Maple and Pecan Cheesecake

For me just the thought of maple and pecan together makes my tastebuds perk up, it really has to be one of my favourite of the sweet combination world! The soft and yet crunchy nuttyness of the pecans, combined with the dark and silky sweet maple syrup is rather heavenly! I have a weakness for reduced pastries and on the occasional late night supermarket jaunt (daytimes are far too stressful), have been known to pick up a packet of those gorgeously flaky and sweet Maple and Pecan danishes, and for them not to always make it as far as my kitchen home....

Following on from my creamy blueberry cheesecake recipe last week that I made with my friend Rems, this is its older, slightly demure sister, and quite possibly the best cheesecake I have ever made. Sweet, crunchy, deliciously creamy and the slightly salty contrast of the ricotta cheese - what more can you want? I can also confirm it is perfect for late night fridge pickings, and even breakfast. You may not want to share this one.

As per the blueberry version, nothing was weighed and so all weights are approximate, just go with what feels right. You really can't go wrong! 

Easy

Makes one lovely cheesecake.

3 tbsp Maple syrup and a little extra for drizzling
2 tbsp Pecan nuts
2 tbsp Butter + 1 tsp
125g Ricotta cheese
250g Mascarpone 

2 tbsp icing sugar
Digestive biscuits to fill two biscuits deep in the tin when laid out, and one for luck!

*You will need a 20cm spring form sandwich tin* 

 
Step one:

Start by caramelizing your pecans. In a small pan toast the pecan nuts until they smell rather nice but before they singe, add 1 tsp of the butter and melt. Stir in the maple syrup, bring to the boil and then remove from the heat and leave to one side to cool. It should look fairly runny still at this stage but will set.

Step two:

Place the biscuits in a sealable food bag and use a blunt implement reduce it to crumbs. A rolling pin, jar etc are ideal.

Step three:

Melt approximately 2 tbsp of butter and stir into the crumbs, it should be enough to make the biscuit crumbs look a little glossy and sort of stick together when pressed. Tip into your cake tin (lined with baking paper but not essential) and firmly but gently press into and smooth over using a metal spoon. Place in the fridge or freezer for at least 30 minutes to cool down and set. 

Step four:Place the mascarpone and ricotta into a large bowl and lightly beat in the icing sugar – taste a little, it should be slightly sweet but not too sweet - adjust to taste. Use this mixture to top your crumb base and smooth over. Break up the caramelly pecans and press into the top. Swirl over a little more maple syrup and chill for ideally at least a couple of hours to set, or how long you can wait! It is best to wait until the next day to allow the flavours to develop.

To serve, carefully place your tin over a large jar/ upturned bowl etc and gently tap the sides, then gradually loosen, teasing down until it has come off, slide your cheesecake with fairy light touch onto a pretty plate and grab a fork!

                          

Blueberry Cheesecake

There is nothing very complicated about this recipe, and its a good base recipe that can be adapted easily to whatever fruit is seasonal or needs eating up!  I am very fortunate to work with some lovely colleagues, who have also become firm friends and recently we all managed to actually have the same day off, something of a miracle when you work shifts! We regularly talk about and share out food on our breaks and whilst I am certainly in no way a master, I think I have promised how to teach everyone to cook!

Rems had requested to start our very relaxed and informal cookery lessons (we may have had wine...) by making blueberry cheesecake (but I also had a dream about maple and pecan – so we made both, to which the recipe will follow shortly!) In turn, and I am probably spelling this wrong she is going to teach me some of her native filipino dishes including something called Adobo, so depending on my success I hope to bring you some more exotic cooking in the future!

Meet Rems!

With cooking, there are some things you can write down but I do find practical demonstration so much more informative – with learning what to avoid, how to salvage things etc! Fortunately we had no hiccups other than eating our body weight in the cheesecake in lieu of dinner! Not the most healthiest or balanced meal but if you count the fruit its not all bad...it certainly was a delicious dinner!

