3 Ingredient Oreo Fudge

December 14, 2020October 4, 2021 What Jessica Baked NextLeave a comment

Amazing three ingredient white chocolate Oreo fudge – this scrummy fudge recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make and no scales or specialist equipment is needed!

Fudge is a quintessential Christmas recipe to make and one type of confectionery I’m sure we all make over the holidays. I’ve previously shared an Oreo fudge recipe, but with that recipe I used this Vanilla Clotted Cream Fudge as a base and added some chopped up pieces of Oreo. This Oreo white chocolate fudge is SO much easier and quicker to make and saves you all the elbow grease that my other recipe requires!

Several fudge recipes have appeared on my blog over the years I’ve created content for it. I love adding pieces of chopped up biscuit/cookie to fudge mixes. I’ve added bourbon cream biscuits and custard creams to make Bourbon Biscuit Fudge and Custard Cream Fudge. Now it’s time to turn to one of my other favourite biscuits/cookies: Oreos!

Oreo fudge is completely fail-proof, there really isn’t much skill involved but the end result is utterly delicious. The white chocolate flavour is incredibly good, it’s super creamy and every bite of the fudge you get a taste of the chocolatey Oreos.

Oreo + white chocolate = an absolutely heavenly combo!

To make the fudge you’ll start by simmering a some water in a pan and then place the white chocolate and condensed milk in a heatproof bowl and place that atop the simmering water (make sure the base of your bowl is not directly touching the water). Heat it very gently and stir until it’s melted and smooth. By the time these two ingredients are melted you’ll have a thick mixture. Now off the heat add 3/4 of the chopped Oreos and stir until they’re mixed through the fudge.

Transfer the fudge mixture to a lined square tin and top with the remaining Oreos. At this point you can decorate the top of your fudge with any other decorations/sprinkles – I topped mine with some mini white chocolate chips I had in my kitchen.

When you come to cut up your fudge you’ll get approx. 36 squares of fudge. This fudge is super sweet so you might get more if you cut the fudge into smaller squares.

The fudge will keep stored in the fridge or at room temperature for up to a week. The Oreos will soften slightly but the fudge is still delicious nonetheless.

Oreo fudge is a wonderful no-bake treat and a fantastic gift to wrap up for your loved ones this holiday season!

(Makes 36 pieces)

500g white chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 x 400g (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 x 154g pack Oreos, roughly chopped – this can be substituted with Golden Oreos or another biscuit/cookie you like

Method:

Line a 20cm square tin with parchment paper – leave a little overhanging the sides to make it easier to lift the fudge from the tin later on.
Place the chocolate and condensed milk in a medium sized bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water – make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t directly touch the water. Heat gently on a low heat and stir until completely melted and smooth.
Take off the heat and stir through approx. 3/4 of the chopped Oreos. Spread the fudge out into the lined tin and top with the remaining chopped Oreos. At this point you can decorate the top of the fudge with any other decorations.
Cover the fudge and leave it to set in the fridge for for 2-4 hours or overnight.
Cut the fudge up into squares as big or small as you want – this makes roughly 36 servings. The fudge will keep for up to a week in the fridge or at room temperature.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Gluten-Free · No-Bake

Passionfruit and Lime Cream Pots

December 1, 2020April 23, 2022 What Jessica Baked NextLeave a comment

These 4 ingredient tropical inspired cream pots are flavoured with passionfruit and zesty lime. They’ll make a lovely addition to your Christmas menu.

Happy first day of December! It’s the last month of the year and what a rollercoaster 2020 has been. It’s crazy to think Christmas Day is less than a month away!

Have you started planning your Christmas festivities yet? I’m feeling quite organised this year, I’ve nearly got all my presents sorted out and we have our menu planned. We put our Christmas tree and all the decorations up this past weekend and I’m loving how bright and festive the house is looking with the twinkly lights and ornaments hanging on the tree.

This year we’re going partly vegan ready for starting Veganuary in January. We’ve discovered so many vegan recipes and are excited to find more. My sister and I made some delicious mushroom wellingtons for dinner one evening and they went down so well we decided they’d make a fabulous Christmas dinner, we have those planned to enjoy on Christmas Day along with all the trimmings – aka the best part of a roast dinner!

Last month I shared this divine Terry’s Chocolate Orange Traybake. That cake is super delicious and chocolatey, admittedly I can’t believe anyone could dislike chocolate, I do understand that not everybody likes chocolate as much I do and might be looking for an alternative idea. After a heavy main meal that’s rich in different flavours, it’s nice to end your meal with something light and refreshing.

For this recipe I took inspiration from these Lemon Posset. I’ve changed the flavours by adding a tropical twist and made it into a mousse textured dessert. It’s not like a manufactured mousse, these cream pots have more body and substance.

What gives these cream pots a tropical vibe is the delicious combination of passionfruit and lime. I know passionfruit can be a little pricey but it is Christmas after all and 2020 has been a year with plenty of ups and downs, so we deserve to treat ourselves as much as possible. Passionfruit is one of my favourite fruits, but when paired with a citrus fruit such as lime, it comes to life!

So let me do a run through of how to prepare these cream pots. Don’t worry if you don’t have much experience in the kitchen, this recipe isn’t overly complicated!

