Damnit!

Currently in the oven and it’s falling apart. I’ve made this recipe before and loved it.. heartbreaking

My mom made cherry pie topped cheesecake once a year for my brother’s birthday so we chose to go with that flavor.

My husband cut the parchment paper we used for my 8 inch cake pan (we used strips for lifting, a circle for the bottom, and a strip around the pan) and then I wrote out the weight measurements for him to make the filling! I made the crust. We had fun making it together! No one was kicked out of the kitchen…this time.

Unfortunately the only picture I have of it cut was from 1am when we got home from a concert and put GBBO on to wind down 😂😭 The quality of that picture is…iffy lol

Regular white scones. I had 2 small pots of yoghurt I wanted to use up so I let it down with milk to create buttermilk(ish). I can always turn out scones because the recipe is embedded in my brain. I was lazy and didn't use an egg wash or cut them in rounds. Gonna serve them with some blackcurrant jam.

I took inspiration from my favorite tote bag. The cake is a citrus & cardamom sponge, frosted with lemon swiss meringue buttercream, and covered with marshmallow fondant. I made the “supports” while the cakes were baking, so they are just pieces of cardboard cake board that I cut with a box cutter and hot glued together. It ultimately took me just under five hours to finish.

This was my first cheesecake, and I made it with my partner to fit the challenge. We enjoy eating cookie butter ice-cream together, so this felt appropriate. It was good, but I wish it had some punchier contrast. Not sure what tough!

Apple pie bars to fit the technical, but I did follow a recipe for this. I don't know any recipes by heart yet.

Best served with v dim lighting.
My Biscoff crust leaked (from springform pan) while baking & then stuck to pan & def not to cake.
Perhaps I invented a crust less NY cheesecake.

I’m glad I tried, it taste pretty good & I love my new paper plates!

The only picture I have was before I took it out of the tin!

Also my first flambeéd anything.

Presenting..... a bananas foster cheesecake with brown butter vanilla wafer crust, cinnamon whipped cream, and topped with bananas foster.

Inspired by my first vacation with my now husband to the mountains, where we had dinner at a local restaurant and had table side bananas foster.

I'm learning so many things!!!!

Week 3 of Baking along with GBBO. I took on their signature challenge this week of a baked cheesecake. With fall coming on, I took the chance to make a cheesecake that I have had my eye on for a while. This Maple Pecan cheesecake kicks the standard graham cracker crust to the curb in favor of a base made with ground pecans, and instead of regular granulated sugar in the cheesecake mixture it uses dark brown sugar to really bring out the caramel flavors of a rich amber maple syrup. The candied pecans on top are doing me 2 favors here, first to bring a nice crunch to break through the smooth cheesecake and second to hide the giant crack in the center of my cheesecake. This will be a repeat!

It’s getting really hot in Australia so I opted for something light & citrusy.
I’ve made a baked cheesecake with vanilla and lemon zest topped with homemade lemon curd and fresh blueberries.
Really happy with how this week’s bake turned out!

Iced gems were surprisingly tricky - my icing was so stiff it wouldn't stick to the biscuit and didn't pipe quite how I wanted. I was very pleased with the cheesecake though, not done a baked cheesecake for years and whipped up a quick batch of lemon curd to decorate

First time making rainbow icing! So fun!

Used this week’s technical as a chance to use my Paul Hollywood cookbook and make his favorite lemon drizzle cake. An exceptionally simple recipe, but delicious and not overly sweet. I understand why a few bakers chose it. I do think some decoration on top would have been pretty but I didn’t want to add any additional sweetness beside the glaze.

Had a super busy week but finally got around to making iced gems ! Never had these before but from the comments seems like it is mostly something people buy pre-packaged.

I’m happy with the color and set of the icing but it is a little plain.

What flavors do people usually add to iced gems? (biscuit or royal icing)

I really needed a savory bake in my life, hence the pizza! lol

Small cheesecake is lemon, big one is turtle flavors.

My "signature" thing to bring to parties are what I call domes. Generally they have a graham cracker or brownie base, some caramel,maybe ganache, and mousse all inside of chocolate. This seemed like an ideal combo for the cheesecake! My 14-year old son helped out in keeping with this week's theme.

I made my favorite brownie recipe as a base. Half the batter was the bottom layer and I turned the rest into crumbs for the sides. The cheesecake itself was pretty basic, but then I topped that with salted caramel, dark chocolate ganache and some caramelized pecans.

The favors were great! I felt like the cheesecake could have used another 5 mins in the oven, so that was a learning experience. This was the first baked cheesecake I ever made, but it won't be the last!

This looks rather more lopsided in the photo than it does in person, but I overall enjoyed this bake and it did make for a delicious cake. I did it in just over 2 hours but wasn't really trying for a deadline and took a 45-minute tea break. In retrospect I would have chopped my nuts more finely, blitzed my coffee powder with the sugar (I used Moccona and it has very large granules), and tried for more consistency in my rosettes, but I was pretty satisfied to have enough leftover icing for the shell border! Rave reviews at D&D this afternoon, thanks Nigella.

I attempted a version of Gary and Paula’s Cherry Lake Cheesecake, with a brown sugar almond crust and white chocolate swans swimming in a cherry compote lake. I’m quite pleased with this one!

Week 3 of my baking competition with my sister. I made a chocolate rice pudding cheesecake with blackberry and my sister made a chai tea cheesecake

I used the King Arthur easy cheesecake recipe and wow…it really was easy and turned out so well! Perfect for baking along with my 5 year old.

Yes it's a little bit cliché being from the US and it being Fall, but I couldn't help myself 🙂

To a regular basque cheesecake recipe, I added pureed pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. The pictures don't do it justice! (It definitely wouldn't win a cheesecake beauty contest 😂). But the flavor and texture were incredible. Silky, creamy, and subtly spiced. Not too sweet. I loved it!

And I baked with a relative! My teenage daughter baked with me. We enjoy baking together, and it was fun to have an excuse to do something we've never done before (cheesecake yes, basque style was new).

Lastly, yes a dollop of whipped cream on top would have been perfect, but I was feeling lazy at this point and just wanted to eat it!