No-baked Mango Cheesecake

When it comes to cheesecake, I still prefer oven baked cheesecake. However, I found an excuse to try a non-baked version for the first time. The excuse was that before the end of the mango season, I wanted to make a mango cheesecake using fresh mangoes. As I had learnt my lesson couple of years ago that you can't cook/bake mango especially mango puree as it would change the color and taste significantly. So, the only way is to go for non-baked. 

This was my first non-baked mango cheesecake and the result was good and tasty!

Muffins!

Made these for my twins' kindergarten teachers last year as a gesture of appreciation.  I modified their flavors by adding different ingredients such as raisins and bananas.

My latest installment .. a classic New York Cheesecake.

Mango Cheesecake

Just made this over the weekend - adapted recipe with some added personal preferences. I did not go for expensive mango but just the seasoned mango currently available from the market. The result was fantastic! I can't wait to share with you the pictures of the cake .. love it!

I will post the recipe later....

Dear friends,

Due to some technical issues, I am unable to receive your comments or feedback. But I can be reached at this email address: jennypreston00@gmail.com.

Do drop me some comments and we could learn from one another the baking techniques, or any good proven recipes that you would like to share.

More Cheesecakes

Hi everybody, how are you? It's been awhile that I had not posted any recipes here. Last year was a very fruitful year for me as I delivered my twins (yes, twins :) the best gift from God! At the same time, it was a busy year as I had to juggle my time for different things: work, family, babies etc. In other words, I had no time at all for myself! Having said all that, I really enjoyed (and still enjoying) being a mother especially when seeing my twins growing day by day -- it's something beyond any words that can describe for the joy and experience I am going through!

Although I had not been touching my baking utensils for awhile, as time went by I just could not suppress the emotion and passion (for baking) any longer... so, despite of my busy schedule I went ahead to bake for the first time after my delivery. Early this year, I baked a Key Lime Cheesecake - a good combination of the sourish taste of lime and the sweetness in the cream cheese. The result was really heavenly delicious!

Here is the Key Lime Cheesecake recipe:
(Note: If possible, use lime instead of lemon as the taste is so much different) 

Lime custard:
6 lg. egg yolks
3/4 c. sugar
6 T fresh Key lime juice
1 tsp. Key lime zest

Crust:
1-3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:
2-8 oz. pkg cream cheese
2/3 c. sugar
2 lg. whole eggs
3 T fresh Key lime juice w/pulp
1 T Key lime zest

Topping:
16 oz. sour cream
3 T sugar

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Position rack in the center of oven. A 9-inch springform pan wrap with foil.
2.  In a small sauce pan, combine all ingredients for the lime custard and whisk over medium heat until it thickens and bubbles around the edges of the pan. Let bubble about 30 seconds then remove from heat to cool slightly before scraping into a bowl to cool to room temp.
3.  Crush crackers until become crumbs. Add sugar, salt, and cooled melted butter. Blend well. Press contents onto the bottom and half way up the sides the springform pan. Bake the crust until set, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven to cool completely.
4.  In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, eggs, pulpy lime juice, and zest. Mix until creamy.
5.  After the crust is cool, carefully spoon the lime custard into the bottom and smooth evenly. Then spoon the filling over the lime custard, again carefully smoothing to completely cover the first layer. Set the springform pan inside the large baking pan and place on the oven rack. Pour hot water into the large baking pan until the level reaches about half way up the side of the springform pan. Bake for 45 minutes.
6.  Combine sour cream with the 3T of sugar and carefully spread over the top of the cheesecake. Put it back in the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes, just until the topping is set.


Durian Cheesecake 

Malaysian generally loves Durian. In fact, we use Durian in many recipes such as Durian mooncake, Durian cake/crepes, Durian cream puffs, Durian ice cream etc. Now is the Durian season and it's quite cheap to buy in bulk. I bought some (the 'Kampung' flavour) few weeks ago and had them made into a Durian Cheesecake. Since Durian is quite sweet, to counterbalance the sweetness I used chocolate biscuits as base and for the topping I used cocoa powder mixed with water. The result is 'OK' - Durian taste is too overwhelming that it suppressed the cream cheese. Honestly, I am not so satisfied with the result but my dad loves it!

Egg Tart

One of the famous Dim Sum dishes that most people like is Egg Tart. Not only it looks delicious but tastes delicious too! This pudding like dessert comes in either a fluffy puff pastry as the base for the egg pudding or a simple shortcrust pastry as the base. Personally, I prefer the fluffy puff pastry base! 

