Blueberry cheese tarts and white choc cheese cream cupcakes

Recently, I made a couple of blueberries cheese tart for fun. Had this craving for them since Melvin made them once last year.It turned out well being my first time baking them. :P At the same time, Esther made white choc cheese cream cupcakes which tasted quite good too.

I had a few friends who came over to eat the blueberries cheese tart and Art even said that he is willing to pay 3 pounds for one. :P How nice...




This is Esther's white choc cheese cupcake + my bright idea of giving it a bit of decor by adding choc shavings.




At the same time, I made a oreo cheesecake for a Nick's bday.

Gateau

I know some may criticise my cake saying that it doesn't look pretty or whatever compared to the shops in Msia. Haha...but in UK, it is precious cuz good cakes are hard to get. :p I tried cakes in various places and none can satisfy me. I tried starbucks cheesecake which disappointed me greatly. Even Marcus (one of my best british friends who can really cook very well) hunted me down for my cakes and told me that he remember my cakes tasted very good but he couldn't remember which was good as all of them were.

I picked up baking cuz I dun like any of the cakes in the shops in UK. The chinese cake shops in UK are few. They can decorate the cake so beautifully. However, the cakes tasted so dry and horrible. So horrible that I decided to bake my own.

Therefore, I came up with my own chinese cakes to suit my appetite....At first, it was done voluntarily in my first two years when I started learning baking as a hobby. Then, people starting requesting me to bake cakes for them. Did a few on a voluntary basis to practise + I could use the leftover cake ingredients which were bought by my friends.

Haha...thanks to all for the compliments saying that it taste so much nicer than the shops in UK.

Anyway, a few pictures I took of the cake I made today.





Not very happy with a slight white patch at the side of the cake. Grrr perfectionist. LOL...

Yes...I am practising writing words with white chocolate on a chocolate slab I made. hahaha...

For nick if he is reading this (I don't think he does anyway), u can have that piece of choc slab with your name on it. Haha...practice purposes. :p

Double choc cake

My double chocolate cake was a failure cuz my sponge didn't rise very well. It was a failure in my opinion, but strangely people liked it and took loads home. I told people that my cake didn't turn out so well, but after trying the cake, they said, 'it's nice, she is just trying to lower our expectations so that we will say that the cake is nice.'

I need to improve the sponge as well as the ganache. The ganache was a bit less smooth in my opinion.

Anyway, a pic of my 'failure' cake. I purposely put swirls on the top of my cake instead of icing sugar.

Chocolate banana cake

Chocolate banana cake (an imitation of secret recipe)
Though I dun really know how blueberries really fit the taste of the cake. :p

Brownie base cheesecake

Time flies, it is friday! I did not realise that I have not updated my blog for the past 4 days as I had been pretty busy.

More pictures!

Brownie Base cheesecake

Ingredients:

Brownie base:

1) 115g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing.

2) 115g plain chocolate

3) 200g caster sugar

4) 2 eggs, beaten

5) 50ml milk

6) 115g plain flour

Topping:

1) 500g cream cheese

2) 125g golden caster sugar

3) 3 eggs, beaten

4) 1 tsp vanilla extract

5) 115g natural yogurt

6) melted plain chocolate, for drizzling.

Steps:

1) preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 9 inch springform cake tin then place baking parchment around the tin.

2) Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and beat in the sugar.

3) Add the eggs and milk, beating well. Stir in the flour, mixing just until blended. Spoon into the prepared tin, spreading evenly.

4) Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 160C/325F/Gas mark 3.

5) For the topping, beat together the cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir in the yogurt , then pour over the brownie base. Bake for a further 45-55 minutes, or until the centre is almost set.

6) Let cool before removing from the tin. Chill in refridgerator.

As I realise how serious plagarism is, I have therefore decided to acknowledge my cookbooks from which I have modified some of the recipes (just to be safe).

This recipe is taken from "coffee morning cakes: essential dishes for everyday cooking".

I really like this cheesecake among all the cheesecake I have made. :p

Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake

The oreo cheesecakes above are 2 differently decorated cake made from the same recipe. Everyone liked oreo cheesecake as compared to other cheesecakes that I made so I have put it on my blog to share with those who have been asking me fervently for the recipe. Haha...I will put up a brownie base cheesecake recipe that I made recently which in my opinion, tasted better than the oreo cheesecake. The brownie was first tasted and the cheese left an aftertaste which was really nice and creamy. Anyway, the recipe for oreo white chocolate cheesecake.

Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake

For the base:

1) 200g oreo biscuits

2) 50g unsalted butter

For the filling:

1) 300g good quality white chocolate, broken into pieces

2) 400g full-fat soft cheese

3) 150ml soured cream

4) 2 eggs

5) 1 tsp vanilla extract

6) 10 pieces oreo biscuits (adjustable to own preference)

Steps:

1) Preheat the oven to gas 3/160C/325F. Make the base: put the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin. In a small non-stick pan, melt the butter then stir in the biscuit crumbs and mix well. Using the back of the metal spoon, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform cake tin. Chill.

2) Make the filling: melt the chocolate. In a bowl, briefly stir the cheese, soured cream, eggs and vanilla extract together with a wooden spoon to blend lightly. DO NOT overbeat (too much air makes the cheesecake rise, then sink, or else, then crack). Add the melted chocolate and stir until smooth (the mixture will thicken slightly). Crush the 10 pieces of oreo biscuits as fine as you can in a plastic bag. Add the crushed biscuits into the mixture and mix well (careful with overbeating).

3) Spread the mixture evenly over the biscuit base and level the top. Bake for 50 minutes until the mixture feels firm round the edge and is slightly soft but set in the middle (It is important not to overcook the cheesecake, or it will go grainy around the edge).

4) Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Remove the cake from the cake tin and chill. When ready to serve, decorate as you wish.

A question that everyone always ask:" Do I need to remove the cream in the centre of the oreo biscuits before crushing the biscuits?"

Answer is you don't have to! haha..

Recipe is modified from "Surrender chocolate".

White chocolate strawberry cream cake

This was the cake I made for Esther's birthday for which I am proud of the decoration. :p

White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake

For the sponge:

1) 150g white chocolate

2) 200g unsalted butter, diced

3) 3 large eggs

4) 150g caster sugar

5) 200g self-raising flour

For the filling:

1) 500g ripe strawberries (250g for filling and 250g for topping)

2) juice of half an orange

3) 1 tablespoon of caster sugar

4) 100g white chocolate

5) 150ml double or whipping cream, whipped

Steps:

1) Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2) To make the sponge, break up the chocolate and melt very gently with the butter. Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool until needed.

3) Break the eggs into a bowl. Add sugar. Whisk until the mixture is extremely thick and foamy. It's ready when the whisk leaves a ribbon-like trail of mixture when you lift it out of the mixture. Gently stir the chocolate mixture then whisk it briefly into the egg mixture. A soon as it is combined, avoid over-mixing. Add the flour and gently fold in using a large metal spoon. Divide the mixture between two tins (9 inch springform cake tin), and spread evenly.

4) Bake in the heated oven for 20 minutes until a light golden brown and the sponges spring back when gently pressed. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tins, just to loosen the sponges, turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

5) To make the filling, wipe the strawberries and save half of good-looking ones for decoration. Thinly slice the rest into a bowl. Add the orange juice and the sugar and mix gently. Leave for 10 minutes for the flavours to develop. Grate the white chocolate and gently fold half into the whipped cream. Save the rest for decoration.

6) To assemble, set one sponge on a serving plate and spoon on the strawberries and juice. Cover with the chocolate cream then top with the second sponge. Decorate.

Recipe taken from "Divine Heavenly chocolate recipes with a heart" by Linda Collister.

Chocolate gateau with walnuts

A bit of creativity with my strawberries as I am bored with my old style.









Here goes the recipe of my own version.

Chocolate gateau with walnuts:

Ingredients for theWalnut-crumb sponge:

1) 175 g/6oz butter

2) 175 g/6oz caster sugar

3) 3 large eggs

4) 100 g/4oz self-raising flour, sifted with half tablespoon

5) baking flour or plain flour with 1 and half teaspoons

6) baking powder

7) 40 g walnuts, finely chopped

8) 40 g digestive biscuits, crushed

Filling:

1) 250 ml whipping cream

2) walnuts for taste

3) 6 tablespoons of caster sugar (adjustable to own preference)

4) 8 tablespoons of cocoa powder (adjustable to own preference)

Recipe:

1) Line a 9 inch springform cake tin with baking parchment or greaseproof paper

2) cream the butter and sugar until soft and light. Beat the eggs. Gradually beat the eggs into the creamed mixture, adding a little flour and baking powder if the mixture shows signs of curdling. When all the eggs have been incorporated, add the rest of the flour, the nuts and crumbs.

3) Spoon into the tin and bake in a preheated oven, 180 celcius/ 350 farenheits/ Gas Mark 4, for approximately 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Cool for about 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out and allow to cool. Split into 2 layers.

4) Whip the whipping cream until soft peaks is reached. I normally add the caster sugar and cocoa powder in between the process when the cream looks slightly whipped. Add the walnuts after spreading the filling on one side of the cake. I normally spread both sides of the cake with filling and then sandwich the layers.

5) Spread the remainder of the filling (except walnuts) on the top and sides of the gateau. Decorate as own preference. Chill well before serving.

Recipe taken from "complete cooking" by Hamlyn.