Extravagant White Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

I've only made cheesecake once before and that was a lemon and blueberry flavour years ago which don't get me wrong was delicious but it didn't have that proper creamy texture that you want from a cheesecake. Since then I've made many cakes, some firm favourites which still seem to be popular are my school sponge cake and Easter chocolate cake and I've also gone a little crazy with brownies sharing everything from Bourbon Biscuit to After Eights and many more in between. A baker who seems to be a pro at pretty much everything is Jane from Jane's Patisserie on Instagram and it was her that inspired me to give cheesecake another go. She has many recipes for this popular dessert on her website but the one that stood out to me was the Milkybar cheesecake. Who doesn't love white chocolate? I changed a few little things when making my own white chocolate cheesecake & I didn't use strictly Milkybar throughout so I thought I'd share my version, though really it is very similar to hers and I wanted to give credit. Anyway, let's get started!

Ingredients: Base

300g digestives

150g butter or baking spread

Ingredients: Cheesecake filling

300g Milkybar chocolate

500g cream cheese

75g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

270ml double cream

Ingredients: Decoration

150ml double cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

50g white chocolate melted

White chocolate buttons

Method:

1. The first thing you want to do is make your base. To do this, blitz up your digestive biscuits until they're mainly crumbs. You could do this in a food processor or just in a bowl or sandwich bag, smashing with a rolling pin

2. Melt your butter/spread and mix into your broken up biscuits

3. Press the mixture down into a Springform cake tin. Leave to harden in the fridge or freezer whilst you make your filling

4. For your filling, melt your 300g of Milkybar either in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. When melted, set aside to cool slightly

5. Add your cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla to a bowl and whisk until smooth

6. Add your melted Milkybar to this and stir until it's all combined

7. Add in your double cream and whisk until the mixture has thickened 

8. Pour your mixture over the digestive base, as evenly as possible and leave to set overnight if possible, though 6-7 hours should be fine

9. When your cheesecake has set, preferably the next day, you can remove from the tin and decorate. For this, just melt 50g of white chocolate and drizzle over the top of the cheesecake

10. Next, whisk your remaining double cream and icing sugar until thick and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe swirls around the edge of the cheesecake then top with your white chocolate buttons!

Whilst like any cheesecake would, this requires some time and effort, but it's absolutely worth it. It is uber sweet because of the Milkybar but just such a delicious flavour. I found cutting this into smaller slices was perfect meaning really the whole thing could serve about 16 people but of course you could use smaller tins or ramekins to make mini cheesecakes instead. This will last 3-4 days too so you have plenty of time to enjoy it!

What flavour cheesecake is your fave?

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My 2020 Reading Challenge - Update #2

*Books marked * were sent either via Netgalley to review or as a PR sample but all views my own
It's time for my second reading challenge update of the year! It really doesn't feel like that long ago I shared my first update but as I've read quite a few books since then, if I left this post any longer, it would go on for ages! In case you haven't seen these posts of mine before, each year I set myself a reading challenge on Goodreads and throughout the year I share several updates, giving mini reviews on each book. This year I'm aiming for 100 books and I'm currently at number 38, according to Goodreads I'm a little behind schedule if I want to hit my target but I go through phases where I've constantly got my head stuck in a book and others where I don't pick one up for weeks. Anyone else like that? Anyway I better get started because there's a lot of books I want to talk about!

Precious You by Helen Monks Takhar* - ⭐⭐

I'm usually always a fan of a thriller type novel but Precious You just didn't do it for me. It started off really well and I got Killing Eve vibes from it which is never a bad thing but overall I found it a little dull. A great premise but I really struggled to get through it.

The Librarian Of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe - ⭐⭐⭐

I've read a few books centered around Aushwitz now, it's a topic I'm genuinely really interested in so I was really happy to receive this at Christmas. Overall I did enjoy this (not sure enjoy is the right word to use for a topic like this but I'll go with it) but I did struggle with it more than I expected to. I'm not even particularly sure why, I just didn't connect with it in the way I did books like People Like Us and The Tattooist Of Auschwitz.

The House Guest by Mark Edwards* - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I can't help but love every book from Mark Edwards! He has become one of my favourite thriller authors and I always look forward to a new release from him. The House Guest, like many of his other books blew me away. Whilst a little different to the books I've read of Mark's before, it was still absolutely brilliant. Well paced, tense and just enough twists and turns.

