Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  In my last post I promised to tell you about my attempts to make some treats in the form of Easter egg cheesecakes!  I came across this idea a week or so ago on a The Londoner and decided to give them a go myself.  Of course Easter wouldn't be complete without a chocolate rabbit (thanks to my family - missing you lots) and hot cross buns which D kindly bought for us from my favourite Cambridge cafe Afternoon Tease (read my review here).

Chocolate egg cheesecakes and hot cross buns
My Easter bunny with his Easter treats
I bought a pack of hollow eggs from M&S, originally designed to be used in an Easter egg hunt, these eggs are a perfect size for the cheesecakes - any larger and they would be too rich and sweet to finish.  The recipe recommends using 6 eggs but I found that there was probably enough mixture left over for around 4 more.  Unfortunately I didn't have any extra eggs (owing to a couple of mishaps when removing the tops) so decided to simply put the rest of the mixture into a couple of ramekins I happened to have.

The accidentally broken chocolate eggs
Oops!
Although not essential I would advise using an electric mixer for this recipe as you will need to whip 150ml whipping cream until it forms soft peaks - you really would need a lot of strength and patience to do this by hand!  Next mix 150g cream cheese with 30g icing sugar, the juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  Combine with the whipped cream and set aside.

There are two ways to cut the tops off your eggs.  If you want them to look a little more authentic then you can do what I did which is carefully crack the top off with a sharp knife to leave a ragged edge.  If you prefer to play things a little safer then run the knife under warm water first and evenly slice the top off.

Use a teaspoon/the end of a spoon to fill your hollow eggs with the cream cheese mixture, then place them in the fridge while you make the yolk.  If you don't have egg cups then just use the carton the eggs came in to keep them upright.

Passion fruit and chocolate - yum!
Squeeze the juice and pips of 1 passion fruits into a bowl, then sieve into a saucepan, getting as much juice out as possible.  Add a tsp of apricot jam and 1tsp butter (about 15g) and melt over a low heat, stirring to combine.

Once melted remove the eggs from the fridge, use the end of a spoon to make a small well in the centre of each egg and pour a little of the passion fruit mixture into each.  Return to the fridge for at least 15 minutes before eating.

The cheesecake mixture and passion fruit yolks in the chocolate eggs
Not your usual box of eggs
Since I had quite a lot of chocolate debris (remember the Easter egg mishaps I mentioned earlier?) I crushed up the leftover chocolate and sprinkled it over the cheesecakes in the ramekins and added a few mini eggs to make them look like nests.

Cheesecake nests
These were great fun to make (if a little fiddly) and are a lovely Easter treat.  I can especially recommend these if you tend to find Cadbury's cream eggs too sweet as the lemon and passionfruit cut through the sweetness of the chocolate slightly to provide a nice balance.  Enjoy the rest of the holiday!

6 comments:

  1. Ooooooooooooooooooooowwwee it looks so tasty my mouth is watering. I loved what you done with the chocolates,so creative

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    1. Thanks Lessette! I'm relatively new to blogging but I'm starting to try and stage my photos a little more but it's tricky as the lights in my room are quite dim which really isn't ideal for taking photos!

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  2. What a clever idea!

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  3. These look absolutely amazing, I want one, right now! I love how you used up the extra too, great improvisation!
    Thank you for linking up at #FunFoodFriday!

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    1. Thanks for the comment Grace, I'm glad you like the look of them. I was thinking that you could make them even better (and more appropriate for summer) by making them in hulled-out fruit (I imagine coconuts and kiwis would work - or even the pomegranate shells)!

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