White Chocolate Cheesecake, Perfect for Sharing with Friends!

To be inspired is a state of mind in which you are always open and welcome influences wherever they may come from. While growing up, TV played an important part in shaping my personality and developing my food knowledge. Indeed, TV was my get-away and a big source of inspiration.

One of my favorite sitcoms while growing up was the Golden Girls. This show was amazing, its characters were smart, funny, complex and they all gathered around and shared a wonderful dessert: cheesecake.  Back then I didn't know what cheesecake was, but the image stuck into my mind and I became anxious to taste and prepare this seemingly creamy and delicious dessert. The first cheesecake recipe I got hold off was from a well-known cream cheese maker who plastered all kind of recipes featuring its brand of cream cheese on the back of the cheese packet.  I remember that I was pleasantly surprised with the final outcome so much that I continued making cheesecakes tweaking old recipes and trying new ones since then.

It is said that cheesecake goes back to the Greek times and when the Romans invaded Greece they carried on in making this recipe which changed through times and now is among the most popular desserts in many corners of the world!

Cheesecakes are now a group of desserts with various tastes and textures. Of course, the most famous variation remains the baked New York cheesecake. Whether baked or fresh, you'll never get bored of cheesecakes. Now to add my recipe to your repertoire, here's what you need.

For the base:

• 120 g digestive cookies
• 40 g melted butter
• 1 tbsp sugar

To prepare the cookies place them in a plastic bag and with a rolling pin transform them into a coarse powder. Place the pulverized cookies in a spring-form pan (18 cm pan) add the melted butter and sugar, mix well then press the mixture to cover the bottom and the sides of the pan. Bake in a preheated oven (180 C) for 8 to 10 min. Leave to cool.

For the cheesecake mix:

• 550 g cream-cheese room temperature
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 150 g sugar
• 1 tbsp potato flour (or wheat flour)
• 100 g white chocolate melted and cooled
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

In your mixer bowl, add the cheese and mix on a low speed with the paddle attachment for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the sugar, chocolate and flour and mix again until well blended and no lumps are visible. Add the eggs one by one and keep mixing on a low speed, at the end add the salt and vanilla.

Pour the batter in the pan, and bake in a preheated oven (150 to 160 C). Usually it's customary to wrap the spring-form pan with aluminum foil and place it in another pan filled with warm water and then bake for the required time which is usually for a pan of this size one hour to one hour and a half (oven-dependent).  This bain-marie method of cooking is needed to bake your cake at a gentler heat to avoid surface cracks.
What I did is different though. I filled the middle layer of the oven, i.e. the oven tray, with warm water and then placed the cheesecake pan over a cookie sheet and put them over the oven tray. This created  a steamy environment in my oven and allowed the cheesecake to cook all the way through while retaining a smooth creamy texture and most importantly with no surface cracks whatsoever.

The cheesecake is delicious on its own but a berry coulis is always a great addition. I made one with summer berries. I used frozen berries to which I added some sugar and let them simmer over a gentle flame then passed them through a sieve!

A creamy, soft, cheesy and sweet filling with a crumbly base and a tangy sauce, isn't it the perfect dessert to serve for your innermost circle of friends while gathering and sharing latest news?

Chocolate cake, tropical flavors and my blog's 2nd birthay!

Two years ago I started this blog as a way to share my passion with others, but most importantly to learn from foodies from all walks of life and from different cultural backgrounds and what a life-changing decision it was! 

For this special occasion, I baked a cake that feature flavors and textures I deeply love. 

This cake is packed with tropical flavors that go so well with the deep, rich, and complex flavor of chocolate. 

To make and enjoy the cake, you will need:

For the batter you need: 

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 120 g  flour
• 20 g cocoa powder
• 140 g soft butter
• 130 g vanilla sugar
• 6 g baking powder
• dash of salt
• 60 g melted and cooled chocolate
• 140 ml coconut milk
• 8 tbsp shredded  and lightly toasted coconut (omit the toasting if you want a milder flavor)
• tsp  vanilla essence

Combine all the dry ingredients and sift them. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar, once well combined add the vanilla and the eggs, one by one, and mix till well blended. Add the chocolate and mix again, when all combined, turn off the mixer, add the flour and fold into the batter. Incorporate the dry coconut then the coconut milk. 

