I love making homemade ice cream, but, when it’s super hot, no one wants to be standing over the stove, stirring custard, right? Enter: this 3-Ingredient, No-Churn, Lime Ice Cream.

For this ice cream, I was inspired by Brazilian Lemonade (also known as Swiss Lemonade, I believe!), in which whole limes are blended with ice, sugar, water and condensed milk to make a refreshing summer drink (though it can, apparently, be quite bitter if the limes are blended for too long). The combination of double cream and condensed milk is a tried-and-true base for no-churn ice cream (I learned about it from biggerbolderbaking.com!), but I usually find it a little too sweet for my liking. Thus, the idea to combine the concept of Brazilian Lemonade with a no-churn ice cream was born (after all, both contain condensed milk): you don’t have to worry about it being too sweet, because the sour, (potential) bitterness of the lime tempers the sweetness a little bit, and you don’t have to worry about it being too bitter, because the sweetness of the condensed milk tempers that too!

Overall, it’s a match made in heaven: 3 ingredients, super quick and easy to make and the perfect balance of flavours to cool you down as we enter the final stages of summer. Because of the similarities in ingredients, this ice cream tastes pretty much exactly like a slice of key lime pie, just frozen (and without the biscuit base, though you could absolutely remedy that by topping your scoops with some crumbled up digestives!).

Table of Contents

• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Making the Ice Cream
• No-Churn vs Regular Ice Cream
• Recipe

Ingredients

As the name suggests, this ice cream only requires 3 ingredients:

• Limes

You’ll be using whole limes for this recipe (rind and all!) so I’d recommend using unwaxed ones.

• Double cream

You want your cream to be very cold, so use it straight from the fridge. If you’re in the US, use heavy cream.

• Condensed milk

I use Carnation condensed milk, which is the most common, readily-available brand in the UK. It comes in 397g tins and you’ll need a whole tin for this recipe. Just like the cream, you want the condensed milk to be cold, so chill it in the fridge for at least an hour before using it.

Equipment

This is a no-churn ice cream recipe, so you don’t need an ice cream maker for it! You do, however, need the following pieces of equipment:

• Blender

Confession: I don’t actually own a freestanding blender (what can I say? I’m just not a smoothie girl…). I do, however, have an immersion blender (go figure), which works just as well here (even if it requires a little bit more effort). Either one will work, but you will need some type of blending apparatus to blitz the limes up!

• Electric whisk

Okay, so you could make this recipe with a hand whisk but it will take a lot of elbow grease! An electric whisk will make this process much faster and less like a workout routine. I used my freestanding electric mixer, but an electric hand whisk would work just as well.

• Freezer containers

You can use any freezer-safe container to store your ice cream in, but I love using these kraft paper pint tubs (mainly because I love the whimsy of making my own pints of ice cream, but also because I can easily label the tubs with a permanent marker!). This recipe makes enough ice cream to fill about 2 1/2 of the 16oz tubs (annoying, I know, but not annoying enough to warrant using an extra 1/5 tin of condensed milk).

Making the Ice Cream

Now it’s time to make the ice cream (and it’s a super easy process)!

Start by chopping up your limes. We’ll be using the whole fruit in this recipe, but, to make it easier for your blender, you want to chop them up a little first! I like to take a little off each end of the limes beforehand, just to remove the woody stalk/excess pith.

Then, chop each lime into about 8 pieces (or whatever you fancy, it’s up to you and the strength of your blender!).Place all of your lime pieces into your blender (or, if you’re using an immersion blender like me, a strong, tall, thin container like this WECK jar is ideal).

Then, blend away! Don’t worry too much about over-blending the limes and releasing their bitterness, because there’s a lot of condensed milk in this recipe to counteract any bitterness.

Blend until you have a lime-y pulp, then strain that pulp through a fine mesh sieve, pressing on it with the back of a spoon to release all of the juices (if you want, you can go back and blend the leftover pulp from the sieve again to get even more juice, which is what I did!).

You’ll be left with a green liquid that has the consistency of regular lime juice, but a much more vibrant green colour and a more opaque appearance (so it’s lime juice with oomph!).

