Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

It's time for another cheesecake  :)
Hubby wanted something with chocolate, so it wasn't difficult to decide on the flavour.

Recipe for a 16cm / 6.5" cheesecake:


Crust
6 Digestives biscuits, crushed (about 100g)
45g butter, melted

Place the biscuits in a plastic bag.  Press as much air out as possible and seal the bag (I just used a bag clip). With a rolling pin, smash the biscuits till you get even crumbs.
Stir in the melted butter till even distributed.  Then pour mixture into a lined and greased springform pan.  Press down with the back of a spoon or bottom of a glass.
Pop into the freezer to set while you make the filling.

Filling
500g cream cheese, room temperature
100g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 tbs milk or whipping cream
30g chocolate, melted

Beat cheese, sugar and vanilla extract till smooth and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time; beat till well combined.  Add milk and mix well.
Divide mixture into 2 portions and stir in chocolate to 1 portion.
With a spoon or ladle, pour mixture onto crust, alternating between the plain and chocolate mixtures.
Then, drag a knife or toothpick along the surface to create any marbled pattern.

Bake bain marie at 150*C for 30-35 min till edges are set and centre still wobbly.  Allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven with the door ajar for about 30 min. Remove from the oven and let it cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge.  Patience is important in this step.  Otherwise, any sudden drop in temperature could cause the surface of the cheesecake to crack.

Allow the cake to chill for at least 4-5 hours before serving.  Best if savoured a day or 2 later to let the flavours develop overnight.

Cognac Fruit Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I made this cake specially for my dear old friend, who has a sweet tooth but can't bake. Her birthday is round the corner and I thought this would be a nice treat for her and her family.


The rim of candies in crunchy shells were Hershey's special dark chocolate. They helped to complete the look.

You can find the cake recipe in a previous posting.
http://thebatterbaker.blogspot.com/2010/12/cognac-fruit-cake.html

Almond Cupcakes

Happy New Year, my friends!!

May 2011 be a blessed year for you and your loved ones. 

Mini Chocolate Macarons

It's been a while since I baked macarons. I usually prefer chocolate flavour because the cocoa makes it less sweet.



Traditional macarons in the old days, were simply fused together when they were still hot without any filling.



These were filled with buttercream, with a blob of Hershey's chocolate in the middle of the sandwich.



And of course, I can't resist dressing up some of the macarons in pretty icing flowers and sprinkles.

Otah Prata

This is really easy to prepare, and amazingly yummy. All you need is roti prata and muah otah (thawed from freezer). Simply spread the otah on the prata, roll it up, and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Cognac Fruit Cake

I chanced upon this recipe in iweekly supplement 23 Dec 10 issue. The recipe was from Chef Ivan Liew, who started his baking career in 2000. Hotels and restaurants that he worked at included Les Amis, The Bakery Depot, Conrad Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel, etc. Last year, he joined Mandarin Hotel as Pastry Chef. According from the quote in iweekly, "the longer you soaked the mixed fruits in liquor , the longer is the shelf life of the cake. Soak for 1 week, and the cake can last up to 1 month."

Ingredients:

• 200g butter
• 150g brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 200g flour
• 300ml rum wine (I didn't have rum at home, so I replaced this with cognac)
• 300g dried fruit soaked in the rum wine for at least 1 day
• apricot glase (I skipped this step for my mini cakes)
• water (adequate)

Steps:

1. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a mixer.
2. Add egges and flour (sieved)
3. Add the rum mixer with dried fruits. Mix well.
4. Bake at 170 degree celsius for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Note shorter baking time for mini cakes.
5. (Optional) Boil the apricot glaze with water, portion 3:1. Once boiled, apply the apricot glaze on top of the cake, decorate with dried cherry and almond nuts.

Surprise Bundts with Frosting

This was another batch of surprise bundts that I made for a kids' Christmas party in school. This time, I added some orange flavoured and strawberry flavoured buttercream frosting. Each frostie was then sprinkled with edible pearl and gold beads to complete the Christmas look.



Freshly out of the oven, each cake had a hole in the middle.



I scrapped the bottom of each cake and used the crumbs to press into a base.



Next the frosting and the sprinkles ...

Finally, the chocolate candies and the teddy marshmallows ... done! Surprise bundts ready to delight the little princesses and princes!