BAKING: The Great Purple Alpha-Bake | E for Eton Mess Cheesecake

It has been months, pretty close to 6 since i've added to my alpha bake. I've been so very manically busy, that I haven't had time except the odd Brownie here and there, which I have to say have been delicious. Lorraine Pascal's Oreo brownies are AMAZING!! I also tried out my own recipe and added some Rose flavouring to a batch, which I LOVED!! Although it is an acquired taste.

Last weekend I had ladies night at a friends house volunteered my dessert services and made an Eton Mess Cheesecake - my own recipe and Caramel Shortbread, like we used to have at school.

Mini-me couldn't believe her luck when I let her loose with a rolling pin and pack of digestive biscuits, which formed the base of both my desserts once added to butter and left to cool.

The Caramel Shortcake was simple enough, condensed milk, butter and dark brown sugar brought to the boil and then poured over the chilled biscuit crumb. Put in the fridge and bish, bash, bosh, back to Primary school we went... Didn't get a chance to photograph them :-(

The Cheesecake, although the brain child of my overflowing brain was suprisingly just as simple. I used the basic unbaked Cheesecake recipe of whipped double cream with mascarpone cheese and icing sugar, to which I beated in broken up meringue and raspberries, I then folded in some more, spooned the biscuit into champagne glasses, spooned the cheesecake mixture on top and garnished with more broken meringue and raspberries. Sounds even more ridiculously easy now that i've written it down, but it was also ridiculously delicious.

It is testament to my absolute love of dessert that I am mastering this baking malarchy and taking the time to make things, although these recipes weren't exactly baking....

Maybe I should challenge myself to making actual food...? Hmmmmm....

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro....

Actually I didn't dream of San Pedro (unlike Madonna). I dreamt of Dessert... Delectable, Delightful, Desirable Dessert in all it's Damned Deliciousness... Cupcakes, gu puddings, banoffee pie, tiramisu, apple crumble, pecan tart thingy’s from the dessert deli down the road, eton mess, haagen dazs ice cream, fresh cream & strawberry victoria sponge, syrup sponge pudding, apricot swiss roll, caramel waffles, hot fudge sundae, krispy kreme caramel dreamcake donuts and… Me!! Eating it all.

I have never dreamt of food before, well certainly not in such a memorable way. But I guess this is because I’ve never restricted my food intake quite so significantly. Yes, i've done a couple of failed fruit and water only detoxes, and there have been failed attempts at eating 5-a-day, but never for any meaningful length of time. It has been a full week, which is 7 whole days, 168 hours and minutes I don't even want to think about since I started my 'no dessert or confectionary type foods challenge' and I am dreaming, in a full pantone spectrum of colours, about what I am missing. Regular dieters must literally wake up drooling and chewing their pillows on a regular basis.



I do find it quite poignant that chocolate did not feature at all in my dream, not even in a supporting role. Which leads me to believe that all these years of chocolate 'loving' have been sheer peer pressure and media hype. Maybe when I go back to being the almost normal version of me, who eats sweet things on a semi-regular basis, rather then as the main food group I can eliminate the 'I must have chocolate' phase altogether. Hmmmm.... Could I really do without those Lindt Lindor balls that melt so tantalisingly on the tongue?? Or that M&S Organic Rose flavoured chocolate that is the most amazing thing... Not so sure. Maybe the chocolate dream is saving itself for another night :-)