Set the lime juice aside and place the double cream in the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer (or just a large bowl, if you’re using a handheld mixer).

Whisk on medium-high speed until the cream reaches soft peaks.

While the cream is whipping, add the cold condensed milk to the lime juice and stir it well to combine. When it’s cold, condensed milk becomes extra thick and sticky, and it will thicken up even more when it’s mixed with the lime juice, but don’t worry: that’s how it’s supposed to be!

Once the cream is ready, add the lime/condensed milk mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer.

Use a large spatula to fold the condensed milk mixture in. I like to do this to ensure everything is fully combined before I start the second whisking.

Once everything is incorporated, whisk the whole thing again on high speed until the mixture reaches stiff peaks. This won’t take very long (usually less than 30 seconds), so be careful not to over-whip the mixture, as this will cause the cream to split.

Once the mixture reaches stiff peaks, you can transfer it to your freezer containers, label them (always an important step for freezer storage, I find!) and stash them away in the freezer overnight, before enjoying! The ice cream will keep in the freezer for about 6 weeks.

This is a pretty firm-set ice cream, so I recommend taking it out of the freezer and letting it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before scooping (and, if needed, using a slightly warm ice cream scoop) to make the process super easy!

No-Churn vs Regular Ice Cream

Okay, look: no-churn ice cream is never going to be exactly the same as a regular, custard-based ice cream. The ingredients are completely different and the method is even more different, so these two frozen treats are, well, different.

I find that no-churn ice creams are usually sweeter (it’s inevitable, with all that condensed milk!) and more firmly set when frozen than their custard-based counterpart. The textural difference is most notable when the two ice creams melt: with regular ice cream, you get a thin, milky custard. With this no-churn ice cream, you get a thick cream (reminiscent of softly whipped cream), which my mind cannot comprehend, but, truthfully, is still enjoyable. Both ice cream styles are creamy and smooth (not icy, as you might expect with a no-churn ice cream), but they’re creamy in different ways: this no-churn ice cream feels like smooth, frozen cream, whereas regular ice cream tastes like smooth, frozen custard. It’s just personal preference which one you enjoy more!

For me, it’s hard to beat the taste, texture and general deliciousness of regular ice cream, but it is kind of labour-intensive to make: you make the custard, cool the custard, churn the custard, then, finally, wait for the whole thing to freeze. With no-churn ice cream, you whisk everything up and freeze it: that’s it! If you’re in a hurry, have limited free time/energy or just want a sweet, frozen treat as soon as possible, no-churn ice cream is your friend.

Recipe

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3-Ingredient, No-Churn Lime Ice Cream

Inspired by Brazilian Lemonade, this no-churn recipe tastes like a slice of Key Lime Pie and uses whole, blended limes to give the ice cream an extra zesty kick!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Brazilian

Keyword 3 ingredient, Ice cream, Lime, no-bake, No-churn

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Freeze Time: 12 hours hours

Total Time 12 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2.5 pints

Equipment

• 1 Blender (see Note 1).
• 1 Electric whisk (handheld or freestanding).
• Freezer-safe containers.

Ingredients

• 4 limes
• 450 ml double cream, cold.
• 397 g condensed milk, cold (see Note 2).

Instructions

• Slice the ends off of the limes, then chop each lime into 8 pieces. Place the lime chunks into a blender, then blend until you have a chunky lime pulp.
• Strain the pulp through a fine mesh sieve, catching the green liquid in a jug/bowl below. Press down on the pulp to extract all of the juice. If desired, return the remaining pulp to the blender and blend/strain again to get even more juice.
• Whisk the cream to soft peaks.
• Mix the cold condensed milk into the lime juice. It will thicken up considerably, but that is okay!
• Fold the condensed milk mixture into the softly whipped cream until incorporated. Then, whisk the whole mixture again until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful not to over-whip.
• Transfer the ice cream mixture to your freezer containers and freeze overnight before serving. Allow to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before scooping and serving. Stored in the freezer, the ice cream will keep for about 6 weeks.

