upside down, plum and chocolate cake

I love this combo of fruit and the subtle addition of chocolate. This one is from the mouth-watering Crave Cookbook. Plums and chocolate, moist and delicious....a success for sure and one to add to the regular birthday cake list for summer birthdays!

Za'atar Coated Marinated Labne

This is a delicious middle eastern style cheese made from yoghurt. It is so addictive and makes everything taste amzing! You can spread it on a sandwich, eat as a dip with some toasted flat bread or in a simple sald wiht tomato, mint and olives. I first discovered labne in Goa in India of all places. With so many Israli people there, there were quite a few cafes offering middle eastern style menus and that is where our relationship began.

Don't be put off by off by the lengthy process of making it. It is so easy. Obviously it is not a last minute thing and requires some thought in advance for preparation. Once you have bought yourself some muslin cloth you can make this time and time again. It makes a great gift at christmas or for a fellow foodie's birthday. Everyone loves home-made treats. It also keeps for quite a while in the fridge as long as it's covered with olive oil.

The basics
Muslin cloth
1kg organic natural yoghurt
salt

Method
1) Place yoghurt and salt in a bowl and mix together
2) Lay muslin cloth over an empty clean bowl and spoon yoghurt into centre of cloth
3) Securely tie opposite ends together.
4) If you have enough room you can tie the ends of the cloth over tap (preferrably one that isn't used often) and suspend over a bowl . You can also attach a piece of sting to the top of the muslin and tie using this
5) Leave for 24-72 hours to drain the water or 'whey' from the yoghurt. The longer you leave it the thicker the labne will be.
6) Open cloth and you can either spoon into a dish and eat as a dip drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with zataar or sumac OR you can roll into small balls and marinate (see below).

To Marinate
1) Roll labne into small golf sized balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper
2) Put tray in fridge for a few hours to dry out the labne a little more (this step isn't necessary but can make the edges of the cheese firmer)
3) *Gently place in a wide mouthed jar with a couple of cloves of roughly chopped garlic, a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary and a couple of bay leaves.
4) Fill jar with extra virgin olive oil until coated
5) Store in fridge

*You can also roll each ball in a small amount of za'atar for extra flavour.

Caramel Cheesecake

Biss made this amazing looking and even more amazing tasting caramel cheesecake from delicious magazine, i belive it is a recipe the most talented Valli Little

Baked dulce de leche cheesecake with toffee shards
recipe from taste.com.au and delicious mag;

Ingredients (serves 8)
300g digestive biscuits
90g unsalted butter, melted
750g cream cheese, chopped
2 tbs cornflour
3 eggs
340g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 x 450g jars dulce de leche (see note)
600ml sour cream

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C and grease a 23cm spring form pan.

Finely crush biscuits in a processor, then pour in melted butter and pulse to combine. Press mixture into the base of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove pan from the oven and reduce temperature to 160°C.

Meanwhile, place cream cheese in cleaned processor with cornflour, eggs, 100g sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Process until smooth, then add one jar of dulce de leche and process until smooth and combined. Pour mixture over biscuit base, then bake for 45 minutes until set.

Meanwhile, place sour cream in a bowl with another 20g sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon to combine. Remove cheesecake from oven and top with sour cream, then bake cake for a further 15 minutes until set. Leave in the switched-off oven with the door ajar until completely cooled, then chill overnight.

To make toffee shards, line a baking tray with a sheet of foil. Stir remaining 1 cup (220g) sugar and 1/4 cup (60ml) water in a pan over low heat to dissolve sugar. Increase heat to high and cook until a light golden caramel. Quickly pour onto the tray, swirling to spread toffee. Set aside to cool, then break into shards.

Add 2-3 tbs boiling water to the remaining dulce de leche until you have a smooth sauce consistency.

When ready to serve, remove cake from pan and place on a platter. Decorate with toffee, then drizzle with the sauce.

Notes

Begin this recipe a day ahead.
To make your own dulce de leche see herehttp://theblissbar.blogspot.com/2011/11/dulce-de-leche.html

Caramelised Onion, Goats Fetta, Cherry tomato and Basil Puff Pastry Pizza

This recipe was inspired by Ba. This is can be prepared as a last minute light snack, entree or main meal. Mix it up by trying different toppings and your favourite flavour combinations. The most important thing when making these is to keep it simple and not to overcrowd the base with too many ingredients so it remains crispy... This ingredient combo is one of my favourites.

When I made this it was even quicker and easier as I already had a jar of caramelised onion marmalade in the fridge and puff pastry in the freezer!

Ingredients
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry

Handful of basil
Punnet of cherry tomatoes
Goats fetta

A few tablespoons of caramelised onion marmalade


Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius
2) Place puff pastry on baking tray to thaw
3) Leaving 2 cm on each side, spread with caramelised onions. Do not completely cover the base leave a few gaps to ensure that the pastry cooks evenly and crisps up.
4) Crumble over a handful of goats fetta
5) Brush edges with extra virgin olive oil
6) Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes until the edges are golden
7) Remove from oven and sprinkly with chopped cherry tomatoes and freshly torn basil leaves
8) Cut into slices and serve