Malteser rocky road

Crunchy biscuit, maltesers & honeycomb with white chocolate chips and soft, squidgy marshmallows

 All coated in rich dark chocolate

 Everyone needs to taste these

Makes 12 rocky road
- 125g slightly salted butter
- 200g dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
- 200g dark chocolate biscuits, crushed
- 100g Maltesers, cut in half
- large handful of honeycomb pieces
- large handful of mini marshmallows
- handful of white chocolate chips

1. Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring frequently. 

2. When melted and smooth, take off the heat and leave to cool down for a minute or two.

3. Next, stir in the golden syrup to the melted chocolate and mix in all of the other ingredients - biscuits, Maltesers, honeycomb, marshmallows and white chocolate chips.

4. Grease and line a tin then spoon in the rocky road mixture, and flatten down with the back of a spoon. Top with some extra white chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.

5. Leave to set in the fridge for around 2 hours, then cut into 12 squares.

Enjoy :)

You may also want to try Mini Egg rocky road!

Fusilli with smoked salmon

Smoked salmon is good enough on its own. But in a creamy, white wine & parmesan sauce... heaven.

A comforting dish for a special night or a weekend treat.

Serves 2
- 200g fusilli
- 25g butter
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp white wine
- 150ml double cream
- squirt of lemon juice
- salt & pepper
- 50g parmesan, grated
- 120g smoked salmon
- garlic bread, to serve

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, and cook the fusilli according to packet instructions, around 15 minutes.

2. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the garlic and onion for a few minutes. Add the wine and bring to the boil, cooking for a further few minutes.

3. Pour in the cream, lemon juice, seasoning, and just over half of the parmesan, stirring over a low heat.

4. When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the pan with the sauce. Stir until the pasta is coated, then add the smoked salmon and mix well.

5. Heat through for a minute, then serve with some garlic bread, and sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top of the pasta.

Enjoy :)

You might also like to try my tuna spaghetti recipe!

Smoked salmon, spinach & blue cheese toastie

Treat yourself to a crisp, toasted sandwich oozing with blue cheese, soft smoked salmon & spinach

For 1 toastie

- 2 slices of good quality bread (wholemeal seeded is my favourite)

- butter

- creamy blue cheese (whichever you prefer)

- few slices of smoked salmon

- handful of fresh spinach leaves

The smellier the ingredients, the better

1. Turn your toastie maker on, and generously butter each slice of bread.

2. When fully heated, place one slice of bread, butter-side down, into the toastie maker. Top with as much blue cheese as you would like, then layer on the smoked salmon. Finish off with the spinach, and then the other slice of bread butter-side facing up.

3. Pull the lid down on the toastie machine and leave to toast for a couple of minutes, then serve hot!

Enjoy :)

Spaghetti with tuna & parsley

 This is the perfect pasta dish to make mid-week when you fancy something a bit comforting, a bit special, but quick and easy. It uses ingredients you will most likely already have which is a bonus (who doesn't always have a tin of tuna in the cupboard?)

 It would also make a super quick Valentine's meal, if you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen but want to make something special for a fellow pasta lover.

(I made this just for myself but will double the quantities below to serve two)

Serves 2 

- 200g spaghetti

- 25g butter

- 2 garlic cloves, crushed

- 1 large onion, finely chopped

- 1 tin of tuna, in oil

- 50-100ml creme fraiche

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- parmesan, to grate on top

1. Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions in salted, boiling water (around 10 minutes).

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes.

3. Then add the onion and cook until softened. 

4. Drain some of the oil away from the tin of tuna and pour the rest of the tuna oil into the pan with the onion and garlic. Tip the tuna into a separate bowl and mash with a fork, then add to the pan and stir.

5. Mix the crème fraiche and parsley into the tuna mixture and heat through.

4. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the tuna mixture, stirring until combined.

5. Serve and top with a generous grating of parmesan!

 Enjoy :)

Oreo Cheesecake

Oreo's and cheesecake - does it get any better?

Warning: you will want to eat the whole thing.

This recipe is basically the same one as I created for the honeycomb/Crunchie bar cheesecake which you can find here. This one is even more delicious though, it will make a perfect dessert for a dinner party or just for a Friday night in... It is really quick and simple to make as it is a no-bake-cheesecake, unlike this bad boy. Make sure you crumble the Oreo's on top just before serving because the longer they are on top of the creamy filling, the softer they will go and although it still tastes great a day or two later, it is better with a biscuity crunch on top!

