Easter indulgence with Neven Maguire

Yes. You do deserve this. Lent is over. I don’t know how you did. I gave up sweet things, which is pretty hard to do in my job. I won’t claim to have been 100% successful but I am fairly pleased with how it went. And this baked coconut and lime Cheesecake with passion fruit caramel is as good a reward as I can think of. And not just at Easter time. Remember that this delicious dessert can be prepared well in advance and the actual cheesecake can even be frozen for up to a month. I love the passion fruit as it has that tangy and refreshing taste that cuts through the sweetness. And you can also use this fruit caramel throughout the year drizzled over ice cream. I love it.

The sticky ginger and date pudding is a form of sticky toffee pudding. It is always very popular in the Cookery School. It is not a difficult pudding to make and if you have children keen on cooking then this is a good one for them to try. I like the Irish sea salt in the butterscotch sauce. It gives that lovely savoury aftertaste. This pudding can all be made the day before and drizzled with a little of the butterscotch sauce, then left to cool and chill, covered with cling film until needed. Warm through a medium oven to serve, reheating the rest of the sauce in a small pan or in the microwave.

Happy cooking.

Baked Coconut & Lime Cheesecake with Passion Fruit Caramel

Serves 10-12

2 x 280g tubs cream cheese

250ml carton coconut cream

400ml can condensed milk

Juice of 4 limes

4 medium eggs

For the base:

300g (11oz) digestive biscuits

50g (2oz) desiccated coconut

200g (7oz) butter

For the passion fruit caramel:

100g (4oz) caster sugar

25g (1oz) butter

2-3 tbsp dark rum

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

Good pinch of sea salt flakes

5 tbsp cream

2 passion fruit, halved and pulp scraped out

1. Lightly oil the base of a 20cm (8in) deep loose-bottomed cake tin. Place the biscuits and coconut into a food processor and whizz to a fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a pan or in the microwave and then stir into the coconut crumbs. Use to line the prepared cake tin, working them up the sides to form a deep tart-like case that is at least 5cm (2in) at the sides. Chill until needed.

2. Preheat the oven to 160oC (350oF/ gas mark three). Using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the cream cheese, coconut cream and condensed milk in a large bowl for one to two minutes until smooth. Gradually beat in the lime juice and then add the eggs, one at a time. Pour into the biscuit base, being careful not to allow it to come up over the sides of the biscuit. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until just set but still with a slight wobble in the centre.

3. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then, once completely cool, it can be covered with cling film and chilled for up to six hours or can be frozen for up to one month.

4. To make the caramel, put the sugar into a heavy-based frying pan and heat very gently until dissolved, gently swirling the pan occasionally to ensure it cooks evenly.

5. Increase the heat and allow to cook to a rich golden-red colour, then quickly remove from the heat and stir in the butter, rum and vanilla seeds – it will splutter and spit so be careful.

6. Return to the heat if the caramel begins to harden. Stir in the salt and cream and transfer to a bowl before leaving to cool completely. This can be covered with cling film directly touching and left to cool for 30 minutes if you’d like to serve it warm.

5. To serve, mix the passion fruit pulp with the caramel while it is still warm and drizzle over the cheesecake.

Sticky Ginger & Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce

Serves six to eight

250g (9oz) pitted dates, chopped

400ml (14fl oz) boiling water

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

250g (9oz) light muscovado sugar

150g (5oz) butter, plus extra for greasing

3 large eggs

1 tsp ground ginger

25g (1oz) stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped

350g (12oz) self-raising flour

100g (4oz) toasted pecan nuts, chopped

1 tbsp treacle

For the butterscotch sauce:

175g (6oz) light muscovado sugar

100g (4oz) butter

250ml (9fl oz) cream

1 tbsp treacle

3 tbsp golden syrup

½ tsp sea salt flakes

Vanilla ice cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF/gas mark four). Put the dates in a heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda for 10 minutes. Set aside to soak. Butter a 1.5-litre (2 ½ pint) ovenproof dish.

2. Using an electric hand-held mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Add both of the gingers, the flour, treacle and date mixture and beat until evenly combined. Pour the cake batter into the prepared ovenproof dish and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If you think it is becoming too brown close to the end of the cooking time, simply cover with foil. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, put the sugar into a heavy-based pan with the butter, cream, treacle and golden syrup. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and then allow to bubble for a couple of minutes until you have achieved a smooth sauce. Stir in the salt. Pour some of the butterscotch sauce over the warm pudding and put the rest into a jug to serve alongside. Add a scoop of the ice cream to each one to serve. CL