Philly Cheesecake

After some Hot Cross Buns, Easter wouldn't be complete without a cake too .... okay, I'm just using Easter as an excuse to bake. Haha! Well it was a long weekend, it would have been wasted not to bake!

This recipe was copied & scribbled down on paper from the net and filed away in my recipe folder some years ago. I don't even remember how long it has been sitting there. Thanks to Google I found the source of this recipe from Allrecipes (here). Instead of a cookie crumb crust I've used a thin sponge cake for the bottom layer.

This Philly Cheesecake is lighter in texture but still remain as creamy as its richer and denser sisters. It is not too cheesy which I think is perfect for the Asian palate. Also, this cheesecake is tender enough to be eaten straight out of the fridge unlike other some other cheesecakes which you have to sit out a while to soften. It is fairly simple to make and since it's just a basic cheesecake, I think it'll adapt well to whatever flavoring you fancy.

Here it is.

Philly Cheesecake Recipe
(makes an 8 or 9 inch round cake)

Ingredients:

340 g cream cheese
150 g white sugar

4 eggs

2 tbs or 15g all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
475 ml heavy whipping cream
thin sponge cake about 1 or 2cm thick (8 or 9 inch round)


Method:

Grease an 8 inch springform pan with butter. Place the sponge cake in the pan. 
1. Preheat oven to 150 °C. 
2. With electric beater, beat cream cheese with sugar till smooth. Add egg yolks. Beat thoroughly. Then sieve in the flour and salt. Mix in the vanilla. Turn mixer to slowest speed and slowly pour in the cream. Sieve the mixture if batter is not completely lump free.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add to the above mixture and fold the whites in by hand, lightly but thoroughly. Pour mixture into the sponge cake lined pan.
4. Set pan into a large pan containing 1 inch hot water and bake at 150°C for 1 1/2 hours. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving. To ensure water don't seep in and make the cheesecake soggy at the bottom, wrap the outside of the pan with aluminium foil or set the pan in a slightly larger normal baking pan before putting in the waterbath.
5. Serve as is or topped with whipped cream or fruit topping of your choice.

I will submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April2011) hosted by Jean of 'Noms I Must'. Do join in the fun too!

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

 

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters, give them to your sons
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns



I remember I used to sing this nursery rhyme to my Daughter G when she was  just a baby up to toddlerhood. Now at the awkward age of puberty and soon becoming a teenager,  I can't help but think, man, how time flies! I really miss that cute cheeky little girl who would gladly receive huggles & cuddles & kisses from mommy anytime. 'Sigh'.  

Alright, enough of my ramblings now.

It's a little late but here wishing you all "HAPPY EASTER!" Hope you all had a good Easter weekend.

To celebrate Easter, I made these cocolate chip hot cross buns from Dean Brettschneider's cookbook - 'Global Baker'. These buns were lightly scented with orange zest and were loaded with chocolate chips which made them deliciously chocolaty - I didn't need to slather on butter or jam at all. They were good eaten on their own. If you like chocolate but don't like spices, mixed peel or raisins, these buns are for u. I personally like these buns but my Daughter G on the other hand didn't fancy them as much. She didn't like the orange zest which I thought was wonderful. No buns for dear Hubby who's a carbo-phobe. He avoids bread like the plague! Ah well, more buns to myself!

The aptly named 'Global Baker' cookbook has many interesting & inspirational recipes with influences from around the world.  What caught my interest most are the 'east- meets-west' fusion recipes which Dean had developed for the Asian tastebuds. He is currently residing in China and thus the Asian influence with the use of tofu, red beans and green tea. There's even a macaron recipe incorporating Chinese five spice powder - normally used in savoury dishes, I wonder how this spice would work in sweets?! This is one cookbook that will whip out the adventurous baker in you. So far I've only tried two recipes  from the book and they didn't disappoint. I'm already eyeing a few more recipes I'd like to try, heck I'd try them all if I could!    

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

(Recipe taken from 'Global Baker' by Dean Brettschneider.)

