Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake is always a good dessert option - whether its a baked or no bake cheesecake.

Check out this great recipe from Shivesh - Bake with Shivesh  

I added extra whole raspberries into the cheesecake batter before it baked to give an extra pop of flavour and  texture when you bite into the bars. 
However, I did find I had to keep it in the oven for longer than recommended in the recipe - everyone has different ovens so that's not surprising. 

Enjoy!

[Photo Gallery]: Toronto Foodie Treats

When in Canada, there are certain things you must try; poutine, beavertails, butter tarts... the list goes on. As well as eating all those things, on my adventures we found some delicious foodie treats. Take a look! (Instagram pages are linked so you can check them out)

Harry Potter inspired cocktails @ The Lockhart Bar -- 1479 Dundas St W

Lavender Ice Cream & Lavender Infused Peach Bellini Mocktail @ Terre Bleu Lavender Farm -- Milton, ON

S'Mores & Cereal Killa Milkshakes @ Peace Treats -- 131 Ossington Ave

Sake Tasting @ Izumi Sake Distillery -- 51 Gristmill Lane

Selections of Cheese & Pate @ St Lawrence Market -- 93 Front St E

Japansese Eats @ KINKA IZAKAYA -- 4775 Yonge St

Organic Milk Ice Cream Sundaes @ MilkCow --2651 Yonge St

Make Your Own Bubble Tea @ Labothery Inc -- 717 Bay St

Rainbow Ice Cream @ Tom's Dairy Freeze -- 630 The Queensway

Wine Tasting @ Trius Winery -- 1249 Niagara Stone Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake

This is just a selection of the foodie treats I enjoyed whilst in Toronto. There were so many other places we ate and drank, but sadly I forgot to take pictures. 

Exploring new places is on of my favourite things to do, and the best way to do that is through eating your way around the city/town. 

Enjoy! 

It's Peanut Butter [Blondie] Time

I'll have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of peanut butter but I know there are many people out there who love the stuff. If that's you, you'll love this recipe.

If you're like me, give it a go because you might think otherwise. My whole family have never been big fans of peanut butter, but these blondies went down a treat - so much so they got demolished within four days! 

The good thing about this recipe is that the peanut butter flavour isn't too over powering, and with the sweetness of the chocolate chips it creates a perfect balance.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup smooth peanut butter

2tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1tsp baking powder

chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line square baking/brownie tin.
2. Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in peanut butter, vanilla and eggs until well incorporated. 
3. Mix in flour and baking powder. Add in chocolate chips.
4. Spread into baking tin. Bake for 30mins or until golden brown.
5. Allow to cool in pan before transferring to wire rack. Once completely cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Using cups is usually an American way of cooking/baking and not often seen in British recipes. So if you do have a measuring cup PERFECT. If not don't worry use anything cup sized (teacup, mug, glass etc) and just make sure you use the same one throughout so the ratios are still the same. 

Give these ago and tell me what you think! 

Tag me in any pictures of your bakes on Instagram: @sarasbakingworld

Enjoy!

Like A Brownie, But Blonde

Everyone loves a good brownie, but sometimes you just want to change things up. If that's the case, welcome to the blondie. It is very similar to the brownie in terms of preparation, consistency and baking, but it is more buttery in flavour as you does not have a chocolate base. 

You have the freedom with a blondie, like with a brownie, to play around with what you add into the blondie to take it to that extra level. With this recipe, I added chocolate chips - it basically looks like a giant chocolate chip cookie crossed with a brownie. 

Here's the recipe:

115g unsalted butter, melted

215g dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2tsp vanilla extract

1/8tsp salt

130g plain flour

100g chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line an 8inch square baking tin. 
2. Mix together melted butter and brown sugar until blended. Add in egg, vanilla and salt and beat until smooth. 
3. Add in flour and continue to beat until fully incorporated and the batter becomes quite thick. Fold in chocolate chips. 
4. Pour batter into lined baking tin and bake for 20 to 25 mins until skewer comes out mostly clean. 
5. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Give these a go and let me know what you think! 

Tag me in any pictures of you bakes on instagram: @sarasbakingworld

Enjoy!

