Sugar free baked chocolate cheesecake

As requested by Milla from Making Good, here is the baked chocolate cheesecake I baked for Yule. Note, my baking is very, erm 'robust' - you did indeed need a chisel to get through the pastry, I think next time I'll make a batch of shortbread and crush it up to make the base ;)

Ingredients

Pastry

• 6oz flour
• 3 1/2 oz butter
• 1 oz fructose (optional; I don't bother because we don't have a sweet tooth)
• grated zest of 1 orange
• a little water to bind

Filling

• 3 oz fructose
• 2 1/2 oz butter
• 7oz sugar free dark chocolate (we use plamil)
• 1 lb 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 eggs
  

Method

First make the base:

• Rub the flour into the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the fructose, if using and the grated rind.
• Gradually add water until you get a pastry dough.
• Knead for a moment and leave to rest.

While the pastry is resting, set the oven to 200 and make the filling:

• Melt the chocolate in a small bowl above a pan of simmering water.
• Meanwhile, cream the fructose and butter together.
• Take the melted chocolate off the heat, cool slightly and mix into the creamed butter and sugar.
• Gradually mix in the cream cheese and eggs in and stir until thoroughly combined and glossy.

Cook the pastry:

• Line a 7" loose bottom slightly greased tin with pastry - allow the edges to hang over because it will shrink.
• Bake blind for 15 minutes.
• Take the pastry out of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 180 and pour the cheesecake mix into the baked pastry case.
• Bake for 30 - 35 minutes then TURN OFF THE OVEN, LEAVE THE DOOR CLOSED and LEAVE TO COMPLETELY COOL.

Chill overnight and enjoy the following day!

You can add a topping if you like. Shall I share what DH requested?

Ok then, I topped it with sugar free black cherry jam (St Dalfour brand) and then topped that with whipped cream. It became a kind of black forest cheesecake thing - which was extremely indulgent and looked like some kind of sculpture!

Sugar free date cake

My two have been crooning over this one! I've adapted it from a recipe I found on a packet of dates. It's chocolatey, sweet, sticky and indulgent...

Ingredients

• 125g soft butter
• 1 egg
• 225g SR flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinamon
• 75 mls milk
• 125g chopped dates
  

Method

• Preheat oven to 180
• Grease a 7" round cake tin or brownie tin
• Soften the butter with the back of a fork and beat it with the egg (the original recipe called for 125g soft light brown sugar in addition to the dates and you had to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy before adding the egg, as per a usual cake recipe)
• Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and put in the prepared tin.
• Bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hours until cooked through.
  

Drop scones (scotch pancakes)

These are like scotch pancakes; yummy! DD enjoyed them stacked up with lemon juice and agave syrup, while DH liked them spread with chocolate icing. I always thought it was women who were chocoholics; but not in this house it would seem...

Drop Scones

Ingredients

• 8oz plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp fructose
• 2 small eggs
• around 1/4 pint milk

Method

• Mix all the dry ingredients together
• Beat in the 2 eggs and enough milk to make a smooth batter
• Drop tablespoons of the mix onto a hot frying pan
• When bubbles appear on the one side, flip them over and cook the other side

We decided these would benefit from some lemon rind and raisins too and they were really nice served warm with butter and strawberry jam.

This is what they look like just before you flip them over:

Sugar free Lemon fairy cakes with chocolate icing

As something a bit lighter to fudgy chocolate Birthday cake last week, I also made lemon fairy cakes and experimented with some icing. I've found it quite hard to make icing in the past without sugar in it.

I think it's safe to say I have surpassed myself this time as DH asked me four times whether I had written this down and could replicate it in the future! He seemed quite sad when he licked the final offering from the bowl!. It doesn't look the prettiest thing in the world, but then neither does anything once it hits your stomach ;)

Lemon fairy cakes with chocolate icing

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 100g fructose
• 2 large eggs
• 150g plain flour
• 72g rice or cornflour
• 17g baking powder
• grated rind of 2 lemons
• enough milk to make a dropping consistency
• For the icing: 100g soft butter
• 100g set honey
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 200g cream cheese

Method

• Cream the butter and fructose
• Add the eggs and beat well
• Add the flours, baking powder, lemon rind and mix well
• Add enough milk to make a dropping consistency
• Divide the mix into fairy cake cases - makes about 20
• Bake at 180 for 12 minutes (in my fan oven)
• Cool on a rack
• To make the icing: beat all the ingredients together and spread on the cakes

The icing can seem quite runny, but it gradually dries out and becomes firmer. If it's a hot day, put the icing in the 'fridge for a while before attempting to spread on the cakes otherwise it's more like a sauce!

Sugar free chocolate fudge cake recipe

There's been a Birthday girl in the house his week! And she requested chocolate Birthday cake. This couldn't be simpler really; it's just a Victoria sponge with cocoa powder and I made the icing from Holex sugar free chocolate as follows:
Ingredients

• For the cake: 6oz soft butter
• 4 1/2 oz fructose
• 3 beaten eggs
• 6 oz Self Raising flour
• 1 oz cocoa powder
• For the icing: 100gm bar sugar free chocolate
• 100mls double cream
• 2oz butter (optional)
  

Method

• Cream together the fructose and butter until creamy
• Whisk in the beaten eggs until you have a batter-type consistency
• Stir in the flour and cocoa powder and mix well
  
• Put into two round greased tins and bake for 22 minutes (that's in my fan oven) until risen
• Remove from oven, leave to cool for a while and turn onto a cooling rack
• Once the cake is cold make the icing:
• In a bain marie (a bowl over a pan of simmering water to me and you) melt the bar of sugar free chocolate (I find Plamil sugar free is the most successful, but didn't have any in the house so used Holex) with the double cream and add butter to stabilise it if you're worried the chocolate will separate.
• The secret is to let is SLOWLY melt; keep it over a gentle heat and be patient!
• Spread between the layers and over the top
• Make it a day or two in advance and by the time you eat it, it will be deliciously rich and fudgy.

Custard creams

One of DD's favourite shop bought biscuits is custard creams. So I tried to find a recipe to make my own. Yes the photo looks like a cake, but I promise you it's a biscuit!

I have to admit, these were really fiddly, a bit too fiddly for my liking and as DD didn't rave about them, I won't make them again.

However, you might like them and be prepared to be a little more Nigella Lawson than I, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you!

I did discover how to make butter icing using fructose, so I'm really pleased about that. The first lot I ever made never set properly; it went all oily, but this was perfect and I've since used it in a Victoria sandwich.

Sugar free custard creams (makes 12)

Ingredients

Ingredients for biscuits

• 40gms fructose
• 150gms butter
• 2 tbsp custard powder
• 165 gms flour

Ingredients for butter icing

• 80gms butter
• 60gms fructose - powdered in a blender
• 2 tbsp custard powder
  

Method

• Make the biscuit dough first:
  Cream together the butter and fructose until blended and soft
• Add the custard powder and flour and mix into a dough
• Roll out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 24 identical shapes
  
• Bake at 170 for 15 minutes until golden

Make the icing sugar

• Soften the butter with a fork
• Blend the fructose in a blender or mortar and pestle until fine - it won't get as fine as icing sugar, but make it as fine as you can.
• Add the custard powder and mix everything together with a fork until blended and with a 'butter icing' consistency.

Once the biscuits are completely cooled, spread with icing sugar and sandwich them together to make 12 biscuits. The biscuits are pretty crumbly so you need to be gentle! I also found there was too much icing, so you might have some left over.