Dough

300g strong bread flour

30g cocoa powder

5g salt

25g butter

25g sugar

zest of 1 orange

5g (1 tsp) active dried yeast

1 small egg, weighing no more than 50g when cracked

150ml water

140g chocolate chips (chilled in the fridge)

Cross Mixture

(Note: I've  halved the recipe here. The original recipe yielded too much than what needed)

75g plain flour

25g vegetable oil

75ml water

Sugar Glaze

40g sugar

100ml water

zest of 1 orange

Method

Make dough

Place all the ingredients except the chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, combine to a dough mass. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes, resting for 30 seconds every 2-3 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic (Note: I used my stand mixer to do the kneading). The dough will be sticky to the touch and soft, don't be tempted to use excessive amounts of dough during kneading. Finally, add the chilled chocolate chips and continue to knead very gently until they are incorporated into the dough.

Place dough in a lightly oiled large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise for 45-60 minutes. Gently knock back the dough in the bowl by folding it back onto itself. Cover again with plastic wrap and leave for 30 minutes.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape into balls. Place approximately 2cm apart on baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to prove for 30-45 minutes, depending on room temperature.

Make cross

Place flour and oil in a bowl and whick slowly, adding just ebnough water to make a smooth lump free paste. Cover with plastic wrap until required.

Preheat oven to 190C.

To make the crosses, put the cross mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain 3mm piping nozzle, pipe crosses onto the buns.

Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, make sugar glaze. Heat the sugar, water and orange zest to boiling, remove from the heat. Brush buns with sugar glaze after removing from the oven. Place on wire rack to cool. 

Torta alla Gianduia

As I've mentioned in my earlier post, April is a month of birthdays and that includes yours truly here. :) This year I have specifically instructed my nearest & dearests NOT to buy a birthday cake for me as I wanted to bake my own. You see, there are just so many recipes - too many! in my to-try list (which gets longer & longer everyday), I doubt I'll ever finish trying all in my lifetime!

After all that mousse (here) and cheese (here), I wanted something simple. For my cake, I've chosen Torta alla Gianduia or plainly known as Nutella Cake from none other than the domestic goddess herself, Nigella Lawson. Mind you, though simple & easy to whip up, this flourless cake was nothing short of decadent! A WHOLE jar of nutella is required, imagine that!  It was dense yet soft, gooey-ly rich, nutty and moist with a texture of a cross between pudding and fudgy brownie. Mamamia!



U only live once -INDULGE!



Though a year older, I still feel as young as when I was 18 years old! Now, if you're wondering how old I am - well I'm sorry, I'm not going to divulge my age. I had no problem a few years back but now it has become a little sensitive for me, more so with each passing year! I hate to think I'm growing old, so let me be forever 18! Hahaha! Here's a quote I like very much which I think is very appropriate to share with u all - Growing old is compulsory but growing up is optional! :)

Cheers!


Torta alla Gianduia @ Nutella Cake
(adapted from Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess" Cookbook)

Note: Recipe is halved to fit a 7 inch round cake tin. Please keep tab on the baking time for this size, u may need less than the baking time called for. Mine needed exactly 40 minutes.

For the cake
3 large eggs -- separated
small pinch of salt
60g soft butter
1/2  jar of Nutella (200 g)
1/2  tablespoon water (use Frangelico or rum, if u have)
50g finely ground hazelnuts
50g dark chocolate, melted

For the icing
70 ml double cream
60g dark chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.

Prepare a 7-inch springform pan or a loose base pan: grease and line with parchment or wax paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, then add water (or what you're using), egg yolks, and ground hazelnuts. Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time. Pour into the prepared pan and cook for  40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides (or when skewer comes out clean), then let cool on rack with cake still in mold.

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, add the cream and chopped chocolate and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice just the top of the cake. Unmold the cooled cake carefully. Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and decorate with  hazelnuts if u wish. Serve with a whipped cream or ice cream.

Coriander Pesto

Here's a variation of the traditional basil pesto using coriander. Fragrant and very versatile, this coriander pesto sauce can be used with anything your imagination permits. Tossed with pasta or smeared on bread, drizzled on salads or topped on grilled meat, used as dips or marinade, really the uses are endless!  

Coriander Pesto Recipe

Ingredients:

2 handfuls coriander leaves

1/3 cup toasted almonds

2 cloves garlic

4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoon grated parmessan cheese (optional)

salt & black pepper to taste

Method:

In a food processor, blitz toasted almonds and garlic first. Then add in the rest of the ingredients and blend . 

Done!

Easy peasy.



Tossed with pasta.




Topped on my open-faced tomato, avocado & onion sandwich.



Braised Mushrooms

This dish is inspired from Rasa Malaysia's Japanese Braised Mushroom. I've 'Chinese- fied' (is there even such a word? haha!)  the recipe as I don't have some of the ingredients called for.

