Bloodied Eyeball Dessert Shots

I can't believe how fast this year is flying by. We're more than halfway through October already, which means that Halloween is fast approaching, followed swiftly by that dreaded C word!

For Halloween this year my teens have requested a party, which came as a bit of a shock as they planned it together, by actually speaking to one another. Wonders never cease.

I've got quite a few Halloween party food recipes on this blog, but before I could start planning the menu for the party of the year I was informed that hot dog sausages resembling creepy fingers wouldn't be featuring on this buffet table, and neither would spooky banana ghost pops. All that would be required are a few bowls of crisps and a couple of cans of cider. How very disappointing!

If you're having your own Halloween party this year I'm sure your guests will appreciate these ghoulish mini desserts, complete with their own bloodied eyeball. Made with SKIPPY® Peanut Butter they have a touch of sweet & saltiness to the creamy filling, which pairs so well with the sharp raspberries. They are like mini cheesecake heaven. 

They are really easy to make, and can be whipped up in just a few minutes and stored in the fridge until you eat them. I found these plastic skull shot glasses in Asda and they're a perfect size for kids. Note that if you're making these for young children you might want to use a lychee or foil wrapped chocolate eyeball instead of the bouncy eyeballs I used, for safety reasons.

SKIPPY® Peanut Butter has been enjoyed by millions of Americans for more than 80 years, and as the Super Chunk and Smooth varieties can be now found in most major UK supermarkets the UK can go nuts about SKIPPY® Peanut Butter too. SKIPPY® Peanut Butter is made only with high quality peanuts from the USA, and is a really good source of protein, providing 22.1g per 100g.

The wide necked jar is a great feature that allows you to get out every last bit of nuttiness too, because nobody wants to waste peanut butter. Some of my favourite ways to enjoy SKIPPY® Peanut Butter are with sliced apple or banana for breakfast, spread with jam in a sandwich for lunch, or added to a curry or stir fry, which is a great way to add additional protein and flavour, as well as acting as a thickener. 

How do you enjoy yours?

The star of the show - SKIPPY® Peanut Butter Super Chunk

This recipe was commissioned by SKIPPY® Peanut Butter. You can find more recipes on their UK website here : www.peanutbutter.uk.com

Garden to Table Recipes : Rhubarb and Custard Cream Cheesecake

A couple of years ago we acquired an allotment, which had been a bit of a dream for me for a while. The dream involved baskets and baskets of home grown fruits and vegetables that would see us through the winter months, balmy evenings spent enjoying views across the countryside whilst sipping wine on our home made pallet bench, and involving the rest of the family in our [semi] self sufficiency venture.

In reality it was hard work. Now I'm not afraid of a bit of hard graft & really enjoyed clearing our plot and getting some veggies planted. At first the whole family joined in too and it was a great way to do something together. By the following spring the enthusiasm began to wane, and one by one the kids drifted off and no longer waned to be involved. A combination of bad weather, longer working hours, and a frozen shoulder made us realise that maybe an allotment wasn't for us after all - not to mention the fact that my fingers aren't all that green and woman cannot live off potatoes alone.

After many years of attempting to grow tomatoes and peppers at home, I made the decision earlier this year that no more growing of vegetables would be carried out on these premises, and the piles and piles of seedling pots were disposed of. (Then Jack brings a tomato plant home, and decides to plant some runner beans!)

One thing I have had lots of success in growing though, is rhubarb. Ok, so you don't have to be green fingered to be successful at growing rhubarb as it just grows and grows year after year, but it does make me feel like a real gardener when I snap a few stalks off to use in a crumble - from garden to table within the space of an hour.

Last weekend I made a Rhubarb & Custard Cheesecake (recipe can be found lower down this post) using rhubarb from the garden. Oven roasted rhubarb is *the* best, and it's such a lovely pink colour, so perfect on the top of a creamy cheesecake. The cheesecake was so good, and the whole family loved it, although I did have to remove the rhubarb from the top for a couple of fussy ones.

Another rhubarb recipe that I make over and over is my rhubarb cake, which can be thrown together really easily, and keeps really well in an airtight container, making it great for lunchboxes throughout the week (as well as a delicious dessert served with custard).

Worktop Express have included my Rhubarb Cake in their 'From Garden to Table' recipe ebook, along with some other delicious looking recipes made using home grown produce, which you can find below.

Dig Your Food eBook 2017 on Scribd

Do you grow your own fruit and vegetables? 

I would love to hear about your successes.

Rhubarb & Custard Cream Cheesecake by Helen Jessup on Scribd

Seriously Good Strawberry & Lemon Cheesecake Spoonfuls

Do you ever fancy dessert but know that if you bake a pie or cake you're going to end up eating it all? Or you want to make a dessert for a dinner party but your cheesecake serving skills aren't up to scratch, and you end up slopping it onto the plate upside down. I can relate to both of these, which is why I like making individual desserts in jars or glasses, such as these quick and easy family desserts, lemon prosecco syllabubs or these shot glass trifles.

When I heard about the Heinz [Seriously] Good Spoonfuls competition it gave me the idea to create an individual serving of cheesecake on a spoon. The only catch is that the recipe would need to contain the new mayonnaise from Heinz, their [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise, made from free range eggs and containing no added colours, flavours, preservatives or artificial thickeners.

Not sold on the idea of mayonnaise in a cheesecake? Well, feast your eyes on these little beauties. A perfect mouthful, and nobody would guess the secret ingredient. Using mayonnaise in biscuits is a great shortcut as there's no need to wait for your butter to soften, and it mixes easily with your other ingredients.

Seriously Good Strawberry & Lemon Cheesecake Spoonfuls - makes 4

biscuit base
1 tbsp Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of lemon zest
2 tbsp plain flour
4 dessert spoons

• add the ingredients to a small bowl
• mix together to form a ball of dough
• divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll into balls
• place the balls of dough onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper
• press the balls with your fingertips to form a disc approx 4-5cm in diameter 
• bake in a preheated 180C oven for 10 minutes, until lightly browned
• whilst still warm and soft, press each biscuit onto your dessert spoons
• leave to cool

cheesecake topping
3 tbsp full fat cream cheese
1 tsp Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of lemon zest
sliced strawberries for decoration

• in a small bowl, whisk the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice and zest together in a bowl, until thick
• spoon or pipe onto the biscuit bases and top with a slice of strawberry

They really are [seriously] good!

If you think you have what it takes to create a [seriously] good spoonful, either sweet or savoury, you could be in with a chance of winning a fab prize!

More details and Terms and Conditions of the competition can be found here. Check out other entries by following the hashtag #heinzseriouslygood .

this post has been commissioned by Heinz