Notes

Notes:

1. You can use a regular, freestanding blender or an immersion blender for this. If using an immersion blender, place the lime chunks into a strong, tall, thin jar/jug/cup before blending, to make the process easier. 
2. Cold condensed milk makes for the best no-churn ice cream, so make sure to chill the condensed milk in the fridge for at least an hour before using it. 

This is such a simple bake that it barely even warrants a recipe (truthfully, we never used to use one and just did everything by eye), but I do like knowing the exact ratios, so I wanted to share the exact recipe here anyway.

Table of Contents

• Ingredients
• How to Make Easter Nests
• Substitutions & Variations
• Recipe

Ingredients

You only need 3 ingredients to make these Easter Nests:

• Milk chocolate
• Rice crispies
• Mini Eggs

After a bit of trial and error, I found that the ideal ratio for these nests was a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to rice crispies (i.e. half the weight of rice crispies to that of the chocolate). With this combination, there’s enough chocolate to hold the nests together, but not so much that the nests set super hard (and are, as a result, super tricky to eat!).

You can absolutely tailor these nests to your preferences by changing up these basic ingredients. Check out the Substitutions & Variations section below for some ideas!

How to Make Easter Nests

Line a 12-hole fairy cake tin with paper cases and set it aside while you make the nest mixture.

You can serve the nests in the paper cases (handy for bake sales and keeping little fingers slightly less messy) or you can take them out of the cases before serving them (for maximum nest-iness), but definitely don’t skip the paper cases, or the nests will be a nightmare to get out of the tin!

For the nest mixture, start by melting the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. I do this in the microwave (on the lowest heat setting for 1 minute bursts at a time, stirring between each burst, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth), but you can also do it on the hob, by setting the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stirring frequently until the chocolate is melted, if you prefer.

As soon as the chocolate is completely melted, add the rice crispies and mix everything together thoroughly.

You want every bit of cereal to be nicely coated in the chocolate. Make sure you work quickly though, because you don’t want the mixture to set at this point!

Once everything is well-combined, divide the mixture between the 12 paper cases in the fairy cake tin (about 1 heaped dessertspoon of mixture per case).

Use a spoon to gently push the mixture to the edges of each case. This will create a slight dip in the centre of each one, which gives the treats a more nest-like shape (and makes the perfect little space for the Mini Eggs!).

Press 3 Mini Eggs into each nest, placing them in the little dip you just made. Make sure to press them in gently, rather than just setting them on top, so that they stick to the chocolate and won’t fall out later.

Then, set the nests aside at room temperature for 1-2 hours, until the chocolate has completely set and the nests have firmed up, before serving. You can speed this process up by putting the nests into the fridge to harden, but I prefer to leave them at room temperature, because the chocolate can sometimes bloom in the fridge, which isn’t very pretty!

Substitutions & Variations

It’s super simple to customise this recipe to suit your personal preferences! Each element can be easily swapped/adapted, so you can make any kind of Easter Nest you feel like:

• Chocolate

Swap the milk chocolate for dark chocolate, or a 50:50 mix of milk and dark for a slightly less sweet version (you could also use white chocolate, but it wouldn’t look quite so nest-like!).

• Rice Crispies

You can also swap the rice crispies for another type of cereal: Shredded Wheat, cornflakes and cocoa pops are all popular alternatives (Shredded Wheat, in particular, gives a very nest-like appearance, though I don’t think the finished nests taste quite as nice as the rice crispy ones!). Just remember that different cereals have different surface areas, so you might need to increase/decrease the amount of cereal you use. I’d recommend starting with less cereal than you think you’ll need, then gradually adding more as needed, while you stir it into the chocolate, until you have a good balance of chocolate to cereal.

• Mini Eggs

I’ve used Mini Eggs here, because a) they’re delicious and b) they really help drive home the whole nest vibe, but you can absolutely use different sweets on top. There are loads of other small egg-shaped sweets around these days (particularly this time of year), or, if you’re not too bothered about maintaining the nest-iness, you can use any shape of small sweet! You could even add some fun sprinkles, if you like.

And that is my not-really-a-recipe recipe for Easter Nests! Let me know if you try them out!