Who would've thought such super simple dish can taste so super delicious! So easy to prepare, this dish will definitely be staying on the family's weekly menu.

Braised Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoon rice wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed and sliced

Method:
Add all the ingredients (except the mushrooms) into a saucepan with a low to medium heat. As soon as it bubbles, add the mushrooms into the saucepan.
Cook until the chicken stock has reduced and slightly thickened.  Remove from heat, let cool. Done!

No-bake Eggless Green Tea Creme Caramel

Seeing how well my No-bake Eggless Chocolate Creme Caramel turned out, I was feeling rather bold and wanted to try a green tea version.

Voila!

No- Bake Eggless Green Tea Creme Caramel

Green Tea Custard :
2 Tbsp powdered gelatin
1250 ml full cream milk
80 gm castor sugar
3 Tbsp custard powder
2 Tbsp green tea powder

Caramel :
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp water


Method:

Make caramel first

Put sugar and water in a small pot and heat on medium flame until it starts to turn a light golden brown. Watch it carefully and don't turn away (not even a sec!) when you're doing this because once the syrup turns golden it darkens very quickly after that and will continue to do so after removing from heat. Do not stir. Once the sugar/caramel turns a light golden brown, remove from heat, swirl the pot a little to let the colour even out and then pour directly into your mould or ramekin dishes. Swirl the mould around so that the caramel covers the bottom and reaches up the sides a little. Let cool and harden. Do this quickly as the caramel hardens in no time.

Make custard

Pour the milk into a medium pot and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let the gelatin soften a little. Meanwhile mix  the sugar, green tea powder and custard powder in a bowl, then add into the milk/gelatin mixture. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer STIRRING ALL THE TIME with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Sieve the custard. Pour the sieved custard into the mould over the hardened caramel and chill in the refrigerator overnight or until set.

No-Bake Eggless Chocolate Creme Caramel

Creme caramel is  one of the most popular dessert around. You'd easily find them on the menu in any restaurants or cafes. It is essentially a custard baked in a mold with a layer of caramel at the bottom. When inverted out for serving, the silky custard pudding sits beautifully presented in its pool of sweet syrupy caramel sauce. What's not to like?

As much as I like creme caramel, I rarely make this dessert at home. It was probably years ago the last time I made one. I remember it came out one pockmarked ugly looking pud! Creme caramel is not as easy to make as it seems, at least to me. I always wondered how other people seem to make such  beautiful and perfectly smooth looking creme caramel.

When I saw this divine looking Creme Caramel  from 'Cherry On A Cake', I couldn't believe that it was EGGLESS and required NO BAKING! It really piqued my curiosity - maybe this is THE secret to silky smooth caramel. I wasted no time at all and was in the kitchen right away. 

Well, what do you know, I ran out of milk and had only chocolate flavoured milk. I didn't want to drive out to the store just to buy milk, so what the heck, chocolate creme caramel it was! My gamble actually paid off. It  was lite, silky, chocolaty and yet surprisingly creamy. While my Daughter G and I agreed the pud was yummy,  it definitely could do better without the bitter taste (I had overcooked the caramel!),  my dear Hubby thought otherwise. He liked the slight bitterness and said it balances the sweetness of the pud.   

From now on, this  no-bake eggless version will be my (secret) go to recipe for creme caramel! Purists may frown and scoff  at this fake pud but who cares when you can eat to your heart's content and put your cholesterol concious mind at peace! Anyone who is also averse to the slightest whiff of eggy smells would surely welcome this fake version. But what I like best about this recipe is the no-bake part ... which means no tedious water bath and no fiddling & poking about to check if the pud is baked. I can rest assured that my creme caramel comes out smooth & silky every time .... and  not a pockmarked flop!


No- Bake Eggless Chocolate Creme Caramel

(Recipe adapted from "Cherry on a Cake" here ) 

Chocolate Custard :
2 Tbsp powdered gelatin
1250 ml chocolate flavoured full cream milk
80 gm castor sugar
3 Tbsp custard powder
2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Caramel :
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp water


Method:

Make caramel first

Put sugar and water in a small pot and heat on medium flame until it starts to turn a light golden brown. Watch it carefully and don't turn away (not even a sec!) when you're doing this because once the syrup turns golden it darkens very quickly after that and will continue to do so after removing from heat. Do not stir. Once the sugar/caramel turns a light golden brown, remove from heat, swirl the pot a little to let the colour even out and then pour directly into your mould or ramekin dishes. Swirl the mould around so that the caramel covers the bottom and reaches up the sides a little. Let cool and harden. Do this quickly as the caramel hardens in no time.