I have always wanted to make my own egg tart because it looks so simple. I started to make some based on a recipe given by a friend. It was considered successful and taste good! However, I still need to improve the outlook of the tart especially the pastry base. Here are some photos to share with you...

If you want to try out your own, here is the recipe:

skin A:
150g plain flour, sifted
20g custard powder, sifted
30g icing sugar, sifted
60g shortening
2-3 tbsp water

skin B:
90g plain flour, sifted
60g shortening

filling:
3 eggs, beaten
120g castor sugar
250ml hot water, stirred & cooled
1 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp white vinegar

Method:
1) Skin A: mix and knead until smooth. Divide into 15 parts.
2) Skin B: mix and divide into 15 parts.
3) Wrap B with A. Roll into a long shape, roll up tighty like swiss roll. Then roll into a round piece and line onto the egg tart mould.
4) Mix and strain the filling. Pour into the mould until 3/4 full.
5) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for about 15-20 mins until the filling is set.

Moist Marble Cake

This is one of my favourites .... Marble Cake. As the name implies, the cake has a marble effect in it - the swirled patterns from the cocoa batter. I have tried many recipes in the past but most of them are not as tasty as this one. I left some over night in an airtight container and it was even more moist! The other day, I came across another recipe for Marble cake which calls for the eggs to be separately prepared something like making a fluffy sponge cake. It's not a bad idea to separate the eggs as it will give more air to the texture and ultimately the cake will be lighter and fluffier. I will try it and post the outcome in my later episodes to come. But for now, the recipe I used here is using whole eggs and it's taken from the recipe book "Bread & Baking".  The recipe calls for SRF (self raising flour), but I ran out of SRF and hence I made my own SRF. It's a mixed of 3 simple ingredients: plain flour, baking powder and salt (you can refer to one of my earliest posts to get the deatils).

Ingredients:
225g butter/margarine
225g castor sugar
4 medium eggs, beaten
225g SRF, sifted
finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
25g cocoa powder, sifted

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190C. Lightly grease an 8" round pan and line the pan with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs into the mixture a little at a time. Mix well in each addtion. Slowly fold in the flour until well corporated.
3. Divide the batter into half. Add into the first half batter the orange rind and a little bit of orange juice and mix well.
4. Mix the cocoa powder and the remaining orange juice and add into the second half batter. Mix well.
5. Spoon into the round pan the 2 mixtures alternatively. Take a skewer or chopstick swirl the 2 mixture in the pan to create the marble effect. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Orange Chiffon Cake

You may not like sweet desserts at all, but I am sure many of you have tasted Chiffon Cake at least once in your lifetime, ya? I don't think i am overstated here ... the reason is simple: it's a type of cake that is so conveniently available in many cake shops (at least in Malaysia), it's delicious and not oily/heavy in texture, and it's cheap - cost about RM6 - RM8 (more than enough for a family of 4). You can even get one for RM3.50 at those hypermarkets. So, it has all the right ingredients to sell as a 'hot' cake and loved by all.

So, why bother to make one yourself? Some may ask. My answer is simple: homemade is always taste much better than commercial (if you do it right), agree? Chiffon Cake though it looks simple, it does demand for skills and experience to make it right. When I first tried to make one, I started off with an Angel Food Cake recipe. I failed miserably. Then, I did a fair bit of research and went on a second attempt. Again, failed. So, I went full force to look for tips, techniques etc and finally I made it. During the course of this journey, I also learned something valuable that Angel Food Cake and Chiffon Cake are not the same. The former is oil free (no butter/vegetale oil needed) and the latter calls for vegetable oil in the recipe. My first Chiffon Cake (Pandan flavour) was taken from a well-known recipe. It was so so successful and delicious that my husband and I we fininshed it within a day! I will post it when I make one again. I subsequently made a few with different flavours. Here is one with the orange flavour:

I baked this in a 20cm tube pan. The citrus smell from fresh orange is so pungent and the cake is very moist!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

6 Large Eggs, separated plus 1 additional Egg White
2 1/4 Cups Sifted Cake Flour
1 1/4 Cups Superfine White Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 Cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
2 Tbsp Orange Zest
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 tsp Cream of Tartar

Method

1. Separate the eggs and place the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another.
2. Preheat the oven to 325F (170C) and have ready 20 cm tube pan. (ungreased).
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, place the flour, sugar (minus 3Tbsp), baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the egg yolks, oil, orange juice, orange zest , and vanilla extract. Beat about one minute or until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 3Tbsp of sugar and until stiff peaks form.
5. With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter).

