Carrot Cheesecake

There are two very simple ways to put a smile on my face: feed me Carrot Cake or feed me Cheese Cake. And recently, I have discovered that you could "kill two birds with one stone" and feed me Carrot Cheesecake - two cakes combined into one. This recipe was easier than expected and the final result was AMAZING! The cakes set beautifully, the texture was perfect and the taste was indescribable.

This recipe is bound to get you major brownie points with your friends and family and I highly recommend you take the time to make this cake. Although it is a more expensive cake to make, it should definitely be on one's "baking bucket list". 

Ingredients 

Cheesecake 

2 Cups Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1/2 cup Sour Cream

Carrot Cake

3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Cream Cheese
- Preheat the oven to 180 C
2-in-1 

1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 1/4 Cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Cup Carrots (grated)
75 g Walnuts (chopped)

Cream Cheese Frosting 

2 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tbsp Sour Cream

Directions (In order of preparation)

- Grease the baking tin ( I recommend a springform circular tin)

Cheesecake
- Beat together cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour until smooth
- Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat until just combined

Carrot Cake 
- In a separate bowl, beat the oil and sugar until smooth
- Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until the mixture is smooth and light (roughly 2 minutes)
- In another bowl, sieve and mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir manually until just combined
- Finally, fold in the carrots and walnuts

- Spread the carrot cake batter into the bottom of your tin
- Pour the Cheesecake mixture over the carrot cake mixture
- Bake the cake for 60-70 minutes (if the top starts to brown, cover with tinfoil at 45 minutes)
- The cheesecake should be slightly soft and jiggly when you remove it from the oven
- The edges of the cheesecake may crack due to the carrot cake rising but that's what the cream cheese frosting is for

Let the cakes cool before icing and once iced, refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Icing
- Combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy
- Mix the icing sugar in slowly and beat on medium for 2-3 minutes
- Add the vanilla and sour cream until combined

ENJOY!!!

As Easy as Pie

"As Easy as Pie"

I never quite understood this saying until recently when I attempted my first lemon meringue pie. It really was one of the simplest treats I have ever baked. This effortless tart requires minimal ingredients and is just simply delicious!

This recipe just has to be shared:

Ingredients:

• 1 Packet Tennis Biscuits (crushed)
• 2-3 Tbsp Margarine (melted)
• 1 Tin Condensed Milk
• 1/2 Cup of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Cup of Castor Sugar
• 3 Eggs

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 C
• Crush the biscuits and melt the margarine
• Mix the tennis biscuits and margarine together and press down into a greased pie plate
• Place it into the oven for a few minutes to toast the base
• Mix the condensed milk, lemon juice and egg yolks together
• Pour the mixture into the pie shell
• Stiffly whick the egg whites and gradually add the castor sugar slowly as you are whisking the egg whites
• Spread the meringue mixture over the condensed milk filling and form into peaks
• Bake at 180 C until nice and golden brown (20-30 minutes)

It's as simple as that! The perfect tea time treat!

 

Happy Baking!  

 

The Carrot Cake of all Carrot Cakes

There's nothing quiet like a MOIST Carrot Cake (yes - I know that word sends shivers down one's spine, but there is just no other apt adjective). Now Carrot Cake has to be my "go-to" cake and after trying many different recipes and alternative icings, I have finally found a combination that is THE BEST and it is so easy to make!

After combining a few recipes, I present to you THEE most delicious Carrot & Nut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups Sunflower oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tin crushed pineapple (440g)
2 cups grated carrots
3 cups flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecan or walnuts) - I add more but it's your choice :)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp salt
Handful of coconut 

Instructions:

- Mix all the ingredients well together
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 180 degrees

Now how simple is that?? While the cake is baking you can prepare the icing, which does not take you long either!

Icing:

1 Cup Cream Cheese
4 tbsp. Butter
1 Cup Icing Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 tbsp. Sour Cream

Instructions:

- Combine the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy
- Mix the icing sugar in slowly and beat on medium for 2-3 minutes
- Add the vanilla and sour cream until combined

Once the cake is cool, ice it and decorate with some nuts (optional).

Then for the final step:

EAT & ENJOY!!!!

Happy baking fellow foodies :)

Domestic Goddess

Meet Carol. A domestic goddess in the truest sense of the word and one of my very special friends. Caroline Booth, soon to be Caroline Toich, is a 22 year old from East London. She is a qualified teacher, a talented baker and owner of her own swimwear range - Cayor.

Carol is always baking and does so effortlessly! She produces the most decadent cakes, cookies and treats and loves every second of it. Although it is more a hobby, than a profession, Carol is willing to bake and sell cakes, biscuits, rusks and so much more for anyone craving something sweet or needing eats and treats for functions and social events.