Start by straining the passionfruit pulp into a sieve set over a bowl or jug. Discard the seeds and squeeze and stir the lime juice into the passionfruit juice. Heat half the cream with sugar, stir until the sugar has dissolved then bring the cream mixture up the boil and simmer gently for 3 minutes exactly. Once the cream has cooked pour it into the fruit juices and stir – it will thicken up quickly and you’ll now need to leave this mixture to cool for 20 minutes. After it’s cooled, whisk the remaining cream until soft peaks have formed and then fold the passionfruit lime cream into the whipped cream. Fold until there’s no lumps of cream left and then transfer the mixture into your serving dishes.

I use a few recycled ramekins that you get those popular gooey chocolate puddings in (UK readers will know what I’m talking about) and some small glasses that had chocolate hazelnut spread in them. You can use whatever serving dishes you have, even small espresso cups would be great if you’re planning to serve more or want a petit fours sized treat.

A delicious Scottish-style shortbread biscuit is the perfect accompaniment to these tropical cream pots

Serve these cream pots with homemade Shortbread Biscuits. I wasn’t sure whether to add some desiccated coconut to the shortbread dough but in the end I stuck with my shortbread recipe as it’s always popular with my taste testers and this classic biscuit allowed the flavours in the cream pots to take centre stage. But who knows, next time if I’m feeling slightly more adventurous, then I might be tempted to give that idea a try!

Once the cream pots have had at least 6 hours to set (overnight is best as this allows the flavours to develop) they’ll be ready to serve. I recommend taking the cream pots out of the fridge and letting them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

I hope you enjoy these cream pots as much as we did. They’re a refreshing end to a meal, aren’t too heavy and leave you wanting more!

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 lime, zested

5 passionfruit

100g caster or granulated sugar

600ml double cream

Decoration:

1 passionfruit – spread this out on the top of the cream pots when serving

Fresh berries – blueberries are my favourite to serve with these but raspberries or chopped strawberries taste great

Method:

Firstly start by zesting your lime and set the zest aside for later on. Scoop the flesh from the passionfruit into a sieve that’s set over a bowl or jug. Push the passionfruit pulp through the sieve using the back of a spoon to extract all the juice. Discard the seeds. Squeeze the lime juice into the passionfruit juice and mix together.
Put the sugar and 300ml of cream in a pan. Heat this mixture gently over a medium heat until the sugar has all dissolved, bring the mixture up to the boil and allow it to gently bubble away/simmer for 3 minutes. Take it off the heat and pour into the passionfruit and lime juice stirring to combine. Set this mixture aside to cool for 20 minutes.
Now in a large mixing bowl whisk the remaining 300ml of cream until soft peaks form. Take the passionfruit and lime cream mixture and fold gently into the whipped cream. Finish by folding through the lime zest.
Transfer the mixture into glasses, ramekins or small pots. Loosely cover the tops (make sure the cling film doesn’t directly touch the tops of cream pots) and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight ideally if you have the time.
Serve the chilled cream pots with shortbread biscuits. The cream pots will keep stored and covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Chocolate

Chunky Milk Chocolate Pecan Cookies

August 28, 2020October 5, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next4 Comments

Thick and chunky chocolate and pecan cookies are chunkier and even yummier than your average cookie. These decadent cookies are packed with gooey milk chocolate chips/chunks and toasted pecans – a flavour match made in heaven!

Thick and chunky (copycat London’s Crème dessert shop / New York City’s Levain Bakery) cookies have been popular on the internet recently and I couldn’t resist any longer so I’ve decided to share my new favourite chunky cookie recipe with you today!

Cookies make me so happy, I’m 100% sure eating cookies will put a smile on your face even during these tough, uncertain times. It’s something about that chewy texture with the incredible and totally irresistible gooey chocolate that’s delicious when melted as you take a bite in to a cookie that’s fresh from the oven!

I like sprinkling a pinch of Maldon sea salt on top of some of the cookies before baking. Once your cookies are ready you’re in for a treat enjoying them with a glass of milk or with scoops of ice cream!

I love all types of cookies, on my blog I have shared the classic Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chocolate Cookies, Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cookies and these insanely delicious Triple Chocolate Cookies. It’s safe to say this blog is not short of cookie recipes for you to try!

I’ve never shared a super thick and chunky cookie before and having seen these on Cupcake Jemma’s website and YouTube channel, I’ve been desperate to have a go at this recipe. Every time I watch Jemma’s team over at Crumbs & Doilies making these amazing cookies, I’ve wanted to reach right through the screen and grab the tray of freshly baked cookies instantly!

Milk chocolate pecan cookie dough tastes so good there might not even be any left to bake! I’m a sucker for tasting cookie dough, I can’t get enough of it!

I’ve tested out different chocolate and pecan cookies and found a couple of recipes that are wonderful. My whole family absolutely loves Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh’s chocolate chip and pecan cookies that feature in their SWEET cookbook – I’ve baked those cookies countless times and they never fail to impress. They’re a slighter smaller serving compared to this cookie recipe created by Crumbs & Doilies. However, lately I’ve been in the mood for a generous sized cookie to treat myself, bigger is definitely better in this case!

Personally I don’t think you can go far wrong with the classic flavour combo of milk chocolate and toasted pecan, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with variations. My sister has plans to bake birthday cake/funfetti cookies with white chocolate and sprinkles – I’m excited for those when she makes them!

