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. 

Easy Passion Fruit Cheesecake Ice Cream {No Churn}

If there is ONE ingredient that perfectly sums up the flavour of summer it would be passion fruit right? (side note: we call it granadilla here in South Africa and I'd love to be able to tell you a funny, quirky story as to why we do but frankly the internet let me down on this one!) And if there is ONE dish that perfectly sums up the feeling of summer, it's of course, ice cream. Put them together and you're basically eating a summer holiday! My kinda food.

Also, incase you haven't noticed yet, there are TWO desserts in ONE here. Bonus! Cheesecake and ice cream are always a good idea. 

Put them together and you have a damn good idea! 

This ice cream is for those days when someone asks you, would you like cheesecake or ice cream? And your answer? Just say 'YES!'

Now if you're not a passion fruit person (are you even human?!) then imagine this frozen creamy cheesecakey goodness swirled with strawberries, or blueberries, 

or mango - no pineapple! 

I crumbled in my favourite Eet Sum Mores (appropriately named, yet innappropriately spelled) but you could use Oreos or gingersnaps or chocolate chips, throw in some caramel swirl or lemon curd, or crushed up meringue! 

*sigh* I love my job. 

No Churn Passion Fruit Cheesecake Ice Cream

Makes 1L

225g full fat cream cheese

1 tin (400g) sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups cream, whipped to stiff peaks

230g passion fruit pulp

5-8 shortbread biscuits, crumbled

Beat cream cheese until smooth then add in the condensed milk and mix until creamy.

Fold in the whipped cream gently and lightly to retain the air.

Pour a third of the mixture into a freezer-proof container (a metal loaf tin works well), swirl 1/3 of the passion fruit into the mix then crumble over some of the shortbread.

Repeat with the rest of the mix, swirling and scattering in between each layer.

Freeze until firm (about 4 hours). To serve, remove from the freezer for 10 minutes then serve scoops with extra passion fruit pulp and crushed shortbread, if desired.

TIP: Swop out the passion fruit pulp for any fruit puree of your choice - think mango, pineapple, strawberries or blueberries!

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust & Festive Decor ideas

Christmas decorations in our family home have always been the responsibility of my sister and I - as children we would decorate and redecorate the Christmas tree no less than 3 times before the 25 December, which not surprisingly drove our mother nuts! It was a happy coincidence then when my sister, Sarah-Jane and I were asked to team up and put together a very special feature for Food and Home magazine last month; 'A Guide to the Perfect Stress-Free Christmas' which ironically, was a not-so-stress-free experience creating it! But we did have tons of fun and hopefully, if you're feeling a tad stressed out about hosting Christmas lunch or dinner, it may give you an idea or two. 

A showstopper succulent wreath, rosemary napkin rings and hand-painted napkins for guests to take home as momento's.

I thought I'd share some of the great ideas my sister-dearest came up with (especially for an African-inspired Christmas), my favourite being the gorgeous succulent wreath she created as a centrepiece. Oh, and the paper origami! 

The perfect roast potatoes,  French-roast turkey and beautiful origami star string lights

The menu was all about tradition with a twist, my grandmother's French-roast turkey was the highlight - steam-roasted so it's juicy and falls off the bone - and stuffed with sage and dried pear bulgar wheat stuffing. This year, serve your turkey on a bed of fresh bay leaves, rosemary and sage - it looks so ridiculously royal and fancy with so little fuss! 

Three pea salad with mint dressing, Naartjie (citrus) and ginger beer gammon and Lemon-cured trout with herby mayo

My favourite recipe on the menu though, was this gorgeously rich and velvety spiced chocolate cheesecake which I really like not just for the decadence but because it's something a little different but still nods to tradition with the addition of a Christmas cake crust. Great for using up any leftover Christmas cake you have hanging around! 

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust

Spiced chocolate cheesecake with Christmas cake crust

Recipe originally created for F&HE Magazine December 2014 issue

Serves 12 

100g ginger biscuits, crushed

100g Christmas cake, crumbled into pieces

50g butter, melted

200g full-fat cream cheese

400g ricotta cheese

75g castor sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

40g cocoa powder

30ml (2 tbsp) brandy (optional)

5ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

100g good-quality dark chocolate, melted

200g dark chocolate, melted, to decorate (optional)

cocoa powder, to dust

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a 22cm springform cake tin.

In a food processor, blitz the crushed biscuits, Christmas cake and butter until combined then press into the base of the lined tin.

Place the cream cheese, ricotta and sugar into food processor and process until smooth.

Add the eggs, cocoa powder, brandy, if desired, cinnamon and the cooled melted chocolate and mix to combine. Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and bake in the oven until just set, 25 – 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow to cool in the tin. Once completely cool, refrigerate overnight.

To serve, unmould the cheesecake onto a cake stand and allow the cake to come back to room temperature before decorating with melted dark chocolate and dusting with cocoa.

Roast vegetable crumble and origami Christmas trees

Blueberry (cheesecake) muffins

They say muffins are just cupcakes without make-up on and if that's the case then my blueberry cheesecake version doesn't technically classify as a muffin... But muffins are a perfectly acceptable breakfast item which means you can safely get away with tucking into these before 11am without a guilty conscience. And the blueberries? Well, they're a superfood I'll have you know!

