No-bake Vegan Mango and Passionfruit Cheesecake

This cheesecake is everything you want; a little sweet, a little tangy and whole lot of creamy. Not just delicious, this is truly the most perfect and easy no-bake mango cake recipe made with a simple biscuit base, creamy vegan cheesecake layer and passionfruit topping. This cake can also be serve half frozen and it will give you a taste of an exotic ice cream

Ingredients:

Cookie Crust:

• 200g vegan butter cookies
• 110g vegan  butter, melted

Mango Cheesecake layer:

• 250g mango, peeled and core removed
• 250g non-dairy cream cheese or tofu
• 75g sugar
• 200ml non-dairy whipping cream
• 80ml full-fat coconut milk
• 1.5tsp agar agar*

Passionfruit sauce:

• 2 tsp corn flour dissolved in 5 tbsp water
• 4 passionfruits pulp

Method:

Cookie Crust: Line a bottom of an 8 inch springform pan with baking paper. Add cookies into a food processor and crush until finely ground. Transfer cookie crumbs to a bowl, pour in melted butter and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the mixture onto the bottom of your prepared pan. Refrigerate or freeze for at least 15 minutes to firm up while you make the cheesecake filling.

Mango Cheesecake: Place the mango, vegan cream cheese and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. 

In a mixing bowl, whip up the cold non-dairy whipping cream with an electric hand mixer, until fluffy and stiff peaks form.

In a small saucepan, stir the agar agar into the non-dairy milk. Bring to boil and cook for about 2 minutes or according to the package instructions. Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the mango cream mixture to cool slightly.

Now gently fold in the remaining mango cream into the agar agar mixture, then fold in the whipped cream. Stir just until well combined. Then immediately fill the mixture onto the cookie crust, smoothing out evenly. Refrigerate for 4 hours at least or better overnight to firm up.

Passionfruit sauce: Stir the cornstarch into the water in a cup. Transfer to a small saucepan along with the passionfruit pulp and sugar as needed. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Set aside to cool slightly.

When the mango cheesecake is set and firm enough, gently cut around the cheesecake edges with a sharp knife, then remove the cake from the pan. Pour the passionfruit sauce over the cheesecake and garnish with summer fruits or any toppings you like and serve chilled.

                                                    Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake

Mmmmm, so you know how some things are best eaten straight out of the oven, standing at the kitchen counter with a fork poking into the still-too-hot-it's-burning-your-mouth cake? But you don't care because it is just so delicious that if you don't seize this moment you may very well regret it? Or is that just me?

This cake is uber moist and spongy. The crunchy topping is sugary sweet to the max, a perfect contrast to the fruity sweetness of the cake's little bits of chewy apple delight. We enjoyed this cake for dessert and also breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Ingredients: 

• 1½ cups brown sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk*
• 1 tsp baking bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 1½ cups chopped apple 
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp melted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Grease 9x13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, oil, egg and buttermilk. Then stir in baking bicarbonate soda and vanilla extract. Lastly, mix in the flour and apples. Pour the batter into the prepare pan.

In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and butter, mixing gently with a fork. Spread it evenly over the batter. It will not fully cover the batter, but it will bake up fine.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm at room temperature.

Note: If using homemade buttermilk, take out 1 tbsp milk and replace with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Stir to mix well and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until curdle.

Piñata Cake

The piñata cake is named after the Mexican party centrepieces made from papier mache and filled with gifts, has a hollow centre which is used to hold your favourite sweets.

This pretty piñata cake is fantastic for a birthday or a special occasions. It's filled with skittles and smarties.....

For this cake, you will need 4x20cm.8inch sandwich cake tins, large star nozzle to make the swirls that sit on top and a 8-9cm round cutter

Ingredients:

• 400g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the tins
• 400g caster sugar
• 8 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp vanilla extract
• 400g self raising flour
• multi-coloured sprinkles for decoration
• smarties and skittles to fill the hole

For buttercream:

• 165g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 750g icing sugar
• 90ml milk
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• orange gel food colouring

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven. Grease 4x20cm/8inch sandwich cake tins and line the bottoms with greaseproof paper.

