No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

This is a really quick and easy no bake recipe. It has a creamy Nutella cream cheese filling and an oreo cookie base. I served it with grated chocolate and fresh strawberries. It is absolutely delicious and I'd eat this everyday if I could! It's full of stuff that's bad for you which is probably why it tastes so good!

I used up lots of leftovers for this recipe which is sort of how it came about. I had an open packet of oreo biscuits from making my Valentine Penguin Oreos. I also had an opened jar of Nutella from recent bakes and a tub of cream cheese that was near expiry. Therefore I am sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.

 

 I love my new set of glass dishes which I saw on Kate's blog and she told me she got them from Ikea. Thanks Kate! 

The recipe is slightly made up and I can't remember the exact amounts!

Roughly 8 or 10 oreo cookies, crushed
approximately 30g butter, melted (might need more)
200g cream cheese
50g icing sugar
200mls double cream (could add a little more if you prefer)
approximately 150g - 200g Nutella (or add as much as you like!)

• Place the oreo cookies in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin. Alternatively you can blitz it in a food processor. 
• Place the butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. 
• Stir the butter into the crushed cookies.You may need a little more butter if the mixture is too dry.
• Press the oreo butter mixture into the bottom of your serving dish and level with a spoon. 
• Place in the fridge to set for at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Scoop into a large bowl and set aside. 
• Next beat the cream cheese and icing sugar.
• Add in the nutella and continue beating. 
• Now spoon the mixture out into your bowl of whipped cream and mix with a spoon until smooth (don't use the mixer at this stage or the cream might split)
• Spoon the Nutella/cream cheese mixture on top of the cookie base and leave to chill in the fridge.
• Decorate with grated chocolate and fresh strawberries. 

Banana, walnut and chocolate chip cake with maple syrup cream cheese frosting

This is honestly the best cake I've eaten in a while and that's saying a lot! It came about by chance as I couldn't decide what to bake but I knew I wanted to bake with bananas. I didnt want to bake another banana muffin so I thought a cake would be better. I had a discussion with one of my work colleagues who loves cake as much as I do and we 'created' this cake together by discussing what ingredients she wanted in the cake!! I said I wanted to use bananas and she wanted chocolate, walnuts, honey and maple syrup. I thought about it and decided that I could make it work so I gave it a go! The results were truly amazing. I incorporated everything she wanted in the cake and added a cream cheese frosting as well. The cake was really moist and full of banana flavour. You can taste the walnuts and the chocolate chips in there which also added a depth of texture to the cake. Unfortunately you can't really taste the honey but you can clearly taste the maple syrup cream cheese frosting. 

The following week, my colleague who helped me create the cake told me what happened when she took a slice home for her house mate. She described the cake to her housemate who did not look impressed particularly as she does not like bananas. However, she decided to have a taste and after a few bites said "if I'd known it was going to be so good, I'd have taken it to bed with me!!" That's honestly how I feel about this cake as well and I'm definitely going to have to bake it again. 

I'm sending it to a few blog challenges this month...  

Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber JabberUK. This month is the anniversary of the challenge and the theme is For The Love of Cake. This is not a typical Valentine bake but it came about through our love of cake and it's definitely one of my favourite cakes ever. 

No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. This recipe uses up old bananas and ingredients from my cupboard. 

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

 dry ingredients and wet ingredients 

 adding in chocolate chips and walnuts

 ready to go in the oven 

 I love how you can still see the chocolate chips and you can definitely taste them! 

 with the maple syrup cream cheese frosting 

 decorated with chopped, toasted walnuts 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the cake 
250g plain flour
100g brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 or 4 ripe bananas
250mls milk
80mls vegetable oil
2 eggs
100g chocolate chips
150g walnuts ( I left them whole for extra crunch but you can chop them up but not too finely!)
60ml honey

For the frosting
100g butter
100g light muscovado sugar
85mls maple syrup
220g cream cheese

To decorate
20-25g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 x 18cm round baking tins.
• Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, roughly mash the bananas with a fork. 
• Add in the milk, vegetable oil, honey and milk and mix well.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
• Finally stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Divide the batter evenly into the cake tins and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Place the remaining walnuts for the topping in the hot oven and roast for about 5-7 minutes making sure that they don't burn. 
• Allow the cakes to cool completely before decorating. 
• To make the frosting, beat the butter and sugar until smooth.
• Add in the cream cheese and maple syrup and continue beating until very smooth.
• Place a generous layer of frosting on top of the first layer of cake. Place the second layer on top and spread the remaining frosting on top of the cake.
• Sprinkle with the toasted, roughly chopped walnuts.

