Delicious Double Chocolate Cheesecake. Lindor Lindt and Plain Chocolate with Orange

This morning I made a seriously good Lindt chocolate cheesecake, by accident.

I don't mean I made the cheesecake by accident, and I'm not even sure if it's possible to make a cheesecake accidentally, or any other food for that matter.
What I mean is I made a Lindt chocolate cheesecake by accident.
The Lindt chocolate was the accident, the fact that the cheesecake is chocolate, was intended.

Our local supermarket is a Co-Op.
We are perfectly happy with that fact, as it's very handy having a shop that sells food within a couple of minutes walk from the house.
But as it is a small local Co-Op the stock is understandably fairly limited.
And this is how I came to accidentally make a Lindt chocolate cheesecake.

This morning we went out as usual to walk Barley, our gorgeous Lurcher, and on the way back to the house we popped into the Co-Op.
By we, I mean me, as Mr.R had to wait outside in the cold with Barley.
I seriously, and honestly think that dogs should be allowed everywhere. No, not allowed, welcome. Dogs should be welcome everywhere.
But, alas they are not, and this blog post is supposedly about cheesecake. So, for now, I'll say no more about dogs.....

Right, where was I?
Oh yes, I popped into the Co-Op as I wanted to buy what I needed to make a white chocolate cheesecake.
But as I've said, the Co-Op is limited in what it can stock, so I couldn't get exactly what I wanted.

I wanted some organic butter.
Non-organic was the only choice.

I wanted a packet of malted milk biscuits.
I bought chocolate digestives, as there were none without chocolate, and also a packet of shortbread, because I didn't want the cheesecake base to be too chocolatey.
That may not sound right, something being too chocolatey, but at 7am this morning the thought of chocolate make me feel sick, so less chocolate for the biscuit base seemed like a good decision.

I wanted some cream.
There was a choice; thick cream, single cream, and whipping cream.
I bought thick cream.

I also wanted a large bar of white chocolate.
There wasn't any.
I bought a bar of Lindt Lindor milk chocolate.
So that's how I accidentally made a Lindor Lindt chocolate cheesecake. Well, sort of, mine had dark chocolate with orange in it as well.

I think that's about it ingredients wise.
Co-Op shop done, we returned to the house, where I sat messing about online for ages, before finally forcing myself to get up off of the sofa and into the kitchen.
I fancied cheesecake, and I felt like making it, but the living room was nice and toasty, and the kitchen was cold, hence my lingering in the warm.

Anyway, I braved the cold and set about making the chocolate cheesecake.
I am exaggerating slightly, the kitchen isn't that cold, it's just that I am usually feeling cold, no matter the weather or conditions.
Right, so, cheesecake.
As I know I've said before, I rarely follow recipes. I rarely cook. Mr.R is the King of the kitchen in our family.
Having said that, I did have a chocolate cheesecake recipe to hand, it was one I'd found via Google, before going out this morning. I'd googled recipes because I wanted to remind myself of the quantities of cream, cheese, chocolate etc. that I'd need.

I started to weigh my ingredients.
Yes, I did weigh them, properly. Well, almost properly.
I added slightly more of some things, and slightly less of others, to suit my feelings.

As I'd been awake since 5am I was feeling pretty tired by the time I started to make the cheesecake at about 11am, so I thought it'd be best to pay attention to the method on the recipe; when to mix what, and with what. I didn't want to mix the cream with biscuits, or some other mishap resulting in the cheesecake being ruined.

Here's my recipe, which is a jigged about version of one I found online.

Ingredients - 
Serves 8

• 150g (5 oz) biscuits - I used shortbread and a couple of chocolate digestives.
• 45g (1 1/2 oz) of butter.
• Teaspoon of honey. I used organic raw honey.
• 120ml cream. I used thick cream. British cream!
• 200g cream-cheese. I used Philadelphia Original.
• 200g milk chocolate. I used Lindor Lindt Milk Chocolate.
• 200g plain chocolate with orange pieces. I used Lidl chocolate, not Lindt.
• A splash of Baileys Chocolat Luxe. We had a free miniature in the fridge that we received in the post ages ago, so I thought I'd use it in this cheesecake. 

Method - 

Crush the biscuits until they are the consistency of bread crumbs. 
I used a pestle and mortar, because that's what we have, and it works perfectly.  

Melt the butter. Then add the honey.

Add the crushed biscuits to the melted butter. 

Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter together until all of the butter has been absorbed.

Layer the bottom of a tin to form the base of the cheesecake. 
I used a small loaf tin, because that's what was to hand.

Put the biscuit base in the fridge to set.

Melt the chocolate and leave it to cool.

I seem to have forgotten to take a photo of the melted chocolate, shame because it looked lush, all silky and smooth. I probably forgot because I was also making videos as I made the cheesecake - it was all too much for my poor tired brain. ;)

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. 
I used a hand-whisk, because that's what we have.

Add the cooled chocolate to the whipped cream, gently folding until they're thoroughly combined. 

Leave the chocolate and cream mixture aside while you get on with the next step.

Beat the cream-cheese until it is a soft smooth consistency. 

Gently fold the cream-cheese and chocolate cream mixture together until thoroughly combined. 