The Apartment by K.L. Slater* - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What an amazing book! It had to be 5 stars. A page turner from the very beginning. Just enough twists and plenty of characters I was never sure whether to trust or not. I've got another of K.L. Slater's books waiting for me on my kindle so I can't wait to get stuck into that.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was just utterly incredible. Only recently has a book topped it, otherwise I could have genuinely seen it as been my top book of 2020, though I have no doubt it will be at least in my top 5 books of the year. It is the perfect thriller. So smart and sophisticated and full of suspense. It still baffles me now when I think about it and I just want everyone to read it so we can all talk about it! LOVED IT.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NG - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book completely took me by surprise. I found it started off a little slow and though I was determined to push through, I didn't think it would become a favourite of mine, but about a quarter of the way through it's like something switched. I felt it really stepped up a gear and I found myself desperate to pick it up again each time I put it down. With issues of gender and race throughout, it was something so unique to everything else I had already read. I've heard it's been adapted into a film so I'll be seeing that as soon as it's out.

Aria's Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin* - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just love books about books. I adore when I find characters that I can relate to in my love for books and Aria was just lovely. In fact, the book was full of likeable characters and just such a beautiful, light-hearted plot.

The Chocolate Lovers' Club by Carole Matthews - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I tend to really enjoy anything by Carole Matthews and she has so many books so I'm trying to work my way through them all! The Chocolate Lovers' Club was nice and light-hearted though it does touch on more serious subjects throughout and I found myself really getting invested in each and every character. There are 3 more books in this series so I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It had been a while since I'd read anything by Paige Toon so when we first went into lockdown and she announced she was reducing all of her e-books down to 99p, I grabbed the one's I'd not already read. What a kind thing to do! She's always been one of my favourite authors but that made me love her even more. The Longest Holiday ended up being one of the best books I've read this year. Paige just knows exactly how to hit you right in the feels. It just had everything you could hope for in a romance.

The Vow by Debbie Howells* - ⭐⭐⭐

On the whole, I did enjoy The Vow. It grabbed my attention right from the start and I was really intrigued with where it was going to go and if the characters really were who they said they were. I found Debbie's writing style really comfortable and it easy to just keep going and going with it. Unfortunately I did find there was just something missing. I found it quite easy to guess how it was going to go so just a little too predictable for me in the end.

Lucy In The Sky by Paige Toon - ⭐⭐⭐

Another from Paige Toon and whilst I did really enjoy it, it wasn't quite on the same level as The Longest Holiday. I think maybe the fact I'd read that so recently and had rated it so high meant Lucy In The Sky just had a lot to live upto! I didn't relate to Lucy quite so much but it still had so many parts that made me smile and I'm really glad it's another I can add to my collection.

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce - ⭐⭐⭐

I can't even say how many times I've seen this book mentioned online over the last few months! It seems to have been everywhere and I just couldn't resist reading it for myself any longer. Unfortunately whilst it had some thrilling moments, I was a little disappointed. I just didn't like any of the characters so it was hard to root for anyone and really get invested in the story.

Normal People by Sally Rooney - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If I could just blog about this book from now on, I would. God, I can't stop thinking about it! I've already reviewed it and mentioned it in my recent favourites but I seriously can't get over it. I completely fell in love with Marianne and Connell's relationship and I don't think I've ever wanted it to work out so much for two characters in a book before. Perfect in every way.

The Little Bookshop Of Love Stories by Jaimie Admans* - ⭐⭐⭐

I actually reviewed this recently so you can find that here if you want to know my full thoughts but in short, it was a lovely read. It was so easy to picture the setting and I fell in love with the bookshop. I also couldn't help but root for Hallie and Dimitri and I loved their journey from a friendship to a relationship.

Half A World Away by Mike Gayle - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Well, I expected this book to be emotional but Jesus, I couldn't see at the end! Kerry and Noah, two siblings are separated in care when they're young and it's only when Kerry hires a private investigator many years later that they find each other again and their lives couldn't be more different. It was always going to be a heartwrenching read but I never expected it to go down the path it did. It broke my heart, yet it was also uplifting too. This is a book I urge everyone to read.

Just Like The Other Girls by Claire Douglas* -⭐⭐⭐⭐

Claire Douglas does it again! I've loved all of her previous books so it's probably no wonder I loved this too but she just always gets it right. This was so cleverly written and all of the characters seemed so well thought out, I genuinely felt like they were all real. There's a shocker of a moment halfway through which kept me gripped to the end and whilst I did feel the ending didn't quite pack the punch some previous thrillers of Claire's have, it was still brilliant. Already looking forward to reading more from Claire again in future!

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena - ⭐⭐⭐

I had really high hopes for this but it just fell a little flat for me. I love the premise of a group of people staying in a swish hotel, murders start almost instantly and no one knows the culprit is but I didn't find it was particularly tense. It had moments of suspense and it wasn't until the end I figured out who might be the murderer but I just wanted more. I don't feel it ever really got going until it was too late.

