Sweet toffee popcorn cheesecake cupcakes

I absolutely adore cheesecake and think cupcakes are one of the best inventions behind BB cream, food processors and screw cap wine bottles. So what happens when you combine the delicious power of cupcakes and cheesecake together…an epic party for your taste buds that’s what.

I have never really been number one fan of baked cheesecakes, I am more of a chilled, no bale cheesecake kinda girl. A few weeks ago I did dabble in making a baked cheesecake but learnt the hard way the perils of over cooking a cheesecake. All I was left with was a rubbery, magnolia coloured lump of a dessert.

cupcakes + popcorn + cheesecake 

But with this recipe, I now knew better. And I knew that you need to take them out of the oven whilst they are still a little wobbly.

I made these little delights for my charity bake sale at work the other week but in hindsight, this wasn’t the best cupcake to make for the occasion, they are much better suited for eating sooner, as leaving them out on display for hours resulted in the popcorn going soft and losing its fabulous popcorn crunch. Preferably, you need to sprinkle the popcorn on before serving.

popcorn cupcakes 

the ingredients...

For the base

80g digestive biscuits

50g toffee popcorn (I went for butterkist)

70g of melted butter

1tbsp of golden syrup (optional)

For the cheesecake filling

250g light cream cheese

250g mascarpone cheese

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

200g condensed milk

For the toping

100g toffee popcorn

50g melted butter

1 tbs golden syrup

12 large cupcakes

Here is how to make the cheesecake cupcakes...

buttery popcorn goodness 

Quinoa fruity cinnamon breakfast bake

Unless you don’t get out the house much, then “quinoa” is a food that you are probably well and truly familiar with, even if you haven’t cooked with it yet (if not, why not?!) then you have certainly heard of it, or at least had a debate as to whether it is pronounced how it is spelt as “quin-no-a”, or you pronounce it by its Peruvian dialect of “keen-wa”.

Anyway, it has slowly crept up as a staple in my diet and has earned a place in “Alice’s hierarchy of food” along with sweet potato, spinach, oats and salmon, as being a top health food I actually like!

Whilst I have been using quinoa as a staple for lunch and dinner, it also makes a great breakfast!!! Honest. Cue my “fruity cinnamon quinoa breakfast bake bars”.

golden and delicious 

The great thing about this little bake is that there is no fuss when it comes to preparation, can be stored in the fridge or freezer so making a batch can last you a while and they are totally healthy!

My new favourite breakfast! 

Ingredients

1 cup of uncooked quinoa

2 cups of almond milk*

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

½ - 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

2 apples, peeled, cored and diced

½ cup raisins

2 eggs

Generous drizzle of agave nectar

1/3 cup ground almonds

*feel free to use dairy milk, or another milk substitute, such as soya.

You could also include fewer raisins or add a pinch of ground cloves to add a deeper flavour or add chopped almonds of another nut – experiment!!!

experiment with your spices 

Gluten free savoury quinoa pizza muffins

Thanks to my IBS I find gluten a little tricky to digest so I really try to limit it during the week when at work. So trying to find a gluten free lunch that is easy to take to work, easy to make and actually filling and healthy can be difficult to find (cos let's be honest, sometimes that salad has the best of intentions but isn't always enough to fill our bellies). 

I found this recipe on popsugar for quinoa pizza muffins which are tasty, filling and gluten free. 
hoorah. 

fresh batch of quinoa pizza muffins 

They are also really easy to make. Literally bung everything in a bowl , mix, pop in a muffin tray and bake! 

I love mozzarella on a pizza, so this was my choice but don't be afraid to get crazy with the flavours - olives, chicken pieces, peppers, chorizo... anything will work! 

great as a snack too! 

I cooked these a little longer for a crunchier top

What you will need for about 10 pizza muffins...

1 cup of uncooked quinoa
2 large eggs
1 cup of chopped (red) onion
1 cup shredded mozzarella
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato purée
selection of herbs (I used oregano and rosemary but get creative)

simple ingredients needed 

Get super soft hands with this one trick

Winter plays havoc on most people's skin. The blasting cold air and the constant change in temperature as we go from freezing cold to hot central heating inside. In particular for me, it is my hands that take a battering and I am always left with sore, red, chapped hands.

But I have found a new trick which has left me with lovely soft hands this winter!

Ta-dah!

Sleeping in gloves!

doing my best Michael Jackson impression 

Yes, really.

Ok these aren't gloves in the sense of thick winter outdoors gloves. These are specifically for wearing at sleepy time. 

Raw cookie dough protein balls

Regular readers of my blog or followers on instagram will know I love balls! Protein balls that is! I have experimented with loads of combos of flavours over the past 12 months or so. Energy dense, nutritional and protein packed, these are a fantastic snack. 

nutty and packing the protein 

each one is about 100 cal 

I also enjoy munching on these when I need a sweet fix and am avoiding sugary snacks like chocolate.   

This recipe is taken from The Kitchn, and they taste great. I don't think they taste quite as cookie dough as I hoped but they are still tasty nonetheless. 

Here is what you need to make these:

this is it! 

Mum's homemade Japanese chicken katsu curry

I have introduced Chicken Katsu Curry to all my friends and acquaintances now and I can happily say that not one of them disliked it. In fact, everyone absolutely loves it.Mostly the Boy, who quite happily consumes a "double katsu curry" at our favourite Japanese restaurant. 

rich thick gravy like curry sauce 

Katsu Curry is an amazing ensemble of fluffy white Japanese rice (which is slightly sticky and in my opinion knocks the socks of boring basmati), topped with thin breaded chicken or pork fillets (the katsu) and a deliciously creamy and mild curry sauce covering it all. 