Whilst I was teaching, we didn’t weigh anything as I was trying to show her things ‘by eye’ so that she would feel confident to make it again without need of weighing scales etc (our accommodation doesn’t exactly come well equipped..), fortunately I brought nearly all of mine with me so have boxes full under the bed of various gadgets!) and Rems has managed to make a fabulous looking raspberry one since then, which I hear was delicious so I must of done something right!

Blueberry Cheesecake
Easy

½ tub blueberries, washed - approx 150g
2 tbsp caster sugar
Enough choc chip digestives to fill two biscuits deep in the tin when laid out, and one for luck!
2 tbsp butter
500g mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp icing sugar, or to taste

*You will need a 20cm spring form sandwich tin*

Start by relieving some stress – place the biscuits in a sealable food bag and use a blunt implement reduce it to crumbs. A rolling pin, jar etc are ideal.

Melt approximately 2 tbsp of butter and stir into the crumbs, it should be enough to make the biscuit crumbs look a little glossy and sort of stick together when pressed. Tip into your cake tin (lined with baking paper but not essential) and firmly but gently press into and smooth over using a metal spoon. Place in the fridge or freezer for at least 30 minutes to cool down and set.

Wash the blueberries and place in a small saucepan with the sugar, bring to a light boil and reduce to a simmer, occasionally stirring and bashing up the fruit until you have a jammy like consistency – this will take around 20-25 minutes. Cool slightly

Place the mascarpone into a large bowl and lightly beat in the icing sugar – taste a little, it should be slightly sweet but not too sweet - adjust to taste. Use this mixture to top your crumb base and smooth over, and pour over your fruit. Chill for ideally at least a couple of hours to set, or how long you can wait! It is best to wait until the next day to allow the flavours to develop.

To serve, carefully place your tin over a large jar/ upturned bowl etc and gently tap the sides, then gradually loosen, teasing down until it has come off, slide your cheesecake with fairy light touch onto a pretty plate and grab a fork! 

I've also added my cheesecake to the delicious sugar inducing coma blogger event 'Sweets for a Saturday 87"!

World’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan

I am sure that most of you will have probably heard of the charity Macmillan at some point, some may have even been in receipt of their services. They have provided support and nursing care to both patients and their families afflicted by cancer, including my own loved ones. Additionally after my own brush with it, and also working with people frequently dealing with cancer this charity is very dear to my heart.

This 28^th September is their annual coffee morning – I am organising a fundraiser at work via sale of cakes – just to decide on final choice of what to bake! Even if you are not the most proficient of bakers – why not use this as opportunity to beg borrow or buy some cake tins and whip up a quick batch of fairy cakes?

Silver Spoons Little Local Hero Awards:

Silver Spoon, the homegrown sugar people, are the official sugar sponsor for the event, and this year have decided to launch a fantastic competition as part of their activity. On the 24thAugust 2012 Silver Spoon and Macmillan are launching Silver Spoons Little Local Hero Awards. They are scouring the country for local heroes under the age of 18 who have done something truly special. Your local little hero could have looked after their little sister when they were ill, gone to great lengths to make Mother’s Day very special, or done something fantastic to raise money for charity.

If you know someone under 18 in your local area who you think would be a worthy winner, just follow this link and explain in less than 100 words who you are nominating, why, and what you would bake them to say thank you

www.macmillan.org.uk/littlehero


Competition closes 20th Sep at 23:59 BST

Master Pâtissier Eric Lanlard, star of Channel 4’s Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard, will choose a Silver Spoon National Little Hero and to celebrate he will bake them a special cake of their choice! 10 runners up will also receive a Silver Spoon Baking Hamper packed full of exciting treats.

There are sure to be some amazing stories from our local little heroes all over the country, but in the meantime don’t forget to register to hold your own coffee morning on the 28th September, just follow this link and you can help to raise money for people with lives affected by cancer. http://coffeeregister.macmillan.org.uk/2012/register.asp

Spatchcocked Poussin with Grape and Rosé Sauce

A couple of weeks back I don’t know why but I had overwhelming impulse for grapes. And not in the normal fruit bowl kinda way (or even sliced into a salad, which makes a surprisingly a good combination with ham I recently discovered...) but actually introducing them into my cooked dishes…. this is very much a new area of cooking ground for me! Over the last year or so I have discovered the whole fruit meat combination and embraced it thoroughly!

