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Made this last night for a BBQ at ours, really straight forward, quick and delish. I added little dark choc robots to the top as I’d bought a silicone mold and was keen to see how well the wee robot guys would look…

INGREDIENTS
200g digestive biscuits
75g unsalted butter
400g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
300g mascarpone, at room temperature
200g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1/2 cup hazelnuts, crushed or blended

METHOD
Place the digestive biscuits into a sealable freezer bag. Push all the air out and seal the bag. Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, being careful not to break any holes in the bag. (This works better than trying to whiz in the blender…. I tried that and cleverly coated half my kitchen in a fine layer of digestive biscuit dust.. Bleh!)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Tip the biscuit crumbs into the butter and mix well until thoroughly combined. Add the hazelnuts to the mixture. Press the buttery crumbs into the bottom of a 23cm/9in springform or loose-bottomed tin. Chill in the refrigerator while you make the topping.

Combine the cream cheese and mascarpone into an electric mixer bowl, blend the cheeses together until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar a little at a time and blend to incorporate. Finally, mix in the vanilla. The mixture should be very light and fluffy.

At this point, stir in a small amount of melted dark choc into swirls…. just for the visual effect rather then properly mixing in…

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the top with a palette knife or spatula. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least four hours.

Release the catch of the springform tin carefully, then slice and serve.

 

I just loved the sound of these…. not too froufrou, and a little different… a little like me! And true to form I added to the recipe to create the delish creation you will find below…

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup ground roasted pistachio nuts

METHOD:
Pre-heat your oven to around 150
Beat together butter and icing sugar to just combine (rather than cream)
Stir in dry ingredients, sifting your flour….

Now here’s the fun bit…. Most supermarkets sell pistachios as whole (de-shelled) nuts… not ideal for a delicate wee cookie. So you need to pour the nuts out onto a fresh clean teatowel, cover them up – and bash the bejaysus out of them with a rolling pin!

Once they are your desired size, combine with the rest of the ingredients into the cookie dough.

Once your dough is ready… Just roll it out onto a lightly floured flat surface, and around 1.5 cm thickness… I then use a wee shot glass (yes! a shot glass! who’d of thunk it?) to cut perfect little round cookie shapes…

These go onto baking paper spread evenly apart, and into your preheated oven for around 15-20 minutes or until golden…. (The smell will drive you insane, and potentially bring all the boys to your yard also, so just be aware)

Icing: ah-ha! This is the show-stopper…. The original recipe needed a little something else… and a tart lemon zest icing marries perfectly with the spices. Icing is pretty much the easiest thing in the world so I’m not going to spell this one out here – suffice to say combine sifted icing sugar with lemon juice and lemon zest till you get the desired runny consistency – this is a drizzle for the cookie…..

I normally double the mixture also… trust me, it’s worth it!