Philadelphia Cream Cheesecake

A classic Philadelphia Cream Cheesecake recipe is easily available on the internet. I personally like a baked cheesecake rather than a chilled one. Here's the recipe for a baked Philadelphia cream cheesecake that worked beautifully for me...thrice.

Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp melted butter, divided
1 cup digestive biscuit crumbs (I used McVities digestive biscuits)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
450g of Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Method
1.Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees celsius
2.Grease the bottom of the pan with one tsp melted butter
3.Combine digestive biscuits and 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar, mix this till all crumbs are coated with butter. Put on the base of an 8 inch diamater baking pan (springform) and press firmly with a fork. (additionally, you can put this in the freezer for about 5 mins too)
4.In a medium mixing bowl, mix eggs, sour cream and vanilla on medium speed with hand mixer (you could use an electric mixer on low speed). Then add the cheese, 1tbsp melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar, mix on low speed
5.Pour over the digestive biscuits and bake for 50 mins to 1 hour
6.Then broil on a grill for a few seconds till top is browned (please keep watch on this broiling process because it browns in seconds!)
Center should jiggle when shaken and then its done! (a skewer inserted in the sides of the cake should come out clean)

This is a classic cream cheesecake recipe. You can also choose to add fruits like blueberries etc. I added cranberries in one of the three cheesecakes I made- it was delicious.

To make cranberry compote
400g of cranberries
100ml of cranberry juice
50g of castor sugar
Method-Boil the cranberries with the sugar and cranberry juice until fairly thick. Allow to cool. Spread over top of cheesecake or you serve individually over slices of cake

Tips
- Use all ingredients at room temperature, especially the cream cheese otherwise you will have a lumpy batter.
-You can also use mascarpone cheese to make cheesecake instead of Philadelphia, there are recipes on the internet to make mascarpone cheese



Here are some pics of my cheesecake

Mocha Cake

I challenged myself on Saturday...I didn't think it was possible to bake two completely different cakes at the same time, at least by me. But then I surprised myself. Coffee cake is best when shared with friends, that's exactly what I did. :)

Let me share this delicious recipe with you. I couldn't find Rachel's Allen's Mocha Cake on the internet so I typed out the recipe from the book.

175g self-raising flour
50g cocoa powder
225g soft light brown sugar (I used demerara sugar here)
175g butter, melted
4 medium eggs, seperated
60ml very strong coffee, cooled (I used 2 heaped teaspoons of Nescafe Gold coffee)
3 tbsp water
1x quantity coffee butter icing
Chocolate curls to decorate

For the icing:
100g butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted (I used 100g icing sugar here, because it tends to get too sweet otherwise. I just spread the icing between the cut cake and not on top as in Rachel Allen's recipe)
2-3 tbsp strong coffee

1.Preheat oven to 190 deg C. Oil and line a loaf tin (5 x 9in) or an 8 inch diameter cake tin, with parchment paper. I normally use a teflon coated cake tin and it's really easy to remove the cake without lining the sides. I do line the base. If using a loaf tin, line the sides so that it comes over the sides of the tin. Sift the flour and cocoa powder in a large bowl, add the sugar and stir to combine.
2.Using a wooden spoon or a hand-held whisk, beat in the melted butter, egg yolks, coffee and water until smooth. (at this point the mix is not very smooth because of the sugar, but ensure you have no lumps).
3.Whisk the egg whites in a large clean bowl until fairly stiff peaks form, then gently fold into the cake mixture in three batches making sure there are no lumps of egg white left.
4.Turn the mixture into the prepared loaf or cake tin and smooth the surface. Give the tin a tap to remove air bubbles. Bake in the overn for 35 mins, then reduce the oven temperature to 160 deg C for the last 20 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 mins then lift out by the parchment paper (if loaf tin used) onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the icing:
-Place the butter in a large bowl and beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon until it is very soft (I used an electric beater, just don't over beat)
-Add the sifted icing sugar and a coffee and beat until smooth.

6. When the cake is cold, remove the parchment paper. Using a bread knife, split the cake horizontally and spread about a third of the icing on the lower half with a butter knife. Place the other half of the cake back on the top and spread the rest of the icing over it. Decorate as desired, Rachel Allen also recommends using chocolate curls to decorate.

Tip- Rachel Allen's baking time is 35 mins plus 20 mins, however I found the cake was becoming very dry on the sides at about 30 mins into baking. It was perhaps because I used demerara sugar. So, keep checking while the cake is baking or the sides may get burnt (don't keep opening the oven door of course) and the top can get very dry. My cake baked in about 40 minutes.

Here are some pictures

Chocolate And Vanilla Marble Cake

This one is a classic. I simply love the way this cake looks when it's done. This is Rachel Allen's recipe. Again, a simple recipe but huge sense of accomplishment for me because of the way it looks and tastes. A warm slice of cake goes great with a scoop of vanilla icecream or hot chocolate sauce. Buying Rachel Allen's Bake! is the best investment I have ever made.

I was so excited to see the 'marble effect' when I cut this cake that I forgot to take a picture of the cut cake! Here's the cake before I cut it.

I made it again and this time I remembered to take some pictures of the cut cake

Spinach, Potato and Goat's Cheese Tart

I invited a few friends over and thought of baking this delicious dish - Rachel Allen's Spinach, Potato and Goat's Cheese Tart.

This is a simple tart, if you can buy readymade shortcrust pastry from the store. However, if you have to make the shortcrust pastry yourself, then it involves a little bit of work. Make sure you have sufficient time at hand because it involves many steps (with freezing and blind baking). So, if you want to make this tart, plan ahead. I used Rachel Allen's recipe for Shortcrust Pastry, and it was worth the time and energy spent! I was very pleased with the result.

As a variation- I also put in 4 rashers of bacon. It gives the tart a nice smoky flavour, and takes away the guilt having a vegetarian meal!

Here are a few pictures

Florence's Orange Cake

I made Florence's Orange Cake today (Rachel Allen's recipe). It's a nice moist cake which can be eaten with or without icing. Very easy to make.

The cake tends to be too sweet if you sandwiched it with orange filling and also put the orange glacé icing on top. I may skip the frosting on top the next time I make this cake.

I have some pictures below.

First Step

Today, I finally got around to starting this blog. I love to cook. It's a good stressbuster. I realized that when I have had a hard day at work, and there is more to come the next day, I just need to come back home and make some pasta, or bake a pudding...I am rejuvenated!