I think some of the original inspiration for this dish came some time back from reading an ancient copy of Good Houskeeping, involving some fishy dish with them in (though at this stage of my grape fuelled path that particular recipe does not sound at all appealing!) and also a little credit must be given to the lovely Helen of Fuss Free Flavours who posted a while back a heavenly looking dish involving baked grapes.

Overall I suppose the thoughts had been just simmering there, until I ended up with a glut of grapes after buying a punnet, and then my dad happened to also turn up with a punnet too for me (he always brings me fruit bless him!) and so rather promptly they all needed eating up and the grape-y thoughts all gently bubbled to the surface of my brain and this dish was born!

This particular recipe is slightly not for the faint hearted person but you can ask a nice butcher to do this bit for you! Compared to spatchcocking big chickens, its much easier to do the poussins, grab a nice big sharp cooks knife and it takes moments to do! My heart did sink a little at how small they were and my flatmate didn't want to look at what I was doing but its also quite satisfying in a weird kind of way..

Serves Two:

A little effort

Takes about an hour

Ingredients:

2 poussins, spatchcocked

100g seedless white grapes, halved
200ml water
1 chicken knorr pot
2 tbsp flat leafed parsley, shredded
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
½ large glass dry rosé wine
Olive oil
2 tbsp flour seasoned with s&p

Step 1: Preheat your oven 200o/ Gas 6

Step 2: After preparing the poussins, get a large roasting tin ready, lined with foil. Toss the poussins in a little olive oil to lightly coat, then dust all over with the seasoned flour. Place on the tray breastbone side up, stick a skewer through to keep them flat.

Step 3: Transfer the tin to the oven, after 10 minutes, toss the grapes in a little olive oil and scatter into the tin.

Step 4: When the chicken is almost cooked, at about 35 minutes, mix the rosé, mustard, stock pot and water add to the pan and return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes or until cooked through. Carefully transfer the remaining liquid into a small saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by about half, add most of the parsley after turning off the heat, reserving a pinch for serving. Season to taste.

This is pre-thickened stage!

Step 4: Serve the chicken with roasted vegetables of your choice and pour over the sauce, adding the final garnish of parsley over the top.

Alongside the poussins I also served miniature pork meatloaves, which will follow in a seperate post soon! 

Both me and my dad loved this dish - it had the sweet grapes, slightly sharp wine and a little kick of the wholegrain mustard. Enjoy!

Optional extra: Serve with remaining wine to save wastage.

With thanks to Knorr for the stock pots!

Free Beer! *COMPETITION HAS FINISHED*

Yep, your eyes are not deceiving you. There is free beer, well beer to be won anyway! Whilst here at Anne's Kitchen its mostly about the food, I am also rather fond of the occasional beverage to go with it!

Following my delicious posting recently involving the gorgeous crispy tofu I made using some of Sharp's Honey & Spice ale, I am super pleased to have a set of their connoisseur beers to give away to one lucky reader!

Sharp's Brewery have launched the beers with a little challenge of how to match with your food. Whilst I 'tested' them rigorously on their own, I also am rather partial to using wine/ beer etc in cooking and so my crispy tofu was born! The beers flavour gave the batter a wonderful taste and will be something definitely getting cooked again soon!

In your set you will receive:

1 x Quadrupel Ale

1 x Single Brew Reserve

1 x Honey Spice Tripel

The competition is open to UK Residents and you must be over 18! The prize will be sent directly to you from the promoter and there are no substitutes.

To enter - simply leave me a comment telling me what your favourite thing is to do with Tofu! And 'in the bin' does not count as a valid entry sorry ;-)

Competition closes Friday 7th September 2012.

With thanks to Chris at ShinyRed.

**Congratulations to Jed1night - your beers will be with you soon!**