So that wraps up my second update for my 2020 reading challenge! How are almost in June already? It'll soon be time for my mid year book tag which I've loved writing over the last two years so this year is no exception.

I'd love to know if you've read any of the books I mentioned?

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Recent Favourites - Disney+, Normal People & More

AD - This post features gifted items but all opinions are my own
It's been a long, long time since I last shared a favourites post! A while back I shared one each month but over time I found I was just repeating myself or running out of things to talk about so now I just do them every so often, when I've built up a collection of books, products, TV shows & more. There are quite a few books I want to talk about this time as I've been reading so much over the last few months aswell as some new beauty products I've been trying out and some of the best brownies I've ever eaten in my life!

SheaMoisture Body Wash & Body Lotion*

A few months ago I was sent some products from SheaMoisture to try out and I've absolutely loved them. The bottles are absolutely huge so they are going to last me forever at this rate! SheaMoisture have a variety of products ranging from shampoos to hair masks, body oils to body wash and lots more but the products I received are the African Black Soap Soothing Body Wash and the African Black Soap Soothing Body Lotion. The Body Wash has a gentle formula enriched with natural organic ingredients and is suitable for dry skin, something I often don't experience but weirdly have been whilst in lockdown! I've noticed a few little dry patches so this arrived at the perfect time. The body wash lifts away any dirt and impurities whilst moisturing the skin too. I've been using this in the shower and then following up with the body lotion afterwards but I love that you can use a capful of the body wash in the bath instead. As the body lotion is formulated with African Black Soap and organic Shea Butter, it makes my skin feel amazing too. It really hydrates my skin and leaves it feeling soft and smooth for hours afterwards. I've really enjoyed trying both of these out and as such a small amount goes a long way, I'll be using them for many weeks to come. You can find both of these African Black Soap products at LookFantastic and Superdrug for £11.99 each.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

God this book was fantastic! If anyone else has read this and wants a chat about it, please leave me a comment, I just want to know what everyone else thinks of it! It was a book that actually did feel like a thriller, I've read too many recently which claim to be thrillers and then end up not going anywhere but this actually was. So incredibly clever, full of suspense and major twists throughout that I just couldn't believe. Definitely a contender for my top 5 books of the year come the end of 2020.

Miss Patisserie Bath Bombs

Whilst I'll always have a place in my heart for Lush when it comes to bath bombs, so many other brands are becoming firm faves of mine when it comes to skincare and bath products. Miss Patisserie have some really beautiful bath bombs and and a few months ago, George got me a set of 4 which I've loved working my way through. They're not the cheapest ever but cheaper than Lush who have definitely become a bit overpriced in my opinion. I just love the range of colours, patterns and scents you get with the Miss Patisserie bath bombs and they take their time to fizzle out too so it always feels like money hasn't just been wasted! Highly recommend checking them out at Boots if you're in need of a stock up!

Brown & Blond Brownies

At the very start of lockdown, George and I ordered brownies from an amazing company called Brown and Blond. They've been at various Christmas markets over the years that we've been too so I was thrilled when I found them on Instagram and saw the huge range you could order online. It got us through first week of lockdown! We tried out quite a few different varieties but I think my favourite would have to be the Salted Caramel ones. We missed out on ordering some of their Easter specials recently but we'll definitely be trying out some of their other monthly specials at some point!

The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon

Paige Toon can do no wrong in my eyes. I've very nearly read all of her books and there have only been 2 I think that have left me wanting more. I recently read The Longest Holiday, one of her older books, and it was just the perfect Spring read. It definitely made me long for a holiday even more, like that was possible and I completely fell in love with the characters. Whilst it was obviously focused mostly on romance - the reason I always reach for Paige's books, it also had some really deep moments throughout and a good dose of drama thrown in too. One of the best books I've read from Paige Toon.

Disney+

I think we're all loving Disney+ at the moment aren't we? I shared 10 of my current Disney+ picks a few weeks ago so feel free to read that if you're in need of some inspiration of things to watch. It came along at the exact right time didn't it? I've been really enjoying High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, I've watched Zootropolis more times than I'd like to admit and George and I even watched all of the Marvel films from the beginning which was fun!

