Krispie cakes - the no-bake party cake

How to use leftovers to make no-bake party cakes

Krispie Cakes. Credit: SimoneySunday

Cakes. Who doesn't love them? Likewise, marshmallows, Rice Krispies and sprinkles. What's not to like?

Now combine all these winners together and you get: Krispie Cakes!

Breakfast cereal always creeps past its use-by date in our house. We rarely eat breakfast (our morning food is a late porridge or a coffee at work).

Therefore, we have boxes of cereal which need to be used up as I love food but hate waste. And Krispie cakes are a wonderful way of using up spare or leftover Kellogg's Rice Krispies (or their no-name or store equivalent).

You will need:
1 bag of marshmallows
Rice Krispies
A saucepan
A few sprinkles for dressing (optional).

I used this massive bag of marshmallows from Lidl, which gave a nice colourful sheen to the cakes - yellowy pink. It cost just 69p.

To make:
Place marshmallows in a saucepan on a low heat and stir gently for a few minutes until all the marshmallows have melted.

Turn off heat immediately.

Slowly pour in the Rice Krispies and stir until all the Krispies are covered with the melted marshmallows.

Spoon out scoops of the mixture into paper cupcake holders and leave to cool. Sprinkle with Hundreds and Thousands or any cake sprinkles. I used some multi-coloured sugar balls from Tesco which looked pretty and added extra crunch.

Serve and enjoy!

Happiness in a pan

Let's clear two things up. You cannot actually find happiness in a pan, and this recipe is made in a rectangular casserole dish, but if happiness could be found at the bottom of a glass receptacle, this recipe comes close to it.

It is basically home-made three-layered party dip, and I got the idea from a family friend who is called Helen, and who served a version of this several years ago, to my great delight. Helen actually calls it something else, but this is a family blog, so I can't repeat what she calls it.

This makes an excellent and filling party dish, serving approximately 10 people, and can be made for very little cost.

Bottom layer: spicy chunky salsa
Two tins chopped tomatoes (25p each from Tesco), strained to remove superfluous juice.
1 red pepper, diced.
One finely diced red onion
Some fresh parsley, chopped.
3-4 small dried chilies, finely chopped. Use more or less according to taste.

Mix everything and set aside in a long dish. I use one nine inch by 21 inch 'pan' so it is fairly big.

Second layer: cool cream and chive
2 pots of sour cream
1 pot of cream cheese
Chopped chives.

I grow my own chilies, chives and parsley in wee pots on my kitchen windowsill - if you have the motivation to water and tend to these regularly you can save a lot of money.

Top layer: grated cheese
I buy mature cheddar in bulk to save money and grate it myself. It lasts much longer and is more cost-efficient than buying bags of pre-grated cheese.

Sprinkle the top of the cheese with paprika or freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Buy some corn chips/nachos to dip into it. I tend to use various supermarkets' own brand or budget bags of corn chips, as these are really good value for dipping and you can buy several big bags for £2, which works out in terms of volume and cost to be much better value than spending £2 on one bag of Doritos.

And that's it - just get dipping, right down through all those layers!

The teenagers I often have round really love this - they are always asking me if I am going to make it. And I love it too. Which is why I'm fat. Well, one of the reasons anyway...