Tin Roof Cheesecake

Sometimes, our favourite foods have really weird names. Case in point: Tin roof ice cream. Who the heck decided that chocolate + peanuts = tin roof?! I mean, I'm bad at math but seriously? Apparently someone thought that the sound peanuts made when they fall out of the tin (obviously back in the day when plastic didn't exist), made them think of rain on a tin roof. Dunno about you, but peanuts rolling out of a tin sounds like dinnertime to me. 
And speaking of dinnertime - CHEESECAKE! 

You know why I love cheesecake? 

Because it's both cheese and cake. (Hey, you asked) And because I love it so much, I 

shall cover it in all sorts of delicious and wondrous things! 

Tin roof ice cream was a favourite of mine as a kid - and I'm pretty sure we all have our childhood memories of the flavour so this cheesecake is packed with peanut and chocolate nostalgia which basically means it's oozing chocolate sauce and crammed full of  chocolate-coated peanuts. Did I mention the toffee sauce? 

Because I always go next-level, I do it for you, really I do, I've added a toffee sauce to the Tin Roof rif, which seriously, SHOULD have been there all along! What's ice cream without a toffee ripple? Boring that's what. My legendary toffee sauce is made with the Natura Sugars Soft Brown Sugar. It looks like beach sand - and yes, I want to put my toes in it and wiggle them around which is totally inappropriate, but, come on, I know you're thinking it too! I also want to put it in just about everything. It's got this creamy fudgy flavour that makes mindblowing toffee sauce (as well as biscuits, chelsea buns and anything else that you want to taste like a toffee flavour bomb). 

I'm thinking this would be a pretty spectacular Christmas dessert but kudos to you if you can wait that long! Heck, why not just make it this weekend for no other reason than you want to shove your face in it. I'm here to tell you that's totally okay. But if you do choose to share it, remember when someone asks you, 'What flavour is that deliciously incredible-looking cheesecake?!" your answer should be: 'The Kate Tin Roof'.

Tin Roof Fridge Cheesecake

Serves 10-12

250g chocolate biscuits

75g melted butter

Toffee sauce

4 tbsp Natura Soft Brown Sugar

40g extra butter

4 tbsp cream

Chocolate sauce

4 tbsp cream

100g milk chocolate, chopped

Cheesecake

3 tsp gelatine

60ml water

500g full fat cream cheese

110g Natura Soft Brown Sugar

250ml cream, whipped

60g chocolate coated peanuts

60g peanut-nougat chocolate bar, chopped

Place chocolate biscuits and butter in a food processor and process until fine. Press into the bottom of a lined 20cm springform cake tin. Refrigerate until set.

Make the sauce by placing the sugar in a small saucepan and heat until melted and caramelized. Add the butter and cream and swirl to form a sauce.

Heat the cream and chocolate until melted and smooth.

To make the cheesecake: sprinkle the gelatine over the water and allow it to soak up all the water. Melt over gently simmering water until dissolved then allow to cool slightly.

Beat the cream cheese and caster sugar together until smooth then stir in the gelatine. Fold in the whipped cream, peanuts and chopped chocolate bar.

Pour half the cheese mixture into the prepared tin, drizzle 1/3 the butterscotch sauce, 1/3 the chocolate sauce. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture and sauces, leaving 1/3 of the sauces for the top. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.  

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour!  They're available from Spar, Checkers and Pick 'n Pay stores. 

Demerara Toffee Fudge Bars with White Chocolate and Sea salt

Should I even bother typing an intro to this? I mean, with a title like that, I know you’re already thinking ‘Get in mah belleh!!!’ and working out how you can get to the shops and back in the quickest amount of time. I’m thinking it too. ‘Cos I know how flipping amazing these are!

For those of you still reading, let me break it down for you: cocoa shortbread, slapped with a thick layer of fudge, slathered with white chocolate and sprinkled with salt flakes. Jip, that’s fat on top of sugar, on top of butter (somewhere a dietician just quit her job cos she discovered what I do for a living… awkward!). BUT the key here is that it’s not just any sugar - it’s scrummalicious sugar (there are just too few food adjectives out there okay - inventing my own starting now).

I’ve used the crunchy caramelly Natura Demerara sugars for the job (Demerara sugars is crystallized from the first press of sugarcane juice). The Light Demerara is perfect for shortbread - the texture is fine (like wiggling your toes in beach sand!) so it dissolves while baking but still adds flavour. The Dark Demerara has gorgeous amber crystals (so pretty I used them as decoration on top of the white chocolate) which are perfect 

for making a kick-ass caramel fudge. I’ve realised that sugar is so much more than 

just adding sweetness and using proper unrefined sugar will add heaps of 

flavour to your baking!

In my opinion, the best part, is the sexy off-cuts! I pretty much spent the entire morning munching on them while shooting - don’t think for a second they made it back into any sort of storage container (what is this ‘storage container’ you speak of? What is it used for?!). 

Well, now my camera is covered in fudge… Wait, my camera is covered in fudge!

