Orange Cheesecake

I was feeling like cooking yesterday but I didn't know exactly what it was that I wanted to do. When my heart's not in it, anything I make is a good as useless. 

I poured through some of my favourite cookbooks and my mum's too but didn't find anything that made me jump to the cupboard and start measuring flour. 

I looked around the kitchen, my eyes resting on the fruit basket laden with a thousand oranges and a few grapefruit that we're forbidden to eat. Oranges it was then. 

I looked at chocolate orange cakes, orange trifle, orange and cranberry muffins - everything with that word in it but I found nothing. So I resolved to make it up as I go along. 

I grabbed a grater from the drawer and pulled thin ribbons of orange peel off and into a bowl. With the juicer in hand, I squeezed 2 oranges dry then scoured the fridge for what else I could add to this concoction. 

I was adamant that what ever I made was heading straight into the bin but after pouring icing sugar, Philadelphia, whipped cream and gelatin in the bowl, I had a cheesecake filling. I made a base for the dessert (crunching digestives with melted butter) and left it in a loose-bottomed tin over night. 

And this is what I got ... 

A very thin, but otherwise perfectly formed, orange cheesecake complete with a rose design made out of orange peel. 

Whether it tastes any good is still a thought that hangs in the air but nevertheless, if it doesn't taste that good at least it will have been nice to look at! 

Fruit Flan

What I love love love about any summer pudding or dessert at brunch is the BEAUtiful array of fruits in store. Nothing says summer like ripe fruits stacked on a light cake or in a sweet pastry that can be enjoyed with cream in the garden. I love it! I've just made this flan and (call it geeky or weird) I can't help but feel warm inside when I look at this flan :D

Banana Bread; a twist

Banana bread is one of the most crucial recipes that anyone should learn but it super delicious and  moist. It is perfect as a warm pudding or taken in slices for packed lunches - like I had today :) This is my twist on the recipe which incorporates bananas, walnuts and coffee and finishes off with a toffee sauce. This is by far my favourite way to get rid of those over-ripe bananas without them going to waste.

Laura's Banana Bread

Ingredients:

3 large over-ripe bananas (mashed)

250g caster sugar

125g unsalted butter

2 eggs

'coffee concentrate' (2 heaped teaspoons of instant coffee dissolved in 50ml boiling water)

260g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 handfuls of walnuts

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup cream

1/3 cup butter

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C

1. Line and grease a loaf tin with grease-proof paper
2. Whisk together the bananas and sugar for a good 4 minutes until smooth
3. Now beat in the butter until the mixture is, once again, smooth
4. Beat in the eggs, once at a time and then mix with 2 tablespoons of the coffee 'concentrate'
5. Now sift in the flour and baking powder and FOLD in with a wooden spoon
6. Fold in the walnuts pieces and the spread into the loaf tin
7. Bake for 45 minutes (This mixture tends to be quite wet so insert a skewer or fork from the top to the base of the cake to ensure it is fully cooked through - the skewer should come out of the cake clean)
8. Remove from the tin and leave to cool
9. Once cool, combine the brown sugar, butter and cream in a saucepan and constantly stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved
10. Reduce the heat and simmer the mixture until thickened the pour directly over banana bread

Iced Cinnamon Pinwheels

These quick and easy cinnamon pinwheels are absolutely delicious - if I do say so myself - and are best made a day before consumption.

Iced Cinnamon Pinwheels
Ingredients:
1 cup caster sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon powder
500g puff pastry
1 beaten egg

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C

1. Grease a large, flat baking tray
2. Prepare and clean a work-surface by wiping and greasing
3. In a small bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon and then divide in half (placing half the mixture in one bowl and the other half in another bowl)
4. Now roll out your pastry into a square about 4cm in thickness and sprinkle evenly one of the bowls of cinnamon sugar onto the surface
5. Now roll out the pastry into a rectangle of about 2cm thickness pressing down so as the sugar goes into the pastry
6. Now baste the surface with the beaten egg (don't feel as though you must use all of it, if the mixture gets too wet and runny. Use enough so that the surface is lightly coated and there is no surface run-off)
7. Now evenly sprinkle the remainder of the sugar on top
8. Roll the pastry from one short end to the other
9. Glue the ends together with a brush of beaten egg then cut into thin slices and place on a baking tray
10. Place in the oven to cook for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling
11. Leave on the tray until cool before removing
12. You can decorate the pinwheels with glace icing by mixing around 50g of icing sugar with 2 teaspoons of warm water (adding more if needed) until the correct consistency is created and topping with a cherry