Shortbread immaturities

Today i decided to whip up a batch of shortbread, Nigella style ( for this reason i can't promise this post will be completely pg). The recipe is:
-100g cornflour
-200g plain flour
-100g icing sugar
-200g spread
-Vanilla pod seeds
-A sprinkling of icing sugar

Basically, the recipe said to put the oven to 160°c, whack everything together and cook for 20-25 mins, only obviously everything was worded a lot more complex than that. My version of the recipe however turned out a bit different, to start im a student, hence on a low budget, so the "lush vanilla pod seeds" were replaced with flavourings from a pot. Also as a new cook i don't own the mixing device she was speaking of, which meant manual mixing (a very messy experience for both me and the kitchen).

To finish i needed a sprinkling of the white dust ( said in my finest sexual voice hehe ).

I cut mine into stars, my brother had different ideas however.

The finished product tasted quite nice, not very vanillery though, probably due to my cheap nature. What would you make yours into? Be imaginative... "short....."

My FIRST DISH! Chocolate Philly Cheesecake

Being very new to this cooking business, I decided that my first attempt at anything should be something easy, and fairly basic, so what better starting point than a Chocolate Philly Cheesecake. Not being a fan of cheesecake I thought this chocolate addition may help my liking of it.

The recipe I used consisted of:

• 140 g oaty biscuits, crushed
• 30 g low fat spread, melted
• 400 g Philadelphia with Cadbury
• 250 ml light crème fraiche
• 8 g powdered gelatine (about three-quarters of a sachet) dissolved in 60 ml hot water
• 250 g mixed fruits i.e. redcurrants, blackcurrants, blueberries, raspberries lightly crushed or sliced strawberries

The full recipe and method can be found here: http://www.philadelphia.co.uk/philadelphia3/page?locale=uken1&PagecRef=609&rid=40115

The first thing I noticed about this recipe is that, there is indeed an awful lot of Cadbury Philadelphia used, just over two and a half pots of the stuff! The rest seemed okay. 

While making the cheesecake, the recipe was easy to follow, and do (except for the gelatine, my reactions are way to slow to mix it quick enough, gelatine making is a skill i am going to have to brush up on).

So having left my creation to set in the fridge, I eventually plucked up the courage to take it out of the tin (dundundun) however, the middle collapsed, so I covered up the collapsed bit with some bananas (I'm sure that's why they put mixed fruit in the recipe, purely to cover up the bit that collapses) 

As you can see, it doesn't look too bad for a first attempt (except my blatant lack of artisticness on the placing of the bananas, looks more like a strange fruit jenga). It also doesn't taste too bad either, however this recipe is so sweet. I took about three spoons of this before i had to put my bowl down, it's perfect for people with a sweet tooth though! Also the base didn't stick together very well, so probably the best thing for that would be to use a bit more spread with the biscuits. Enjoy sweet choco philly lovers! 

Starters.

Hello! Welcome to my page Cooking With Rachel :D (me, just an average sixth former). I have decided that over the next two years I will (attempt to) learn how to cook, before my life brings me to uni! That way I will not only be able to cook, which means I won't have to live off junk food, but hopefully gain some friends, through my obviously amazing domestic skills.

This blog will allow you to share my journey from cooking clutz to domestic goddess (and you will be able to see the recipes I have tried, suggest recipes to me to try and have reviews on them).

Omnomnom. Lets get cracking.