My baby!

Just on another note, here is my gorgeous machine...

Nomnomnomnom, worth every single penny!

Cake, Brownies and a Little Bit of Cheating!

Have you ever had one of those days where you just cannot be bothered? Sunday was the day from hell, all Sundays are when you're a waitress in a pub that does good Sunday dinners. Although I was fed up and on the brink of tears, my mother gingerly asked me if I'd make a Victoria Sponge for my Grandfather. The prospect of spending an evening baking relaxed me somewhat but my regular recipe is a complete faff and I simply could not be bothered. As I was needing to go to the shops to get the cream and jam anyway, I figured I could take the cheat's way out. Yes, I do mean a packet mix! Shock! Horror! I was ashamed, I must admit. Even more so that I ended up buying a brownie mix too.

However, if I thought that the Victoria Sponge recipe was hard, the brownie one I use is just completely worse. Although, admittedly it does turn out the most amazingly mouth watering chocolate goodness! The mixes were easy with a capital E, I bunged them into the mixer (as I do with everything) and watched them take shape. They both went in the oven for 20 minutes or so and look what came out...

And these!!

The Victoria Sponge doesn't look as good as it normally does, the suggested 20 minutes made it a tad burnt and I probably didn't take too much care with the construction but apparently it tasted awesome!

As for the brownies, they were bloomin' gorgeous, gone in about a day. Definately a must for those who also can't be bothered!

However, for those who would like to make a Victoria Sponge from scratch, try my previous recipe. For those who also want to try my Chocolate Brownies, here's the recipe courtesy of BBC Good Food! I usually use chocolate drops instead of pieces to save the faff and I also omit the chocolate drops within the brownie as I find it too runny once cooked. This, of course, is down to your preference!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Sticky Toffee Cheesecake

I am so excited about this!

Not the most attractive from above, I'll admit, but it tastes soooo good.

I found the recipe on the BBC Good Food website and was immediately overwhelmed by the ingredients list. The amount of ingredients was over excessive, if I'm honest, 600g of cream cheese, 300g of white choc, sour cream, eggs and flour among other things. This meant that each slice had a huge 887 calories per slice (according to the recipe anyways) and this put me off somewhat.

Surprisingly, this cheesecake also lasted well in the fridge, despite its delicate dairy ingredients so I'd say it could be made in preparation a day or so before. As I sit here writing this, we have had half the cheesecake sitting in fridge for a week as there was just so much of it. Maybe next time I'll half the mixture and make two cheesecakes, I can't see why this wouldn't work.

To be honest, the amount of calories and the richness has put me off the recipe all together. Despite this, the cheesecake was delicious, especially the biscuit base which was made from a shortbread mixture. This was delicate and was balanced well by other flavours within the cheesecake.

If you do try this recipe, I suggest you put the tin on a baking tray as mine had a liquid leaking out of it throughout cooking and cooling which I think may have come from the cream cheese. 

All in all, a very tasty recipe but definitely a no go for those who like to watch their weight!! To try this recipe, go here :)