Gemma

xxx

Recipe

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Easter Nests

A super easy, no-bake, chocolate-y treat, perfect for making with kids this Easter!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine British

Keyword 3 ingredient, Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Mini Eggs, Rice crispies

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Setting time 1 hour hour

Servings 12 nests

Equipment

• 1 12-hole fairy cake tin lined with paper cases.

Ingredients

• 180 g milk chocolate
• 90 g rice crispies
• 36 Cadbury Mini Eggs (approx. 120g).

Instructions

• Start by melting the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. You can do this in the microwave (heat for 1 minute bursts on the lowest temperature setting, stirring in between each burst, until chocolate is smooth) or by placing the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
• Once the chocolate is completely melted, add the rice crispies. Stir well until every bit of the cereal is coated in the chocolate, working quickly so that the chocolate doesn't set.
• Divide the mixture between the 12 paper cases in the prepared fairy cake tin (about 1 heaped dessertspoon of mixture per case). Use a spoon to make a slight dip in the centre of each nest.
• Before the chocolate sets, place 3 Mini Eggs into the central dip of each nest, making sure to press them in gently so that they stick.
• Set the nests aside at room temperature for 1-2 hours, until the chocolate has hardened. Once set, the Easter Nests are ready to be enjoyed!

Table of Contents

• Choosing your Tin
• Chocolate Rice Crispy Base
• Speckled White Chocolate Cheesecake Filling
• Decorating the Cheesecake
• Make-Ahead
• No-Bake Mini Egg Cheesecake Recipe

Choosing your Tin

Because this cheesecake is set in the fridge instead of being baked, it’s super adaptable. With a baked cheesecake, the depth of the cheesecake layer will affect the baking time, so it’s trickier to adjust. With this no-bake version, you can make it whatever size, shape and depth you would like! I opted to use a 20 cm round tin for my cheesecake, which gave me a nice, tall result. However, you could also use a 23 cm round tin (with the same ingredient quantities)- this would give you a slightly flatter, more traditional cheesecake. You could even use a mini sandwich tin and make little individual cheesecakes- it’s completely up to you!

Whatever tin you choose to use, just make sure it has a removable base- otherwise you might not be able to get your cheesecake out of the tin! I prefer to use loose-bottomed tins, because I find they give a neater finish than springform tins, but you can use whatever you have on hand. You also need to make sure that the tin you are using is deep enough to hold all of the delicious filling- the one I used was 7 cm deep.

Once you have selected your tin, you need to line the base AND sides with baking paper (this will help you to get the cheesecake out later). Lightly grease the tin with a flavourless oil before pressing in the baking paper, to help it stick. Then, set the lined tin aside while you get on with making the cheesecake base!

Chocolate Rice Crispy Base

Typically, cheesecakes have their iconic Buttery Biscuit Base– that is, ground-up biscuits (usually digestives or ginger nuts), which are mixed with melted butter and pressed into the base of the tin to form a crunchy, crumbly base. Don’t get me wrong- I love a Buttery Biscuit Base. However, I wanted to do something a bit different with this cheesecake, so I opted to use a chocolate rice crispy base. Growing up, we made chocolate rice crispy nests every Easter, so they’re super nostalgic to me.

For the rice crispy base, you will need the following ingredients:

• Rice crispy cereal

I like to use rice crispy cereal, because I think it gives the best taste and it the cereal what we always used for the nests growing up, but you can use any plain cereal, really. Shredded wheat is also commonly used in the nests and would work well here, too.

• Chocolate

Because the cheesecake filling is quite sweet (it is a white chocolate cheesecake, after all!), I opted to use a 50:50 mix of milk and dark chocolate for the rice crispy base. You are absolutely welcome to use all milk chocolate, or all dark chocolate, if you would prefer, but I quite like the combination of the two here.

• Unsalted butter

Adding a small amount of butter helps to keep the base together (and makes it easier to slice through- though you will still need a large, sharp knife to slice this dessert!).

• Golden Syrup

The golden syrup works with the butter to keep the base firm, but sliceable. If you can’t find golden syrup, you could use honey (though this may affect the flavour slightly).