Serves 6-8

- 200g dark chocolate digestive biscuits, finely crushed

- 50g slightly salted butter (plus more if the biscuit isn't sticking together very well)

- 150ml double cream

- 50g icing sugar

- drop of vanilla essence

- 200g cream cheese

- 1 and a half packs of Oreo's

1. Grease a circular loose-bottomed tin, or line a normal circular tin with grease proof paper.

2. Melt the butter and mix with the crushed biscuit. Press into the tin until compact and set aside.

3. Whisk the double cream with the icing sugar until thick consistency, and add the vanilla essence. 

4. Beat the cream cheese in a separate bowl then add the cream and sugar mixture and stir until combined.

5. Roughly crumble one pack of Oreo's with your fingers.

6. Stir the crumbled Ore's into the cheesecake mixture, then spread on top of the (buttery) biscuit base.

7. Leave in the fridge for a few hours then carefully take the cheesecake out of the tin and place on a serving plate. 

8. Place an Oreo in the centre of the cheesecake, then crumble half a pack (or as much as you want) all over the top, then slice and serve!

Enjoy :)

Soda bread

Perfect served hot from the oven, smothered in butter with a bowl of soup for a pick me up on a cold day!

I bought some cream of tomato soup for lunch and wanted to make some bread to go with it, but needed a quick, easy recipe so I thought soda bread would be perfect. Soda bread uses buttermilk (or milk and lemon) and bicarbonate of soda as a raising agent, rather than yeast, so it is really simple and quick to make but has great flavour from the cheese and herbs in this recipe. 

It is quite a dense bread so is great with something runny like soup. I used my lovely mum's recipe - she always makes it and it is delicious so I wanted to give it a try. The original recipe uses half wholemeal and half plain flour but I didn't have any wholemeal so used all plain (to my mum's dismay) and it worked just as well so it is up to you what you choose to use!

I am ashamed to say that my boyfriend and I ate both the loaves I made in one sitting (it's better hot from the oven anyway...) but realistically this recipe will serve 4 as the original recipe says to divide into 4 balls of dough to bake. It's up to you if you want to separate it into just two like we did, or one big one - although remember that the bigger it is, the longer it will take to cook in the middle so cooking times may vary.

Serves 2-4

- 225g wholemeal flour

- 225g plain flour

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

- 50g butter

- 2 tsp dried mixed herbs

- 75g cheddar cheese, grated

- 250-300 ml milk

- 2 tsp lemon juice

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, and grease and flour a baking tray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda.

3. Stir in the butter, herbs and grated cheese.

4. In a separate jug, mix together the milk and the lemon juice, then pour enough into the bowl to make a soft dough. (The original recipe said 300ml of milk and I found this too much and had to add a lot more flour to get it to the right consistency, so add less milk first as you can always add more!)

5. Knead lightly in the bowl until the correct consistency then break into 4 or 2 equal pieces and round into a ball shape.

6. Place on the baking tray and flatten the tops slightly, and cut two parallel slashes in the top of each.

7. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, then slice and serve hot with lots of butter! (Which has to be lurpak...)

Enjoy :)

Marbled chocolate cheesecake

I wish I could say that I created this recipe but unfortunately, the triumph goes to Mary Berry. I made this for an anniversary party and was nervous because I'd never made a chocolate cheesecake before and didn't know how the marbled effect would turn out, but it was a massive success! Everyone loved it and it turned out to be the most popular dessert. It will definitely impress - super rich, creamy and chocolatey will always be a winner - people didn't believe that it was home-made! Don't shy away from making this because it's baked and more effort than just whacking it in the fridge, baked cheesecakes have a much more velvety texture and are just to die for. You have to make this, and it will be a recipe you are passing on for years, I just wish it was my own!

(I did change the measurements slightly - the original recipe only had 100g biscuits and I found that this just wasn't enough to fill the 8 inch tin)

Quick tip: use only the best ingredients when making a luxury dessert - for me this means McVitie's biscuits, lurpak butter, philadelphia cheese and proper belgium cooking chocolate!

Serves 8-10

- 150g plain chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed

- 75g butter, melted

- 150g plain chocolate

- 700g full fat soft cheese

- 225g caster sugar

- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

- 2 eggs, beaten

1. Grease an 8 inch spring bottom cake tin and pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees / gas mark 3.
2. Mix together the melted butter and crushed biscuits and press firmly into the bottom of the cake tin.

3. For the cheesecake mixture, beat the soft cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in the sugar and vanilla essence and beat until glossy, then gradually stir in the beaten eggs until fully combined.
4. Melt the chocolate in a separate bowl.
5. Meanwhile, spoon half of the cheesecake mixture onto the biscuit space in separate blobs with gaps in between.
6. Add the melted chocolate to the other half of the cheesecake mixture and mix together until smooth and silky.

7. Spoon the chocolate mixture in between the cheesecake mixture already in the tin, then swirl the top to give a marbled effect.

8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the cheesecake is puffy round the edges but still soft in the middle. Turn off the oven but leave the cheesecake in there to cool. 

9. Once fully chilled (best overnight in the fridge), run a knife around the edge to loosen the cheesecake then gently remove and you are ready to serve!

Enjoy :)