Pour the batter in three pans of 13 cm ( 5.1 inches) diameter. If you don't have three pans, you can bake 2 and put the remaining batter in the fridge meanwhile. Bake the batter in a preheated oven at 180 C (356 F) between 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. 

The cake layers where filled with two types of filling: a fruity and a chocolaty one!

For the fruity filling, I went with the aromatic sweet and tart flavor of the tropical Passion fruit, and here's how you make it into a curd. Here's what you will need:

• 3 eggs
• 200 g of deseeded  passion fruit pulp (you can use canned pulp but adjust the sugar as it comes sweetened)
• 70 g sugar (you can use more if you like it sweeter)
• dash of salt
• 100 g cold butter, cut into small cubes, 
• 1 tsp of corn starch
• tsp of lemon juice

Mix the eggs and the sugar until well combined. Dissolve the corn starch with some pulp. then add them along with the rest of the pulp to the egg mixture with the salt and the lemon juice. Put the mix over a double boiler under a gentle flame, whisk the mixture for about 10 min. Put the mix onto a direct flame and keep whisking for about 3 to 5 min or until the curd thickens. Keep in mind that when cooled it will get a lot thicker, so when you achieve the desired thickness turn off the heat and start whisking in the butter. 

When done, cover the curd with plastic wrap and leave it to cool.

For the chocolate filling, I went with a standard ganache using:

• 250 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 250 g heavy cream
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp corn syrup or honey

In a sauce pan, heat the cream and vanilla until it simmers, pour over the chopped chocolate and whisk until the chocolate melts, add the butter and corn syrup and whisk again. I like to beat the ganache with a whisk for about 5 min, it becomes fluffy and light and easier to work with.

Now that all of the components are ready, it's time to assemble the cake.

On a layer of chocolate cake pipe a circle of ganache around it using a pastry bag. Now fill the middle with the curd and cover with the second cake layer. Repeat the same steps and finish with last cake layer. 
Before frosting the cake I brushed it with some curd, then frosted with the ganache.

Using the remaining ganache, I made some chocolate truffles and rolled them in coconut which I used to decorate the top of the cake. As for the remaining curd, you can serve it with the cake or use it in other recipes; it's even great on toasted bread too for breakfast!

This cake might be a laborious but it's definitely worth the time, after all, it's my blog's second birthday! 

Raspberry crème brulée pie!

In the culinary world, give anything a French name and it will be a hit, especially if it's a dessert. 
While it's commonly believed that creme brulée is a French dessert, but some historians argue that it is actually a very old English recipe while others think it's of Creole origins.

No matter who invented this dessert, there's no denying that anytime it is featured on restaurant menus it will be a hit.

Usually, creme brulée is served in the ramekin in which it was baked. My recipe is inspired by the traditional dessert but I serve the cream in an edible and yummy chocolate pie shell.The cream itself is flavored with delicious raspberries.

So, let's tackle this dessert starting with the pie shell.

For the chocolate crust you need (enough for an 18 cm tart pan):

• 110 g flour
• 20 g cocoa powder
• 65 g cold butter
• 30 g sugar (I used brown cane sugar)
• dash of salt
• 15 g seedless raspberry jam
• Few drops of cold water (milk or cream)

Combine all ingredients except for the water (or cream), and in a food processor pulse for few seconds until you have a sandy mixture, add some cream, I only needed a tablespoon maybe, and the dough came together after pulsing again for few seconds. Pour the dough over a plastic wrap, shape it into a disk, cover it, and leave it to rest for at least 30 min, or over night if you are making it ahead! Roll the dough and cover the tart pan, and again leave it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 min. Blind bake it for 10 to 15 min then remove the weight in a preheated oven (180) and bake for another 5 to 10 min until the surface is no longer wet.