Once you have everything ready, the base is super quick and easy to make. Put all of the ingredients, bar the rice crispy cereal, into a heatproof bowl and melt together until completely smooth.

I do this in the microwave, in 1-minute intervals on the lowest heat setting, but you could do it over a bain-marie, if you prefer.

Once everything is smooth, mix in the rice crispy cereal, making sure every piece is completely covered in the chocolatey mixture. It’s important to cover each individual puff of rice, as this will prevent them from going soggy in the fridge.

When everything is combined, tip the mixture into the lined baking tin and smooth it out into an even layer.

At this point, I like to use the back of spoon, which I grease lightly with oil, to really compact and smooth out the base. Not only will this give a more even, professional finish, it will help the base stay together when the cheesecake is sliced.

Once you are happy with your base, put the tin into the fridge so that it can firm up while you make the cheesecake filling.

Speckled White Chocolate Cheesecake Filling

I wanted to bring some Mini Egg vibes to the cheesecake itself, so I opted to create a speckled filling, as an ode to the iconic, speckled, candy shells of the eggs. This is so easy to do, but I think it makes the cheesecake look extra special.

This no-bake cheesecake filling only requires 5 ingredients, making it super simple to whip up! You will need the following:

• White chocolate

The white chocolate is an important ingredient for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it lends its iconic, vanilla-y flavour to the cheesecake filling, making for a super delicious dessert. However, it is also vital in helping the cheesecake to set in the fridge, without the need for any eggs/baking. It also lends sweetness to the filling, which contains no additional sugar. This is great, because it ensures that the cheesecake is super smooth and silky, with no hint of graininess from undissolved sugar crystals!

• Cream cheese

Cream cheese is a standard ingredient in any cheesecake recipe. Make sure to use full-fat cream cheese, or the texture/set of the cheesecake may be affected. It’s very important that the cream cheese is at room temperature- this will ensure your finished cheesecake is super smooth and silky.

• Mascarpone

Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese, made with cream (as opposed to whole milk). It has a creamier taste and thicker texture than regular cream cheese, which helps to make sure the cheesecake filling is velvety smooth. Using a combination of the two cheeses gives the perfect balance of tang and creaminess. Like the cream cheese, it’s very important that the mascarpone is at room temperature.

• Double cream

Cream, the third and final dairy product in this cheesecake filling, helps to make the cheesecake extra light, fluffy and super silky. If you’re in the US, use heavy cream.

• Dark chocolate

This is what gives the cheesecake its speckled appearance- by finely chopping a small amount of dark chocolate and folding it into the mixture at the last moment, you can achieve a speckled effect that not only looks great, it actually helps to temper the sweetness of the white chocolate filling as well. Make sure you chop the chocolate super finely, though, to maintain the silky smooth texture of the cheesecake as much as possible.

To make the cheesecake filling, start by melting the white chocolate. I do this in the microwave, again in 1-minute bursts on the lowest setting, but you could use a bain-marie, if you prefer. Once the chocolate is melted, allow it to cool to room temperature (about 10-15 minutes), while you prepare the other ingredients.

While the chocolate is cooling, beat together the cream cheese and mascarpone until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks. Don’t over-whip it at this stage- you just want it to be slightly thickened and billowy, not necessarily holding its shape.

Once the chocolate has cooled to room temperature, mix it into the cheese mixture, until completely combined.

At this point, your mixture should be silky smooth, like in the photo above. If it’s not, then it’s likely that a) your chocolate was too warm, or b) your cheese mixture was too cold. Don’t worry though! You can fix both of these problems. if your chocolate was too warm, and your mixture has become loose and curdled, put the whole thing into the fridge to let it set back up, giving it a mix every 5 minutes or so, until it comes back together.