The Phantom Of The Opera Live Stream

I'm missing theatre a lot. I always knew I would during lockdown but over the last few weeks, it's really got to me. It's my biggest passion and I'm just waiting for the day we get told the theatres can re-open and we can re-book the shows we missed last month. I feel so lucky I got to see Les Mis on my birthday now because who knows how long the closure of the West End could last. To get my theatre fix, I've been enjoying some of the live streams Andrew Lloyd Webber has been putting out on Youtube. He recently streamed the 25th anniversary performance of Phantom Of The Opera and I had the loveliest evening watching it. Whilst it was never going to be the same as being sat in the theatre, Phantom Of The Opera is one of the shows on my theatre bucketlist so in a way I've kind of ticked it off! The cast were brilliant and the music is just outstanding.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

It feels like I'm talking about this book all the time at the moment but there just seems to be one book a year that I get utterly lost in and this seems to be the one for 2020. I reviewed Normal People just this week so I'll leave that here in case you want to hear all my rambly thoughts on it. I just adored it in every way. The characters, Connell and Marianne are just so real and I was so sad to turn the last page. I was completely obsessed with the TV adaptation too, so much so I'm tempted to start it from the beginning again soon! Can't get over it, probably never will. 

What have you been loving over the last few weeks? Have you read any of the books I mentioned?

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Current Netflix Top Picks #14

Whilst in lockdown there isn't a great deal to do is there? Despite always finding jobs around the flat
(it feels never ending), working on my blog and obviously doing a LOT of baking, it's also fair to say I'm watching a lot of TV. I've been leaning more towards to Disney+ recently just because it's so new and there's so much to watch but there's still no denying, Netflix win when it's comes to documentaries and binge-worth reality TV. Here are my current Netflix top picks!

Nadiya's Time To Eat

To say how much I enjoy cooking, I rarely seek out cooking programs on Netflix but I'm definitely going to be doing that from now on. Obviously I've re-watched all of GBBO on there but that was pretty much it. I spotted Nadiya's Time To Eat just last week and I've loved each episode. She's just seems like such a lovely person doesn't she? So down to earth which I love and she actually shows normal recipes that we really all could recreate at home. There's a few recipes I'm desperate to try soon from the series including chocolate hazelnut mousse and the peanut butter and jam traybake.

Love Is Blind

Okay I know this came out months ago now and it was all everyone was talking about but I still had to mention it in this post. Love Is Blind is the show that I think we're all going to be waiting for each now year, it's similar in a way to Love Island so if you're a fan of that, I think you'll love this. In Love Is Blind, 30 single men and women hoping to find love, take part in a kind of speed dating game. The men and women date each other in different 'pods' where they can talk to each other but not see each other and if they form a strong enough emotional connection, they can propose to one another. After the proposal, they meet face-to-face, head to a couples retreat and then they move in together before then deciding on the actual wedding day if they want to say I do, proving whether love really is blind. It's such an interesting format and nothing like any other dating show out there which I think is what I loved about it. It's packed full of drama too though so it's easily a show you can just binge-watch in one go!

Tiger King

Another show everyone was talking about weeks ago I know but it's just fascinating! I wasn't actually that bothered about watching it at first, I'm not usually too fussed about documentaries but then all the memes started and I had to witness the madness for myself. Tiger King is primarily about Joe Exotic, a zoo owner who spirals out of control in a true murder-for-hire story from the underworld of big cat breeding. His real life enemy, Carol Baskin also plays a big part in the documentary and it's quite clear no one is really innocent throughout, they're all a bit strange to put it mildly. It really is a brilliant watch for so many reasons. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing most of the time.

Love Wedding Repeat

Okay this definitely isn't the best film Netflix have put out but I also don't think it was as bad as some of the reviews I've seen are saying! Love Wedding Repeat features a great cast including Sam Claflin, Olivia Munn, Eleanor Tomlinson and Joel Fry and it's basically the same wedding day repeated as Jack (played by Sam) tries to ensure his sister has the perfect day without any mishaps. It's a nice romantic comedy to stick on during the weekend with some really funny moments but probably don't expect it to be the best film you've ever watched.

The Sun Is Also A Star

I just adore anything by Nicola Yoon. Nicola is the author of the book The Sun Is Also A Star, aswell as Everything Everything and luckily both have been adapted into film. I first watched this last year but I'm thrilled it's been added to Netflix. This follows college-bound romantic Daniel and pragmatist Natasha who meet and fall in love on one magical day in New York. Sparks fly immediately but Natasha is fighting her family's deportation to Jamaica meaning one day may be all they ever have? It's just the sort of film I would have adored as a teenager. I love both the characters and having read the book too, I think they've really done it justice with the film, no details are missed.

So, that's my current Netflix picks! Like most of us I'm sure, I'm really working my way through loads of boxsets and films at the moment so let me know if you have anything you recommend.

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