Triple Layer Cheesecake

The first cake for the year 2011 was a birthday cake for my nephew Marc. He turned 7 and I asked him what he wanted for his birthday cake. He requested for cheesecake with a Pikachu design.

Since cheesecakes are too soft to handle the weight of fondant, I had to either make it a 2D design, or just make a small 3D Pikachu.

I went with a simple 2D design, as I figured it would cover more area and also would take less time! I didn't have much time to decorate the cake, because I took up too much time making the cake!

The cake was a triple layer cheesecake. It had a coffee infused Digestive crust, followed by a chocolate cheese layer, then a white chocolate cheese layer and lastly a coffee cheese layer to top it off. The coffee layer called for Kahlua, but I didn't have any, so I used rum. The coffee flavour is quite strong, so the cake was a hit with the adults, but not so much with the kids!

I am not a coffee drinker, so I thought the cake was just okay and would prefer a fully chocolate one!! :) If you love coffee however, I think you would love this cake.

Here's the recipe below. There's a bit more work than usual, because of the layers, but the results are worth it.

Triple Layer Cheesecake

Ingredients

Ingredients for base:
200g Digestive biscuit crumbs
50g finely crushed cornflakes
30g soft brown sugar
125g butter
1 tbsp instant coffee powder dissolved in 1/2 tbsp hot water
100g melted cooking chocolate
Filling:
750g cream cheese (at room temperature)
120g caster sugar
30 g sifted corn flour
300ml whipping cream
4 large eggs
A: 100g melted cooking chocolate
     2 tbsp sifted cocoa powder
B: 100g melted white cooking chocolate
    1tsp vanilla essence 
C: 1 1/2 tbsp coffee powder dissolved in 1/2tbsp hot water
     1tbsp Kahlua (optional)

Method:
Melt butter in pan over low heat. Add in other ingredients for base and mix well.
Press mixture evenly into a 9" loose-base tin.
Brush melted chocolate onto base and chill till set.

Wrap bottom and side of tin in a layer of aluminium foil so that water from water bath will not seep in.
Preheat oven at 140*C.

Beat cheese, sugar and cornflour until smooth.
Add in cream and mix.
Lastly add in eggs and mix well.
Divide mixture into 3 portions.

Stir ingredients A into one portion and pour onto base.
Place tin in a larger tray filled with water one inch deep.
Bake for 30 mins.

Stir ingredients B into another portion.
Pour onto baked chocolate layer and bake 30 mins.

Stir ingredients C into last portion.
Pour onto baked white chocolate layer and bake 30 mins.

Turn off oven and leave cake inside with door closed to cool completely.
Cover cake and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours.

Banana rum cheesecake

For our 10th anniversary, two days after Christmas, I made a banana rum cheesecake. The recipe is courtesy of my friend Ophelia. You can find it on her blog, where she so graciously shares so many of her wonderful recipes.

The cheesecake was scrumptiously rich, with delightful chunks of bananas and laced with rum. I love anything banana; banana cake, banana muffins, banana chips, banana cereal...  you get the drift. Not only was it loaded with banana, but it was topped with a chocolate ganache as well! My kind of heaven... *sigh*

You can find her recipe here, on her blog, where she provides in-depth instruction which is very helpful. The only changes I made was to soak the raisins in the rum first and I left the prepared crust in the freezer for about 15 minutes before topping with the cheese mixture (I didn't have enough time to leave it overnight). I also used walnuts instead of pecans, because they're so hard to find here.

A banana rum cheesecake will no doubt be more exotic and less popular than the usual safe choices like New York cheesecake, or chocolate cheesecake. But for those who like it, they will really love it! I had a guest who was so amazed by it that she asked me if she could order one!

So what are you waiting for? Get the recipe and have a go at it!

Brownie Cheesecake

We celebrated Dad and Little Brother's birthday last week, so I baked them a birthday cake. I've been meaning to try making the Brownie Cheesecake from my new book; it's a chocolate, baked cheesecake with a dense brownie base. Doesn't that sound wonderfully sinful? I actually bought the required ingredients a long time ago and was supposed to make it for Christmas dinner, but eventually ended up not having enough time to do so.

