cooking you can the cheesecake topping:
7. Beat the cheese, vanilla extract, sugar and egg in a small bowl until smooth. Then beat in the cream.
8. Pour the topping mix over the brownie base and return to the oven for about 15 minutes.
9. Leave in the oven to cool, with door ajar.

10. Once cool refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

They suggest serving with fresh raspberries but I didn't have any, so I served with fresh strawberries and grated dark chocolate.

Sweet Treats

Growing up in a house where some sort of pudding was always on offer after each meal (bar breakfast of course!) it’s no surprise that I love anything sweet. I’ve grown up with baking, my Mum bakes, although not as much as I do now and she has made some great things over the years (think pink castles and tropical island birthday cakes).

I’ve always done the odd bit of baking here and there, starting with things like gingerbread men for Christmas, chocolate cakes for birthdays and the odd biscuit here and there. Over the past year or so my baking has increased dramatically, cupcakes, cakes, biscuits, cheesecakes, cookies, there’s always something on my mind that I want to bake. So I thought it would be nice to have somewhere to put it all, a place to keep all my photo’s and share a recipe or two. And so we have A Sweet Treat or Two, to store anything I think is worth sharing.

Some sweet treats to look forward to…
Rocky road cupcakes
Cheesecake brownies
Lemon cake
Vanilla cupcakes
Chocolate coconut slices
And much much more.