Sweet Treats.

The sun is shining and I really should be outside but today I'm spending time in the kitchen, on the menu Cherry Jelly Slice and Chocolate Cheesecake. Remember back in the day when slices were all the rage? Well I dove into my mum's treasure trove of old cookbooks and pulled out The Australian Womens Weekly CAKES & SLICES cookbook, flipped through it and landed on a delightful lil square of jelly, marshmallow and biscuit.
Preparation takes about 30mins and it keeps for about 2 days.

Strawberry Jelly Slice

2 Cups (250g) sweet biscuit crumbs (you can use any type you want I chose oatmeal)
125g butter, melted
100g marshmallows
1 teaspoon gelatin
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon strawberry essence (or desired flavour)
2/3 thickened cream
250g punnet strawberries, halved (substituted with frozen berry mix)
2x 100g packets strawberry jelly (I used 1x170g packet of Cherry Jell-O)
2 cups of boiling water

Grease a 19 x 29cm lamington pan.
Combine biscuits and butter in bowl and press evenly over the base of the pan; chill til firm.
Combine marshmallows, gelatin and milk in a saucepan, stir over low heat without boiling til marshmallows dissolve. Transfer to large bowl, add essence and cool to room temp.
Whip the cream til soft peaks form then fold into the marshmallow mixture,  pour and spread evenly over the base and place the strawberry halves over it. chill for 30mins or til the marshmallow is firm.
Dissolve the jelly in boiling water; cool to room temp then pour over the strawberries. Chill til firm before cutting.

*note: make the next layer while you chill and it should be firm enough before you add the next later, make sure the jelly is cool enough before adding or you will melt the marshmellow layer. Also lining the pan with baking paper makes it easier to remove from the pan.

For my dark chocolate cheesecake I found one online, it was a little tricky and I think it would be tough to make without a commerical cake mixer (not a hand mixer). Also using the cream cheese at room temp helps cos it can stick to the beater if it's too hard and cold. When you add it to the chocolate keep the chocolate over the pan to keep it warm and add a really tiny bit into the chocolate - to prevent it seizing - very important!! I'm going to put a berry glaze over mine to make it look a lil bit fancy. :)

Just chilling :)

Hummingbird Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

900 g cream cheese
190 g caster sugar (added 4 teaspoons of low cal sweetener instead)
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
200 g chocolate, roughly chopped (I used caburys 70% dark chocolate)

For the base
200 g digestive biscuits (Used 1 packet Arnotts Chocolate Ripple cookies instead)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
150 g unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 150C Gas 2.

2.For the base: Roughly break up the digestive biscuits and put them in a food processor with the cocoa powder. Process until finely ground.

3. Slowly pour the melted butter into the processor while the motor is running. Press this mixture into the base of a 23-cm springform cake tin greased and base lined with greaseproof paper.

4. Press this mixture inot the base of the prepared cake tin, using the ball of your hand or a tablespoon to flatten and compress it. Refrigerate while you make the topping.

5. Put the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a electric mixer or use a handheld electric whisk and beat on slow speed until you get a very smooth, thick mixture.

6. Add one egg at a time while still mixing. Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl after adding the second and last eggs.

7. Mix till smooth and creamy, the mixer can be turned up to a higher speed at the end of to make the mix a little lighter and fluffier. Be careful not to overmix or the cheese will split.

8. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don't allow the base of the bowl to touch the water).

9. Spoon a little of the cream cheese mixture into the melted chocolate, stir to mix then add a little more. This will even out the temperatures of the two mixutures. Eventually stir all the cream cheese mixture chocolate mixture until combined.

10. Spoon the mixture onto the cold base. Put the tin inside a deep baking tray and and fill with water util it reaches two-thirds of the way up the cake tine. Bake for 40 -50 minutes, checking regularly after 40 minutes.

11. Don't overcook it should be wobbly in the centre. Leave to cool slightly in the tin, then cover and refridgerate overnight before serving.


From The Hummingbird Cookbook, published by Ryland Peters & Small

mmm...chocolatey cheesy mmm mmm-licious!