SRC: Caramel Apple Shortbread Bars

It's the 4th Monday of the month which can only mean one thing.... It's Secret Recipe Club Group D Reveal day! I love the Secret Recipe Club and look forward to reveal day every month. I had a break last month so it's really good to be back. Just in case you need a reminder about what it's all about - 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. It's a great way to discover new blogs and exciting recipes. 

This month my assigned blog is Mom's Test Kitchen writted by Jaime. She describes herself as "a child of God {who requires ALOT of forgiveness}, wife to an automotive genius, momma to a Princess that changed my life, daughter to some pretty alright parents, sister to my best friend & aunt to three kiddos that have me wrapped around their fingers!" You can read more about her and how she got to cooking and blogging here.  She has a lot of great recipes on her blog each accompanied by a beautiful photo. 

I had trouble choosing a recipe as there were so many I wanted to make. I shortlisted a few recipes including No Bake Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies, Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bars and Hot Cocoa Cookies. However, my eye was drawn to this Caramel Apple Shortbread Bars. There's a few steps involved in baking this but it's well worth it. It's absolutely delicious and a perfect autumnal bake. I loved the crispy bit at the edges even though it was a little burnt! I would probably add more apples next time as mine cooked down to not very much and my apples were really small. I love the buttery, crumbly shortbread and the caramel apple filling is divine. I might also add in some spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg as I do love spice in my baking!

 making the base 

 cooking the filling

 spread filling over the base

 add crumble mixture on top 

 burnt round the edges but delicious none the less

 you will notice that there are 2 pieces missing as we couldn't wait to try them! 

For the shortbread layer and crumble topping 

225g butter

112g caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

312g plain flour (divided into 280g & 31g)

For the caramel apple filling 

57g butter

1 tablespoon honey

50g dark brown sugar

1 can (14oz) condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 small apples (Large apples would be better) - peeled, cored and diced 

• Grease an 8inch x 8 inch pan and line with foil allowing for some overhang (for easy removal later). Spray liberally with non stick spray.
• Beat buttter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy
• Add in 280g flour. 
• Transfer 1/2 of the dough to the prepared baking tray and press down firmly to form the base.
• Place in the fridge.
• Add 31g flour to the remaining dough and mix with your hands until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. This is for the crumble topping later.
• In a medium saucepan, combine butter, honey, sugar, condensed milk and vanilla and bring to a boil, whisking occasionallu.
• Add in the diced apples and whisk frequently until the mixture thickens and darkens in colour (approximately 10 minutes).
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. 
• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Remove base from the fridge and pour the caramel apple filling on top.
• Sprinkle crumble topping and bake for approximately 1 hour.

An InLinkz Link-up

Key Lime Pie

This is my late entry to AlphaBakes which I am hosting so I am obviously allowing the late entry! It's been a really busy month what with going away for my birthday and moving house and being ill so I've not really had a chance to bake or blog much. I'm still living in a sea of boxes which makes it harder to bake as I don't have all my regular equipment. I had to be inventive with opening the can of condensed milk as I couldn't find my can opener. 

When I chose the letter K at the beginning of this month, J mentioned that he wanted a key lime pie. I've never made one before and was keen to make it for AlphaBakes but time ran away with me. Anyway I managed to bake this quickly earlier tonight and it looks really good! I've had a little taste (saving it for tomorrow)  and you can clearly taste the lime. I love the crunchy biscuit base and the sweetened cream adds extra indulgence whilst cutting through the rich filling. 

As mentioned this is for AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month with my co host Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is K for Key Lime Pie. The round up will be ready later tomorrow or Monday at the latest - apologies for the delay. 

 adding lime zest 

 baked crust 

 add the filling and bake for 15 minutes 

 looks a little plain... 

 add whipped cream and lime zest 

Recipe from BBC Good Food 

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

Scottish Tablet

The Best of British has moved from Cornwall to Scotland and I've unintentionally made a recipe that segues nicely from one to the other! The first thing that came to mind was Scottish shortbread but I wanted to make something a little different. I decided to do some market research by asking all the Scots I knew to tell me what treats they enjoyed whilst growing up. Quite a few of them said Scottish tablet. Please excuse my ignorance but I've never heard of it before so I decided that's what I would make. I've been told it can be tricky to make but it wasn't going to stop me trying! I did some research on the internet for recipes and there were quite a few variations mainly around using water or milk and different ingredient proportions. If anyone would like to share their Scottish tablet recipe with me, I would love to make this again properly!

The result - according to my Scottish taste testers - it tastes exactly like tablet but was soft and squidgy like a Cornish fudge. Hmm... I'm not sure what the problem was but I didn't have time to make another batch. Plus these are seriously SWEET and don't even ask how many calories there are in these! I had to check the ingredients list a few times just to be sure and yes the amount listed below is correct! 

The Best of British Challenge was created by Fiona from London Unattached and Karen from Lavender and Lovage which will run for 6 months. Each month, a county or region around the UK is selected. To enter, blog about your interpretation of a recipe or dish from that region. The challenge is sponsored by New World Appliances and there is a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher. Last month the challenge was Cornwall hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog. This month, it's Scotland hosted by Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen. There's still time to enter as the deadline is 15th July 2012.

Ingredients required: 250g butter, 500g sugar (yes the whole pack!!), 1 tin of condensed milk and a vanilla pod (optional)

Use a large pot and place all the sugar plus 1/4 cup of water and heat gently.

Stir in the butter (cut into cubes) and then the condensed milk

Stir continuously and boil until it reaches the soft ball stage ~240F. Lower the heat and continue stirring until the mixture darkens (this is probably where I got it wrong!). Remove from the heat and continue stirring until it thickens. Add in the vanilla bean here if using.

Pour into a tray and leave to set

Break or in my case slice into pieces. It's supposed to have a grainy texture but should look much darker and firmer than this!

There are lots of recipes and videos available on the internet for reference.