If your cheese mixture was too cold (i.e., you, like me, decided that you couldn’t be bothered to wait for the cheeses to come to room temperature before baking), then your mixture will probably look a little like this- a bit lumpy and super thick. This is because the cold cheese has set the white chocolate, leaving you with little chocolate lumps all through your mixture- not the vibe. Luckily, this is completely salvageable! You just need to warm the mixture very gently, until the white chocolate pieces melt back into the rest of the mixture. I did this in the microwave, in 30-second bursts on the lowest setting, stirring well in between each burst, but you could, again, use a bain-marie if you prefer. Just be sure to heat the mixture very gently when you do this- you don’t want it to get warm, just for the white chocolate to melt back into it. It only took me about 90 seconds of microwaving to bring the mixture back to a super silky texture, and it was still cool to the touch when it was done.

Once you have a smooth base (whether or not you needed to do a little bit of last-minute rescuing!), it’s time to add the cream. Start by vigorously beating in a large spoonful of the cream, to loosen the mixture.

Once that’s incorporated, add the rest of the cream and begin to gently fold it in. By folding in the cream, you’ll preserve as much of the air as possible, making the cheesecake super light and fluffy.

Just before you’ve finished folding in the cream, add in the finely chopped dark chocolate. By adding the chocolate at this point, you won’t have to over-mix the filling to incorporate it, but you also won’t be mixing the chocolate in for so long that it starts to leave streaks in the batter, ruining that lovely, speckled effect.

Once everything is fully incorporated, you can spoon the mixture into the baking tin, right on top of the chilled rice crispy base, before smoothing out the top. If, like me, you are making a taller, 20 cm cheesecake, I would recommend adding 1/3 of the mixture and smoothing it out, then the next 1/3 and smoothing that out, then the final 1/3 (and smooth (instead of just smoothing the whole lot at the end). This will help to prevent air pockets which might ruin the lovely, smooth edges of your dessert.

When everything’s smooth, put the whole thing back into the fridge to set for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Decorating the Cheesecake

Once the cheesecake has finished setting in the fridge, you can remove it from the tin. I like to set the tin on top of a can, then apply gentle, even pressure to both sides of the tin and push the outer frame downwards, to reveal the cheesecake. Peel off the baking paper and transfer the dessert to a serving plate.

To decorate the cheesecake, I roughly chopped some Cadbury’s Mini Eggs (I found it was easiest to ‘crush’ the eggs with the side of a large knife first, a bit like garlic- as they have a tendency to roll otherwise!) and sprinkled them around the circumference of the cheesecake, but how you finish off the dessert is up to completely you- you can arrange whole mini eggs in concentric circles, pile up a handful in the centre of the cheesecake, or even leave them off entirely, if you’re not a fan!

Make-Ahead

This is a great dessert to make in advance, because you can keep it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and just take it out before you need to serve it! If you do plan to make it advance, I would suggest waiting to decorate it with the Mini Eggs until just before serving it. The colouring from the candy shells of the Mini Eggs can sometimes run, particularly if they are left in contact with the filling for too long, or exposed to the moisture of the fridge for a long period time of time. You could, however, chop up the Mini Eggs in advance and store them in an airtight container, at room temperature, ready to sprinkle onto the cheesecake at the last minute.

No-Bake Mini Egg Cheesecake Recipe

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No-Bake Mini Egg Cheesecake

A chocolate rice crispy mixture replaces the traditional buttery biscuit base in this seasonal, no-bake cheesecake. The white chocolate cheesecake layer is speckled with dark chocolate shavings, before being topped with chopped Cadbury's Mini Eggs for the ultimate, easy Easter dessert.

Course Dessert

Keyword Cheesecake, Chocolate, Easter, Mini Eggs

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Chill Time 6 hours hours

Total Time 6 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings 10 people

Equipment

• 1 20cm round, deep, loose-bottomed cake tin (see Note 1).

Ingredients

• A small amount of flavourless oil, for greasing.

For the Rice Crispy Base:

• 100 g rice crispy cereal
• 75 g milk chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 75 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp golden syrup

For the White Chocolate Cheesecake:

• 400 g white chocolate, roughly chopped.
• 300 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature.
• 250 g mascarpone, at room temperature.
• 300 ml double cream
• 40 g dark chocolate, finely chopped.

To decorate:

• Cadbury's Mini Eggs, roughly chopped.