If pecans aren’t your thing, then you can substitute with hazelnuts or walnuts (without the skins). Also, add different chopped up chocolate bars or if you don’t want to add nuts then you can leave them out and add even more chocolate.

Honestly, who would say no to more chocolate?

Definitely not me! Enjoy the cookies!

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

100g pecans – see recipe for instructions on toasting

300g plain flour

200g self-raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

230g butter (salted or unsalted), cold and cut into 1cm cubes

160g dark or light brown sugar

160g caster or granulated sugar

200g milk chocolate chips

200g milk chocolate, broken into big chunks

2 large free-range eggs

Method:

Start by toasting the pecans, preheat oven to 170°C / 150°C Fan / 325°F / Gas Mark 3. Place the pecans in a small baking tray and toast for 10 minutes. Leave the pecans to cool and then chop or break into small pieces roughly 1.5cm in size. In a mixing bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until combined. Set this aside for the moment.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the cold butter for about 30 seconds until softened slightly. Add the sugars and mix again until just combined – you don’t want to make this mixture creamy and fluffy.
Now add the flour mixture and mix until you have fine breadcrumb texture. Now stir through the chocolate and nuts.
Add the beaten egg and just mix until a dough comes together – be careful not to over mix. Weigh roughly 125g portions of the cookie dough and roll into a ball. Place on a lined baking tray or container and freeze for at least 90 minutes or overnight for a thicker cookie.
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and place the trays in the oven for 5 minutes to heat before spacing the rolled cookie dough balls out leaving at least 2 inches between each to allow room for spreading.
Bake the cookies for 17-22 minutes. If you like a slightly underdone cookie then bake for just 17 minutes, but if you prefer your cookies more done then bake for nearer to 22 minutes.
Leave the cookies to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes then transport to a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool slightly before serving. Cookies will keep stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days – we think they taste best on the day of baking.

Recipe Notes:

I used a mix of half chocolate chips and 2 x 100g bars (200g in total) milk chocolate bars. Feel free to use 400g of chocolate chips or all chocolate bar in the cookie dough. Also, you can swap the milk chocolate for a mix of dark chocolate or even add some white chocolate < I’m trying this next time!
The recipe I followed made 12 cookies, however from my batch of cookie dough I managed to get a baker’s dozen (13 cookies) out of mine.
When rolling the cookie dough into balls, make sure to not form them too much. So when you’ve weighed each piece of cookie dough out just gently press into a ball.
I recommend freezing the rolled cookie dough balls overnight as this produces a thicker textured (and more flavourful) cookie when baked, but if you’re rushed for time or just want cookies ASAP then 90 minutes in the freezer is fine.
The recipe recommends baking the cookies for 17 minutes, I don’t like my cookies too underdone so I baked mine for another 5 minutes but again this all depends on how you like to serve cookies, if you prefer them softer and underdone then just bake for 17 minutes as the recipe instructs.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies

Strawberries and Cream Shortbread Sandwiches

August 3, 2020October 5, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next12 Comments

Beautifully buttery and crisp shortbread biscuits filled and sandwiched together with softly whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

I’ve taken my favourite Scottish-style Shortbread Biscuits and turned these scrummy biscuits into a dessert which could be served part of an afternoon tea spread or even on a restaurant menu.

Strawberries and Cream Shortbread Sandwiches showcase my favourite summer fruit, strawberries in an elegant dessert no one could resist trying. Each year, I long for the start of the strawberry season.

Come rain or shine, strawberry picking is something we all enjoy doing every year!

Ever since we were little, my parents would take my sister and I fruit picking during the summer holidays when we had a long 6 week break from school. In recent years, I’ve made sure to put aside some time during my leave from work to go strawberry picking, in fact very recently I headed out on a socially distanced strawberry picking trip to my local PYO McLauchlans of Boxted in the beautiful Essex countryside.

For me it’s important to support local businesses and also eat locally sourced food – even more so at the moment we should be eating locally sourced food and supporting our small businesses too. These Essex strawberries taste divine and for me there’s nothing quite comparable to locally grown fruit. I’ve been excited all summer long for strawberries and soon I’ll be out and about picking blackberries to use in more recipes.

Above is a photo of the strawberries I picked last summer from McLauchlans. They taste divine and are super juicy – a true taste of summer for me!

This recipe I’m sharing today is actually one I made for my blog in 2013 at the very start of my blogging journey, thankfully since then my food photography skills have come on leaps and bounds! I’m not perfect, even as a professionally trained chef I haven’t mastered every skill in the kitchen and I’m constantly learning throughout my career – this is why I love going back and improving my recipes for you to have the best experience making them!

The shortbread is pretty straight forward to make: cream the softened butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Then fold through the flour and vanilla extract until a crumbly dough forms. The shortbread bakes up well every time I make it and makes a sophisticated dessert paired with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

These shortbread sandwiches take no time at all to quickly rustle up and taste fantastic for a bake that’s so incredibly simple to prepare. The shortbread dough is very forgiving, the shortbread biscuits still remain crisp even after being rerolled.

Buttery and crisp shortbread biscuits, filled with softly whipped double cream and sliced strawberries. You can play around and fill your shortbread sandwiches with different fresh berries or even a spoonful of curd or jam too!

This recipe makes roughly 10-15 shortbread sandwiches, but the total number you make will all depend on how big or small your biscuit/cookie cutter is.