Make custard

Pour the milk into a medium pot and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let the gelatin soften a little. Meanwhile mix  the sugar and custard powder in a bowl, then add into the milk/gelatin mixture. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer STIRRING ALL THE TIME with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Sieve the custard. Pour the sieved custard into the mould over the hardened caramel and chill in the refrigerator overnight or until set.

Cocodrillo Ciabatta

Do they look like crocodile slippers?

These are ciabattas I made following an interesting recipe (Jason's Cocodrillo Ciabatta) I found from 'The Fresh Loaf,' a website forum on anything and everything about bread. Cocodrillo Ciabatta literally means crocodile slippers! 

Traditionally Ciabatta bread is made using the sourdough method which requires the preparation of a pre-ferment dough; and this can take days before you can put a loaf of ciabatta on your table.

The Cocodrillo recipe on the other hand uses the straight dough method and eliminates the need of a sponge dough. This speeds up the bread making process and you can now enjoy a rustic ciabatta within hours.  

Here's a video to accompany the Cocodrillo Ciabatta recipe. I found this video very helpful and have used it as a guide when I made my ciabattas. The video shows the Cocodrillo Ciabatta making process, from the mixing of the dough to the final baking.

 

Credits to jenmenke .

 

Jason's Cocodrillo Ciabatta

Ingredients:

• 500g bread flour
• 450 - 490g water  (I used 450g)
• 2 tsp instant yeast 
• 15g salt 

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients roughly till combined, let it rest for 10 minutes.
Be prepared for a very wet dough which has the consistency of  a gloopy pancake batter. The high water content is essential to produce the large irregular air bubbles characteristic of a ciabatta bread. Having a stand mixer to tackle the very wet dough is definitely a life-saver and a necessity. 

2. After the resting period, turn on the mixer and beat for 10-30 minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Mine took the full 30 minutes to transform from pancake batter to a sticky dough using a medium-high speed on my Kenwood Chef mixer. Do not despair if after much beating your batter hasn't changed much in consistency, the mixer speed is probably too low. So be brave and crank up the speed. The dough would be stretchy and feel very wet and sticky. Do not be tempted to add more flour, just go along with it.You'll know it's done when it separates from the side of the bowl and just coming off the bottom of the bowl, and your mixer shakes like crazy as if possessed!

3. Place into a well oiled container and let it triple its size, about 2 hours or more. It must triple!
For me, I let the dough double it's size and then kept it in the fridge to slow down the proofing process. It was very late when I did this, I was too sleepy and couldn't possibly be making bread until the wee hours, so I thought I'd continue in the morning. The next morning, I took the dough out from the fridge and left it to come to room temperature. By then it had tripled.

4. After tripling in size, use a spatula to scrape the dough from the bowl onto a heavily floured surface. Cut into 2 or 3 pieces, spray with grease and dust with flour, and allow to sit for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 260 °C while the loaves are resting. 
I  just tipped the container and let the dough fall out onto the work surface, then cut in half and separated the two pieces just like how it was done in the video. I didn't bother greasing them, just dusted  them with plenty of flour, then covered them with a clean kitchen towel (which has been dusted with flour of course).

5. After resting 45 minutes or so (dough will be puffy and spongy), pick up one piece of the dough and stretch into your final ciabatta shape (~10" oblong rectangle) and flip them upside down (this redistributes the bubbles, so you get even bubbles throughout), and onto parchment or a heavily floured peel.
I followed the video and used two dough scrapers to scrape the dough off the work surface and turned it upside down on a lined baking sheet. I tried to do this as gently as I could in one quick motion. The dough will look as though you’ve deflated it. Fear not, it'll puff up as it bakes in the oven.  Repeat with the other piece of dough.

6. Bake at 260 °C about 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 96 °C.
I don't have a thermometer so I baked the ciabattas a little longer to be safe, about 25 minutes. Better err on the side of overbaking than underbaking as the dough is so wet anyway.

EAT me!

I'm pretty happy how my ciabatta turned out. The texture was chewy and the crust thin and slightly crackly. As you can see, it had the desired irregular large bubbles throughout the loaf. I realy like how the large bubbles collect  the juices in my sandwich. It tasted even better toasted.  

  

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