Valentine’s Day New York Baked Cheesecake

Now that we’re stuck at home this Valentine’s Day, let’s make the absolute best of it and create a restaurant quality (EASY!) dessert ourselves!

Siúcra has teamed up once again with foodie and parenting influencer, Lili Forberg to whip up an incredible New York Baked Cheesecake with butterscotch sauce using some staple ingredients.

Show someone special just how much they mean with a sweet treat this Valentine’s Day.

Ingredients:

For the base:

100g butter

200g digestive biscuits

2 tbsp Siúcra Light Golden-Brown Sugar

For the cheesecake:

800g full fat cream cheese

200g Siúcra Light Golden-Brown Sugar

3 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 free range eggs

200g sour cream

For the Butterscotch sauce:

100g Siúcra Caster Sugar

50g butter (salted or unsalted)

100ml cream

Method

1) For the base- crumb the biscuits and add the Siúcra Light Golden-Brown Sugar and melted butter and mix together.

2) Press into a 9” (22 cm) lined spring form baking tin and bake for ten minutes on 220°.

3) Whisk the cream cheese in a mixing bowl, add the Siúcra Light Golden-Brown Sugar and whisk until smooth.

4) Add the flour, lemon juice and vanilla and gradually add the eggs and whisk.

5) Stir in the sour cream and pour the mixture into the baking tin.

6) Try to get rid of any air bubbles by gently tapping the tin on the counter a few times. Doing this will bring the bubbles to the surface and level out the top of your cake too.

7) Bake on 220° for 10 minutes. Reduce to 110° and bake for a further 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the closed oven. Once cooled, stick into the fridge to set.

For the butterscotch sauce

1) Add Siúcra Caster Sugar to a pot and heat until melted. Then, add the butter and cream.

3) Stir until it forms into a sauce, don’t worry if there are lumps, they will solve when heated.

4) Remove from the stove and cool a little before drizzling over the baked cheesecake. You can also drizzle some melted chocolate.

Pancake Tuesday Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes 

It’s time to get Pancake Tuesday ready thanks to Siúcra and Lili Forberg, who have created the fluffiest American style buttermilk pancakes served with banana and chocolate chips.

Better than any restaurant brunch, it’s amazing what you can create with just a few simple ingredients from the cupboard. Don’t forget to sprinkle some Siúcra Icing Sugar to give them that finishing touch.

Ingredients

350g or 2.5 cups plain flour

2 tbsp Siúcra Caster Sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

650ml or 2 1/2 cups buttermilk

50g or 1/4 cup Unsalted butter

2 eggs separated

1 tsp vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

Method

1) Add and mix the plain flour, Siúcra Caster Sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

2) Pour in the Buttermilk and melted butter.

3) Separate the eggs and add the yolks only (keep the whites for the end).

4) Mix the ingredients together with a spatula, until all the ingredients are blended, but don’t over mix as it will stop your pancakes from being fluffy. It’s fine if there are little lumps. They’re good!

5) Add the egg whites, these are added separately to make the pancakes extra fluffy.

6) Add the vanilla and gently stir the mixture.

7) If you have time let the mixture rest for up to 10 mins to allow the raising agents to get working.

8) Heat a pan to a medium heat and melt some butter onto it.

9) Use a 1/3 cup measure to ladle some mixture onto the middle of the pan.

10) When the pancake starts to bubble on the top it is time to flip it over.

11) Cook until the bottom of the pancake is also golden brown and then remove from the pan.

12) Top with all your favorite toppings and don’t forget to sprinkle Siúcra icing sugar on top to give it that finishing touch.