No Bake Chocolate and Peppermint Squares

For St Patrick's Day earlier this year, I made a No Bake Chocolate and Peppermint Slice. It was hugely popular and I've had repeated requests since. I had to make something for a leaving lunch at work and I knew that this was one of her favourite treats from me so I decided to make it again but jazz it up a little. I used my individual brownie tin to get individual squares and omitted the chocolate topping. They were equally as popular this time and I wish I'd made more as they disappeared in no time!

It has a buttery oreo base and a rich, minty cream cheese filling topped with Aero bubbles. They are very rich and decadent so these individual portions are perfect. This is a really quick and simple recipe which only requires 5 ingredients. It's more time consuming making these individual portions but I think they look much nicer than making a large tray and slicing it up.

I'm entering this to the Biscuit Barrel Challenge hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is No Bake.

I'm also sending it to Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from CakeyBoi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme is also No Bake.

 Top tip - place strips of parchment paper before putting the oreo base in as this helps you remove the squares later 

 top with cream cheese filling and decorate then chill in the fridge 

 perfectly portioned treats 

An original recipe by bakingaddict 

For the base
2 packs oreo cookies
100g butter

For the filling
280g cream cheese
60g butter
150g icing sugar
4 teaspoons mint extract
green food colouring

• Spray a individual brownie pan with non stick spray then line with strips of parchment paper - 2 strips per square.
• Place the oreo cookies in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs. Alternatively, place in a ziplock back and bash with a rolling pin.
• Melt 100g butter and stir into the cookie crumbs.
• Press into the base of your tin and allow to set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
• Make the filling by placing the cream cheese in an electric mixer and beating on a medium speed until smooth.
• Add in butter and icing sugar and continue beating.
• Finally add in mint extract and green food colouring.
• Spread the filling over the chilled cookie base and smooth with a palette knife. 
• Decorate with mint aero bubbles as shown.
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Spiced Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swiss Roll

Quite a few months ago, I asked J to look through my new cookbook - The Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home and bookmark recipes that he'd like to try. I've never actually gotten round to baking any of them for him so when I felt the urge to bake, I looked through the chosen recipes and decided on this particular recipe for a few reasons. Firstly, my co host Caroline has chosen the letter 'P' for AlphaBakes this month so I thought this would fit nicely. Secondly, as I mentioned in my previous post, I'd recently received goodies from America which includes pumpkin puree. Thirdly, I had all the ingredients to hand and it was a relatively simple recipe to make.

I've only made swiss rolls a handful of times with varying degrees of success. I learned from my last attempt to whisk the eggs and sugar for a long time- much longer than you think and it worked much better this time. This sponge is really fragrant with the ground cinnamon and pumpkin puree. It's filled with a sweet cream cheese filling which complements the sponge perfectly. This is a very autumnal recipe but I just couldn't wait to try it out. J was extremely pleased and gave it his seal of approval. 

As mentioned, I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted this month by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co-hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter is P for Pumpkin.

I'm also sending this to Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is mellow yellows and orange. I always thought pumpkin is a vegetable but it's actually a fruit. It's definitely orange so it fits in with the theme.

As I've had this recipe bookmarked for months, I'm sending it to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

Finally, I'm also sending it to Blogger Bakespiration Challenge hosted by Stuck In The Tree.

 beat the eggs and sugar until pale and doubled in volume

 pour into a swiss roll tin - definitely worth investing if you make these frequently 

 rolled, cooled and unrolled cake

 spread cream cheese filling 

 and roll then dust with icing sugar 

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home

 For the sponge
120g plain flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
175g caster sugar (original recipe states 200g)
120g tinned pumpkin puree

For the filling
170g icing sugar, sifted
60g butter
300g cream cheese (origina recipe states 240g)

• Preheat oven to 170C.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale, fluffy and at least doubled in volume. This will take a good 5 minutes in an electric mixer.
• Fold in the pumpkin puree with a spatula, followed by the sifted dry ingredients.
• Be careful not to overmix and knock out the air in the mixture.
• Pour into a swiss roll tin and spread the mixture evenly - this is important otherwise the cake will cook unevenly.
• Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes or until the sponge is cooked and bounces back slightly when touched. 
• Prepare a large sheet of baking paper with icing sugar on top.
• Place the sponge on top of the baking paper. Make a small slit on the shorter end of the sponge and roll up the sponge with the paper inside. 
• The cake will be very hot from the oven so you may need to use a kitchen towel or oven gloves. 
• Allow to cool in the rolled position.
• Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the icing sugar and butter together and then adding in the cream cheese and continue beating until smooth.
• Unroll the cake and spread the cream cheese filling on to the cake.
• Roll the cake again using the baking paper to help you. 
• Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. 

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. 

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