Devouring one or two of these shortbread sandwiches while sitting in the garden in the sun with a glass of lemonade – that’s summer bliss right there!

This recipe recently proudly featured on McLauchlans of Boxted website, you can also check it out here.

(Makes 10-15)

Ingredients:

200g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

75g caster or granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

150g plain flour

150g self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

300ml double cream, chilled

Strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced (you’ll need roughly just under 400g)

Method:

Line two large baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside. Preheat the oven to 160°C / 140°C Fan / Gas Mark 3. Cream the softened butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat together until light and pale in colour (about 1-2 minutes).
Now sift the flours and add to the creamed butter and sugar mixture along with the vanilla extract. Continue to mix until a crumbly and soft ball of dough comes together. Don’t overwork the dough, try to touch it as little as possible. At this point you can wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill it for 15 minutes, however this is an optional step.
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to about 5mm / 1/4 inch thickness. Using your favourite biscuit/cookie cutters (mine was about 6cm), cut out shapes from the dough and transfer to the lined baking trays. Sprinkle the top of each biscuit with a little extra sugar or you can dust each baked biscuit with icing sugar after baking if you prefer.
Bake the biscuits for 20-25 minutes until they’re crisp and slightly golden around the edges.
Once baked, leave to cool on the baking trays for 5-10 minutes, then carefully transport to a wire rack and allow the biscuits to cool completely to room temperature.
Now whisk the chilled cream until soft peaks form – you don’t want the cream over-whipped, just lightly whipped so it has an airy texture. Take approx. a teaspoonful of the whipped cream and place on the base of one of the shortbread biscuits, then layer the sliced strawberries on top of the cream, finish by placing another shortbread biscuit on top and sandwich together gently – don’t press too hard otherwise the cream will spill out from the sides. Repeat with the remaining shortbread until they’re all filled.
Eat the shortbread straight away or keep these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also fill the shortbread as and when you want to serve them.

Recipe Notes:

For my shortbread, I like to use salted butter as I love the flavour it adds contrasting with the sweet sugary topping.
If you don’t have caster sugar, granulated sugar can be substituted.
The recipe uses a mix of plain and self-raising flour, however you can use just plain flour if preferred.

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Biscuits and Cookies · Ice Cream · No-Bake

No-Churn Oreo Ice Cream

June 5, 2020February 13, 2023 What Jessica Baked Next65 Comments

Vanilla ice cream speckled with crushed Oreo cookies. No machine and no-churn recipe perfect for whenever you’re desperately craving ice cream! Cookies ‘n’ cream lovers will adore this simple four ingredient ice cream.

Originally posted in May 2015, recipe and photographs updated June 2020.

With the arrival of summer, I wanted to celebrate the occasion and share an ice cream recipe with you. The British summer so far has been a little bit temperamental, but let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope the warmer weather makes a much welcomed appearance again soon…

When it’s hot out, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the last place you’d want to be is trapped in a stuffy kitchen. So today, let’s switch the oven off and make a decadent no-bake treat instead!

It’s no lie that I love ice cream. If I had to pick a few of my favourite ice cream flavours then hazelnut, pistachio and cookies ‘n’ cream would all definitely top the list. As I was craving homemade ice cream, I decided to whip up a quick batch of Oreo ice cream!

Since sharing this recipe in 2015, I now own an ice cream machine. I do however, still enjoy using the no-churn method of making ice cream because of its ease, simplicity and quickness.

Like all my no-churn ice cream recipes, this Oreo variation starts off with a vanilla base. Whisk together double cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Then fold through a can of condensed milk, followed by crushed Oreo cookies.

Spread the ice cream mixture out into an airtight container, ceramic dish or even a reusable ice cream container. Now cover and leave the ice cream to freeze until firm. You have to patiently wait at least six hours or overnight if you can – this is the hardest part, but I promise you that it’s worth the wait when you get your first taste of this ice cream!

Creamy with a sweet vanilla flavour and crushed Oreo chunks in every single mouthful, this ice cream will make a scrumptious treat anytime! It’s ridiculously delicious and easy to make! Grab the ingredients, head into your kitchen and go make this right now! You won’t regret it.

This velvety vanilla ice cream has glorious chunks of cookies ‘n’ cream biscuits/cookies running through each bite. This is definitely my best no-churn recipe to date and I’ll be making it all summer long without a doubt!

My taste testers and I couldn’t stop reaching for scoop after scoop of this yummy ice cream and I’m sure you won’t be able to either…

Ingredients:

500ml (2 cups) double/heavy cream, chilled

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 x 397g can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

18-20 Oreos (I used a mix of original and Double Stuff Oreos), broken into pieces – save roughly a handful to decorate the top of the ice cream

Method:

1. Whisk the cream and vanilla until soft peaks form.

2. Add the condensed milk and fold until incorporated into the whipped cream mixture.

3. Fold in the crushed Oreo pieces and mix to combine.

4. Spread the ice cream mixture out into a suitable container. Scatter over a few extra Oreo crumbs/pieces and cover the top with a lid or a piece of clingfilm.

5. Freeze for at least 6 hours or until firm and scoopable. I recommend freezing it overnight for best results. Once ready to serve, scoop into waffle cones or bowls. The ice cream will store in the freezer for up to one month.

