It's a Rocky Road to Chocolate Nirvana Cheesecake cupcakes

After the success of my rock your socks off rocky road cheesecake the other day I decided to go all out and make them even more decedant.

So I added more chocolate to make the actual cheesecakes chocolate. Now they have the chocolatey Oreo base, a creamy chocolate cheesecake and the super yummy chocolate rocky road surprise inside and sprinkled on top.

Remember when your cooking to use a good quality chocolate that you would be happy to eat, cause you know, your gonna be eating it. The taste of the chocolate I used really came through in the finished cheesecake.

As I mentioned the last time you can buy your Rocky Road already made up from a shop or make up your own. I have included a recipe below but if you don't like turkish delight just chop up your favorite candy bar and add it instead.

The recipe is pretty much the same as the one I posted the other day with just the extra chocolate added in - I know - but it really was THAT good that I had to share it in it's entirety. Well I thought so anyway. Plus I took some new photo's as well.

Rocky Road to Chocolate Nirvana Cheesecake

Rocky Road (keep in an airtight container up to 2 weeks)

300g (10oz) milk chocolate melted (I melt mine in the microwave at med-low heat bursts of 60-90 seconds, do not be tempted to heat higher or the chocolate may burn)
150g (5oz) marshmallow (I use pascals brand and chopped into quarters with scissors)
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2 bars Turkish Delight (55g each) or favorite chocolate bar chopped into small pieces (3.5 to 4oz)
1/3 cup nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and spoon onto a tray covered with parchment paper or tin foil. Press down until a couple of cm (or 3/4inch) high and leave to set. Once set cut into small pieces.

Cheesecake - makes 14 large mini cupcakes or around 20 - 24 regular cupcakes
14 Oreo cookies (or up to 24 if making smaller cupcake size cheesecakes)
625g (21oz) cream cheese at room temperature
1 tin condensed milk
3 eggs at room temperature
200g (7oz) dark chocolate melted and cooled
14 large muffin papers (I bought these ones from woolies in the baking section they come in a brown box)

Preheat oven to 140C.

Line the muffin tins with the muffin/cupcake papers. Place one single oreo in the bottom of each paper. Put a piece of rocky road into each paper on top of the Oreo cookie.

Beat the cream cheese using a mixer at medium speed until just smooth, add the condensed milk and mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined.

Add the cooled dark chocolate and continue to mix at low speed until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin papers dividing mixture evenly between the papers. If you are using large ones like I did the mixture should make 12, if you only have smaller cupcake cases do not overfill the cases as the mixture will rise a little during baking, make them around 3/4 full.

Bake until the mixture is just setting in the center, around 16- 20 mins for the larger size muffin cupcake, check after 14mins if you are making smaller sized cakes.

Allow to cool in the trays for 10-15min and then pop in an airtight container in the fridge until chilled.

Serve topped with extra Rocky Road.

Keep in airtight container up to 3 days in fridge.

Oh and if you like cheesecake like I like cheesecake, I have a recipe for cheese-cake pops in my book which is due for release in just over a month. Yum!

Double Trouble Witch brew cauldron cake pops for Halloween

Double Double toil and Trouble,
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble......

I brewed up some witchy cauldron cake pops today for the kids in readiness for Halloween.

I know some of you have trouble dipping the pops and getting a smooth finish so these ones are specially for you. Its the upside down method which is really easy and the chocolate pooling makes its own little cauldron shape. How great is that!

Double Trouble Witch Brew Cauldron Cake Pops

Make up a batch of cake balls (these ones are white tim tam cookie truffles coloured with green gel food colour) there is green velvet cake pop version in my cook book coming out in just over a month.

Melt up a bag of dark chocolate chocolate melts/ candy coating (or black melts if you want). Mix in quite a bit of copha or paramount crystals - now is not the time to be delicate you need a stack - look at the picture about a ratio of 1:7 for the wilton brand to give an example (1 being the copha and 7 being the chocolate/candy melts)

I melt my chocolate in the microwave on medium low, medium is too hot and high is way too hot. If you heat your chocolate at too high a temperature it will burn and not be salvageable for dipping .Remember medium/low for short bursts of 60 to 90 seconds.

