It's all black and white

I'm such a fan of cheesecake. Baked cheesecake, though. Any other kind just isn't right. Nine times out of ten, if I'm in a restaurant and there's cheesecake on the dessert menu, I know what I'm having (though I am also a sucker for a custard pud)!

The Black and White Chocolate Cheesecake from the little pink bible is my idea of heaven. Cheesecake, plus chocolate, in a handy, snack-size bite? Yes please!

I had a little helper making this recipe as my middle niece Megan was sleeping over with Auntie Leanne. She's a little chocoholic, too, so the only problem we could find with this treat was how long we had to wait for it to set in the fridge after baking!!

I think the dish I used for my base was smaller than that recommended, as I had quite a bit of mixture left over. Of course, I had to save some for the black "blobs" on top of the bars, but I managed to make an extra cookie out of it too!

Here's what I ended up with after the first bake...

Good enough to eat already!

The rest of the bake is easy. Cheesecake-making is so simple, I'm sure a monkey could do it... though I'm not sure monkeys like chocolate? They need a banoffee pie...

Bearing in mind my dish was smaller than the one recommended by the Hummingbird, we ended up with slightly thicker than normal bars... but I'm not complaining. Extra thick cheesecake base and topping? Oh yes!!

A meringue dress...

After the failings of the coconut pie, I had some egg whites left over. I've been eager to try the lemon meringue cupcakes after seeing so many beautiful examples on the Hummingbird Bakery's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/HummingbirdBakery) so I grabbed the spare egg whites and set to work!

The cupcake is very typical of your usual Hummingbird cuppy, but with a twist of lemon. I love lemon curd and was finger-lickingly happy to add a dollop into each cupcake after it had cooled. The method used reminded me of making butterfly cakes with my mum when I was small!

I love the colour of the lemon sponge, too - so golden and bright!

So far, so good.

Next came the meringue stage. I believe this method of making meringue is the Italian method, not one that I'm familiar with having never tried it. In fact, I've never had much success with meringue full-stop so I was determined to get this right!

Two attempts and many eggs later... I got my beautifully frothy meringue! Note to self - take your time cracking eggs, even the tiniest bit of yolk in the whites will sabotage your meringue... sabotage it, I tell ya!!Also - mind your fingers on the sugar syrup. I know the pink bible says this, but I didn't pay much attention. But do... it's very, VERY hot!

I'm not yet the proud owner of a cook's blowtorch, so I popped the meringue-topped cuppies under the grill and knelt in front of them... I know they can catch really quickly so I wanted to be vigilant. My hubby commented that I looked like I was praying for a good result... he wasn't far wrong!

And I think I did ok. I hunted high and low but couldn't find any gold glitter dust in my baking cupboard, though I think the meringue would look magical with a shiny sprinkling over it.

What I've learned this week is: don't bake while you're nursing a cold as it leads to runny coconut pie and too many attempts at Italian meringue... that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Coconut shy?

Ok, ok, I have to admit it... I've had my first Hummingbird failure!

After the success and yumminess of the Coconut cake that I made earlier this year (http://hummingbirdyear.blogspot.com/2011/05/week-of-cake-take-one.html), I had been looking forward to trying out the Coconut Pie for ages.

Unfortunately, this time the custard element caught me out.

All went well with the pastry. I think I've got quite a knack to making good pastry after my old nan taught me when I was a wee nipper, so that bit was a doddle.

I even had enough left over to make a separate heart-shaped casing. I was doing well... or so I thought...

I got to the coconut custard stage and was starting to juggle things a bit. I had to whisk until I got a custard-y consistency. And there's my failing... I guess I just like my custard less thick than the Hummingbird!

I thought the filling looked a little runny as I lay the cling film over, but I carried on regardless and followed the recipe. But, when after a whole night in the fridge the filling was still liquid, I knew I'd been beaten!

Oh well, I'll live and learn... the coconut custard did taste really good though!

It's not Wimbledon, but...

It's coming to the end of the summer season, so I'm making the most of all the beautiful strawberries around at the moment. And what better way than to cheesecake some up!

