5 HOMEMADE MOCKTAILS TO TRY THIS WEEK

Greetings all you lovely people out there!

It's 10:30pm where I am right now, which means my weekend is almost over. Now, I'm not really the type of person who only lives for the weekend - I used to be but I'm not anymore (at least I don't think so).

I think I've mentioned this a couple of times in my blog already actually. I see Sundays as a day of relaxation and pampering. I also mentioned in last Sunday's post that I want to make Sundays more fun instead of sitting on my lazy bottom like a couch potato. I think it's OK, sometimes, to go to the extreme to make Sundays fun but not every single Sunday :) Because after all, Sundays are meant to be rest days.


*back to my little blog post*

I've been really loving mocktails at the moment. Not too sure where that obsession came from but I just feel nice not being tipsy or drunk every time I drink. Mocktails are basically non-alcoholic cocktails. So, instead of vodka or whiskey, etc, soda water or fruit juices, etc, will be substitutes. Hence, the word "MOCKtail".

In my previous post, I mentioned that I made a couple of mocktails for my slumber party. I tried making some more today and perfecting some of the recipes that I messed up that night. So, I'm going to share 5 mocktail recipes with you - one mocktail for each day :) Or you can have all 5 in a day (only if you really want to though).

These recipes are super quick and easy. Literally, all you need to do is mix together all the ingredients provided below. You can enjoy them on a cool, breezy evening or a blazing hot afternoon. Either way, they're just amazing. However, the recipes that I'm sharing with you is only made for 1 person. If you're looking to make a larger amount, just multiply the ingredients by the amount of people you're serving :) So, here goes.

MONDAY: VIRGIN MOJITO

I feel like you need something strong to start your week. Virgin mojitos are great to kick start your week. Depending on how strong you want it to be, you can alter the amount of lime juice used in the recipe. However, I feel like I need a bit of a strong, bitter beverage to kick start my week :)

- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon white sugar/brown sugar
- 7 pieces of mint leaves, chopped
- 2 tablespoon lime juice (this is the part where you can alter)
- 1 cup club soda
- mint and lime slices (to decorate)



TUESDAY: CRAN-APPLE CIDER

Second day of the week - still a long way to go. You still need something a little strong to get you through the week. Apple cider gives out a slightly sour taste. Some might actually find it slightly bitter. If you find it bitter, you can choose to add a little sugar for this. I, however, didn't add any sugar because I felt like everything was just nicely combined.

- 1 cup cranberry juice
- 1 cup apple cider
- sugar (optional)



WEDNESDAY: COCONUT AND CUCUMBER COBBLER 

It's almost Thursday - come on, we can do this! For me, Wednesdays are a little blend and mundane for me. It's like half of the week is gone but you want the day to be over quicker. Is that just me? Haha! But it's also the time to get ready to chill out. This drink is actually quite blend but it gets you ready for the next few days :D

- 2 cups coconut water/coconut juice
- 2 cucumbers, sliced very thinly
- 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
- pinch of sugar (optional)
- 4 mint leaves, chopped



THURSDAY: SPARKLING SANGRIA

So close to Friday - YES! Time to sweeten things up a bit because we've all had a tiring week so far. Personally, I love Sangria cocktail as it is. However, I wanted to try a non-alcoholic version and see what it tastes like. And it's just as amazing as the cocktail itself! THIS IS SUPER EASY TO MAKE!

- 2 cups sparkling grape juice
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 apple, sliced
- 5 grapes, sliced (and leave some for decoration)



FRIDAY: FAUX CHAMPAGNE (MY FAVOURITE!) 

OMG TGIF! Weekend is finally upon us! No other better beverage to celebrate the weekend than a glass of champagne :) This is my favourite mocktail out of the 5. It just gives out that Friday feeling. I know it sounds insane, considering it's just a drink, but this faux champagne is literally one of the best things I've ever tasted, and I'm not just saying that because I made it. Do give this one a go :)

- 1 cup Ginger ale/ginger beer (although it's called beer, it doesn't really have alcohol in it)
- 1 cup Lychee drink/white grape juice (whichever you can get hold of)
- 1 cup orange juice/pineapple juice (this brings out the champagne colour)
- Frozen grapes (to decorate)

There you go. My 5 easy and simple mocktail recipes for you to try this week. Hope you guys enjoy it! X

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding Recipe

Hello my lovely foodies

I apologise again for another late update on my "Sunday Bakes" post. I was just super busy yesterday and didn't have the time to blog. To make up for it, I'm going to share a very simple and traditional recipe with you today. 

This dessert is called "Sri Lankan Chocolate Biscuit Pudding" which requires NO BAKING whatsoever :) 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

INGREDIENTS:

• 250g digestive biscuits 
• 250g icing sugar 
• 150g butter, softened 
• 1 egg 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 
• 2 cups milk 
• 3 tablespoon cocoa powder 
• 1 cup cashew nuts, chopped 

1) Combine butter and sugar until creamy. Add cocoa powder. After everything is mixed well, beat in the egg and vanilla until mixture is smooth.

2) Dip biscuits into milk one by one as the biscuits get soft very quickly.

3) Base: Chocolate Layer, Second Layer: Milky biscuits, continue until there is no chocolate mixture left. But make sure the top layer is chocolate layer instead of biscuits layer.

