Lemon Berry Ice Cream Cupcakes

The idea for these ice cream cupcakes came from creating a summer recipe to pair with a glass of Chablis Wine for the Chablis Wine Blogger Challenge. The Petit Chablis is a young wine and has floral and citrus notes. I started thinking about cake pairings and decided on a light and fruity bake. As it's almost summer, I thought it would be fun to bake them in ice cream cones. Instead of my usual buttercream icing, I decided on a yoghurt berry topping to keep it light, refreshing and healthy. The flavours also pair well with the Petit Chablis and would be perfect for a summer garden party or BBQ. The sponge is light and lemony and pairs well with the slightly tangy berry topping. Everyone thought the cakes were light and refreshing just like the wine! 

golden caster sugar, self raising flour, cornflour, butter, eggs, lemon, fat free greek yoghurt, berry assortment 

 Chablis and Petit Chablis wines 

 ready to go in the oven 

 making the berry compote 

 fresh from the oven 

 loosen up the yoghurt by stirring with a spoon in a bowl 

 add the berry compote 

 delicious berry yoghurt 

 Perfect with a glass of wine 

Makes 10 ice cream cupcakes

For the cupcakes
10 ice cream cones with a flat base
115g golden caster sugar
115g self-raising flour, sifted
15g cornflour
115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

For the topping

2 x 170g pot of fat free greek yoghurt

Selection of berries - I used strawberries, blackberries and blueberries -approximately 120g

1 tablespoon of caster sugar (or to taste) 

Sprinkles

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add the lemon zest and juice. 
• Add the flour and cornflour  
• Spoon into ice cream cones until 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely. 
• In the meantime, make the berry compote by placing all the berries in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar.
• Simmer on a low heat until the sauce thickens and it turns into a syrup. This will take approximately 15-20 minutes.
• Place the yoghurt in a large bowl and loosen it by stirring it through with a spoon. 
• Add the berry compote and swirl it gently.
• Place the yoghurt berry mixture in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and place 1 large 'star' on top of each cupcake.
• Decorate with sprinkles.

Disclaimer: I was sent a bottle of Petit Chablis and Chablis wine for the blogger challenge. All opinions expressed are my own. 

SRC: No Bake Berry Cheesecake

It's the last Monday of the month which means that it's Secret Recipe Club Group D Reveal day! I love the Secret Recipe Club and look forward to reveal day every month. The concept is simple each blog is assigned another blog in secret and the idea is that you choose a recipe to make from your secret blog and reveal it on the same day.

This month my assignment is Fantastical Sharing of Recipes written by Sarah who shares what her family likes to eat and what they like. She is also working on recipe development and sharing original ideas. Her blog is really easy to navigate and I like that there are thumbnail pictures for the recipe index. As expected, they are mostly family recipes and she has lovely photos to accompany each recipe.

As usual, it was difficult to choose a recipe to make as there were so many I wanted to try. So I asked J what he would like and he immediately chose this No Bake Berry Cheesecake. It's not a surprising choice as he loves cheesecake and he loves berries! This is the first time I've used condensed milk in a cheesecake recipe and it's absolutely gorgeous. The cheesecake is really smooth and creamy and the berry sauce is divine. I made a really thick biscuit base which helped to cut through the sweetness of the filling and berries.  I can foresee a lot of repeated requests for this one!

Other recipes that I've also bookmarked are Caramel Filled Brownies, Nutella Twix Blondies, Rolo Cupcakes, Caramel Frappucino Cupcakes, Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies, Death by Chocolate Sea Salt Cookies and Best Ever Peanut Butter Fudge. She has a really good selection of recipes to suit every occasion and every taste so do check out her blog.

 I made a thick base layer 

 Filled it with the cream cheese/condensed milk filling 

 cooked down lots of berries with some sugar 

 piled the berry sauce on top 

 Delicious!

Recipe adapted slightly from Fantastical Sharing on Recipes

1 large pack of digestive biscuits

155g butter

200g cream cheese

1 can condensed milk

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the berry topping

I used a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries - approximately 450g 

Approximately 50 -75g caster sugar -adjust to taste

• Blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor or place in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin then place in a large bowl. 
• Melt the butter and pour over the crushed biscuits.
• Mix well with a spoon. 
• Press into your serving dish and let it set in the fridge. 
• Make the filling by mixing the cream cheese and condensed milk together in an electric mixer. Add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
• Spoon over the cheesecake base and allow to set in the fridge. 
• Cook the berries and sugar in a small saucepan on a low to medium heat until the berries have cooked but not turned to mush. 
• Pour over the cheesecake or serve it on the side. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Apple and Blackberry Crumble

This month AlphaBakes has teamed up with Random Recipes. They've decided to start at the beginning of the alphabet with A but here's the twist - you have to select a book at random and then randomly choose a recipe under the 'A' section of the index. My random selection lead me to British Baking by Peyton and Bryne. There are 8 recipes listed under 'A' and my random number generator came up with 4 which was apple and blackberry crumble. I've made a lot of crumble over the years but I've never made one in a pie dish and I'm quite pleased that mine looks quite similar to the picture in the book. Apples and blackberry are a winning combination and it tasted absolutely delicious especially when served with custard and ice cream.

As mentioned, I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co hosted by myself. It's also a joint challenge with Random Recipes hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen.

 

 I had some blackberries in the freezer from a colleague's garden so it was a good chance to use them 

 I added more spice than suggested as I love cinnamon in crumble 

 The only change I made was to add some oats as I love an oaty crumble and a teaspoon of ground cinnamon as well for added spice. 

Recipe is from British Baking by Peyton & Bryne page 154

Apple and Blackberry Custard Crumble Cake

I made this recipe as a test for the recipe I was developing for the Sainsbury's 'apple and pear challenge'. I tweaked the recipe slightly for Sainsbury's but this is a pretty good recipe too. The inspiration for this cake came from Sunday lunch at a local pub where the crumble of the day was apple and blackberry. We didn't order dessert as we were too full but I decided to make my own apple and blackberry crumble in cake form. I added fruit to the sponge and a layer of blackberries on top. I also decided to add some hazelnuts to the crumble which gave it a lovely crunchy, nutty texture. The apples and blackberries paired beautifully and the hint of cinnamon really lifted the cake. The addition of custard and crumble appears to now be a signature bake for me but why mess with a good thing? 

 making the custard 

 adding apples and blackberries to the mix 

 more blackberries on top 

 crumble layer 

 

serve with vanilla ice cream 

For the cake

250g butter

250g caster sugar 

250g plain flour

4 eggs 

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

100g blackberries + 50g blackberries to dot on top of the sponge pre baking

For the custard

250ml milk

1 vanilla pod 

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoon cornflour

60g caster sugar

For the crumble

90g butter

90g soft brown sugar

60g ground almonds

80g jumbo rolled oats

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

100g blanched, whole hazelnuts 

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Make the custard first by heating the milk and vanilla pod on a low heat to simmering point. 
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a separate bowl. 
• Pour the hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture and continue whisking constantly. 
• Rinse out the pan.
• Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently until the custard thickens. You will need to stir frequently. 
• Make the cake mixture by creaming butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at at a time and mix well.
• Fold in the flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon.
• Finally add in the apples and 100g blackberries and stir by hand.  
• To make the crumble, place all ingredients except for the oats and hazelnuts in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the oats and pulse gently. Stir in the hazelnuts by hand.
• To assemble the cake, pour the sponge mixture into a lined tin and smooth with a palette knife.
• Sprinkle 50g blackberries on top, pushing them in slightly. 
• Pour the custard layer on top. 
• Then add the crumble layer. 
• Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 40- 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.