Tips:
1. The eggs must be in room temperature before separate them.
2. The important step in this recipe is the beating of the egg whites. Make sure it reaches almost stiff peak. Over beating will spoil the whole thing.
3. A rule of thumb, I always scoop 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and mix it with the batter first. This helps the folding later.

Yam Swiss Roll

I love yam. I love anything that goes with yam. When it's cooked, its special taste and its smooth startchiness do wonders in many signature dishes. Well, a lot of people are familiar with yam in chinese dishes but do you know that yam is also famous in making perfect desserts and pastries? Here is one recipe which I have tried and fell in love with it - swiss roll with yam paste filling!

Remember the days where I went through so many recipe books and even in the Internet in a mission to find the best and most delicious Yam Swiss Roll. Finally, I found one that 'looks' delicious by a famous baking guru from Taiwan (孟老师). You know, there are many substitutes available nowadays. You name it and you have it ... durian paste, pandan paste, passionfruit paste etc. The problem with these substitutes is that they will never be able to substitute the real thing! Not even come close! Many recipes out there call for substitute which in my opinion is totally unacceptable. Nothing tastes better than making your own yam paste using real yam. Here is the recipe for the home made yam paste:

275g yam
45g icing sugar
35g unsalted butter
3 tbs coconut milk

Method:
Peel yam. Do not wash the yam. Cut the yam into small strips and steam on high heat for about 1 hour or until yam is very soft.
Smash yam with fork and mix well with icing sugar.
Add in unsalted butter to combine.
Lastly stir in the coconut milk and mix well. Yam paste should be smooth.

For the sponge cake, you can use the previous recipe published in my blog or you can use your own.

Lemon Swiss Roll

Hi my friends, it's been a long while I had not been updated my blog. My office job has demanded a lot of my time and energy lately. I always look forward to weekends so that I can spend time in my baking but tiredness has taken a toll on me. I wish I have more than 24 hours a day everyday to do things that I enjoy ... Nevertheless, I promise to do my best to upload and update this blog as frequent as possible.

From where I left off the last time, I promised you that I would share more swiss roll recipes with you. Here is another swiss roll that I love -- a lemony sponge fill with lemon butter cream.
Lemon is the main ingredient in this recipe. Most people love lemon because it brings more good than harm to us especially it has the power to open up our taste buds and our senses although physically our body does not feel like it. The juice and the zest of lemon make it light to the taste. For the fnishing touch, I decorated it with a thick layer of lemon butter cream on top ... enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

For the sponge:
80g egg yolks
25g castor sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs + 1 tsp corn oil
2 tbs water
zest of 1 lemon
70g cake flour
160g egg whites
65g castor sugar

Filling:
65g castor sugar
60g egg whites
150g unsalted butter
3 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Whisk together egg yolks, 25g sugar, corn oil, water, lemon juice & lemon zest until combined.
2. Sift in cake flour and mix until smooth.
3. In a seprate bowl, beat egg whites until it turn frothy then gradually add sugar (65g) and continue to beat until becomes stiff peak.
4. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until mix well. Then fold in the remaining egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until all incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into a baking tin measuring 12x12 inch and bake in a preheated oven (180C) for 8 mins or until it turns light brown. Set aside.
6. For the filling: Place egg whites & sugar over a double boiler. Constantly mixing it until sugar dissolved.
7. Remove from heat and continue mixing until it turns pale and creamy color and stiff.
8. Add in the butter to the egg white mixture and continue to beat until it becomes fluffy and thick.
9. Add lemon juice & vanila extract and beat well.
10. Assemble the swiss roll (follow the instructions explained in the previous recipe).

Strawberry Swiss Roll

Swiss roll, what an elegant name! Does it really originate from Sweden? The answer is 'no'. It's an european dessert however, which has been existed in the world of bakery long time ago. I was attracted to swiss roll when I was a little girl about 10 years old. The shape of the 'cake' is so unique, so different from the norm which is in either square or round shape. I wondered how the baker managed to make such a beautiful 'cake'. I was pretty excited about it. In those days, swiss roll was not a 'super star' amongst other desserts available. Its taste was quite plain. My dad used to buy back home swiss roll for me particularly the one with grounded peanuts spread on top of the swiss roll. The taste and the look are still vividly remained in my memory till today!