4) Decorate with chopped nuts and refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving.

Voila!


Super quick and super easy. Give it a go! Although if you don't like your desserts too sweet, change the icing sugar to 200g instead of 250g.



Enjoy! X

Lemon Cake Recipe

Hey my lovely foodies

Sorry for the late update on my "Sunday Bakes". But I've got a super easy recipe you can try out this weekend for tea :)

I decided to go with lemon cake because the weather was really nice and it just felt like a "tea" day so I wanted to go for something that goes well with a cup of English tea. Haha. Not as posh as it sounds, but this lemon cake recipe is super easy and tastes amazing!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

CAKE:

• 1/2 cup butter (softened or melted, it's up to you)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon's zest

TOPPING:

• 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Slices of lemon to decorate

1) Heat oven to 180 degrees celcius/Gas 4.Grease a loaf tin with vegetable oil or butter (completely up to you, but I used butter).

2) Combine butter and sugar until creamy. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Add milk. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and zest; mix well. Pour dry ingredients to the mixture and mix well. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 50-55 minutes.

3) Let the lemon loaf cool down in the tin while preparing the topping. Heat lemon juice and sugar until sugar dissolves completely. Pour over the cake and slice a few pieces of lemon to decorate. Dust some icing sugar over the cake if desired. 

There you go. Super fast, super easy, super yummy! 

Enjoy! X

Cookies n Cream Cake Recipe

As most of you will know by now, I bake every Sunday and post my "Sunday Bakes" on Monday. Weird, I know, but that's how I do things. Haha.

Whenever it comes to ice-cream, I usually go for something really different. By this, I mean, no vanilla, no strawberry, no chocolate. I had cookies n cream flavoured ice-cream not long ago and just loved it. So, I of course decided to make cookies n cream cake :)

As usual, I took bits and pieces of ingredients from different recipes and made myself a little Sunday treat.

To be perfectly honest with you, I thought this would be hard to make but it turned out to be one of the easiest cakes I've ever made. AND it tastes delicious. I mean, just look at that......

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

This time, I brought out my trusty electric mixer because I was feeling a bit lazy and an electric mixer just seems right for the job :)

CAKE:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1/4 cups melted butter
• 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 packet of cream-filled chocolate cookies, chopped (I used oreos)

CREAM:

• 3/4 cups whipping cream
• 2 tablespoon sugar

i) Heat oven to 180 degree celcius (Gas 4). Line a cake tin with aluminium foil.

ii) In a large bowl, beat all cake ingredients except cookies on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly. Beat 2 minutes on high speed. Stir in the chopped cookies. Pour into cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the centre. Cool 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely.

iii) While waiting for the cake to cool, beat whipping cream and sugar in a chilled bowl on high speed until it's a cream mixture instead of watery mixture. I'd say beat about 2-3 minutes. Spread over the cooled cake. Decorate with extra cookies.

I used some more chopped oreos and also some Kitkats to decorate because why not? :)

Voila!

 

Enjoy!

X

Blueberry and Passionfruit Cheesecake Recipe

Hello my lovely foodies


Sorry for the tiny hiatus again. But I'm here now :)


I have a really interesting and "fruity" cheesecake recipe to share with all of you today. I actually think this is the healthiest cheesecake I've ever made in my life. Haha!

I was really craving for some blueberries the other day because I read an article on how they benefit the skin and how healthy it is to have blueberries in your diet. But I didn't just want to have the fruit itself.

Blueberries can go with almost everything.

• You can have it by itself
• Blueberries with yogurt
• Blueberry muffins
• Blueberry pancakes

You see where I'm going with this. 

My mind was already set on cake but I didn't want it to be just a blueberry cake. So, I looked for any recipes I could find with blueberries and other fruits combined in a cake. There were some options like strawberries and raspberries. But nothing really caught my eye. I then thought of Passionfruit and looked for any recipes I could find on that. 

So here are some bits and pieces of recipes I took here and there to make this delicious "healthy" blueberry and passionfruit cheesecake :) 

INGREDIENTS:

Trusty little helpers 

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE:

• 100g blueberries 
• 1/2 tbs lemon juice
• 4 tsp icing sugar

Simmer these ingredients in a pan under a low heat until everything is combined and you get a thick syrupy sauce. Set aside to cool completely.

CHEESECAKE:

• 200g shortbread biscuits
• 40g melted butter
• 405g condensed milk
• 410g (2x205g) tubs mascarpone cheese
• 3 tbs lemon juice
• 5 passionfruit (to decorate) 

1) Line baking tin with tin foil or baking paper. 

2) Combine biscuits and butter together and press it onto the baking tin as the cake base. Chill for 10 mins as you are preparing other ingredients.

3) Add condensed milk, cheese and lemon juice in a large bowl and mix until everything is combined. 

4) Pour 1/2 the cream mixture onto biscuit base. Make a well in the centre, spreading out to seal the edges of the cake tin.

5) Pour the blueberry compote in the centre and pour remaining cream mixture on top to cover the blueberry. Chill for 4-5 hours.

6) Cut 5 passionfruits to decorate the top of the cake. 

Voila! 

Let me know what you think about this cake once you've tried it. I would love to see some pictures of it. 

Enjoy!

X