Bananas About A Loaf

I've always loved a good banana bread. They are super simply to make, and easy to freeze if you can't eat it all straight away. 

With this recipe, its easy to adapt to your liking. You can add extra ingredients of your choice to make it that extra bit better, whether that be walnuts, pecans or chocolate chunks. I, of course, went for chocolate chunks. 

Here's the recipe:

4oz softened butter

6oz caster sugar

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

8oz self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

2tbsp milk

2oz chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 180C, and line a 2lb loaf tin.
2. Measure all ingredients (except chocolate chunks) and beat together for around 2 mins, until well blended.
3. Fold in chocolate chunks. Spoon batter into lined loaf tin.
4. Bake for around 45 mins to 1 hour, until skewer comes out clean. If top of loaf is browning too quickly, cover with foil and continue to bake. 
5. Allow to cool completely in loaf tin before serving.

Give this recipe a try, and let me know what you think. 

Tag me in any pictures on instagram: @sarasbakingworld

Enjoy!

[Photo Gallery]: Macarons Attempt #1

Macarons have become increasingly popular recently. They are a sweet treat I love and had always wanted to make but never done so. Finally I tried them out! 

I used a recipe by Youtuber Topless Baker - his recipes are super easy to follow and produced some amazing results!

Check out my first attempt at macarons below. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, so a photoshoot of them was completely necessary!

Oh-So-Delectable Squares

Everyone loves chocolate - unless you're one of those unfortunate few who happen to be allergic to chocolate. I feel for you... I really do. 

There are endless amounts of brownie recipes out there, but after having tried this recipe out I will not be turning to anything different. These oh-so-delectable squares of chocolatey goodness are super gooey and super chocolatey. They come with a warning: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE & NOT RECOMMENDED IF DIETING. However, if you are pregnant, heart broken or simply a chocoholic, these are perfect! 

Here's the recipe:

100g unsalted butter

200g dark chocolate

4 eggs

250g golden caster sugar

100g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

30g cocoa

100g chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line square baking tin. 
2. Melt butter and dark chocolate over a double boiler (bowl over pan of simmering water). Once melted set aside to cool.
3. Whisk eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mixture should have doubled in size.
4. Fold chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, making sure to keep as much air in as possible. Sift in flour, baking powder and cocoa and fold mixture until fully incorporated. 
5. Gently stir in chocolate chips and poor into baking tin. 
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Brownie should be cracked on the top and the middle just set. 
7. Cool completely before removing from tin. Cut into pieces, serve and enjoy.

When cutting the brownies, I found them to be super gooey to handle. All you need to do is pop them back in the tin and into the fridge for a few hours to allow it to set up a bit, then they'll be easier to cut.

You can also add different ingredients in, instead of chocolate chips, to change up the recipe. White chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, mini marshmallows, or even do a caramel layer before baking! If you do give this recipe a go, let me know and tag me in any pictures you post on instagram: @sarasbakingworld

Enjoy!

Meet The Brookie

The latest bake this week has been an experimental creation that I had seen it floating around the baking internet. 

It solves the age old and difficult decision of: Cookie or Brownie? 

What would you go for?

Well now you no longer have to settle for just one, as this recipe combines to two to make the Brookie. 

Here's the recipe

For the Cookie:

Cookie Recipe

For the Brownie:

6tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup dark chocolate

1 cup plain flour

2tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line 2 large baking sheets.
2. Prepare cookie recipe as instructed and chill in fridge for around 30-40mins.
3. Melt butter and dark chocolate over a double boiler. Once fully melted, remove from heat and ensure completely smooth.
4. Add sugars and vanilla extract to chocolate and mix until well combined. Add in egg and extra yolk and beat. Add dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt) and beat until fully combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. To assemble: use and ice cream scoop to portion out cookie dough onto baking sheet. Use a table spoon to portion out brownie batter and combine into ball with cookie dough, to remove gaps between the two. 
6. Bake for around 13mins, until golden around the edge of cookie, and centre looks slightly underdone. 
7. Leave to cool on baking sheet, as they will be soft. Once harden slightly they can be transferred to wire rack to fully cool down.
8. Serve and enjoy!