Grab a bunch of lollipop sticks. Holding one end of the stick dip the other end into the melted chocolate/candy coating and insert it into the cake ball so the stick is upright like the picture. Pop into the fridge to chill for 10 minutes or so until the sticks are secure.

Make sure the chocolate/candy coating is still melted. Holding the end of the stick dip the whole cake ball into the melted chocolate/candy coating lift it to allow a little to fall off so the edges are smooth and round and then push just the top back into the chocolate/candy coating and quickly put the pop with the stick still upright onto parchment paper lined tray.

Continue with the remaining pops and when you are finished carefully peel off the paper to leave the cauldron shaped pops.

Then using the back of a spoon or a knife, spread on a little bit more melted chocolate/candy coating onto the top/flat section of the cake pop and sprinkle wonka nerds onto the still wet chocolate/candy coating.

 I used green as it seemed witchy, but you could use purple, orange or any colour you like.

Allow to set (no cooling with baboon's blood required) and then the pop will be firm and good.....

I used this easy upside down technique to make some other super easy and cute pops in my kids cook book.  If you looking for lots of fun kid friendly recipes here is the link to my book:


Book Depository: Sweets on a Stick

Fishpond: Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Rock your socks off - Rocky Road and Oreo Mini Cheesecakes

I was feeling a bit peckish the other day. I had decorated cookies sitting around but just didn't feel like something that sweet.

I knew in a few days I'd be baking up batches of macarons and cake pops for the local school fete so I didn't really want to go there.

I wanted something creamy, chocolatey, with a little bit of crunch and a lot of flavor, so I created these easy cheesecakes with Oreo's as the base and Rocky Road for a bit of a flavour hit.

I made them cupcakes sized, cause it feels so wrong to make a whole cheesecake to eat yourself, but if your just having a couple of cupcakes a day that's ok.

Well that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Yup this was my lunch, apparently from my research (on Facebook) that's  perfectly acceptable

You can buy your Rocky Road already made up from a shop but I've included the recipe I use cause it's pretty easy and then I can make it like I want. Remember it's rocky road not rocket science. Pretty much just mix in what you want to the chocolate, as long as you kinda stick to the same amounts it should work. I left out the nuts so the kids could eat it easily.

Apparently if your in the US chances are you don't like turkish delight (rose)- Is that for real? My editor made me take anything Turkish Delight out of my book. Anyway just replace it with any type of candy bar you like chopped up and it should taste just as delicious. Like I said not rocket science.

Rock your socks off Cheesecake

Rocky Road (keep in an airtight container up to 2 weeks)

300g (10oz) milk chocolate melted (I melt mine in the microwave at med-low heat bursts of 60-90 seconds, do not be tempted to heat higher or the chocolate may burn)
150g (5oz) marshmallow (I use pascals brand and chopped into quarters with scissors)
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2 bars Turkish Delight (55g each) or favorite chocolate bar chopped into small pieces (3.5 to 4oz)
1/3 cup nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and spoon onto a tray covered with parchment paper or tin foil. Press down until a couple of cm (or 3/4inch) high and leave to set. Once set cut into small pieces.

Cheesecake - makes 12 large mini cupcakes or around 20 - 24 regular cupcakes
12 Oreo cookies (or up to 24 if making smaller cupcake size cheesecakes)
625g (21oz) cream cheese at room temperature
1 tin condensed milk
3 eggs at room temperature
12 large muffin papers (I bought these ones from woolies)

Preheat oven to 140C.

Line the muffin tins with the muffin/cupcake papers. Place one single oreo in the bottom of each paper. Put a piece of rocky road into each paper on top of the Oreo cookie.

Beat the cream cheese using a mixer at medium speed until just smooth, add the condensed milk and mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin papers dividing mixture evenly between the papers. If you are using large ones like I did the mixture should make 12, if you only have smaller cupcake cases do not overfill the cases as the mixture will rise a little during baking, make them around 3/4 full.

Bake until the mixture is just setting in the center, around 16- 20 mins for the larger size muffin cupcake, check after 14mins if you are making smaller sized cakes.

Allow to cool in the trays for 10-15min and then pop in an airtight container in the fridge until chilled.

Serve topped with extra Rocky Road.

Keep in airtight container up to 3 days in fridge.

Here is the link to my book on Amazon, I saw on the publishers site it's due to ship out from there on the 30th of November so it's like only just over a month until it's released. Yay!