Carol has 5 recipes which have proven to be her most popular: Marshmellows, Chocolate Cake, Carrot Cake, Lemon Meringue and Cookies. I have never met anyone who makes so many biscuits and funny enough, her nickname at school was "Cookie". Funny how some things just work out right?  

Carol makes two types of Marshmallows: Pink Rosewater and Vanilla coated in Coconut. Truely delicious and leaves everyone wanting more.

 

She also bakes the most decadent, over-indulgent chocolate cakes which are to die for. Her triple layered chocolate cake filled with caramel treat and smarties between each layer is covered with chocolate ganache and sprinkled with crushed flake and oreo. This has been a hit with her family, especially her youngest brother, Neill who requested this as his birthday cake. She also bakes a classic double layer chocolate cake.

Carol's Carrot Cake (my personal favourite) is topped with cream cheese icing and pecan nuts. It can also be made as mini cupcakes and is an all time winner according to her family and friends .

Her lemon meringue pie is one of her fiances regular requests and the images of this delicious dessert are enough to leave one's mouth watering. A layer of crushed tennis biscuits, topped with a lemon tart layer and finally a crisp meringue is a tease to one's tastebuds. 

Finally, Carol's homeamde biscuits. These bisuits are made from a family recipe and are Caroline's favourite childhood memory. She uses a simple butter biscuit recipe and then her creativity takes over. She covers them in sprinkles or sliced cherries and fills them with chocolate vermicilli, Nutella, choc chips, nuts - basically anything's one heart desires. 

"You can't buy happiness but you can buy cupcakes and that's kind of the same thing". If you would like to order from Caroline, you can email her at cooks27@gmail.com

I Scream, You scream, We all scream for ice-cream

At Cold Gold Artisan Ice-cream and Sorbet, there is something for everyone. I was so excited when I heard of an ice cream store that caters for the customer- gluten free, dairy free, lchf (low-carb, high fat) and sugar free ice-cream. You name it, they have it!
 

Recently, I went on an all-natural eating plan for one month due to my immune system - or lack thereof. The thought of giving up sweet treats is almost incomprehensible to me. I have the biggest sweet tooth ever and I was devastated at the thought of giving up all things delicious. BUT - then I heard of Cold Gold Artisan ice cream and sorbet! A 100% natural, free of preservatives, chemicals and artificial additives ice cream and sorbet.

And to my delight, it tastes better than any ice cream I have ever had. TRUST.

I made my way to the Blaauwklippen family market in Stellenbosch one Sunday morning with one goal in mind: to eat Cold Gold ice cream. And hopefully, lots of it! As I arrived at the market, I dashed straight to the Cold Gold stand and was faced with the numerous flavours of the week:

Smoked caramelized vanilla

Chocolate

Vanilla

Chocolate and banana sorbet (sugar free)

Sugar free vanilla macadamia milk ice cream (banting, lchf, vegan, paleo)

Sugar free chocolate ice cream (banting, lchf)

Chocolate and Hazelnut (Nutella) Ice cream

Toasted coconut

Sugar free Macadamia, cinnamon and vanilla (banting, lchf)

I began tasting all the flavours I could and was absolutely blown away! My favourite was one of the lchf flavours - the macadamia, cinnamon and vanilla. I couldn't quite fathom how something could be so sweet and so delicious, yet so healthy. Apparently this was the fastest selling flavour of the day and understandably so.

My boyfriend and cousin - blessed with good genes and the ability to eat anything, decided to try the other flavours too, but both of them ordered the sugar free chocolate and the sugar free macadamia, cinnamon and vanilla in the end.

Not only is the ice cream delicious, but it is reasonable too! A single scoop is R25 , a double scoop is R40 or for those of us with that extra sweet tooth, a triple scoop is R55. There are also mini scoops available for only R12 for the kiddies (who never manage to finish their food). Cold Gold also supplies 500ml and 1l tubs of ice cream from their store in Stellenbosch at 53 Bosman's Crossing, Distillery Road.

In the space of my 45 minutes at the Blaauwklippen family market, I had not one but TWO ice creams (guilt-free) and I have been dreaming of it ever since

Cold Gold cater for everyone's needs and sell ice cream, sorbet, gold cones (homemade cones, ultra-creamy ice cream and various toppings), ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cookies, ice cream cakes and cream pops (the frozen sister of the cake pop) and last, but most definitely not least, delicious milkshakes from any ice cream flavour you choose!! There is over 500 flavours of goodness that rotate weekly and Janine, the owner, is always willing to help those out with special dietary needs.

Huge congratulations to Janine, owner of the store and brains behind the “goldmine” Cold Gold. 2 thumbs up! I look forward to my next visit and to a freezer full of only the best- Cold Gold Ice cream.

If you would like to get hold of Janine contact her at vzjanine@hotmail.com.

You can also join the facebook page for updates on weekly flavours.