{Cheer Me Up Frozen Yoghurt}

On Thursday, whilst the eldest was at nursery, the littlest and I met Bex from The Olive Dragonfly for some fro-yo at the newly opened Cheer Me Up frozen yoghurt shop.

Fro-yo is healthier than ice cream given that it's made with 100% fat-free natural yoghurt and semi-skimmed milk. (The peanut butter flavour is apparently the only one that's not fat free).

I had the natural fro-yo with magic stars on top (I would have loved to have been more adventurous, but had a really sore mouth following my wisdom tooth extraction and was, still am, in pain!) and the littlest had jelly beans.

I think the portion size was generous and the fro-yo itself was absolutely delicious. We'll be going back, for sure.

Heaven!

Clearly delighted with her treat!

The experience truly did cheer me up :-)

{Recipe: Mango Creme Brulee}

Here's the final instalment in my three course menu that I used to cook frequently to impress guests... onto dessert of mango creme brulee. This was a recipe for raspberry creme brulee (originally from Sainsbury's magazine if memory serves me!) that I adjusted slightly to make it suit my Far Eastern themed menu!

{Ingredients}

284 mL pot of whipping cream

2 fresh bay leaves

4 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons caster sugar

One mango, cut into small cubes

Caster sugar, to serve

{Method}

Heat the cream with the 2 bay leaves to let the flavour infuse into the cream, then allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks with caster sugar.

Gently reheat cream and whisk into the eggs through a sieve.

Put a small amount of mango in the bottom of each ramekin (you should get approx 4 creme brulees from this recipe).

Add the custard on top.

Put the ramekins into a baking tin half-filled with boiling water.

Bake at 140 deg C / 275 deg F / gas mark 1 for 30 minutes until set.

Cool, sprinkle with caster sugar and grill until caramelised.

{image source}

I used to serve these with a little shortbread biscuit (shop bought to save time, sorry!).

{Project #RecipeSwap - White Chocolate Tiramisu}

Crysta over at A Hat Full of Wool sent me her recipe for White Chocolate & Cocoa Tiramisu as part of The Mrs Makes #RecipeSwap.

There was even a Green & Black's white chocolate bar included (thank you!)... which I demolished prior to even thinking about making the tiramisu... whoops!

The next day I hit the shops to collect all the necessary ingredients (& more white chocolate!) and that evening I assembled the dessert. I cannot stress how easy it was to make - so simple and very quick! I took the tiramisu into my work and my colleagues & I demolished it in minutes!! All really enjoyed it and there have been lots of requests for the recipe.

So, without further ado, here it is:

{Ingredients}

1 mug brewed cocoa

60 g caster sugar

1 packet of sponge fingers

250 g mascarpone cheese

300 mL double cream

100 g white chocolate

2 tbsp milk

30 mL creme de cacoa (I couldn't find this at my supermarket, so used espresso amaretto instead)

{Method}

Layer the sponge fingers in a deep glass dish (Crysta says it works with 1 or 2 layers, so I did 2).

Pour enough of the brewed cocoa to soak the fingers.

Melt the white chocolate with the milk in a dish over a saucepan of simmering water.

Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks (I used an electric hand whisk). Mix in the caster sugar, white chocolate & milk mixture, mascarpone and creme de cacoa.

Cover the sponge fingers in the mascarpone mixture and refrigerate overnight.

Sprinkle some cocoa over the top and serve.

Getting ready to cook!

The assembled tiramisu in my Pampered Chef trifle bowl ready for the fridge

The next morning, after sprinkling with cocoa powder, I dotted some white chocolate hearts on the top for decoration :-)