Instructions

Make the Rice Crispy Base:

• Lightly grease and fully line your chosen cake tin with baking paper, then set aside.
• Put all of the chocolate (milk and dark) into a large, heatproof bowl. Add the butter and golden syrup, then melt gently (either using a microwave on the lowest setting or over a bain-marie) until smooth.
• Once melted, tip in the rice crispy cereal and mix well until completely combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread out into an even layer. Lightly oil the back of a spoon and use to compress the mixture to form a solid base, then place into the fridge to chill while you make the cheesecake filling.

Make the Cheesecake Filling:

• Begin by melting the white chocolate (I do this in a microwave, in 1 minute bursts on the lowest setting, but you could use a bain-marie, if you prefer). Once melted, allow to cool to room temperature (about 10-15 minutes).
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and mascarpone together until well-combined. Add the cooled white chocolate and mix together until smooth and silky.
• In a separate bowl, whip the double cream to soft peaks. Add a small amount of cream to the cheese mixture and beat well to incorporate- this will loosen the mixture. Then, add the rest of the cream mixture and fold in until almost combined.
• Add the dark chocolate shavings to the bowl. Finish folding in the cream, incorporating the chocolate at the same time.
• Remove the tin with the rice crispy base from the fridge and spoon the cheesecake filling on top. Smooth out the filling using the back of a knife/a spatula, then return to the fridge to set for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Decorate the Cheesecake:

• Once the cheesecake has set, carefully remove it from the tin and transfer it to a serving plate. Decorate with the chopped Cadbury's Mini Eggs, then serve.

Notes

1. Using a 20 cm cake tin will yield quite a tall cheesecake- like the one in the pictures. Your tin needs to be deep enough to allow for this- the one I used was 7 cm deep. If you would prefer a slightly thinner cheesecake, use a 23 cm cake tin instead. 

Make-Ahead:

If you want to make this cheesecake ahead of time, you can keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days. I would, however, recommend decorating it just before serving, to prevent the colour from the Mini Egg shells from transferring to the cheesecake. 

Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food.

After 2 weeks of layer cakes, this week’s post is all about a simpler treat- the Mars Bar Rice Krispy Cake. This is a no-bake, quick and easy snack that has been a staple in our house for years. These bars may not look like much, but the taste is next level. Like, eat-a-whole-tray-and-still-want-more, next level. I’m convinced that there is no occasion that these aren’t perfect for. Bake sale? Perfect. Birthday party? Perfect. Saturday afternoon snack? Yes, please. Another brilliant thing about these bars is that they can be adapted to suit your purpose- the chocolate on top can be omitted, switched out with white/dark chocolate (even swirled with one or both), or topped with a variety of decorations- I’ve done Smarties before, but the world is your oyster- think sprinkles, nuts, popping candy, whatever you can dream up.

Now, I said these are easy to make and I stand by that. When it comes down to it, there are only four steps: you melt the Mars Bars, butter and golden syrup together, mix in the Rice Krispies, press the mixture into the tin and then top the whole thing off with melted chocolate. Simple, right? There are, however, a few little tips and tricks that I’ve picked up over the years that take these bars from great to really great.

First, though, a brief intermission for the melted Mars Bar mixture:

You are welcome.