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Biscuits and Cookies · Cheesecake · No-Bake

No-Bake Biscoff Cheesecake

May 15, 2020October 5, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next9 Comments

Divine no-bake cookie butter cheesecake with a crisp and buttery gingernut/spiced biscuit base and a layer of mousse-like Biscoff flavoured cheesecake.

I’ve been amazed to see how many people have been excited to get in the kitchen during lockdown and also how much you’ve all been enjoying baking/cooking during this difficult time, so seeing my family, friends and people from different parts of the world making recipes from my blog makes me super happy. Baking/being in the kitchen has always been a therapy for me, something that totally relaxes me and is some escapism on my days off to take my mind away from everything.

Lately I’ve been feeling inspired more than ever to share recipes with you because I’ve really enjoyed seeing pictures of the recipes you’ve been baking from my blog. This blog is a hobby of mine, it’s not my full-time job but is such a big passion of mine and something I get a lot of joy out of working on.

Something I also get a tremendous amount of joy out of is making (and eating) cheesecake!

I’ve not yet tasted a cheesecake I’ve disliked, it’s safe to say that I love them all!

I shared a cheesecake recipe back in March with these Mini Cheesecakes: an adorable individual serving of creamy New York cheesecake. In fact, my friend, Cassie, baked these only the other day and I instantly craved them all over again!

I’m the greatest fan of spreads like Nutella (isn’t it pretty much everybody’s favourite?) and peanut butter in particular. When I visited New York on a college trip, my friends and I made sure we popped into Trader Joe’s and we all stocked up on tasty goodies ready to bring back to the UK – I made sure to pick up mainly stuff I knew I couldn’t get back home in the supermarket. I remembered picking up a jar of cookies and creme spread, which was literally the BEST thing I’d ever tasted! It was a sad day when I scooped the last of the spread from the jar and even sadder when I couldn’t find something similar to it at my local supermarket…

But that’s totally ok, because there’s still plenty of pretty amazing spreads available on our supermarket shelves, including Biscoff aka spiced cookie butter spread. One of my good memories of food from holiday was from my last trip abroad to Ibiza last September when we found an amazing frozen yoghurt shop and you could have melted cookie butter poured over the top of your fro-yo. You guessed right, it was so yummy!

That conveniently moves me onto this recipe I have lined up for you today. A little while ago I picked up a jar of Biscoff – it’s something I rarely buy even though I absolutely love this divine spread and this is partly because I know I have zero self-control when I know I have some of it in my kitchen cupboard.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Biscoff is a spread made from crushed speculass/speculoos biscuits which are spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. The biscuit is a favourite in Belgium and The Netherlands, but it’s become increasingly popular all around the world.

There are so many different cheesecakes you can make, but I’ve had sharing a no-bake cheesecake with Biscoff on my agenda and I’m pleased to finally tick it off my to-do list.

I’ve actually been making this cheesecake for years, but I never really thought about sharing it until I really fancied making it again recently. The cheesecake sets up perfectly without the need for any gelatine added, which is great if you’re like me, a vegetarian and unable to eat certain desserts because of some of the ingredients added.

For the biscuit base I used crushed gingernut biscuits, but you can use actual Lotus speculoos biscuits. I used my speculoos to decorate the cheesecake, but it’s good to remember to decorate your cheesecake with biscuits right before you want to serve it, otherwise the biscuits will soften and lose their crunchiness.

I simply decorate my cheesecake with swirls of whipped cream and some crushed speculoos biscuit crumbs – but you can be as imaginative with your decoration as you want.

(Serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:

300g gingernuts or speculoos biscuits (such as Lotus brand)

140g (salted or unsalted) butter, melted and cooled slightly

Cheesecake Filling:

300ml double cream, chilled

3 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted

500g full-fat cream cheese, softened – I leave mine out at room temperature for an hour to soften

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

300g Biscoff cookie butter spread

Method:

To make the biscuit base: Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter until moistened. Press the biscuit crumbs into a 23cm springform tin until compact. Put to one side while you make the cheesecake filling.
To make the cheesecake filling: In a large mixing bowl whisk the cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form. In another large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese with the vanilla and cookie butter spread until combined and mixture is smooth. Fold the whipped cream into the cheesecake mixture and mix until all the ingredients are combined.
Spread the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base you prepared earlier and smooth the top with either the back of a spoon, a spatula or a palette knife. Cover the cheesecake and leave it to set in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight.
When ready to serve remove the cheesecake from the springform tin and decorate as desired. I love whipping extra cream and sprinkling each slice with crumbles of Lotus speculoos biscuits. You could also melt some extra Biscoff cookie butter spread and drizzle that over your slice of cheesecake.
The cheesecake will keep stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Cheesecake

Mini Cheesecakes

March 6, 2020October 5, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next51 Comments

Made in a muffin tin, these mini cheesecakes are a yummy bitesize dessert with whipped cream and decorated with various toppings. This easy recipe makes a dozen delicious mini vanilla cheesecakes – I dare you not to eat the whole batch!

Originally posted in January 2015, recipe and photographs updated March 2020.

We’re pressing fast forward and jumping straight from 2015 to 2020 with the recipe re-do I’m sharing today! Back in 2015, little did I know many times I would bake these divine (and super adorable) mini cheesecakes. I had so much fun going back and baking an older blog recipe and I’m really pleased with the updated photographs I’ve taken of these cheesecakes.

