One Rather Addictive Cheesecake

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Last weekend Kevin and I finally got around to unpacking the last of our boxes – you know, the ones hanging around from when we moved into our new place back in early February. They were the three boxes we just couldn’t handle unpacking on moving weekend, so have sat in a pile in the corner for the past three or so months.

Finally sick of the clutter, we unpacked them on Saturday morning. One was full of winter woollies picked up on our travels to America; simple – into the linen closet they went. The next was full of appliances I rarely use – hair curlers of various shapes and sizes. Again, not too hard – they’re now sitting in my wardrobe.

Then came the last box. What was in this one? Alcohol. Bottles and bottles of brand new alcohol. The trick is, Kevin and I aren’t big drinkers – we’ll have a glass of wine or something stronger every once in awhile, but that’s about it. But at Kevin’s old job he used to win bottles and bottles of the stuff in social club raffles, leading us to acquire quite the liquor cabinet.

So I decided we should slowly work our way through the liquor bit by bit in the best way I know how – by using it in some baking! My favourite thing about a visit to Lonestar is their fabulous Moro and Kahlua cheesecake, so I decided to try making something similar at home. Similar is the keyword here – the base is chocolate rather than shortbread, the topping is different and we didn’t have any Kahlua so… really the similarities end at it being a cheesecake with Moro bar pieces!

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Mondayitis

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was very relaxed – Saturday was spent relaxing at home and getting some major baking underway. Our pantry is now (over) stocked with tons of treats that I can’t wait to share with you! Yesterday was spent hanging out with friends, strolling the Glenfield night markets and watching X Factor – a good weekend all up! Now onto the week ahead – here are five things to get your week started…

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Eating Like a Millionaire

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I was at a bit of a loss as to what to bake this weekend – despite setting Saturday aside as my ‘baking day’, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to make until I was about to pop out to the supermarket late that morning. Not exactly a well planned blogger this week, I know!

To help break through my mind blank I dug out some of my favourite recipe books to pour through for inspiration. As fate would have it, I came across something in the very first one I picked up that kicked my brain into action and helped me come up with the rest of the day’s baking. What was this magical, inspiring recipe? Millionaire’s Slice.

Millionaire’s Slice is a soft shortbread topped with a thick layer of rich, fudgey caramel and finished with a smear of chocolate. While caramel isn’t my favourite thing in the world, I absolutely adored the look of the layers, each sitting beautifully defined in the photographs. I passed the recipe to Kevin to see what he though and he nearly jumped out of his seat with excitement – as it turns out Millionaire’s Slice is one of his favourite treats from his childhood . No pressure to get it right then, huh?

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Fast Friday: Spinach & Feta Muffins

Happy Friday!

Today’s Fast Friday post is a little out of the ordinary… it’s savoury! While the vast majority of recipes I share are sugar-centric, I do love all things savoury – especially if it has the magic words ‘spinach’ and ‘feta’ in the name!

These spinach and feta muffins are absolutely delicious and packed full of flavour – in addition to the ingredients these are named after, these muffins also feature red onion, tasty cheese and mixed herbs to give them a well rounded flavour. Eaten warm or cold they make the perfect addition to the lunchbox – I’m sure you’ll love them too.

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Game of Cakes

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I like to make pretty cakes. I’m sure you know the type – light coloured cakes covered in ruffles, roses, petals or frills, perhaps finished with a handful of sprinkles, sanding sugar or sugar pearls. When someone says the word ‘cake’, they’re the first things that come to mind.

There’s something about pretty pastels that makes my heart sing – I could quite happily make them day after day from now until forever (though I’d end up absolutely surrounded by them, though judging from the opening scenes of Paramore’s new video that wouldn’t actually be a bad thing!)

But a few weeks ago I was asked to make a themed birthday cake for one of our good friends, Matt. The keyword in that sentence is ‘themed’ – pretty cakes were officially off the table! We spent a few evenings chatting about exactly what kind of cake he wanted and the answers were as far from my area of expertise as you could get – Star Trek and Star Wars made up most of the enthusiastic birthday boy’s suggestions.

Then one evening we while sitting down watching a new episode of Game of Thrones it hit me – why not make a Game of Thrones themed cake? The suggestion received a very, very enthusiastic response from both Matt and Kevin, so I did a bit of brainstorming, came up with a design and got everything planned out.

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Mondayitis

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a wonderful Mother’s Day – if you’re a Mum yourself I hope you got suitably spoilt! We were very busy this weekend – Saturday was spent working on a rather extravagant cake (you’ll see it on Wednesday!), dinner at Peter Gordon’s Bellota at SkyCity that night and a day packed with Mother’s Day activities on Sunday (including being suitably spoilt by my own ‘baby’, Norm). Here are five things to get your week going!

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My Marvellous Mum

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I know everybody says it, but my Mum is the best.

Since it’s Mother’s Day I thought I’d do something a little special and share some of the many things I love about my Mum.

She’s clever. Insanely clever. Not only is she a whizz academically (she started doing uni papers again this year and has got straight A+ marks!), but she’s clever at all sorts of things – she bakes, cooks, sews, cross-stitches, knits… the lot! I know for certain any baking or crafty skills I have are a direct result of her.

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Fast Friday: Moro-bubble Bars

Happy Friday!

If you love Moro bars then this recipe is going to be right up your alley – Moro-bubble Bars! A decadent twist on the classic rice bubble treats, not are they incredibly quick to make they’re so simple even the smallest members of your household will be able to help out. Simply melt Moro bars together with a little butter and golden syrup, mix together with some rice bubbles and pop in the fridge!

The nougat and caramel gives the bars a chewy, sweet flavour while the chocolate binds it all together. I finished mine with a bit of melted chocolate just to give a tidier finish… who am I kidding, I just wanted more chocolate!

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