Posts tagged as:

cheesecake

A Slice of Awesomeness

June 18, 2010

chocolate and nibs
The other day I was feeling totally uninspired to bake from cookbooks. After having scoured through many of them, I felt like having a dessert that would be a riot of textures, rich and flavourful, yet not too sweet. And then in a few moments, it struck me – I’d make a dessert with multiple layers: crunchy biscuit, gooey brownie, velvety cheesecake, silky white chocolate ganache, and a layer of tangy raspberry topping. Just thinking about it made me so happy!

brownie, cheesecake, white chocolate, raspberry

(it’s been pouring here and I just couldn’t seem to get a good shot of the cake!)

If you look at all the layers in there, it looks a little intimidating, but it’s not. The brownie and the cheesecake layers (or both in one!) have made their appearance on the blog in the past (and hopefully been baked in your home!), and that’s half the battle won. It’s just the regulation of time in the oven that’s important. You only want to bake the brownie for ten minutes (or fewer – just keep an eye on it) when you first put it in the oven, because you’re going to be popping it right back in with the cheesecake layer. And after that, it’s a breeze. Or actually not. The toughest part it waiting for the cheesecake to cool, so you can cut up a slice – a slice of awesomeness.

brownie, cheesecake, white chocolate, raspberry

Layer 1: Biscuit base

200g / 7oz digestive biscuits or graham crackers, crushed

85g / 3 oz melted butter

2 tbsp vanilla bean sugar

1 tbsp cacao nibs

Mix all the ingredients together and lay it at the bottom of a 9 inch/20cm springform pan. Push it with your fingers to make it really compact.

Variations: You can add 1 tbsp of toasted, coarsely ground hazelnuts, if you like.

Layer 2: Brownie

Use ½ the recipe of the Baked Brownie as per the recipe

Pour the batter into the springform tin with biscuits.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170C/340F for 10-12 minutes, until you see that a sturdy crust has formed.
Remove from the oven, and let it cool. It’s important for it to cool before you pour the next layer because when it has cooled, it will be more resilient to the batter being poured and it won’t crack. This will give you well defined layers, instead of the cheesecake bleeding into the brownie. But, if it does happen, just say that you’ve made a marbled cheesecake swirled brownies.
Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/320F.

Pointers:

Make sure to use minimum 60% cacao chocolate. Remember, we’re striving for awesomeness.
You can grind the sugar a little to help melt into the batter easily.

Layer 3: Cheesecake

Use 1/3^rd the recipe for the cheesecake.

While the brownie cools, heat up some water and place it in a roasting pan to create a water bath for the cheesecake.
The water bath will help the cheesecake attain a moist texture as well as prevent the top of it from cracking.
Once the brownie has cooled a little, about 15-17 minutes, pour the cheesecake batter on top of it and let it bake in a preheated oven at 160C/320F.
Let this bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the top of the cake is slightly golden and has firmed up. Just the centre should be a little wobbly.
Remove from the oven, and let it cool.

Layer 4: White chocolate ganache

200g / 8oz white chocolate
100g / 4oz heavy cream (or Amul if you’re on this side of the world)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the white chocolate and vanilla extract in a metal bowl.
In a saucepan, heat the cream, until it comes to a boil, making sure it doesn’t burn.
Pour the cream over the chocolate and swirl it a but to coat the chocolate evenly.
Start whisking the cream into the chocolate, until it has all come together.
Refrigerate for an hour, covered with clingfilm.
Once the cake has cooled completely, spread the white chocolate ganache on it. Rerigerate until set. Do not skip this and jump to the topping – if the white chocolate doesn’t set, it will make spreading the raspberry topping that much more difficult.

Layer 5: Raspberry topping

I used about 150g (5oz.) readymade raspberry topping, because that’s the best I can get. But if you have access to fresh raspberries, then a thick coulis would be blissful!

Slice up, and share. That’s what makes it more fun – watching the expressions of people eat it, and then gush about how frickin’ awesome it is. I’m on my last slice of the cake as I write the post, and I’m already craving for some more. I wish I could just run to the kitchen and bake this again right this moment, but I can’t. It’s too rich to be made every other day and more than that, it’stoo special to make it without an occasion

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Hazelnut Cheesecake

April 27, 2009

Another month, another challenge for the Daring Bakers, yet the one thing that hasn’t changed is me typing super fast to make it in time for posting! And to tell you the truth, it is for this very rush that I wait till the last minute to bake. Maybe this leaves me with little time to dress up the baked creation; but I really wouldn’t have it any other way. Plus I can actually eat it while I type!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake for the challenge. The recipe is a basic one; which means there is a lot of room for creativity. And I really mean *A LOT* I suggest you check out what the other Daring Bakers did to understand just what I mean by that.

I baked the lovely cheesecakes in ramekins to be served individually. I used digestive biscuits instead of Graham Crackers and added toasted hazelnuts while mixing together the crust ingredients in the food processor. And I have got to tell you – the results were AMAZING. Two tablespoons of hazelnuts in the crust transformed the cheesecake for me. I didn’t feel the need for anything more. I now know what food in heaven tastes like! But just to gild the lily, I whipped up some white chocolate ganache and spread it over the cheesecake with Nutella. You could also add a tablespoon of Frangelico in the batter for an even more pronounced hazelnut flavour.

Try it – you will love it! Hope over to Jenny’s blog for some very neat ideas on how you can play with the flavours.

Most definitely one to remake in the (hopefully very near) future!

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:
FYI, I made 1/3rd the recipe and it turned out beautifully, as you can see. I also tweaked the crust recipe a little by adding 2 tablespoons of ground hazelnuts. Make sure to grind the hazelnuts with the sugar so that it remains powder-y and not oily.

Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs (I used digestive biscuits)
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cheesecake filling:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.
Mix together the crust ingredients and press into a 9 inch springform pan or ramekins.
Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and and blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.
Bake 45 to 55 minutes for a 9 inch cake or 15-20 minutes for ramekins or until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

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Creamy Oreo Pie…Again!

December 9, 2008

When more posts fill up the space, it’s only natural for the older one’s to sit in the archive until someone really digs deep. But when something is as good as the Creamy Oreo Pie, I just had to post about it again.

I’d like to think of this creamy oreo pie as a no-bake cheesecake. A crumbly oreo crust and ooey-goooey-creamy-cheesy filling. And I’m not exaggerating. There is nothing that matches up to this, especially if you are an Oreo lover. Nothing. In fact, you will wonder how Oreos could possibly be THIS good when whipped up with cream and cheese. This is a fool proof recipe that I’ve tried several times and you just can’t mess it up! Once you’ve tried it, you’re going to keep coming back to it.

And you thought you had to work hard for the perfect dessert?

Personally, this is not something I want to eat with all the chatter over a dinner table but something I want to experience in my own company. Just me and the creamy oreo pie – one tiny bite at a time; savouring the sweet, creamy filling against the crisp, crumbly crust – Nirvana. Sis, take a cue – after this is the best time for you to ask me for my Tommy Hilfiger tote or Charles and Keith pumps. You will always get an affirmative reply.

The Creamy Oreo Pie Recipe

Now that you’ve made yourself a positively rich and decadent dessert, you need to enjoy this without any distractions. Cut yourself a slice and pick your favourite spot. With each bite, feel the textures. Feel the taste. Feel the opulence.

I made the pie and hid it at the back of the fridge to keep my grandmum from offering it to relatives who drop in. And that’s how I enjoyed it for the next couple of days, once slice at a time.

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