It’s undoubtedly  amazing. It’s one of those dishes you can’t get enough off, and as it’s so filling, you probably will end up over eating.

hard at work with the spices 

mmmm

My favourite little Japanese restaurant in London is "eat Tokyo" near Trafalgar Square (which I have previously blogged about) which does an epic double katsu curry for about £9! But nothing will ever come close to the deliciousness of my mum’s katsu curry.

Since my mum moved to Cambodia this has quickly become my signature dish, as I keep making it in the quest to fill my tummy with the good foods that she used to make me. Although I am no where as good as her in making this dish, my friends (none of whom are Japanese and therefore don’t know any better) think its spot on!

I made some takoyaki as a side! 

It’s a pretty simple dish to make but be warned, takes ages to simmer, so this is more a lazy Sunday dish that a quick throw-together-after-work dinner.

The Big Easy Bar.B.Q Crabshack

The other day, me, the Boy and a few friends ventured to Covent Garden for a Sunday lunch at The Big Easy Bar.B.Q and Crabshack (it is also labelled as a lobstershack which seemed to totally confuse me!). There is a Big Easy on Kings Road near to where I live but since moving to the area, I had yet to go, so I was really looking forward to it! 

After being seated with the others (at first the waitress tried seating us with a 70 year old couple - we might have been drinking heavy the other night, but not that heavy), we were offered a menu that was tasty BBQ come American diner, offering steaks, grilled seafood and of course, lobster. 

served with a bib for you messy eaters! 

Seeing as the lobster was a pretty good deal, this seemed obvious choice. 

the whole lobster deal

leather jacket - River Island,
top (with matching skirt) Miss Guided 

For £20, you can get a small whole lobster, with a portion of tasty chips and sauce, which seems to me a pretty sweet deal but it also comes with a slushy cocktail! Yea it was a Sunday but when it is technically free, it would be rude not to have a strawberry daiquiri slushy. 

lobsters are actually blue, they change colour when cooked 

crack 'em open for a low cal meat 

Frozen yoghurt "cupcakes" - only 30 calories each

No matter how hearty a dinner I have, I always seem to crave something sweet afterwards!!! I have been trying to satisfy cravings by swapping sugary puddings with snacks that are naturally sweet. 

A recipe I am loving at the moment is from popsugar.com, for this frozen yoghurt cupcakes. 

tangy frozen puds

I made these the other week, a few of which me and my friend nibbled on, and she loved them. 


And why wouldn't she? They are tasty and low in fat. 

a healthy alternative to cupcakes! 

They are so simple to make and taste delicious - tangy but sweet at the same time. 

All you need is:

250g of plain Greek yoghurt
9 strawberries
half a ripe banana
a few mini choc chips
vanilla essence

The Boy helped - he done the blending! 

Line a 12 hole cup cake case with a sheet of cling film (this will stop it sticking and help ease out the desserts)

With a spoon, carefully plop a bit of yoghurt out into the 12 cup cake cases

Ballet DVD - the total body workout with Helen Bowers

Last year, one of my goals for 2014 was to have a go at ballet!  Of course I knew that at 27, ballet wasn't going to be easy but me and my friends were keen to try it and signed up for a 12 week course at the National Ballet (read my blog here about that!)

A year on and I don't do any lessons but I have bought a ballet DVD which I love and which I am hoping will strengthen and tone my legs up for the summer!

the shoes are just for show :-)

Having a google, there were quite a few on offer, but I went for this one as it works the whole body! And trust me , it does hurt! 

The DVD is led by Helen Bowers, Natalie Portman's trainer for the infamous Black Swan. Helen may look like a graceful swan, gliding through the sequences and movements but this buuurrrrnnnsss. Especially the legs sessions! 

hold it!

The DVD is broken into sections for each body part, so it is up to you if you want to work the whole body or just choose sections, such as legs. Each section is only about 5 -7 minutes so it is really easy to squeeze this in around your day! Just pop the DVD on and ballet away! 

working the outer thigh

Banoffee pie - with a hint of effort to make it healthier (and a blond moment)

It was a few weeks ago, for Valentine's day I decided to make a little treat for the Boy. A banoffee pie. 

Admittedly, it isn't the fanciest dessert in the world but the boy loves it and I don't make it that often (this was my second go in 4 years to be honest!) because I am not really a cream fanatic. 

the shaving off chocolate sets it off I think! 

I also decided to do my best and make it a little healthier by swapping some of the biscuits for oats in the base and swapping some of the cream for natural Greek yoghurt. Slightly healthier but still delicious.

hmmm, there is a layer missing here?!?!

Whilst this is an incredibly simple dish to make, my blondness still took over and I still managed to balls this one up! How? Well, I forgot to put the bananas in it!!! 

I didn't realise until the end, once all the photos were done and I was feeling pretty smug with myself and then I noticed my bananas sitting on the kitchen counter still! 

banoffee pie, with the banana on the side! 

So less "banoffee" and more just "offee" pie, I guess. Tasty none the less. I definitely got away with with too, by slicing and serving the banana on the side and finishing off with chocolate caramel balls! It just looked the kind of banoffee you are served in a fancy restaurant! 

Here is how to make the banoffee pie (with the banana in it!)