These mini vanilla cheesecakes are scrumptious little bites of creamy cheesecake bliss and what’s so amazing about this recipe is that you can bake a cheesecake in a muffin tin! I even adapted the recipe by adding lemon juice and zest to the cheesecake filling to make Mini Lemon Cheesecakes (one of the most viewed recipes on my blog).

It’s not really a secret, I think I’ve probably told you a million times already that cheesecake is my favourite dessert? Chocolate brownies/cake is a very close second, but cheesecake (something I used to hate when I was younger) takes the crown for my most loved dessert ever.

I usually prefer No-Bake Cheesecake, but lately I’ve been really enjoying baked cheesecakes, as when made well, they’re super light and creamy and a gourmet dessert that’s pretty hard to resist.

This recipe perfect for when you don’t have the time to make a whole cheesecake, they take less than half the time to make compared to a full-sized cheesecake baked in springform tin does! These mini cheesecakes remind me of my favourite New York Baked Cheesecake, but you won’t have to wait as long to devour these. I love cheesecake a lot, but sometimes I don’t want a big cheesecake hanging around in my kitchen – it’s too tempting for a massive cheesecake fan like myself to fight the urge to grab slice after slice of cheesecake straight from the fridge!

As the cheesecakes bake they will rise slightly and upon cooling the cheesecakes will sink a little and may even develop a dip in the centre. But don’t worry too much about this as you can pile on toppings and hide this and if your cheesecakes do happen to crack you can cover it up very easily!

Once baked the cheesecakes will need to be left to cool completely to room temperature, then cover the tray tightly and chill the cheesecakes for at least 4 hours or overnight for best results. I do recommend chilling overnight if you have the time, as this will make a lot of difference regarding the taste and texture of your cheesecakes.

I chose to top my batch of cheesecakes with various toppings like homemade raspberry sauce, whipped cream, chopped strawberries and because it’s nearly Easter, I topped a few of my cheesecakes with Cadbury mini eggs. Decorate the cheesecakes right before you’re planning to serve them otherwise the toppings will go soft from the moisture in the cheesecake.

Because these are vanilla cheesecakes they suit lots of flavours. Instead of a fruit coulis/sauce why not drizzle the tops with caramel, chocolate sauce or a spoonful of curd or jam. You could even sprinkle over some chocolate chips or curls, top with pieces of your favourite chocolate bar or scatter over chopped nuts.

(Makes 12)

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:

150g digestive biscuits (1 and 1/2 cups of biscuit crumbs), crushed – alternatively you can use graham crackers

2 tablespoons caster or granulated sugar (optional)

70g (5 tablespoons) butter (salted or unsalted), melted

Cheesecake Filling:

450g (16 ounces / 1lb) full-fat cream cheese, softened – I leave mine out at room temperature for an hour to soften

130g (2/3 cup) caster or granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C / 150°C Fan / 325°F / Gas Mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake/muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

2. Mix together the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter until well combined. Using a tablespoon measure distribute the biscuit crumbs into the muffin cases and press down with a teaspoon until level. Bake the biscuit bases for 5 minutes until lightly toasted. Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

3. Whilst the biscuit bases are cooling make the cheesecake filling. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer beat the cream cheese for to soften. Gradually add the sugar and once it’s all added continue to mix for another minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix through – at this point make sure you scrap down the base and sides of your mixer to make sure the batter and ingredients are all well incorporated.

4. Evenly distribute the cheesecake batter between the paper liners – spoon roughly 3 tablespoons of the batter into each prepared mini cheesecake base making sure you fill 2/3 of the way up of each. (I start with a tablespoonful in each case and go round again until the batter mix is used up.)

5. Bake the cheesecakes for 22-24 minutes or until the centres are just set. Once set take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin completely. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, gently run a butter knife around the outside of the muffin case to help release the cheesecakes from the tin, as the biscuit base can sometimes release some butter which makes the case stick slightly. The cheesecakes will keep stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes:

For the biscuit base I like using a plain flavoured biscuits like digestives or rich tea. Graham crackers are a good substitute for overseas readers.
To save you time weighing out ingredients: 150g of digestive biscuits crumbs is exactly 10 digestive biscuits and that’s 1 and 1/2 cups of biscuit crumbs for anyone using cup measurements.
I like adding a couple of tablespoons of sugar to my biscuit base to sweeten it, however this is optional and you don’t have to add any sugar to the base ingredients if you prefer not to.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Christmas

Gingerbread Caramel Dodgers

November 29, 2019October 6, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next2 Comments

Christmassy gingerbread biscuits with a decadent caramel filling. A seasonal twist on the British biscuits, jammy dodgers!

Christmas is now less than a month away and December only a few days away. Christmas is a wonderful time of year for many, I really love the festivities and getting together with family and friends. Being a foodie, I also have a great time baking and eating lots of my favourite foods.

This year I’m really looking forward to having Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off work, last year was my first experience working on Christmas Day but this year I’m really happy to be spending the day catching up and relaxing with my family at home.

Since I was a kid, our family tradition on Christmas Eve is spending the entire day in the kitchen baking and getting all the preparation done for Christmas Day. My sister and I have tonnes of fun decorating a gingerbread house and then the evening we spend lounging around watching Christmas films and TV.