Anyway, into the tips and tricks…

1. Be careful not to overheat your Mars Bar mixture as it is melting. If you do, your mixture will seize and you’ll be left with a mess. Not pleasant. Keep the pan over a low heat and stir frequently. Make sure that you dice both the Mars Bars and the butter beforehand- this will ensure they take less time to melt (and will, therefore, need less time over the heat) and that they melt evenly. A win all-round.
2. Once your Mars Bar mixture has melted, you need to work quickly. As the mixture cools down, it will start setting very fast. The more it sets, the harder it will be to mix in the Rice Krispies.
3. Use a flat-edged wooden spoon to mix the Rice Krispies into the Mars Bar mixture. Once you add the Rice Krispies, the mixture will get very stiff. Unlike, say, a rubber spatula, a wooden utensil will be strong enough to mix it. The flat edge is absolutely essential for scraping the Mars Bar mixture from the bottom of the pan, making sure you are able to mix the whole thing super thoroughly. It can take a lot of elbow grease and perseverance to get it to come together, but it will eventually!
4. You need to press the mixture into the tin very firmly. Trust me, this will make all the difference- if you don’t, your slices will be more prone to falling apart, the chocolate will sink into the gaps and the bars will look a lot messier. Use a metal spoon to spread out the mixture, then place your index finger on the head of the spoon for more pressure and really press it into the pan. Once you think you have it as tightly-packed as possible, firmly rub over the surface of the mixture a couple times with the spoon- this will pack it down even more and smooth off the top, giving you perfect slices later on.
5. Don’t worry about tempering your chocolate for the topping- it isn’t necessary! Because you’ll be slicing these up, you don’t want the chocolate to be incredibly snappy, or you won’t get clean bars. The chocolate still sets at room temperature, but it will take a little longer than tempered chocolate would (which, actually, works out perfectly because the bars themselves need some time to set too!).

Now that I have successfully made this recipe seem like an incredibly intense military procedure, let me assure you that these bars are actually super straightforward to make. I was making these by myself when I was in primary school! Even if you don’t mix the Rice Krispies in perfectly, or press the mixture into the tin quite hard enough, they will still be delicious. I mean, they’re mainly chocolate- how could they not be?

Let me know if you try these! I’d love to hear what you think.

Gemma

xxx

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Mars Bar Rice Krispy Cakes

Mars Bars, Rice Krispies & melted chocolate come together to form one quick & easy, no-bake treat

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Chocolate, mars bar, no-bake, rice krispies

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Setting Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 20 slices

Equipment

• 26x21cm baking tin
• 1 wooden spoon with a flat edge (see Note 1)

Ingredients

• 8 x 39.4g Mars Bars
• 45 g golden syrup
• 75 g unsalted butter, cubed
• 150 g Rice Krispies

To decorate (optional):

• 180 g milk chocolate

Instructions

• Line the tin with baking paper and set aside.
• Chop Mars Bars into small chunks. Place in a large saucepan, along with the golden syrup and butter, over a low heat.
• Stir frequently until both Mars Bars and butter are completely melted.
• Remove from heat and, working quickly, mix in the Rice Krispies until completely combined. The mixture will be very stiff, so this stage requires a bit of elbow grease.
• Once the Rice Krispies are fully incorporated, tip the mixture into the lined tin. Using a metal spoon, press the mixture firmly into the tin (see Note 2 for tips). Set aside while you prepare the chocolate for decoration, if using.

To decorate:

• Melt the chocolate (see Note 3).
• Once melted, pour the chocolate on top of the Rice Krispy layer and spread out to form an even layer. Leave the Rice Krispy cakes at room temperature to for about 40 minutes, they will be ready when the chocolate has set completely (though they will still need this time to cool down and firm up even if you do not use the chocolate decoration).
• Once set, remove from the tin and use a large knife to cut into rectangles. The bars can be served immediately, or they can be kept in airtight container for about a week.

Notes

1. A flat-edged wooden spoon is essential for this recipe. You’ll need it to ensure you can scrape all of the Mars Bar mixture off the bottom of the pan when mixing in the Rice Krispies. Once the Rice Krispies are in, the mixture becomes very stiff and a rubber spatula will be too weak to handle it, so you’ll want to stick to a stronger, wooden utensil. 
2. You need to press the mixture into the tin very firmly at this stage. If you don’t, the bars will be difficult to cut neatly, will be more prone to falling apart/crumbling and the chocolate decoration will sink into the gaps and look a bit messy. Use a metal spoon and spread the mixture into an even layer, then press very firmly, placing your index finger on the head of the spoon for extra control/pressure, all over. Once the mixture is relatively packed in, still pressing on the spoon head, rub the utensil back and forth over the surface to really press the mixture together. This will make such a huge difference!
3. For this recipe, you do not need to temper the chocolate- just melt it. I prefer melting chocolate in the microwave. Place it in a heatproof bowl and microwave on low power in 1 minute bursts, stirring between each burst, until completely melted.