The Hummingbird's Strawberries and Cream cheesecake will not disappoint. Firstly, the fact that I didn't manage to get a photo of the cheesecake before everyone tucked in should tell you everything you need to know!

And secondly, my brother didn't believe that it was homemade - speaks volumes!

The filling is just your typical Hummingbird cheesecake with the addition of some stewed strawberries. I love the way they colour the cheese... swirly and pink, brilliantly girly!

The mascarpone and cream topping, with a touch of icing sugar, was beautiful - I could have eaten that dolloped on strawberries all day! I did do a pretty decoration of chopped strawberries, but then the cheesecake was cut into pre-photography so you don't get to see that, I'm afraid.

Everyone had a spoon of extra strawberries on the side - to make it half-healthy, you see - and the noises coming from those who were tucking in. Well, if you couldn't see what was going on in that room you might've wondered what you were about to walk into...!

All a-struesel

I'm still undecided if not having a lot to say about a cake is a good thing or a bad thing. I think, though, on this occasion it's a good thing - the Apple Struesel cake was unbelievably easy!! I had a little helper in the form of my 12-year-old niece and she did practically the whole thing, that's how simple it was.

But the taste... oh my, I went back for seconds! I'm not usually a fan of fruit on sponge as it can make the sponge soggy, but no worries with that here. Mainly because I doubt the cake will last that long!

Simple and tasty - no complaints about that!

I wonder what this one would taste like with rhubarb instead of the apple... might have to give it a try!

Use your loaf

I think I have a problem. A loaf of a problem. I can't stop making the Hummingbird loaves! It's no bad thing... they're utterly delectable, but I keep meaning to try my hand at some more cupcakes but getting side-tracked by a loaf of two!

Tonight's loaf was a bit leftover-friendly. After making the blueberry crumble loaf at the weekend, I had a pot full of blueberries left over... not being a fan of the blue berry, I needed something else from the pink bible to chuck them into. Enter stage left - the Blueberry and Soured Cream Loaf.

A very quick and very easy recipe... I think even my boy could manage this one! Just your typical "mix the wet ingredients, sift in the dry, gently stir in the berries. Et voila! Into the oven for an hour...

I've just sliced the loaf and it feels so moist under the knife. I think I was rather generous when I added the soured cream to the mix... but, the more the better in my book! Makes me wish I liked blueberries so I could have a taste though. I'll have to await my workmates' feedback tomorrow.

Do not disturb - busy baking

Wow - what a weekend! It was my dear old nan's 80th birthday celebrations this weekend and the whole of my dad's side of the family got together for a bit of a shindig. I, of course, was tasked with feeding the 500 with desserts and cake!

First of all, I knocked-up a pretty little (read: big) birthday cake for nan. It's not a Hummingbird recipe (blasphemy!!), but it was pretty so here are a couple of pics...

This was the first time I have made such dainty little flowers... they didn't turn out how they looked in my head, but, still, I was more than happy with the end result.

Anyway, on to more important matters - the desserts! I wanted to do a cheesecake - my first Hummingbird cheesecake! - so opted for the Lime and Chocolate one. I figured the ladies of the family would be happy with the chocolate, and the lime meant we could pretend it was one of our five a day.

I'd read on the Hummingbird's Facebook page that some people had had some issues while baking the cheesecake. You wrap the cake tin in tin foil and place that into a large baking tray, then add water. Bearing the Facebook warnings in mind, I made sure the tin foil was double-strength and there were no gaps! Plus, I didn't add quite as much water as was recommended, just to be on the safe side.

I think it turned out ok! I split the cheesecake a little when transferring it from tin to pretty plate, but it was nothing a bit of grated chocolate didn't mask (baker's secret!).

Next up, I wanted another fruity recipe so went for the blueberry crumble loaf. I was a bit worried about this one - I'm not a fan of blueberries so wasn't sure how many of my family would be. I worried needlessly - this one was a massive hit!

I loved how the blueberries gave the loaf mix a pretty tinge of purple as I gently stirred them through.

I couldn't bring myself to brave the berries and try to loaf, but I did steal some of the crumble topping... I'm now a convert - all future crumbles by moi will feature chopped pecans!

What a lovely weekend, and a great excuse to try out some new Hummingbird recipes :)