But, bakers nowadays have innovated the look, flavour and texture so much so that it tastes much much better than 20 years ago. I have made quite a few with different flavours in the past. Here is one that I love very much ... the Strawberry Swiss Roll.



The sponge cake texture is very soft and fine. The little red thing at the centre is cut strawberry.

If this is your first time of making a swiss roll, there are a couple of things you need to know:
1. Line your parchment paper well fitted in the baking tray. This will help you later to take off the sponge cake easily.
2. When stripping off the parchment paper from the sponge cake, do it slow and gentle. Some recipes advise to do this step while the sponge cake is still warm whereas others say wait till the sponge cake is completely cool down. My approach is doing it while it's still warm.
3. Do not over bake the sponge because it is a thin layer and hence easily get burnt or hardened. You will find it difficult to roll the sponge if over baked. You don't want any cracks on the sponge when roll it.
4. There is a technic to roll the sponge i.e. using a roller pin (if you have one). You can always check this out by watching videos from youtube. What you want to achieve is a compact swill roll.

I will share more swiss roll recipes in my subsequent posts.

Here is the recipe for the Strawberry flavour:
For the sponge cake:
Egg 200g
Egg yolk 40g
Sugar 80g
Honey 30g
Flour - sifted 80g
Milk 30g
Oil 20g

For the filling:
Heavy cream 200ml
Sugar 1 tbs
Fresh strawberries - cut in small bite pieces 200g (or more depending on your preference)

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 200C. I used a baking tray measuring 30x33cm.
2. Add eggs, egg yolk, sugar and honey in a bowl. Keep stirring it over a double boiler. When the temperature comes to about 39C (or not too hot), then remove it from the heat and continue mixing it with an electical mixer. This will take about 10 mins or more to reach a light, fluffy consistency with no bubbles left.
3. Add the flour in the mixture and mix slowly.
4. Heat the milk & oil (just before boiling point) and quickly pour it into the dough. Mix slowly to incorporate the milk mixture.
5. Pour out the dough onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Drop the baking tray on the table (1 time) to release any air bubbles in the dough. Bake for 8 - 10 mins.
7. Whip the heavy cream & sugar. Then spread the cream on the sponge cake. Place the cut strawberries on the whipped cream line by line.
8. Roll it and then place the swiss roll in the fridge for at least 4 hours before cutting it.

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Most of us have tasted cheesecake ever since the existence of cheesecakes. There are some people have even taken it a step further to make it a part of their food chain. I am not kidding ... if you take cheesecake at least 2 to 3 time a month, you probably be classified as "cheesecakeholic". Many times, we take the very popular form of cheesecake that most people love i.e. heavy, solid & moist with 99% of cheese filling. Me too.. usually 1 slice is enough for the day because it gives you that 'heavy' yet satisfying feeling. Sometimes, I do feel guilty to take a second slice because of the fat content in the cheesecake... but nevertheless, that's the love-hate relationship I have with cheesecake!

Alternatively, there is another type of cheesecake which contains less fat but tastes wonderfully good i.e. the fluffy japanese cheesecake which is as light as feather and as soft as cotton.  Its smooth and fine texture causes it melts in your mouth almost immediately!

                                                                Fresh from the oven!

                                                               The texture is so fine - like sponge!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

(A):

250g cream cheese

250 ml milk

120g butter

(B):

50ml fresh orange juice

2 nos orange rind, grated

(C):

6 egg yolks

60g sugar

(D):

70g plain flour

20g corn flour

(E):

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

60g sugar

Method:

1) Melt cream cheese  and milk over a double boiler until cheese is dissolved. Drain to get smooth texture.

2) Remove from heat and add in butter, stir until butter dissolved.

3) Add in (B) & (C). Mix well.

4) Add in (D), mix until becomes thick.

5) Whisk egg whites & cream of tartar & gradually add in sugar (E) until stiff peak.

6) Fold egg whites to cream cheese mixture slowly.

7) Pour batter into a 8" square tin and bake in a preheated oven 150C with water bath for 1 hour 10 mins.