For the creme brulée cream mixture you need:

• 250 g or ml of cream (I used half 35% and half 18%)
• 2 egg yolks (or around 50 g, add a small amount of egg white in order to reach the proper weight)
• 30 g sugar (or 40 g if you wish a sweeter result)
• 50 g of raspberry, you can use frozen or fresh
• A vanilla pod, split in half

Combine the cream, vanilla, and the raspberry, and put it to simmer on a gentle heat. Meanwhile whisk the yolks and the sugar until creamy and with a pale cream color. Slowly pour the cream through a sieve over the egg while whisking vigorously.

When the crust is cooled, carefully pour the cream over, put your pan on a tray which will make the transfer to the oven easier, and now you need to bake it for about 45 to 50 min in a preheated oven with only 125 or 150, depends on how strong your oven is. When the cream thickens but still wiggling in the center, then it´s time to take the pie from the oven.
Optional: I added some seedless raspberry jam on the crust before pouring the cream, just a thin layer, but you can skip this step if you wish!

You have to let it cool completly then leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

When you are ready to serve it, sprinkle some brown sugar (preferably) and with a blow torch (or under the grill) burn the sugar until caramelized. In two to three minutes the sugar will form a hard and glistening crust that is will break when you tap it with a spoon.

Slice your tart into serving size portions and serve with some fresh fruits and enjoy this delicious creamy dessert.

Coffee and hazelnut cake

Like many people, my day starts with a rather large mug of coffee, it´s one of the favorite moments of the day for me. It helps me to have a good start of the day and allows me to reflect, it's just the routine that adds so much structure and beauty to life.

But coffee is not just good for drinking, its taste is excellent in baking. I most always use coffee when I bake something with chocolate as it intensifies the taste of chocolate. However, such cakes do not feature coffee as the main flavor, but rather as a flavor booster. That's why I decided to make a cake that features coffee along with hazelnuts to complement its deep penetrating aromatic earthiness. The combination works like a charm and here's what you need to do the cake.

• 2 large eggs (about 60 g each)
• 120 g soft butter
• 120 g flour
• 80 g white sugar and 40 g brown sugar cane, you can use just white sugar but I like the caramel taste that brown sugar gives.
• 4 g baking powder
• 1 tbsp of instant coffee (or espresso if you prefer) melted with a bit of water, a tsp or 2)
• 1 tsp of cocoa powder (optional)
•  2 tsp of kahlua (or any coffee liqueur) or you can use vanilla
• 50 g of lightly toasted and ground hazelnuts
• 4 tbsp of milk
• dash of salt

For the buttercream:

• 250 g soft butter
• 250 g powdered sugar
• 2 tsp of hazelnut praliné (or you can use ground hazelnuts)
• 2 tsp of kahlua (or coffee melted with water)
• 2 tbsp of milk if you want a thinner buttercream

For the cake batter, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together and set aside. In a bowl cream the butter with the sugar, when combined add the eggs one by one, then add the coffee and the liquer. Once combined, with a spatula fold in the flour mixture, then the hazelnut and last add the milk. Pour into two 18 cm prepared pans and bake for about 20 to 25 min in a preheated oven (180C).

Let the baked cakes cool in the pan for 10 min then on a cooling rack. If you´re not going to frost them the same day, wrap them in plastic and store them in a cool dry place. 

For the buttercream:

Cream the butter for few minutes, then add the sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy, add the praliné and kahlua and the milk and whisk till combined.

Assembling:

Frost the top of one layer with the buttercream (you can add a spalsh of kahlua on the top if you wish or with coffee syrup), I covered it with a generous amount of the frosting, put the second layer and cover it with another layer of the buttercream and decorate as you wish.

I added some mocha chocolate coffee beans, with a sprinkle of cocoa powder and hazelnuts that I had covered with simple sugar caramel (just caramelized sugar no water).

And here you have it, an intense mocha cake with  the delicious flavour of hazelnuts! 

Orange and buttermilk cake!

I like to include fruits as much as possible in my diet, especially oranges. What better way to start your morning than with a bowl of cereals and a fresh glass of orange juice?

But oranges for me are more than a refreshing and healthy drink. In fact, I use this fruit quite a lot in baking and even in salads and savory dishes. The zest of the orange is just as useful and packed with flavor as the juice, if not more! Keep that in mind that next time you squeeze an orange and throw out the skin!

