Basic buttercream

I often get asked by friends & family for a simple buttercream recipe so i thought I'd share my go to recipe

The amount below will easily  cover 10-12 cupcakes, but can also be used to fill & crumb coat a sugar paste/fondant covered cake. Depending on the size of your cake you may need to double or even triple the amount below

To cover 10-12 cupcakes you will need

8oz salted butter ( soft at room temp)
16oz icing sugar

° Sift the icing sugar into a bowl & add the butter

° Using an electric hand held whisk or using a freestanding mixer ( I use my free standing mixer) mix the butter and icing sugar on a  slow speed  ( to stop the icing sugar flying everywhere)

° Once the majority of the icing sugar has incorporated, turn your mixer/hand held whisk up to a faster speed till you have a smooth & fluffy mixture. For it to be pipeable i always add 3-4 tbsp of milk & mix again. At this point I add flavorings

For vanilla flavour .. add 2-3 tbsp vanilla extract or seeds from a whole vanilla pod

For choc buttercream replace 3 oz of the icing sugar for cocoa powder or alternatively add in melted choc

For strawberry buttercream I add about 4-5 tablespoons strawberry nesquik powder or strawberry Angel delight

For oreo buttercream i in a good handful of oreo biscuits but blitz them in my food processor till really fine and mix into the buttercream - this would be perfect for filling but maybe no so much for crumb coating as there may still be chunks of biscuit that would you a lumpy surface if covering a cake with sugarpaste/fondant

For coffee buttercream replace 2 oz of the icing sugar for fine powdered coffee or 2-3 tsp of coffee granules mixed with 1-2 tsp of cooled boiled water- I add it straight in with the icing sugar

For other flavours just experiment as you go 😍

Strawberry Cheesecake

Linking on from my earlier post for my Ferrero Rocher cheesecake, here's my recipe for the classic strawberry cheesecake. This one just as the Ferrero Rocher will easily serve 10 -12 people and is definitely a quick and simple crowd pleaser


You will need :

130g butter 

350g digestive biscuits 

250g cream cheese*

280ml double cream 
100g white chocolate 
1 Punnet of strawberries 
1 punnet of raspberries 
white chocolate curls to decorate (optional)

• Start by melting your butter and then set aside. Crush the biscuits either in a food processor or using a plastic food bag & rolling pin to crush.
• Pour the crushed biscuits & melted butter in a bowl and combine together. Press the crushed biscuits into a deep 9 inch round loose bottom tin and smooth out evenly with the back of a spoon or a plastic spatula. Pop in the fridge to chill 
• Melt the white chocolate either in a microwave in short 30 second bursts or in a bowl over a pan of simmering hot water- making sure the water doesn't come into contact with the bowl. Once melted, set aside to cool
• Using a freestand mixer or electric hand whisk, whisk the double cream until you get a stiff peak consistency. Add in the cream cheese and whisk for another minute or so till its all smoothly combined together.
• Take the cooled melted chocolate and half of the raspberries and add to the cream cheese mix and stir through with a spatula or metal spoon
• Pour the cream cheese and raspberry mix onto the biscuit base, and level it off - i normally use a breakfast knife .
• Cut the tops of the strawberries off, and cut them either into halves or quarters and arrange a over the top of the cream cheese, leaving a little room in the middle to fill with the remaining raspberries. For a finishing touch sprinkle over some white chocolate curls.
• Refrigerate for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight)before serving to allow the cream cheese to firm up. 
• To serve, either remove the cheesecake about 15 minutes before serving from the fridge or cut through the cheesecake using a hot knife (dip the knife in hot water and dry with kitchen paper)   as the base should be quite firm due to the cold set biscuit base.

* make sure you use full fat cheese as low fat just won't set as well as full fat would and you'll end up with a runny cheesecake. I love to use a mix of marscapone & philadelpia - 125g each