Artisan Cheesecakes

 

Tucked away in Bruntsfield in Edinburgh is a wonderous place called Artisan Cheesecakes. A teeny tiny cafe absolutely devoted to cheesecake. I don't want to be dramatic or anything, but visiting might chage your life. There's so many cheesecake options you just won't know what to do with yourself. Luckily when Ben and I visited on Sunday the man behind the counter was absolutely lovely, chatting away as we uhmd and ahhd over what to take away with us. 

The cheesecakes are in quite industrial fridges, which is a shame because the rest of the shop is so cute, but I suppose needs must, and those cheesecakes definitely deserve appropriate sheltering from the heat that's currently engulfing the city. 

Eventually we went for one classic and one that was, well, a little bit out there. Creamy vanilla cheesecake with rice krispy cake on top of a chocolate biscuit base, studded with homemade marshamllow and drizzled in chocolate ganache. It was unlike any cheesecake I've ever seen, but it was also absolutely delicious. You can sit in, if you can squeeze in somewhere, but I think taking it away and sitting to relax in the Meadows which surround the shop is a much better option. You can get the cheesecake in little plastic boxes, which is very handy for this!

  

 

  

Our second, classic choice was raspberry and white chocolate, and if I'm honest I think for me the classic had the edge. We bought a minature whole cheesecake, rather than a slice of this one because it was just too cute not to, and it too came in its own little box which saw it safely transported home because we couldn't squeeze the two in whilst we sat on the grass.

I will undoubtedly be returing to Artisan Cheesecakes, as I hear rumour they have over 170 different flavours on a rotating basis. So it would be rude not to give a couple more of them a go.

If a cheesecake craving hits you, you can find the shop at 104 Bruntsfield Place, or their original shop out in Bathgate, 87 South Bridge St.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Brownies

Shhh... don't make too much noise, you might scare the blogpost away! So it's been a little while since I last blogged. And since I read any blogs. And basically since I've been anywhere near a computer except for work or writing my dissertation. Tonight though, the when I got the urge to bake, I decided to not only bake, but actually blog about it too!

If you've ever been on this blog before, you'll know how much I love brownies. You can find classic, orange, blood orange and beetroot... there's a lot of brownie love! You'll also know I've never really had to think much about food intolerances in the past - I don't think I've ever featured a free from recipe before (despite the fact that Ben is allergic to pretty much everything under the sun). But a lovely person in my office is gluten and lactose intolerant, which has made me think a little bit more about baking for special dietry requirements - I feel awful when I take a tin of goodies in and I know they can't tuck in too.

I found the recipe for these gluten and dairy free brownies here at Scientifically Sweet - it uses ground almonds, lots of egg white and icing sugar to get that dense chewy texture and cocoa powder for the rich flavour that makes everyone love brownies. Whilst it is in no way healthy (check out how much icing sugar there is!) it is fat free, and the ground almonds are an excellent source of protein. I highly recommmend you give them a go (as in really very highly - I don't normally post about recipes from other places, but I am making an exception). And don't be scared by the free from-ness of them. They really are pretty spectacularly close to traditional brownies.