So anyway, the cake turned out really delicious. I was a bit worried, because there is no way of testing if a cheesecake is done, unlike for normal cakes, you just stick a skewer into the centre. My oven is rather small and is also fan forced, so I think it usually requires a lower temperature than those stated in recipes. I usually test for doneness using the skewer method, rather than following the recipe's time given.

This time, I had to trust the recipe and just follow the time. So, to reduce the margin of error, I made sure I had the exact pan size stated in the recipe. I went out to buy a 10 inch spring form pan just for this cake.

After baking for the stated amount of time, the cheesecake layer was firm and didn't wiggle when I shook the pan, so I presumed it was okay. However, when we ate the cake, the brownie base was more like halfway between cookie dough and biscuit base than cake. You could feel the crunch of the sugar. Don't get me wrong, it was yummy and went well with the cheesecake layer, I'm just not sure if it's meant to be like that, or if I undercooked it or something...

Anyway, everyone liked it, so I'll still make it the same way the next time I try this. There should be a next time, if I'm not too lazy :)

So here's the recipe from my book. The method is really easy if you have a food processor, but I unfortunately do not. (Almost went out to buy one just for this!!) I just used a wooden spoon and plenty of elbow grease. I also left out the pecans because it's impossible to find any here!


Linda Collister's Brownie Cheesecake

Base:
250g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
250g caster sugar
200g plain flour
50g cocoa powder

Topping:
200g good-quality plain chocolate
400g full-fat cream cheese
2 large free-range eggs
60g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla essence
200ml double cream
50g pecan halves
cocoa powder, for dusting

a 23cm spring-clip tin, greased

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. First make the base: put the pieces of butter, sugar, flour and cocoa into the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture comes together to make a thick paste.

Tip this mixture into the prepared tin and press onto the base to make a thick, even layer. Chill while making the topping.

Break up the chocolate and put it in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of steaming water and melt gently, stirring frequently. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir until smooth. Leave for 5 minutes to cool.

Put the cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of the food processor. Process until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides from time to time.

With the machine running add the cream through the feed tube, followed by the melted chocolate. When completely mixed, pour the mixture onto the base and spread evenly. Finish by scattering over the pecans.

Stand the tin on a baking tray then bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until just firm. Turn off the oven but leave the cheesecake in the oven, without opening the door, to cool down.

Then remove the cheesecake from the oven and chill at least 4 hours (preferably overnight) before removing from the tin. Dust with cocoa and serve.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within 5 days.



I decorated it with some leftover ganache I had and practiced my awful piping skills. Thank goodness for colorful candles and ribbons which always prove so useful!

Baked Mango Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

This Food & Travel magazine has been in my loo for ages and I've been wanting to make the mango cheesecake in it for just as long! I finally made it last weekend. I added my own raspberry sauce just because I've never tasted raspberries before and needed a reason to use them ever since I saw that they were available at the supermarket! I'm glad I did make this because it wasn't as hard as I thought all cheesecakes were to make. It tasted great too, though I personally prefer chocolatey types like Oreo Cheesecake to fruity ones.

Baked Mango Cheesecake
serves 8

200g digestive biscuits
1/2 cup butter, melted
500g (2 pkts) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mango yoghurt
225g sugar
5 eggs
1 fresh mango, cut into small cubes

for the raspberry sauce:
1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
1 cup sugar


Place biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with rolling pin until they become fine crumbs.
Combine biscuit crumbs and butter.
Place crumb mixture into 8" springform pan and press down to form a base. (I find a potato masher comes in handy here)
Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
Place cream cheese, yoghurt and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Beat on medium sped until well combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition, until just blended.
Mix the mango into the cheese mixture.
Pour batter into tin.
Wrap the bottom half of the tin in double layer aluminium foil.
Place tin in a larger tray filled with about 3cm of water.
Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for about 50-55 minutes or until top is slightly brown.
When done, use a butter knife to run around the rim of the cake to loosen the cake from the pan.
Allow to cool, then chill in refrigerator for at least 6 hours before serving.

For the raspberry sauce;
Cook the raspberries with the sugar over low heat for a few minutes.
Strain the puree in a metal strainer and force pulp through with a spoon.
Serve cheesecake with raspberry syrup generously poured over the top.