To make the sponge: Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or with a handheld electric whisk on a high speed until pale and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the eggs bit by bit, mixing on high speed after each addition. Add the vanilla then half of the flour mixture. Mix until combined, then add the rest of the flour and mix until you have a smooth cake batter. 

Divide the cake batter between the 4 cake tins, filling each tin up to a three-quarters full. Bake for 30-35 minutes, turning after 20 minutes so they colour evenly. Once baked, cool the cakes on a wire rack. Chilling the cakes will make them sturdier to work with.

To make the buttercream: Beat the butter, icing sugar, milk and vanilla extract together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the orange gel colouring to the buttercream until the desired shade is achieved.

Remove the cake from the fridge and trim the domes off so they are flat. Using a 8-9cm round pastry cutter, cut out the centre from two of the cakes. The holes need to be in the same place on each cake to create the cavity which will be filled with smarties and skittles. 

Put a dab of the orange buttercream on a cake board and place one of the sponges on top. Spread a 1cm thick layer of buttercream on the top of the sponge. Place the next sponge with a hole on top and repeat this process with the buttercream. Continue stacking the cake in the same way and a cavity in the centre. Fill the cavity with smarties and skittles and place the final layer of the cake on top. Ensure the sides are straight and the top is flat.

Crumb coat the cake by spreading a thin layer of the buttercream all over the sides and top of the cake, using a large palette knife. The whole cake should be covered in a thin, even layer, but it doesn't need to be perfect at this stage. Chill the cake for 15-20 minutes. This will help to seal on the crumbs and make the top coat of icing easier to apply.

When ready, decorate the cake by spreading the rest of the buttercream all over the cake in a smooth even layer, using a cake smoother or a large pallet knife to get it really smooth. Don't worry too much about the top as it will be covered with swirls of orange buttercream and multi coloured sprinkles later. Arrange the sprinkles around the bottom of the sides of the cake, to come about a quarter way up the sides. Chill for about 30 minutes to set the buttercream.

Add a few drop of the orange gel to the remaining buttercream to make the swirls a deeper colour orange. Place the deeper orange buttercream into a large piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Pipe swirls of orange buttercream over the top of the cake. Decorate the top with the multi coloured sprinkles on the centre of the cake.

Cantonese Beef "Chow Fun" Noodles

Succulent beef slices stir-fried with soft springy rice noodles then seasoned with soy sauce, beef chow fun is a classic Cantonese delicacy not to be miss.

A classic Cantonese Beef Chow Fun Noodles recipe aka Gon Chow Ngo Ho is made fresh flat ho fun rice noodles and tender flavourful beef slices that is simple and quick to throw together so you can enjoy this any day of the week!

Ingredients:

• 300g thinly sliced steak, try to use tender cut eg; sirloin, striploin, ribeye or rump
• 500 fresh rice noodles/dried flat noodles
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion sliced
• 100g beans sprouts
• 6 spring onions, cut into 2" long

Marinate:

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing cooking wine/sherry
• ½ tsp baking powder

Stir-fry sauce:

• ½ cup beef stock
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Chinese wine
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tsp water

Method:

Combine the beef and the marinate ingredients in a large bowl for 10-15 minutes to work its magic. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Combine the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce in a bowl. Set aside for later.

If using dried flat noodles, soak the noodles until soft, then drain to dry.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the onion and stir-fry for a couple of seconds. Then add the beef and spread the pieces out in the pan. Leave them to brown on the first side for half a minute or so. Then toss and stir-fry and repeat until the beef is starting to char and is almost cooked. Then add the noodles and the stir-fry sauce. Stir-fry for about a minute or until the sauce has thickened and the noodles are glossy. Toss through the spring onions and beans sprouts and the hor fun is ready to serve