A sweet tooth is needed for these decadent and delicious cookie brownie combo. Best served slightly warm.

Give these a go and let me know what you think!

If you do try any of these recipes, you can tag me on instagram @sarasbakingworld. I would love to see your bakes!

Enjoy!

Blueberry Twist

A popular choice of muffins, besides the classic chocolate chip, has to be the blueberry muffin. So today's recipe is a blueberry muffin with a hidden twist.

The inclusion of rolled oats give that cross between an oath breakfast baked good and the classic blueberry muffin. 

The recipe is built upon the all-in-one cake recipe by Mary Berry which you can find here, with the inclusion of the following ingredients:

All-in-One Cake Mix

170g blueberries

1-2 handfuls rolled oats

2tbsp milk
1/2 lemon zest

1. Prepare the all-in-one cake recipe as follows. Then fold in blueberries, rolled oats, milk and lemon zest. 
2. Transfer into lined cupcake/muffin tins, best and easiest way is using an ice cream scoop. Bake at 180C for 20 mins, until golden brown and cake springs back when lightly pressed.
3. Leave to cool and serve.

You could definitely add a few white chocolate chips to make these a little more tea time and less breakfast snack. As a tip, when incorporating either dried fruit or berries into a cake mixture, dust them in some of the flour your using before hand. It will stop them all sinking to the bottom during baking. 

Give these a try and tell me what you think, and any other combinations of fillings you try.

Enjoy!

Fruit Means Its Healthy. Right?

Take a brownie, and let's take it to the next level.

This traybake brownie is so decadent and delicious you'll want to keep going back for more. I have made this a number of times and know it goes down a treat!

Not only does it have both dark and white chocolate, it also combines after dinner chocolate mints and a chocolate ganache layer to make it even better. And there's some raspberries involved just so you feel a little less guilty. 

Give this recipe a go!

For the Brownie:

140g butter

225g caster sugar

200g dark chocolate

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp peppermint extract

60g plain flour

60g cocoa powder

50g white chocolate

50g after eight mints

75g fresh raspberries

Ganache & Toppings:

150g dark chocolate

75g butter

50g white chocolate

50g after eight mints

75g fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line rectangular baking tin.
2. Start with the brownie mixture - melt the butter, chocolate and sugar over a pan of simmering water. Crack in the eggs, add the vanilla and peppermint extract. Mix until smooth and glossy.
3. Sift in the cocoa and flour. Beat well and pour into lined baking tin.
4. Sprinkle over white chocolate, after eight mints and raspberries. Bake for 15mins.
5. Remove from oven and leave to cool.
6. For the toppings - melt the chocolate and butter over pan of simmering water until smooth to make ganache. Spread ganache over cooled brownie. Sprinkle the remaining white chocolate, after eight mints and raspberries to decorate. 
7. Once fully cooled, remove from baking tin. Cut into squares and serve.

If you do give this recipe a try, let me know and share your pictures.

Tag me in pictures on Instagram: sarasbakingworld

Enjoy! 

A Dream Came True

For years, Saturday morning in my household meant watching Saturday Morning Kitchen on the BBC, at the time hosted by the wonderful James Martin. I would always turn to my mum, and say that one day I would want to go on that show, either as the two non-celebrity guests who get to try the food, or as a chef.

I got one step closer to that dream recently, when I went on a patisserie course at Cactus Kitchen in London. Upstairs is the cookery school, and downstairs is the Saturday Kitchen Studio. Walking past the studio door as they were rehearsing I gazed in longing to go on to the set. After the course we got the opportunity to take a look round the set and take photos. 

Cracked Brownie Cookies

Brownies. Cookies. Who doesn't love them. 

Put them both together and you get these amazing Cracked Brownie Cookies. 

Recipe from Ed Kimber - The Boy Who Bakes. Check it out and give it ago - its a really simple recipe to follow and gives great results!

The only thing I found, was if the cookie mixture is sitting waiting before baking, the cracks don't come out as well. So once the batter is made, get it on the tray and in the oven to bake. 

Enjoy! X

[Photo Gallery]: Eating My Way Through Belgium

Who goes to Belgium and doesn't eat all the chocolate and cakes?