By the end of this blogging year I have plans to share a couple more Christmas recipes, the recipe I shared before this one is for Cinnamon Rolls and those are perfect your Christmas Eve/Day breakfast.

Today I have a scrumptious Christmas biscuit recipe for you, pop a plate of these on the table and they’ll be gone in moments.

I’ve baked different ginger biscuits for my blog, sharing these Gingerbread Men and Gingernuts previously. I’m a massive fan of anything gingerbread related and even more so over the festive season. I’m not a lover of a few typical Christmas foods like Christmas cake/pudding, mince pies or chocolate-mint/peppermint flavoured bakes/confectionery, so that’s why I always celebrate gingerbread over Christmas!

I love the idea of putting a delicious, Christmassy spin on the British classic, jammy dodgers! I’ve shared a recipe for classic Jammy Dodgers on my blog, but this Christmas version has the traditional gingerbread flavour from a combination of ground ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice and instead of jam it has a sweet caramel filling – are you swooning yet?

These homemade biscuits look cute and they’re such a special treat served with ice cream or dunked into a mug of hot chocolate or a glass of milk.

(Makes 18-24)

Ingredients:

Gingerbread Dough:

100g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

75g dark or light brown sugar

3 tablespoons golden syrup

1 large free-range egg yolk

225g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

Caramel Filling:

Approx. 18-24 teaspoons caramel/dulce de leche

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and mix until combined. Now sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice. Mix until a dough comes together. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and flatten into a flat disc, leave to chill in the fridge for one hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and set aside. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it’s approx. 1/4-inch in thickness. Using a 8cm cutter (mine has fluted edges) stamp out 36-48 rounds (how many you get depends on the size of the biscuit/cookie cutter you use) and arrange on the baking trays leaving some space between each biscuit.
Using a smaller biscuit/cookie cutter (heart or star shapes are my favourite) and stamp out the centre of half the rounds. Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool on the baking trays for a few minutes, then transport to a wire rack and leave the biscuits to cool completely. Bake off the mini biscuit/cookies for a little less time than the other biscuits as they’re smaller and won’t take as long to bake – I’d recommend 5-8 minutes depending on how crisp you like them.
Assemble the biscuits by placing a heaped teaspoon of caramel on the whole biscuits and sandwich with the cut-out biscuits. Dust each biscuit with icing sugar and serve.
The biscuits will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Recipe Notes:

The biscuit dough needs chilling for at least one hour. The gingerbread dough can be made and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking or frozen for up to a month. If the dough is frozen when you’re ready to bake the gingerbread, leave the dough to defrost for 3-4 hours until it’s soft enough to roll out.
Bake the biscuits for a few minutes less if you prefer a softer textured biscuit.
If caramel isn’t your thing, alternatively fill the biscuits with apricot jam or lemon curd.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Candy and Sweets

Custard Cream Fudge

August 14, 2019October 6, 2021 What Jessica Baked Next59 Comments

Vanilla clotted cream fudge filled with chunks of custard creams. You’ll be reaching for piece after piece of this scrummy fudge!

Originally posted in May 2014, recipe and photographs updated August 2019.

As mentioned above, today on the blog I have a recipe update to share. It’s seriously delicious, requires five ingredients and will be gone in a flash!

I previously shared this recipe five years ago and as I was making this fudge again last weekend and I thought I’d update the recipe and photos from the original blog post.

Several months ago I made this Bourbon Biscuit Fudge and that reminded me of this recipe I created when I’d just started food blogging – it’s such a long time ago now! I always find it nice to go back, update and remake older recipes because often as a food blogger you’re having so much fun creating new content that you tend to overlook older, much-loved bakes that are deserving of a makeover.

My custard cream fudge has proved popular with readers making and enjoying it, also on one occasion my auntie took some of this along to a charity bake sale and it sold out almost immediately!

Not to sound bigheaded, but I think that tells you how good this fudge recipe is!

My sister, Becky, modelling this yummy custard cream fudge. The best sweetshop vanilla fudge with chunks of crunchy biscuits throughout!

I use a brilliant clotted cream fudge recipe from Rodda’s and add chopped custard creams. For anyone overseas or who might not know what custard creams are, they’re basically two plain biscuits sandwiched together with a vanilla custard-flavoured buttercream filling.

Trust me, once you’ve tasted a custard cream there’s no doubt about it you’ll be hooked on them! Along with bourbon cream biscuits, digestives, gingernuts and jammy dodgers, custard creams too are one of us Britons favourite biscuits for dunking into tea.

The crunch from the vanilla flavoured biscuits contrasts wonderfully with the rich decadent clotted cream fudge. The reason I love this fudge recipe is because it tastes almost exactly like handmade fudge from a traditional sweetshop, but better because it’ll be made in your own kitchen!