For this recipe, I will rely on orange juice and zest to enhance the flavor and the texture of the cake I'll be making. In addition to the orange element, another quintessential ingredient in baking, buttermilk, give this cake a moist and wonderful texture.

Trust me this recipe is just too easy to make and is excellent with coffee or tea, especially at the start of the day.

For the cake you need (18 cm round cake pan)

• 2 large eggs; room temperature
• 100 g sugar
• 65 g melted butter
• 170 g flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder plus 1/4 tsp baking soda (or just use 1/2 tsp soda)
• dash of salt
• 50 ml orange juice
• 50 ml buttermilk
• the zest of an orange
• a splash of cointreau or grand marnier (optional)

Combine flour, salt and baking powder and soda and set aside. Mix the eggs for a minute then start adding the sugar and whip for about 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale and creamy. Add the melted butter (I add it pouring it on one side of the mixing bowl) and mix on a very low speed, then add the zest. Turn off your mixer, and fold the flour then the juice and the buttermilk. 

Pour the batter in your prepared pan and bake between 20 to 30 min in a preheated oven (180C).

When the cake is done leave to cool for about 5 minutes then remove it from the pan and cover it with heated orange jam (to the jam I added grand marnier, just few drops), 2 tbsp of jam will be enough to cover the cake top.  Sprinkle some toasted slivered almonds as a garnish and for added texture.

 I like to add a sprinkle of powdered sugar and decorate with orange chips!

Serve it with some whipped cream which you flavor with orange zest and it's that easy to have a  refreshing cake for all seasons.

Note: If you don´t have buttermilk you can use sour yogurt, the acidity in it will give the same result, a fluffy, moist and light cake! Enjoy!  

(For more orange based recipes click here, here and here).

Easter Chocolate Egg Cookies

In previous posts , I shared with you my love for decorated cookies.  It became a hobby of mine since I discovered the wonderful work of experts in the field who generously share their work online.  

The downside of cookies decoration is the time it takes to finish just one, let alone a batch. That's why, I mostly do cookies like that during special occasions and holidays when I have more time on my hands. 

There are hundreds of cookie dough recipes out there and I personally experimented with several of them. For this special holiday, which is Easter, I worked on different recipes, but I will share with you in this post the chocolate sugar cookie.

 The motives I used for the decoration are inspired by Easter and spring, two occasions that celebrate birth and rejuvenation. I often get ideas from a wonderful and inspirational blogger: Amber Spiegel. I recommend that you check out her work.

For the cookie dough you need (you can get many cookies from this amount, depending on the shape):

• 1 small egg (room temperature)
• 220 g flour
• 60 g cocoa powder
• 70 brown sugar cane (ground the sugar, I use the coffee grinder to do so)
• 120 g soft unsalted butter 
• 10 g hazelnut praliné paste (optional)
• 1tsp zest of orange
• the seeds of one vanilla pod
• dash of salt

First sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt and set aside. With a paddle attachement (if you don´t have one use whisks) beat the butter for a minute, add the sugar and the praliné paste (if you used it), the orange zest and the vanilla seeds and also beat for 2 or 3 min until combined. Add the egg and beat again for just a few minutes.
Add the flour mixture, and mix just a little bit and stop even if not all the flour is combined. Drop the dough over a clean working surface and gently knead it for few minutes.

Form your well combined dough into a 2 cm thick rectangle  and wrap it with plastic film or put in a ziplock bag and leave in the fridge for at least 4 hours or over night.

Divide your dough in 2, keep one half in the fridge and roll the other into 6 mm (1/4 of an inch) thick layer. I use an adjustable rolling pin to get an even surface!

If your dough maintained its coldness you can start cutting the shapes, if not place the dough again in the fridge for about an hour.
After cutting the shapes, again you need to place the baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, and the cookies into the fridge for about 15 min.

Bake your cookies in a pre-heated oven at 180 C, for about 10 to 15 min. The baking time will depend on the size of the cookies.
Keeping  your dough chilled while working with it and before baking will make sure you have a neat and even surface with no air bubbles and the cookies will not expand or loose their shape during baking.

I decorated the cookies with royal icing using several techniques. Though the decoration  I made is a bit time consuming, you can use much simpler patterns and decorate to your liking. Even without decoration, the cookies taste great.