      

Mini Cream Puff

I love cream puff. I love its puffiness and the creamy filling. Not so sweet :)
So, I decided to make my own cream puff which calls for 4 main ingredients: water, flour, eggs and butter. This is my third try. First and second tries were total disasters ... all puffs were burnt like charcoal. Well, I learnt an important lesson here, never trust the oven's temperature setting. It may not be accurate! It's important that you have a thermometer to tell you the exact temperature and it's not very expensive to buy one. This is a thermometer used for baking (not the one that you hang on the wall).

It's amazing to watch the dough puffs up like a 'ping-pong' ball. Make sure you don't open the oven door at this crucial time, otherwise your cream puffs will become flat.  For the filling, I always go for pastry/custard cream instead of whipped cream as it tastes much better.

  

Lemon Drizzle Cake

While looking through my kitchen cabinets the other day, I found packs of plain flour and SRF which I think I've bought some times ago.   I started looking for a simple recipe so that I could use up those flours. I don't like to keep them as they may turn rancid easily especially SRF.  So, I found this lemon cake recipe from "Breads & Baking" by Gina Steer, which calls for SRF. Great! Wonderful!

But when I checked on the date, damn! the SRF has already been expired half a year ago. Thinking of using it and hoping that the rising agent in the flour could still be used. Then I did a test to see if it's still active. It's a very simple test really !  Just pour some warm water in a small bowl, add a teaspoon of the SRF into the warm water. If it bubbles, means it's still active. Unfortunately, mine has no bubble.  So, I decided to make my own SRF.  Here's how you do it: for each cup of plain flour, add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  So, I'm on my way to bake the cake!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
125g butter
175g SRF
175g castor sugar
2 large eggs
2 lemons
50g castor sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 180 C.  Line a 7" square tin with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and 175g sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat the eggs, and gradually add a little to the creamed mixture, followed by adding 1 tablespoon of the flour. Mix well.
4. Finely grate the rind from 1 lemon and add in the mixture. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and add in the mixture. Mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25-30 mins.
6. Grate the rind from the other lemon and mix with 25g of the sugar and set aside.
7. Squeeze the juice from the last lemon into sauce pan. Add the remaining 25g of sugar and simmer over low heat until sugar dissolved.
8. While the cake is still hot, prick little holes all over it using a skewer. Sprinkle the lemon rinds sugar mix and drizzle over the syrup.

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year and to all my friends who celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY), Gong Xi Fa Chai!

I was supposed to bake a cake for this CNY but I was so loaded with work ... house chores to be exact. So, I had no time to get down to my kitchen lab at all! Anyway, I would like to share with you one more cheesecake which I baked sometimes last year. It was a delicious cake topped with creamy caramel and aromatic toasted pecans ... it's heaven! I discovered this recipe in the Net while I was searching for challenging cheesecake recipes. Then, I came across an eye-catching photo of a cheesecake with a thick chocolatish caramel dripping down the sides of the cake. I tell myself, this is it... I want to do this! The passion and the determination of making one 'successfully' drove me to start the mission almost immediately. I drove to the nearby bakery supply shop to assemble all the necessary ingredients and hit the kitchen right away.....

These photos were taken from my handphone camera (I should get a semi-pro digital cam for better quality). If you like caramel and pecan, I highly recommend this!!

Here is the recipe:

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

250g (or 1/2 pound) digestive biscuits

4 tbsp unsalted butter (melted) 

Filling:

2 1/2 pounds cream cheese (at room temperature)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Caramel topping:

3/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

12 tbsp heavy cream

Handful of pecans to sprinkle on top (you can also substitute it with walnuts)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 325F.
2. Mix the crust ingredients together well with your fingers. Press the crust into the springform pan (I used 8") and partway up the sides, to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
3. In a small bowl, blend the cream and sour cream together.
4. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese on medium-low speed until it is very smooth.
5. Add the following ingredients i.e. cream cheese, sugar, salt, lemon juice, zest, eggs (one at a time) and cream/sour cream mixture, mixing on medium-low speed until smooth after each addition and scraping the bowl frequently.
6. Pour the batter over the crust in the prepared pan.
7. Bake with water bath until the cake has just a slight wobble in the center when nudged.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
9. Cover the cake with plastic wrap directly on its surface, and chill overnight.
10. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it unchill slightly while you prepare the topping.
11. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, water over medium-high heat to dissolved the sugar. Heat on medium-high without stirring, washing down the sides with a wet pastry brush occasionally, until the mixture turns an amber color.
12. Add the cream and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring from time to time, until the caramel is thick but not chewy.
13. Remove from the heat and cool at room temperature until it is slightly warmer; it should still be quite pourable at this point.
14. Pour the topping over the cake; use an offset spatula to spread it to the edges and let it drip down the sides.
15. Top with chopped pecans.
16. Chill for 2 – 6 hours before serving.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Happy New Year 2012 to all of you!!