Now, go bake yourself happy while I contemplate whether licking my camera is socially acceptable…

P.S. This is what was left of the batch:

Demerara Fudge Bars with White Chocolate and Sea salt

Makes 16-20

Shortbread base

150g cake flour

30g cocoa powder

130g butter, cut into blocks

60g Natura Light Demerara Sugar

Demerara Filling

130g milk powder (full-fat if possible)

150g Light Demerara Sugar

210g salted butter

100g Natura Dark Demerara Sugar

160ml boiling water

Topping

200g white chocolate, melted

Sea salt flakes

Dark Demerara Sugar, for sprinkling

Grease and line a 20 x 20cm baking tray with baking paper. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 if you’re using a fan-forced oven).

Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until it forms a soft dough. Alternately, get your fingers dirty and rub all the ingredients together until well combined. 

Press the dough into the prepared baking tin and prick the base with a fork. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely. 

To make the Demerara fudge layer, place all the ingredients in a  blender and blend for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and combined. Pour into a saucepan and stir continuously over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. 

Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture turns golden brown and reaches soft ball stage (118C on a sugar thermometer). To test if it’s ready, drop a small amount into a small cup filled with tap water, it should form a soft, pliable ball. Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the shortbread. Allow to cool completely. 

Spread the melted white chocolate over the top of the toffee then sprinkle with a little sea salt and the Demerara sugar. Allow to set then cut into bars using a hot knife. 

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour! 

Muscovado Drizzle Cake with Pecan Nuts and Cream Cheese Frosting

I thought it was about time for another epic cake. There have been a few, this one, oooh and this one, and definitely this one! 

If I could, I would just create OMG cakes all day long, but then they wouldn't be special, right? And boy is this one special. See how many words are in the title? Life tip: when you see a cake with THAT many delicious things in it's name, you know it's going to be gooooooood. Just look at it... *moment of silence, please*

A cake this beautiful always has a muse and my muse for this one was real, proper Muscovado sugar. 

Dark Muscovado sugar has a more intense molasses flavour than it's Light counterpart

I've only recently discovered the world of proper unrefined sugar. Until now, I've kind of just thought that sugar is well, sugar; although it comes in different forms which can alter the texture of baked goodies it really just adds sweetness, not flavour. 

That was until I spotted a new Dark Muscovado sugar made in Mauritius by a brand called Natura Sugars. I brought it home, and ended up eating it straight out the bag, with a spoon. It is THAT good. Rich, dark, complex and dusky. 

Remember when you discovered proper dark chocolate for the first time? This is like that. The real friggin' deal. A total game-changer.

My general motto in life, is that if something tastes good on a spoon, it automatically tastes good in anything else. And this cake once again, proves my hypothesis (woah big word alert). The sugar takes it to a whole different level. 

FYI 'Muscovado' means 'unrefined' in Spanish - although in Spanish they say 'Mascabado' - and Muscovado sugar was first crafted in Latin America several centuries ago. 

 So, with my muse selected, I set out to create a cake to show off all the complex flavours of dark and light Muscovado sugar. Spices. Pecan nuts. Butter (always butter). A bit of cream cheese - okay, a lot of cream cheese,  and, of course, there had to be a Muscovado glaze; drippy cake glazes are, like, so in right now. 

Sorry, but it's hard to care about cake decorating trends when you know the cake is so delicious it's not going to last long enough to be Instagrammed! ;) 

Muscovado Cake with Pecans, Cream Cheese Frosting and Muscovado Glaze

Serves 8-10

4 large eggs

220g Natura Light Muscovado sugar

120ml buttermilk

120g butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

280g cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp salt

100g pecan nuts, finely chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting

50g Natura Dark Muscovado sugar

500g Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted

100g butter, softened

250g full fat cream cheese*

Muscovado Glaze

50g Light Muscovado Sugar

50g Dark Muscovado Sugar

75g butter

125ml cream

To Serve

Crushed shortbread (I used chocolate-coated shortbread balls too)

Candied pecan nuts, crushed
Pecan praline shards (see Tip)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.

Grease and line 4 x 20cm sandwich cake tins (or use two and slice the cake in half)

In a stand mixer, whip the eggs and sugar until very light (almost white), thick and fluffy. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. 

Pour this mixture into the egg mixture.

Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and fold into the creamed mixture along with the chopped pecan nuts.

Divide the batter between the cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sponge is golden brown on top and bounces back when pressed lightly. 

Allow the cakes to cool completely, upside down, before unmoulding. 

For the frosting, cream the butter, Muscovado and Demerara Icing sugar until light and very fluffy. Add the cream cheese and whip until very fluffy. 

To make the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until dissolved. Then bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute then set aside and allow to cool. 

Assemble the cake by layering the cake with the cream cheese frosting. To make layering easier, freeze the layers for 20-30 minutes before you begin assembling, this will make the cake more rigid and keep the frosting in place. Frost the sides of the cake, drizzle with the glaze, then decorate with pecan nuts, shortbread and extra frosting piped on top.

TIP: If you'd like to create the pecan shards, place 1 cup of light Muscovado sugar in a saucepan with 1 tbsp water and simmer until melted and caramelized. Pour over a handful of pecan nuts scattered on a greased and lined baking tray. Allow to cool completely then break into shards. I also crushed some to toss onto the side of the cake. 

*This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour! 

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