BAKING PROJECT

This is a very simple no-bake cheesecake.  The base is made of crushed biscuits – you can use digestive biscuit, oreo, cream cracker, marie etc.   Melted butter is added to bind the crush biscuit and then baked to make it crispier.  This strawberry cheesecake to me, taste more like a mousse.  It is light and the taste of cheese is not too overwhelming.  Pleasant taste.

The recipe :

For the base, I use my food processor to crush the biscuits.  Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and continue mixing till all is mixed well.  Oil a 7 inch loose-bottomed cake tin.  Pour the biscuit and using the bottom of a glass, press the base to get an even thickness.   Bake at 160C for about 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let it cool down, before pouring in the filling.

To make the filling, in a food processor again, crush the strawberries together with the orange zest and juice.   In a double-boil bowl, sprinkle the gelatine over the water.  Leave for 5 minutes then double-boil to dissolve the gelatine (turn it into liquid).  In the mixer, beat the cream cheese with the sugar, essence, yogurt and cream.  Then add the mashed strawberries.  Pour the dissolved gelatine into the cream mixture and keep stirring.

Whisk the egg white into soft peaks.  Fold into the cream mixture.  You will end up with quite a runny filling, but do not despair, it will firm up.  Wrap the outer layer of the cake tin with aluminum foil.  Pour the filling onto the biscuit base and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  I left mine overnight and the next morning, it is ready to be served.  Decorate with the strawberries and whip cream, if you wish.

If you have extra strawberries,  keep them frozen in the freezer section.   Other than dessert, I usually make Pink lemonade – Lemon and strawberry juice, for the family.  It is hard to find sweet strawberries in Malaysia, so turning them into dessert and juice is another alternative than eating them fresh .

A student of mine brought pavlova for us to try, it was really good.   She used a mixture of whip cream and mascarpone, the taste is heaven.  Since then I’ve been wanting to make pavlovas and finally had all the ingredients.  This is the mini version, recipe from Nigella “How to be a domestic goddess” cook book (thank you )

Makes 18 mini pavlovas.

The mini pavlovas I made has a diameter of around 10cm.  On a parchment paper, you  might want to draw circles to help you get a uniform shape.

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Mix the egg white and salt, and whisk on high speed, till it is slightly fluffy like in the picture above.

Slowly add the sugar a spoon at a time.  Keep beating until the meringue has stiff peaks, smooth and silky.   It might take 10 minutes or so.   Now using a spatula, fold in the cornflour, vanilla extract and vinegar.

Spoon the meringue onto the parchment or baking paper ( I used 2 tablespoon each but I think more is better, my pavlovas do seem a bit flat).   Then with the back of a spoon, try to flatten the center a little bit, to make a well.  This will hold the cream later.   Lower the oven temperature to 150C and bake for 30 minutes.   Once done, turn off the oven and let the meringues sit in the oven for another 30 minutes or till it is completely cool.  Fill the center with whip cream or whip cream + mascarpone (recipe here).  Sprinkle with fruits and serve immediately.

I find the recipe yields quite a lot, and so I made a big pav too.  But I have not decorated this one.

Once assembled, you have to keep it in the fridge till it is ready to serve.  I suggest not to add any more sugar to the whip cream as the meringue itself is already sweet.  Overall, the contrast between the sweet base and slightly sour fruits do make a good combination.   More recipes can be found here, or if you would like to order, then I highly recommend my student, Erin.  Cheers.