Whites, Walnuts and White Chocolate - One Pot Brownies

My partner sometimes works weekends. It is an unspoken rule that you bring a plate with you when you are rostered on a Saturday.

So, as the only way I can contribute to their climb of the career ladder is through sweet morsels, I sent them off to work with a tin of freshly baked brownies.

This recipe uses egg-whites only, which results in a super light, but rich brownie.

I use Callebaut Chocolate, both dark and white, in most of my baking. I have found a great supplier ago now have a big jar in my kitchen that I have to convince myself not to raid all the time.

A tip of using walnuts: I store mine in the freezer. This stops them from going rancid and makes them very easy to chop.

I knew these were a hit when I got a phone call saying that the boss had called my partner into their office. They wanted the recipe and here it is!

Baked Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coconut Custard

My friend Rachel, who I work with, can't have gluten or dairy, but she deserves a birthday cake as much as any other 23 year old, right?

Fortunately, I've got dairy free baking under control, thanks to my vegan past. I know that you can make delicious, tender, moist cakes without animal products.

However, I am still nervous about gluten free baking. I took the easy way out with this cake and created a baked chocolate mousse, a flourless base which I put a raspberry topping on.

On purpose, this cake is not overly sweet. On top of this, the absence of flour makes it quite light in. This makes it perfect for an on-the-go afternoon tea, perfect for a couple of working gals on a shop floor.

Like always, I recommend using free range eggs for an ethical and quality product. Don't throw away those egg whites either, aged egg whites are perfect for macarons or dacquoise (can anybody say foreshadowing?)

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate Mousse and Cacao Nibs - Phoebe's 23rd Birthday Cake

This cake answered a lot of questions for me.

One: I now have a fail-safe chocolate mousse recipe that I know can survive a night in the fridge without losing any textural goodness.

Two: I am one step closer to replacing all gelatine in baking with non-animal ingredients.

Three: Continental cheesecake, where have you been all my life.


Phoebe is my housemate, which is a very special relationship indeed. She's a sweetheart and is always excited to try anything I've made. She can turn it out herself, banana muffins, chocolate mousse cake and pancakes erry day.

Her birthday involved me shotting a lot of Fireball whiskey, and coming home drunk to this cake in the fridge was luxurious.

Honey Cheesecake with Honey Crackle Base - Claudia's 22nd Birthday Cake

Sweet, salty, buttery goodness

Claudia is a friend of mine.

She has three stand out characteristics.

One, she has a fiercely romantic relationship with a whole squadron of fictional an historical creations, not the least of which is the Harry Potter books.

Two, she is a babe. I don't normally comment on my friends appearances because of the incredibly crushing stigma placed on women by the patriarchy; that their worth is based on their physical appearance. But she's a model so it's okay, right? Conflict is conflicting.

Three, she loves honey crackles.

Instead of making her a batch (which I think I have done for her last like five birthdays), I wanted to combine two of her loves. Her first; honey crackles. The other; cheesecake.

The base is straight off the box honey crackle recipe. The topping is a white chocolate ganache, with a condensed milk fudge covering, sprinkled with more honey crackles.

This may not be the prettiest cake I have ever made, but my gosh, was it delicious.

I had fears about the cheesecake recipe, which I adapted from Steph's (of raspberricupcakes.com, one of the BEST baking blogs of all time) maple and blueberry cheesecake. I was worried that the honey wouldn't be sweet enough, or would somehow react in the oven and become bitter or savoury (it happens!). But, boy, was I wrong. The cup of honey which I eventually ended up using added the perfect amount of flavour and sweetness to the finished product.

Steph's recipe is amazing. It produces a light and fluffy, but totally more-ish cheesecake.

This is how it starts

Hello,

My name is Meredith and I like to bake.

That's not as catchy as the line out of Kill Bill, but hell, it'll do.

This is going to be a blog where I post recipes I love, both ones I have put together and others I am road testing.

Well, if that isn't your run-of-the-mill first blog post, I don't know what is.

Have a cocoa-y, flour-y day,

Meredith