At the end, I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter, hoping that  you will try out this recipe to add more fun to your holiday.

Spicy chocolate soufflé with orange caramel sauce!

Soufflé, another creation of the French cuisine, the word means puffed-up, both savoury and sweet versions of soufflé go back to the 18 century.

I think many feel that soufflés are very hard to make, however, it is not true. Their preparation is technical and requires being exact with your measurements but the process is relatively straightforward and the rewards is worth while. 

One of my favorites is chocolate soufflé, which is the recipe I´m sharing today, but will be making other recipes, savory and sweet.

Chocolate is a wonderful ingredient, it is so versatile that you can even find it in savory recipes. Each and everyone of us loves chocolate one way or another, whether it is bitter, semi-sweet, white, with fruits, with nuts, with spices...the choices are endless. 

One of may favorite pairings with chocolate is both sweet, fruity and spicy. In fact, I love the combination of chocolate with chillies and oranges. This recipe combines all these flavors in a wonderful way.

For the soufflé you need: (enough for 4 tall ramequins or 5 short ones, mine are 7 x 7 cm)

• 75 g dark chocolate (55%)
• 10 g  corn starch
• teaspoon cocoa powder
• 50 g vanilla infused sugar (or normal sugar)
• 1 tsp coffee liquer or vanilla essence
• 2 eggs separated while cold then brought to room temperature
• 100 ml of milk
• 10 g unsalted butter
• Red chili pepper (1 or 2)
• 1 tsp zest of orange

The first thing you want to do is to prepare your ramequins. With a soft brush coat the ramequins with softened butter brushing the sides starting from the bottom to reach the top. Coat the brushed ramequins with sugar, making sure the sugar adheres well to all the sides of the ramequins. The ramequins should be placed in the fridge while you go through the remaining steps of the recipe.

Combine the flour and cocoa powder, add the milk and mix. Heat the mixture on a gentle flame, add half the sugar and mix well, in few minutes you will have a smooth silky and thick mixture.
When you reach this texture add the butter, chopped chocolate, the orange zest and the fine chopped chile, mix well add the egg yolks and whish vigorously, last add the liquer. Leave it to cool a bit.

The base of the soufflé is now ready, you need to prepare the ingredient that will give it the lightness and allow it to rise while baking: the egg whites. To do so, add a pinch of salt to the eggs whites and start slowly to beat them, when they become foamy, slowly increase the speed while you sprinkle the sugar, beat until soft peaks form, don´t over-mix, you don´t want to have firm peaks. The soft peaks will allow the trapped airbubbles to expand more  in the oven!

Now you need to combine the whites to the base. The first step requires that you lighten the base with some of the egg whites and mix until well combined. Then gently fold the remaining egg whites. Be careful when you fold the whites into the lightened base mix, as you don't want to be aggressive and lose the fluffy and aerated texture you worked hard to achieve.

You want your egg whites to form a beak or a hook!

Now you just need to fill the ramequin. You can fill them to the top or  just leave 2 or 3 cm empty, and bake in a preheated oven (180C) for 15 to 20 min until the top is no longer shiny.

You can serve the shoufflé as it is with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and whipped cream. I made orange caramel sauce to go with it: zesty tangy caramel to complement the spicy and intense chocolate flavor, just something to die for!

For the sauce you need:

• 70 g orange juice
• The zest of half an orange or the skin cut into julienne
• 30 g sugar

In a pan put the sugar and on a low heat let it caramelize, it will take about 5 min, when the sugar has dissolved and gained an amber color it is the time to add the orange followed by the zest. Let it simmer for just few minutes and you're done!

You want to serve these as soon as you take them out of the oven, in 5 minutes they will start collapsing, but they will taste great also when just warm or even cold!

I hope you try this soufflé recipe and I am sure you will enjoy it just as much as I did. This is a great recipe for a dinner with friends, especially if you want to impress them with your culinary skills.
Another great news is thatyou can freeze the soufflé, I made a try and you just need to take the ramequins out from the freezer, 4 to 5 hours before baking them, and you´ll get perfect results!!!