Whenever I am not working, I would always find time to try out new recipes to improve my baking skills. I remember last year, I had this desire for cheesecakes that I would bake one cheesecake every fortnightly, well almost.  It's like when you are into something and you wouldn't want to get out of it. You just stick to it for as long as you want. That's the feeling and emotion I had.  Ok, back to my baking lab (l like to call my kitchen a lab instead because I do a lot of R&D stuff in there), here is a blueberry cheesecake which I used fresh blueberries instead of canned blueberry jam. I like the sourness of the berries that mixed together with the sweetness of the cream cheese ... take a bite of the cheesecake with the berries burst in your mouth ... that is what I called the real blueberry cheesecake!

Recipe:

Crust:
141g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
3 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs melted butter

Filling:
1 pound cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 160C. I used a round 8x8 springform pan.
2.  Combine the crushed biscuits, sugar and melted butter. Mix well. Pour the mixture  into the pan and press evenly.
3. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Set aside.
4. Combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth.
5. Stir in flour until well blended.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the batter is smooth.
7. Stir in the vanilla and heavy cream until well incorporated. Lastly, stir in the blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.
8. Bake in water bath for 50 minutes or until the centre is set. Let it cool and refrigerate overnight to get the best result.

I made quite a number of different varieties of cheesecakes in the past 1.5 years. It's one of those cakes that you would enjoy to do simply because the steps involved are quite straight forward. Personally, I prefer baked cheesecake to non-baked cheesecake. I love the smell of the burned crust and the cream cheese that gives the extra flavour to the final product. In May last year, I baked two cheesecakes for my in-law's wedding... a lemon cheesecake and a classic New York style cheesecake.

Lemon cheesecake with lemon curd topping

Here is the recipe:

Crust:
141g Digestive biscuits, crushed
3 Tbp sugar
4 Tbp butter, melted

Filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1Tbp grated zest & 1/4 cup juice from 2 lemons
680g cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Lemon curd:
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbp cold butter
1 Tbp heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
salt

Method:

For the Crust

1.       Preheat oven to 160C. Mix the digestive biscuits crumbs with the sugar and butter. Mix well.  Press evenly the crumb mixture in the bottom of a 8-inch springform pan. Bake until golden brown (~12 minutes). When cool, wrap pan with foil.

For the Filling

1.       Process 1/4 cup of the sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until the zest is broken down and the sugar turns yellow. Transfer to a small bowl and mix in the rest of the sugar.

2.       Beat cream cheese to soften it. Add the sugar mixture and beat until combined, creamy and smooth.

3.       Add eggs, one at a time. Beat until incorporated.

4.       Combine lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Add in the cream cheese mixture and mix until incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.

5.   Bake the mixture in water bath for 55 to 60 minutes.

For the Curd

1.       Heat lemon juice in a small pan on medium heat until hot, but not boiling.

2.       Whisk eggs in a small bowl, then gradually whisk in the sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot lemon juice into the egg/sugar mixture, then return the mixture to the saucepan and continue to heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to cling to the spoon.

3.       Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add in the cold butter and mix until incorporated.

4.       Stir in the cream, vanilla and salt, then pour through a strainer into a small bowl. Cover surface of the curd directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

To Assemble

When cheesecake is cooked & slightly cooled, top it with the lemon curd while still in the springform pan. Refrigerate for at least 5 hourrs.

New York cheesecake (looks like the chinese roasted pork :)

Here is the recipe:

Crust:
15 pieces of Digestive biscuits, crushed
2 Tbp butter, melted

Filling:
904g cream cheese
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbp vanilla extract
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Method:

For the Crust

1.       Preheat oven to 175C. Mix digestive biscuits crumbs with melted butter. Press evenly in the bottom of a 8-inch springform pan. Wrap pan with foil & put in the freezer.

For the Filling

1.       Beat cream cheese to soften it then add sugar and mix until smooth. Add in milk and mix in the eggs one at a time. Mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla & flour until creamy and smooth.

2.      Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.

3.   Bake the mixture in water bath for 55 to 60 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours before serving.