h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am going to a barbecue on Saturday, so I e-mailed the host to ask if she would like me to bring anything. She replied and requested a dessert. There are plenty of yummy things to buy in the dessert cabinet in the supermarket, but I do like to cook, so I’d like to take something homemade (always impresses people). I rarely have occasion to make desserts, so my repertoire for puds is nowhere near as good as that for main courses. I spent some time looking through recipe books tonight, but all my tried and tested recipes would be difficult to transport. So, I got out a box file full of assorted recipes (many clipped from magazines) and eventually I found it, glued inside an old school book – my Grandma’s cheesecake recipe! I think this was typed up by my Aunt, or possibly my Mum. My Mum used to make this when I still lived at home, and often my brothers and I would help, so I know it is reasonably straightforward. Mind you, the last time I made it I was probably about 20 years ago, so I am a little out of practice!

Inside the same old school recipe book, I also found the recipe for my Mum’s homemade steak pie. That’s also something I haven’t made in a while, mainly because I don’t have anyone to eat it. Anyway, the brilliant thing about finding the steak pie recipe is that it is contained within the body of a letter my Mum wrote to me about 18 years ago, not too long after I left home (I love finding old letters!) It was great to sit and read through that letter again all these years later.

Your posting is enchanting. I do hope the people you are making the for like it.

Aw, that's lovely . It sounds like it really brought back a lot of memories.

The cheesecake sounds fab too - I'm sure everyone will love it!

I made a load of cupcakes on Monday as I promised to do dessert for a meal at a friend's... and didn't realise till too late there'd be 12 people there . Luckily, two batches of 12 cupcakes proved enough - even if I did make a mess of the icing for one batch (and a mess of the kitchen, and of me ).

Hope you have a good time .

you just made me hungry Rains me want

I love finding old recipes too, I keep them in a ring binder so I can dig them out when I can't think of anything to cook. I love cheesecake . And cupcakes. Well, I just love cake really

You'll get plenty of cake next week Opti

ooh yay what flavour?

There's chocolate cake, carrot cake and cheesecake

the is all mine mwahahaha

The went down very well with my friends yesterday (unlike the weather). Someone had brought a shop-bought fruit flan and no one touched it!

It was every bit as easy to make as I remembered too. It got a bit sticky once it had been out of the fridge for a while though.

I've got ring binders with receipes in too Unc, in fact, I've got two, not to mention a box file full of loose stuff and about 10 cook-books. So why is it that I tend to make the same old things over and over again?

So, this time next week you'll be Mrs PSG then?

yep she will indeed

You make me want to watch cookery programmes, search h2g2 for recipes and put together cookery books.

Are you going to post your triumph then?

the best place for recipes is the BBC food web page .

Only two days now

yep unc's right .... my fruit entries carry bbc recipe pages

I have found some good recipes myself via Auntie BBC - it's a really good place to search if you've got an ingredient you don't know what to do with.


But here, as requested by Original Billybob is the cheesecake recipe. It is rather an old recipe so the quantities come in imperial measures, but I have done a rough conversion otherwise shopping is impossible.

CHEESE CAKE

8 oz (200 g) Carton of Cottage Cheese
4 oz (100 g) Double Cream
7 oz (175 g) Biscuits (either digestive or ginger nuts)
3 oz (75 g) margerine (or, if preferred, 2 oz of Marg + 1 oz golden syrup)
4 - 6 oz (100 to 150 g) icing sugar
1 large lemon
Fruit for topping.

Melt the margarine. Crush the biscuits and add to melted marg. Mix well together and place on a greased plate inside a flan ring or loose bottomed cake tin. Leave to cool while you make your filling.

Press the cottage cheese through a sieve. Sift icing sugar on top and mix well together. Grate lemon into mixture, then squeeze in the juice. Mix well. Beat the cream until thick then add it to the cheese mixture. When well mixed, place mixture on top of biscuit base.

Leave cheese cake in the fridge to set thoroughly. Place fruit of your choice on top just before serving.

I'd not thought of using gingernuts as a base for a cheesecake, but it sounds lovely

Hello Mrs Newly Married!

I used digestives the last time I made this cheescake, but I have had it with ginger nuts and it does set off the lemony flavour of the cheescake quite nicely.

hi lizzbett,

Hope you don't mind thought i'd drop by & say hi,i'm wazzow

i noticed it said you lived in ipswich & strangely enough so do i....

so anyway hi...,hope to speak to you again soon..

wazzow