The muffins in question are made using a recipe by Stork Bake margarine and the fab people from their I love Baking SA page asked me to give it a test drive. I, of course, had to put my own decadent spin on it - you know, just to show how versatile it is. So of course, extra sugar and cream cheese were involved. The original recipe however is perfect for a kid-friendly lunchbox snack (considering we're still in the back-to-school swing of things). But smear the leftovers with creamy frosting and you have a moms-only version perfect for tea time!

The Lunchbox Blueberry Muffin 

(that is, if there are still some left for lunchboxes and they haven't all been eaten still hot out the oven!)

This recipe is so dead easy, you need to be seriously skilled to make a flop of it, but just incase I've added a few of my own baking notes and comments in to help.

Blueberry Muffins

Serves 8 (I got 18 regular-sized muffins from my batch)

125g fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen as they tend to have a better texture once baked. I also tossed the blueberries with a little flour to stop them all sinking to the bottom of the muffin) 
120g Stork Bake margarine (the recipe doesn't specify so I melted the Stork Bake) 
275g plain flour 
250ml skimmed milk 
100g sugar 
1 egg 
2 tsp vanilla essence 
1 tbsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 200°C and place paper cases into a muffin tin. 

In a first bowl, mix the egg with the Stork Bake margarine, sugar and vanilla essence. In another bowl, mix the flour with the milk and the baking powder. Add the egg/margarine mixture in the flour mixture and stir in well. (I used the standard method of making muffins and combined all my dry ingredients together then all my wet ingredients and added the wet to the dry, mixing until the batter was just combined.Careful not to overstir or you'll get tough muffins. Nobody likes a tough muffin.)

Finally stir in the blueberries and pour the preparation in the prepared muffin tin. Bake the muffins for around 25 minutes or until the tops are springy to the touch.

Blueberry cheesecake muffins

(ie. blueberry muffins with make-up on)

The pimped-up version of the lunchbox muffin with a gooey blueberry centre and cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Blueberry cheesecake muffins

Makes 18

1 batch blueberry muffin batter (follow recipe above to just before the blueberries are added)

125g frozen blueberries

1/4 cup blueberry jam

Cheesecake frosting

100g Stork Bake margarine, softened

400g icing sugar

250g smooth full fat cream cheese

zest and juice of 1 small lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Extra blueberries, to garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200°C and place paper cases into a muffin tin. Pour the plain muffin batter in the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups halfway. Combine the blueberries with the blueberry jam then drop a small spoonful of blueberry mixture in the middle of each muffin before adding in the remaining batter. Only fill the cases ¾ full. Bake the muffins for around 25 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch. To make the frosting, cream the Stork and icing sugar until light and fluffy then beat in the cream cheese, zest, juice and extract. Frost the muffins with the icing and decorate with the fresh blueberries. 

Remember to hop on over to Facebook and like my page for recipes and sweet stuff. I also tweet about some cool things every now and then and Instagram my bakes (if I remember to snap them before I devour them!) 

Baked vanilla cheesecake with poached guavas

Photography by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

I love how Mother Nature seems to give us exactly what we need when we need it, and I'm not talking about the cheesecake here (heaven help our waistlines if cheesecake started growing on trees! A girl can dream though...) 

We're right in the middle of guava season here in South Africa and they're at their plumpest, pinkest and most fragrant but also packed with vitamin C - perfect for fighting off nasty bugs. A quick google search tells you that the fruit actually has five times the vitamin C content of the good ol' orange. So yes, feel free to take that as an excuse to make the cheesecake - to go along with the guavas, of course!

Whipping up my favourite cheesecake on Expresso Morning Show on SABC3
Photography by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

Baked vanilla cheesecake with poached guavas

Serves 10-12

400g digestive biscuits

100g butter, melted

800g cream cheese, room temperature

300g crème fraîche, room temperature

180g castor sugar

40g cake flour

4 eggs

200g white chocolate, melted

1 vanilla pod, scraped (keep the pod for the syrup) or vanilla extract

zest of 2 lemons

Poached guavas

2 cups water

150g castor sugar

4-6 guavas, peeled and halved

Preheat the oven to 100°C .

Line the bottom of a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper then grease the sides. Wrap the outside of the tin in foil to make it waterproof.

Combine the biscuits and butter in a food processor and process until fine crumbs then press into the bottom of the lined tin.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together until smooth then pour over the crust in your cake tin.

Place the cake tin on a folded tea towel (to stop it slipping) in a large roasting dish and fill with enough hot water until the water reaches halfway up the sides of the cake tin.

Bake for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set with a slight wobble in the middle.

Allow to cool at room temperature then refrigerate until set.

For the guavas, bring the water and sugar to the boil with the vanilla pod in a saucepan.

Add the fruit and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove the poached fruit and reduce the syrup further to allow it to thicken.

Serve the cheesecake, sliced, with the poached guavas on the side.

Photography by Gunther Schubert of Vorsprung Studio

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Here's the video if you want to see how to make the recipe step-by-step: