No Bake Peanut Butter and Oreo Cheesecake

I usually like to plan what I bake in advance and buy the ingredients in preparation. However, I needed a dessert quickly at the very last minute so I decided on a no bake cheesecake. I looked around my cupboards for inspiration and decided on my all time favourite flavour combination of chocolate and peanut butter. I had a can of condensed milk which I decided to add in after the success of using it in my No Bake Berry Cheesecake.  

The cheesecake was really quick to put together and consists of an oreo cookie base and a peanut butter filling which contains condensed milk, cream cheese and peanut butter. I also added in some peanut butter chips as I had a small amount leftover but you can also use chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. After I assembled it, I thought it looked a little plain and spotted my half eaten bag of peanut butter M&M's so I threw them on top for decoration. They taste strongly of peanut butter which complements the flavours well but more importantly it added a lot of colour and the 'wow' factor to a really simple dessert. The cheesecake is really decadent and rich and you only need a very small portion so this would easily feed a large family or group. 

I'm entering this to Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Tina from The Spicy Pear and co hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. This took about 15 minutes to put together including washing up!

 condensed milk, cream cheese, peanut butter, oreo cookies 

 oreo cookie base - allow to set in the fridge whilst you make the filling 

 creamy peanut butter filling 

 peanut butter M&M's on top 

 yum! 

2 packs of Oreo cookies

100g butter, melted

200g cream cheese

1 can condensed milk

250g smooth peanut butter

approximately 100g of peanut butter chip or chocolate chips/chunks

peanut butter m&m's for decoration - you can use plain m&m's or smarties or similar

• Blitz the oreo cookies in a food processor until it resembles fine crumbs.
• Place the oreo crumbs in a large bowl and stir in the melted butter. 
• Press evenly into the base of your tin or bowl and allow to set in the fridge whilst you make the filling. 
• To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter and condensed milk until smooth.
• Stir in the peanut butter chips if using.
• Pour the filling on top of the cookie base and smooth the top with a spatula. 
• Decorate with peanut butter M&M's or similar.
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving. 

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

Black, white or not cheesecake

This month's We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette set us the challenge of baking with cheese and chocolate.  I went to the London Chocolate Festival recently and watched a demonstration by David from The Outsider Tart. He demonstrated a black and white (or not) cheesecake which can be found on page 158 of their book Baked in America. I decided then and there that I would bake that cheesecake or a variation of it for this challenge. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to taste the cheesecake as I was standing outside the demo tent (it was very busy) but I was lucky enough to speak to David & David. They signed my book which was the highlight of my day! 

I decided to change things a little and make them into mini cheesecakes as everything is better in miniature form, right? I also wanted to make use of my peanut butter chips that I bought from America earlier this year so I decided to make three layers instead of two - white chocolate, dark chocolate and peanut butter. I used an oreo cookie base as it's my favourite and I was too lazy to make a proper base and substituted double cream with whipping cream as I didn't have any to hand! I think it made the texture a bit softer but otherwise was not really noticeable. I added a 'star' of cream on top and finished it with mini gold chocolate bars. The cheesecakes were absolutely divine and they went down a real treat at work. No surprise that the peanut butter was my favourite layer :) I think I should try the original recipe next time to compare. I really want to make one that looks like the picture in the book! :)

 I used a muffin tray lined with strips of parchment paper which makes it easier to remove the cheesecakes later. Make sure you grease the tray as well. 

 oreo cookie base 

 my 3 flavours - dark chocolate, white chocolate and peanut butter!

 3 different cheesecake flavours

 I added one layer to each row 

 then topped with a different flavour in layers

 fresh from the oven 

 my super cool mini chocolate mould. I'm sure you will want to know where I got it from. Well, I bought mine from siliconemould.com which sells a great range of silicone products. I should know as I probably have half the range in my kitchen! 

 I used Dr Oetker gold shimmer spray on the mini chocolate bars

 The layered effect 

Recipe has been adapted from Baked in America, page 158.
I would recommend buying the book for the original recipe. I've detailed below my modified version and have obtained permission from the author to publish on my blog - many thanks!

Makes ~20 mini cheesecakes (possibly 18 or 21, can't remember now)

2 x 154g oreo cookies, crushed
75g unsalted butter, melted
600g cream cheese
180g sugar
2 tablespoon cornflour
pinch of salt
3 eggs
150g sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160mls whipping cream (ideally use double cream)
100g dark chocolate chips
100g white chocolate chips
100g peanut butter chips

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease 2 x 12-cup muffin tray and line with strips of parchment paper as shown.
• Blitz the oreo cookies in a food processor.
• Add the melted butter and stir. 
• Press approximately 1 tablespoon of oreo cookie base into each muffin cup. 
• Place in the refrigerator to chill whilst making the cheesecake batters.
• In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. 
• Whisk the sugar, cornflour and salt in a bowl and gradually add to the cream cheese.
• Continue beating on low speed and add the eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. 
• Add the sour cream, vanilla and cream. 
• Divide the batter into 3 equal portions. 
• Melt each of the chocolate chips separately.
• Add the dark chocolate to 1/3, white chocolate to 1/3 and peanut butter to the final 1/3.
• Pour each batter in layers on top of the cookie crust. You can layer the flavours or baked individual flavours. You can also create swirls and pretty patterns if you wish.
• Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until set. 
• The middle should still be wobbly but the edges will be set. 
• Cool completely in the pan.
• Remove by lifting the parchment strips straight up. 
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight.
• To decorate - pipe a 'star' of whipped cream and top with a mini gold chocolate bar or decoration of your choice. 

Raspberry Marble Cheesecake

Just when you thought Valentine's is over.... I have 2 more 'Valentine Bakes' for you. The first one is this lovely raspberry marble cheesecake made for Martha Stewart Cupcake Club (MSCC). I discovered this on Cupcake Crazy Gem who coincidentally is hosting this month and has chosen these fabulous cupcakes for us to bake. You must own the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book (which I highly recommend) and have a blog to participate. A recipe is chosen each month and everyone bakes the same recipe (but variations are allowed) and posts on the 15th of each month. 

These cupcakes are baked in a water-bath resulting in a rich, creamy cheesecake which does not sink or crack. They tasted absolutely divine!! One of the best cheesecakes I've ever made. I modified the recipe slightly - I didn't have any graham crackers so I used HobNobs for the base. I reduced the amount of cream cheese as after conversion, it would be 900g cream cheese which is way too much! I also reduced the sugar amount as I didn't want it to be too sweet.


Addendum: HobNobs are oaty biscuits similar to digestive biscuits and is widely available in the UK. 

If you want to join in next month, we will be baking Lavender Iced Brownies hosted by Simple Girl.

 blitz lovely raspberries, add a little sugar and strain... 

.. to get a nice raspberry puree

 how to make marbled cheesecake - I used hobnobs for the base. Add cheesecake filling, then 3 small blobs of raspberry puree and marble with a toothpick! 

 delicious! 

Recipe is available online from martha stewart's website

Happy 2nd Birthday and a Peanut Butter Toblerone Cheesecake

Happy new year everyone, hope you all had a good one. Lots of reasons to celebrate today... it's the new year and it's my blog's 2nd birthday!  I can't believe my blog is 2 years old!! What a year it's been too. I just realised I didn't really celebrate the first birthday of my blog which was an important milestone (sorry blog!) so I definitely had to make something special this year. I planned a special cake and bought a special mould but what happens? My oven dies :(  I can't believe it! I know I've been moaning quite a bit on twitter about my dead oven but it's like a part of me has died. However, oven or no oven, I was determined to make something spectacular for my blog's birthday. When life throws you a curveball you 'keep calm and bake cakes' ... well make a cake in this case :) 

So I present to you a peanut butter toblerone cheesecake. It has my favourite ingredients and tastes absolutely divine!! It is rich and creamy and heart-stoppingly good. So good that my friend Kate came over immediately in her pyjamas at 10pm on a sunday night to try some and her verdict "wow!!! What a treat - love the hidden chunks of toblerone!" 

Thank you everyone who has visited and/or commented on my blog this past year. It has been a really good year and I look forward to even more exciting baking/blogging in 2012 (see baking/blogging resolutions here). Do help yourself to a slice of cake - there's plenty to go round :) 

 oreo cookie base 

 add filling on top and chill in the fridge 

 top with Peanut Butter M&Ms - my favourite :) 

 enjoy! 

Recipe adapted from Kraft

For the crust

2 x 154g packs of Oreo cookies (I wanted a thicker base) 

75g butter, melted

For the filling

500g cream cheese

250g smooth peanut butter

200g caster sugar

250ml double cream

100g toblerone, chopped 

• First make the crust by blitzing the oreo cookies in a food processor and adding the melted butter to it. 
• Press onto the  bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and put in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to set. 
• Pour the double cream into an electric mixer (or use a hnd mixer) and beat until it stiffens. 
• Scoop out the cream and place the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar into the bowl. Beat until well incorporated. 
• Add the cream back to the mixture and continue mixing briefly.
• Finally stir in the chopped toblerone pieces.
• Pour the filling on top of the crust and smooth the top with a spatula. 
• Decorate with peanut butter m&m's.
• Chill for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight. 

5 minute cheesecake

Following the success of my 5 minute chocolate mug cake, I was super excited to try out the 5 minute cheesecake in a mug inspired by the same amazing blogger Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. If you haven't been to her blog, do head on over there and be prepared to be amazed and inspired.

It's so quick and simple and tastes incredible! Yes it really does taste like a cheesecake and it's low fat as well. As with the chocolate mug cake, the flavour variations are endless - you can use different fruits or jam, chocolate or even coffee. Do let me know if you try a different flavour and tell me what is your favourite cheesecake?  I'm already envisioning a chocolate version topped with crushed Oreos or a Christmassy version with orange zest, dried cranberries/raisins and a dash of cinnamon (rum optional). 

I'm entering this to Frugal Food Fridays hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours as this is a great time saving recipe plus it's fairly low cost to make and if you're anything like me, you'll already have the ingredients to hand. It's also healthy(ish), does not require any fancy equipment and there is minimum washing up required. It's a win win :) 

 a mini tub is perfect for 1 portion

 I added some lemon zest for extra 'zing' 

 I only had frozen mixed berries to hand so that's what I used 

 before cooking 

 after cooking - it should still be wobbly in the middle, it will set after cooling. 

 delicious!! 

Recipe adapted from Not Quite Nigella

To make 1 portion

20g/2.5 tablespoons icing sugar

35g/2.5 tablespoons low fat cream cheese (one mini tub as shown)

2 tablespoons low fat yoghurt (or sour cream)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of 1/4 - 1/2 lemon (depending on how lemony you want it to be)

1/2 egg, beaten

Handful of frozen mixed berries

1 Hobnob cookie crushed in a ziplock bag (or digestive)

• In a large bowl, whisk the icing sugar, cream cheese, yoghurt and egg until very smooth.  This is important otherwise your cheesecake will be lumpy. 
• Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and berries. 
• Spoon into a ramekin or mug and microwave on medium for 1 minute. All microwaves vary and I have a really old one that only has a cook or defrost function  (Mine took 2+ minutes to cook). I would advise cooking in 30 second bursts to ensure it's not over or undercooked. 
• The cheesecake should still have a wobble in the middle but be cooked around the edges. It will continue to cook once its out of the microwave and it will set once it's been cooled in the fridge. 
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours (this is the hardest part - waiting to eat it!)
• Crush the cookie in a sealed ziplock bag and sprinkle on top of the cheesecake and enjoy! 

Ottolenghi's Caramel and Macadamia Cheesecake

I was really excited when I was invited by Heavenly Housewife to participate in the cheesecake challenge as Ottolenghi's caramel and macadamia cheesecake is my favourite cheesecake in the world and has been on my to bake list for far too long. I have been avoiding baking this partly because it has quite a few components to it and seemed a bit of a faff but I'm really glad I gave it a go. Plus I have had quite a few mishaps with caramel in the past.  Unfortunately, it's not quite like Ottolenghi's as I was running out of time - literally finished baking today which is the deadline! and therefore made a few mistakes. I burnt the caramel :( but it still tasted ok and I think the tin I used was way too large as the base is quite thin and the cake is about half the height as the ones sold in Ottolenghi! I didn't have time or any more nuts to remake the nut topping so I just went with the burnt caramel macadamia nuts!
Despite all that, it's really delicious and I'll admit I've already scoffed a quarter of the cake!! I would definitely make this again but probably only for a special occasion or maybe one more time just to make sure I get it perfect :) If anyone wants a slice, let me know!

Do check out the other fantastic bloggers who joined in this event as I'm sure their cheesecakes are much better! 

Heavenly Housewife from Donuts to Delirium

Stevie from Weird Combinations

Tammy from Il Dolce Bacio

Liz from Tip Top Shape

Reenie from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice

Nanzeen from Coffee and Crumpets

Vanessa from Sweet Artichoke

Amanda from Glamorous Glutton 

 cake base 

 baked cheesecake 

 burnt caramel! you really have to watch it like a hawk

 burnt caramel coated macadamia nuts 

 making caramel sauce- not quite ready yet 

 lovely caramel colour - not burnt this time! hurray 

 assembling the cake - chilled cheesecake which cracked in the middle 

 cover with caramel sauce 

 add macadamia nuts on top 

 Delicious! 

Recipe from Ottolenghi's Cookbook

Serves 8-10

For the cheesecake

600g cream cheese

120g caster sugar

1/2 vanilla pod

4 eggs, lightly beaten

60ml soured cream

icing sugar for dusting

For the base

160g dry biscuits (HobNobs)

40g unsalted butter, melted

For the Nut topping

150g macadamia nuts (not enough to cover whole cheesecake of size shown)

90g caster sugar

For the caramel sauce

65g unsalted butter

160g caster sugar

100ml whipping cream

• Preheat the oven to 140C. 
• Lightly grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment. 
• To make the base, whiz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor (or crush in a ziploc bag). 
• Mix with the melted butter to a wet, sandy consistency.
• Transfer to the lined tin and flatten with the back of a teaspoon to create a level base. 
• To make the cake batter, put the sugar and cream cheese in a mixing bowl. 
• Slit the vanilla pod lengthways in half, and using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out into the bowl.
• Whisk by hand, or with an electric mixer until smooth. 
• Gradually add the eggs and soured cream, whisking until smooth. 
• Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and place in the oven.
• Bake for 60-70 minutes, until set - a skewer inserted in the centre should come out with a slightly wet crumb attached. 
• Leave to cool to room temperature, then turn out of the tin.
• Chill the cake for at least a few hours. 
• To prepare the nut topping, scatter the nuts over a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 140C for about 15 minutes, until golden. 
• Remove from the oven and set aside. 
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Place the sugar in a large saucepan with a very thick base (make sure the sugar is not more than 3mm high). 
• Heat the sugar gently until it turns into a golden-brown caramel.
• Do not stir it at any stage. 
• Don't worry if some small bits of sugar don't totally dissolve. (Note to self - watch the pan closely as it changes very quickly from brown to burnt).
• Carefully add the toasted nuts and mix gently with a wooden spoon. 
• When most of the nuts are coated in caramel, pour them on to the lined tray and leave to set. 
• Break bits off and chop them very roughly. 
• To make the caramel sauce, put the butter and sugar in a thick-bottomed saucepan and stir constantly over a medium heat with a wooden spoon until it becomes a smooth, dark caramel.
• The butter and sugar will look as if they have split - don't worry, just keep on stirring (see pics above).
• Once the desired colour is reached, carefully add the cream while stirring vigorously. 
• Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• To finish the cake, dust the edges and sides with icing sugar. 
• Spoon the sauce in the centre, allowing it to spill over a little.
• Scatter lots of caramelised nuts on top. 
• The cheesecake will keep in the fridge for 3 days. (probably not in my house!)