(Makes approx. 40 pieces)

Ingredients:

275g caster sugar

1 x 227g tub Cornish clotted cream

100g golden syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

200g custard creams, chopped

Method:

Line a 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20cm) square tin with parchment paper and set aside.
Place all the ingredients (except the custard creams) in a large saucepan. Heat gently and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
Turn the heat up and the bring the mixture up to the boil – occasionally stir the fudge to stop it catching. Allow to boil for 3-5 minutes until it’s turned a light golden colour. Then take straight off the heat – you can check the fudge is ready by using a sugar thermometer. If it has reached 116°C / 240°F then it’s ready. But if you don’t have a thermometer you can drop a small amount of the mixture into a glass of cold water and if a soft ball forms, then the fudge is ready to take off the heat.
Using a wooden spoon, continuously beat the fudge for 5-10 minutes until it is really thick and matte. Now fold in 3/4 of the chopped biscuits. Spread the fudge into the tin you prepared and lined earlier and decorate the top with the remaining chopped biscuits – press into the top to make sure they stick.
Place the fudge in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight until set. Once set, cut the fudge into pieces – this recipe makes approx. 40 pieces of fudge.
Fudge will keep in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes:

Though the recipe only requires five ingredients, the vanilla extract is optional. I love the flavour it adds, but it can be omitted.
This recipe makes roughly 40 pieces of fudge, it might make more or less depending on how big or small you cut your squares of fudge.
The fudge is best left overnight to set for it to firm up enough.
This fudge will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, please note that the biscuit on top will soften and loses it crunchiness a little the longer you keep it – however the biscuit takes on a softer more cake-like consistency, which is still very enjoyable nonetheless.

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Baking · Biscuits and Cookies · Candy and Sweets · Chocolate

M&M Cookies

June 24, 2019October 6, 2021 What Jessica Baked NextLeave a comment

Colourful, fun and delicious cookies. It’s hard to resist these perfectly crisp and chewy vanilla flavoured cookies filled with crunchy chocolate M&M’s.

I was kindly sent some products from SelfPackaging to present my bakes in. I wasn’t contracted to write a blog post and all views and opinions are my own.

There’s no sweeter way to welcome Monday and the start of a new week than serving you a plate of homemade M&M cookies! This latest cookie creation of mine is based on my Chocolate Chip Cookies, but this time I’ve swapped the chocolate chips for lots of chocolate M&M’s, which contrast perfectly with this deliciously soft and chewy cookie.

This is what your cookie dough should look like and hopefully you won’t be tempted to eat it all before baking!

There hasn’t ever been a time that I haven’t loved M&M’s (I especially like the bags with crispy, chocolate and peanut M&M’s), they’re definitely my favourite candy/sweet of all time. When I visited New York City a few years ago, I came home with a 1kg bag of chocolate M&M’s – I actually packed my suitcase full of American confectionery to enjoy when I arrived back in the UK. The downside was, because I bought so much during my trip, that my friend and I actually had to rush and buy an extra suitcase just so we were able to bring the goodies home before our plane left!

Anyway, my love of M&M’s led me to create this cookie recipe and this just might be my favourite cookie I’ve baked for my blog. I prefer my cookies to be softly baked, if you like your cookies the same way as I do then make sure to bake them until they’ve just started turning golden around the edges, but if you want your cookies crispier then just leave the cookies a few minutes longer in the oven.

With the arrival of summer, I highly recommend you serve two of these cookies sandwiched together with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – we made cookie sandwiches using these and they were amazingly yummy and I know for certain I’ll be making these all summer long.

I love making lots of tasty treats, but most the time baking for my blog leaves me with a lot of leftovers, more than the four people living in the house can eat. Because of this I often give a lot of my bakes away, sometimes to family, friends or neighbours.

I always struggle to find a container or a way I can transport my bakes to the recipient/s in an appetising way. Thankfully, SelfPackaging, a company based in Barcelona, got in contact and sent me some of their creative and eco-friendly packaging boxes and gift boxes to store and share my bakes in.

I’ve been sent many lovely products to showcase my bakes, I received boxes for cookies and macarons, a cupcake stand and large cake boxes.

I filled my beautiful pink and lilac cookie and macaron boxes with these M&M cookies. The boxes can be tied with pink bakers twine and decorated with pretty pink and white heart pendant tags and tags personalised for example with your own blog/business logo. It was a really nice surprise to receive my personalised tags with my blog logo, which was drawn by my good friend, Alice.

(Makes 15-20)

Ingredients:

150g butter (salted or unsalted), softened

80g light brown sugar

80g caster sugar

1 large free-range egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

225g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt (add a 1/4 teaspoon if using unsalted butter)

250g (2 x 125g packets) chocolate M&M’s, plus extra for decoration

Method:

Preheat oven to 190°C / 170°C Fan / 375°F / Gas Mark 5. Cream the butter, brown sugar and caster sugar together until pale and creamy.
Add the egg and the vanilla extract and beat until completely incorporated.
Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda together over the top of the mixture and gently fold in until a few specks of flour remains.
Now add the chocolate chips and fold them through until evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
Cover and chill the dough for at least 15 minutes – for this batch of cookies I chilled my dough for one hour.
Divide the cookie dough into 15-20 equally sized pieces – each piece should roughly weigh 50g and then roll the cookie dough into balls between your palms. Evenly spread on two to three large baking trays lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (leave a gap between each cookie to allow for spreading).
Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes until they’ve turned a light golden colour – watch the cookies closely as all ovens are different and you don’t want these to over bake. When the cookies come out the oven they will appear under baked, however, as they cool they will firm up as they cool.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking trays for a few minutes. As the cookies cool you can press a few extra M&M’s on the tops if desired, then gently transport the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. The cookies will store in an airtight container for up to one week, but I find they’re best eaten on the day of baking or the day after.

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