Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: Dairy-Free Flapjacks With Toasted Marshmallow

Sticky marshmallow & less-than-industrial strength nail polish do not make for harmonious bedfellows. Lesson learned.

You may be able to find non-dairy condensed milk in your local WholeFoods/super-trendy organic/pretentious aspirational food store, but I decided to dive in (not literally) & make my own. Whilst time-consuming, it was ultimately a successful venture, reaping a sweet, caramel sauce that could be used in many desserts (or indeed, drizzled over porridge, ice-cream, yoghurt, & cet. & cet..) You can of course substitute this for regular condensed milk: they taste almost identical.

Makes approx 16. Recipe based on one found here.

Recipe:

~ 1 litre soy milk

~ 1/2 cup sugar

~ pinch of salt

~ 5 cups rolled oats

~ 1/2 cup honey

~ 3 tbsp coconut oil

~ large bag of marshmallows

1. First, make the soy milk into condensed a good few hours before beginning the baking. Empty the soy milk, sugar, & a pinch of salt into a large pan. Place over a low heat for about 2 hours, checking regularly, & whisking every 20 mins or so. You will need to come & remove the skin that forms over the milk every now & then - this can also be achieved by a final sieve through at the end to remove any lumps that may have formed. 

The liquid should reduce by just over half in volume, thicken, & become the colour of caramel. There isn't an exact science required here, as long as it tastes sweet & fairly heavy, it will bind the flapjacks together well.

2. Mix the condensed milk with the oats, sugar, honey, coconut oil & another pinch of salt, & press into a medium-sized greaseproof-paper lined square tin. Bake in a moderately heated oven for 18 mins, until lightly golden on top.

3. Cut the marshmallows horizontally 3 times, so that you end up with oval strips. Layer over the flapjack, & return to the oven for another 5 mins.

4. Remove from oven & leave to cool on a cooling rack. Using the overhang of greaseproof paper, carefully lift from tray, set on a chopping board, & cut into squares. Make sure to clean the knife between each cut, as the marshmallow will be particularly gooey!

5. Convince yourself that these are almost healthy, eating one for breakfast & never looking back...

{all photos by me}

...Cheesecake Tuesday!

{oh, those aren't bugs on my dessert plate, they're from the botanical range at Anthropologie}

This past weekend, in tribute to the Euro-tastic Eurovision Song Contest that took place across the continent, we hosted a party honouring the various cuisines of Europe. (Disclaimer: I'm not usually the most enthusiastic proponent of Eurovision, but when cooking & baking & chef-ing were brought into the equation, I was persuaded). I picked Germany, coming from such ancestry on my mother's side, plus Germans know how to do cakes (& custards & liquors & marzipan). & so, on to introduce the Black Forest Cherry Cheesecake (I also baked some Lebkuchen cookies). This variety comes from My Own Sweet Thyme, & rather wonderfully uses goats cheese as the base (a friend is intolerant to cow dairy, so this turned out pretty handy), with honey as a natural sugar, rather than the addition of others. One amendment I might recommend is adding a teaspoon of ground ginger to bring out the spiciness of the crust as it mellows somewhat with the butter & baking. Alternatively, chocolate & cherry is another superb combination, worth experimenting with by using chocolate biscuits in place of the ginger snaps.

Oh, & by the way, no fancy dinner posts tomorrow: Wednesday means cinema, means popcorn & a large glass of vino (- I'm giving Pirates 4 a chance...)

Recipe

~ 2 cups ginger biscuits, crushed

~ 1/4 cup melted butter

~ 8 oz goats cheese

~ 4 tbsp honey

~ 1 tsp lemon juice

~ 1/2 tsp vanilla

~ 3 large eggs, separated

~ 1 1/2 tbsp flour

~ icing (powdered) sugar for dusting

~ 1 can cherries, plus juice/syrup

~ 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

~ 1/4 cup honey

1. To crush the ginger biscuits, place in a sealed sandwich bag & crush with a rolling pin into large crumbs.

2. Mix with the butter & then press into a spring-form or removable-base tart pan. Bake in a medium heat oven for 5 mins.

3. Mix the goats cheese, honey, vanilla & lemon juice. Add the egg yolks gradually, & then the flour. Beat well until fully incorporated.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly fold into the cake batter, & then pour into the crust.

5. Bake in a medium heat oven (180 degrees) for 40 mins until set.

6. Allow the cake to cool fully, & then generously dust with sieved icing sugar.

7. Heat the balsamic vinegar, honey & juice/syrup from the cherries until they caramelise, about 10 mins. Allow to cool completely, & then mix with the tinned cherries.

8. Pour the cherry & syrup mix over the top of the cheesecake.

9. Slice, serve, & enjoy!

{all photos by me}