Date night 1 - Ten minute dark chocolate and orange Cheesecake!

As a mum to six children when it comes to date night there is not much time for preparation.

So having some ideas and recipes which can be quickly thrown together but wow is very important.

Over the next year I am going to try and give you some ideas for ways to date your husband or wife while not having to call in the babysitters or spend a fortune!

I hope you enjoy!!

So here goes date idea number 1

Before throwing on a fabulous dress you would usually reserve for going out to a swanky 5 star restaurant spend half an hour in the kitchen whipping up a sensational meal with very little effort.

We enjoyed a Risotto, which is incredibly easy to make and can easily be done using some of the left over roast from Sundays dinner.
Some fresh baked bread sits beautifully with a risotto, if you do not want to bake from fresh you can still get the fresh baked smell, taste and texture from part baked rolls!

Then onto dessert well here is the recipe for the easiest cheesecake ever!!!

I hope if you give it a try you enjoy it because I made it up as I went along but loved it!

Dark Chocolate an Orange Cheesecake

Serves 8 (unless you are greedy and have big pieces!)

500g Mascarpone Cheese

200g Dark Chocolate (a good quality is best but not essential)

200g Digestive Biscuits

2 Bars of Butter Crunchy Almond (dimes / daims)

75g Butter

Zest and juice of half a orange

4 tbsp Chocolate shavings (I like to use Hotel Chocolat's Liquid Chocolate.)

Decorations (optional)

1.      Start of by breaking your biscuits and dime/daims down by placing them in a food processor and pulsing until they are like bread crumbs.

2.      Heat your butter until melted and then mix into the biscuit and Dime/ Daim mix until well mixed.

3.      This will form you base, place in a cake tin with removable base and press down firmly.

4.      Warm a pan of water, break up the chocolate and place it in a bowl large enough to sit comfortably on the top of the pan without touching the bottom. Melt the chocolate stirring regularly. It is important with dark chocolate to melt it in this way as melting it in the microwave risks burning the chocolate and even a small amount of burning will ruin all of the chocolate.

5.      While the chocolate is melting place your Mascarpone Cheese in to a bowl and with a spoon loosen the Mascarpone until it is soft.

6.      Once the chocolate is melted place it in the bowl with the Mascarpone and mix well. Ensure that there is no white mascarpone left; it is worth continuing to mix for a minute or so after the last bit of white has gone.

7.      Add your zest and orange juice and mix well.

8.      Add your chocolate shavings and continue to mix

9.      Place your Mascarpone mixture on top of the biscuit base and smooth down the top.

10.  Decorate to taste, then place in the fridge for 5 minutes, or until you are ready to serve.

As easy as that and honestly it only takes ten minutes to throw together and tastes fantastic!

Once everything is made light some candles and if you have one light your fire, put on some romantic music and you are ready!

After your food you can move everything aside and enjoy some light slow dancing or chatting by candle light.

We really enjoyed this date and look forward to another year filled with romantic moments and dates which create memories that truly last a life time.

Thank you for reading and I hope you come back for more ideas and share some if you have them.

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