Add some Baileys Chocolat Luxe, or some other booze, or nothing.

Take the biscuit base out of the fridge.
Pour the chocolate, cream, cream-cheese mixture over the top and spread evenly. 

Refrigerate the cheesecake for about an hour, or until the mixture has set.

Make a cup of tea or coffee, or whatever your favourite cheesecake accompanying drink is.
Serve yourself a generous portion of the chocolate orange cheesecake. 

Enjoy! 

I enjoyed my creamy, sweet, chocolate, orange treat.

This recipe says it serves 8, but as we don't eat large amounts of sweet stuff, I'm sure this will make twice that amount of servings - at least. And as Mr.R will probably only have a small taste of the cheesecake and not want any more, that means I've got rather a lot of cheesecake to eat. Lucky me!

I haven't tasted the chocolate cheesecake yet, but if it's anything like the last one I made, it will be delicious.
After I typed the previous sentence, curiosity got the better of me, and I went to the fridge to get myself a slice of the chocolate cheesecake, as you can see in the photos.
It was absolutely delicious. As you can see by the empty plate.

Mmm, Double Chocolate, Lindor Lindt and Plain Chocolate with Orange pieces, Cheesecake - I think I love you!
Do you like cheesecake?
What's your favourite cheesecake recipe?

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream ~ Review

       

My poor hands were in a terrible state, seriously dry, and a little sore. 

I'd been trying to soothe them with various natural products; olive oil, coconut oil etc. but they were taking too long to work their magic, and my hands were not happy. My hands needed urgent help. 

I usually prefer to use natural products on my skin, which I either already have at home, or I order online, but as we don't currently have a permanent postal address I can't order anything, so I popped in to Superdrug looking for hand cream. 

After perusing the shelves I finally decided on Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. 

I have used this product before, several years ago, before I stopped using so many chemical rich products. 

Anyway, I saw the Neutrogena and remembered that it had worked well for me in the past, so I grabbed a tube. 

I say grabbed a tube, which makes it sound like it took me a couple of seconds, which it most certainly did not. 

I am seriously indecisive, doesn't matter what it is, I always take ages to make every decision. 

And so it was with the Neutrogena hand cream. In my defence though, it wasn't my fault. 

There were too many to choose from. ;) 

There was an original formula, a formula with SPF, age shield, fast absorbing, night-time cream, an unscented one, and a fragrance free (which you'd think was the same as unscented, but they had both so what do I know?) and so on..... and a couple of these choices also had larger tubes marked +50% free.

It was mind-boggling trying to read the ingredients on the tubes, figure out what the difference in the ingredients were, and which would be best for my skin. 

Surely it should be simpler than this? 

Mr.R had wisely said he'd wait for me outside Superdrug, but I could see him by the door, and I swear I'd taken so long that he looked quite a bit older than when I'd entered the shop. :o

So in a rare moment of clarity I made a snap decision, I reached out and grabbed the very first tube I'd looked at, the original formula, no SPF, no fast absorbing, no unscented....... 

Superdrug wasn't busy, I didn't have to wait long to be served as there was only one person in front of me in the queue.

I placed the tube of Neutrogena Hand Cream on the counter, the lady took it, zapped the barcode, and said, "Do you have a loyalty card?" 

Grrr! What a gip! I long for the 'old days' before every shop offered loyalty cards. They're a waste of plastic and nothing more. But, I digress, that rant is for another day, another post. ;)

Er, where was I? 

Oh yes, after what felt like an hour to me, and no doubt even longer to Mr.R who was still standing patiently outside, I finally left the shop with my new purchase.  

What is Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream like?

Is it any good?

Does it work?

I seem to have written a lot already and I haven't even said anything about the product. 

Haha! Typical me. :/

Right, so after I'd washed my hands, we popped in to a local pub, not only so I could wash my hands, but because we like pubs, and beer. :D But that too is wandering off topic, so I'll stop. 

With clean hands I squeezed a tiny blob of the hand-cream on to the back of my hands and began rubbing it in, all over my hands. 

Instantly it felt good.

The cream rubbed in easily, very easily. In fact it vanished in seconds. 

It's a concentrated formula, so you only need a small amount, but my hands were particularly dry and in need of some extra love, so I applied a couple more blobs. 

Blobs! I think that's the correct technical term. ;) 

After the second application my hands were happy, they felt so much better, and they looked nicer too. They looked years younger, which was a pleasant surprise.  

After a day or two of using the Neutrogena hand-cream my hands were back to their usual soft lovely condition. 

I'm still using it, not every day, just when I remember, or when my hands feel in need of some extra moisture.  

This hand-cream is really good, even when I wash my hands thoroughly, which I do at least a million times a day (that's only a slight exaggeration ~ OCD) my hands still feel soft and look nice. 

It almost feels like a barrier cream. 

I'd give Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream 7 out of 10. If it didn't contain nasty chemicals I'd give it 9 out of 10, because nothing is perfect - but this comes pretty close. 

Disclaimer: My hands do look much better in the real World, than they do in the photos.

I was warm, which explains the big veins, and I was alone, which made taking the photos awkward. 

I balanced my phone on the edge of a table and took the photos with my tongue. True story! :o

Have you used Neutrogena Hand Cream?

Did you like it?