Black Forest Cheesecake

When I saw this cheesecake recipe listed in the top 10 Women's Weekly cakes I knew I had to try it. This is only the second cheesecake I have made, the other one was a baked cheesecake. It was really yummy. I think I prefer chilled cheesecake to baked cheesecake.

Here's what you will need to make it: 250g plain chocolate biscuits, melted butter, gelatine, cream cheese, caster sugar, lemon juice, thickened cream, 425g can pitted black cherries.



To make the base place the chocolate biscuits into a food processor.

Process until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.

Add in 125g melted butter.

Process until well combined.

Press mixture evenly over the base of a 20cm springform tin.

Place on an oven tray and refrigerate about 30 minutes until firm.

Meanwhile, sprinkle 3 teaspoons of gelatine over 1/2 cup of water in a small heatproof jug. Stand jug in a small saucepan of simmering water. Stir until gelatine dissolves; cool 5 minutes.

Place 250g softened cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a medium bowl.

Beat until smooth.

Mmm yum!

In a separate bowl whip 300ml cream until soft peaks form.

Fold cream into cream cheese mixture in two batches.

Fold in the gelatine mixture.

Drain the can of cherries over a bowl, reserve 3/4 cup of the syrup for the topping.

Pat cherries dry on paper towel. You will only need half of the cherries for this recipe.

Spoon 1/3 cream cheese mixture into crumb base, top with half of the reserved cherries; repeat layering, ending with cheese mixture.

Refrigerate until just firm.

For the topping you will need cornflour, caster sugar and Cointreau or Grand Marnier. Cointreau is an orange flavoured liqueur.

Combine 1 tablespoon cornflour,

1 tablespoon of sugar,

And reserved cherry syrup in a small saucepan.

Stir over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens.

Stir in Cointreau; cool 10 minutes.

Spread topping over cheesecake. Refrigerate overnight or until set.

Mine only took an hour or so to set.

Mmm look at those luscious layers.

My base was a bit thick but it still tasted yummy. The recipe is in the July issue of The Australian Women's Weekly.

Enjoy!

Meringues

Meringues are so easy and cute to make. These weren't as marshmallowy as I would have liked. Maybe a bit less time in the oven would have been good.

All you need to make them is three egg whites and 180g white sugar.
I use this little dish to separate the egg whites from the yolks. It has a little gap in the side to let the whites escape.


Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Add the sugar a little at a time. I added a tablespoon to start with, then added the rest in three parts.

Beat until thick and glossy.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle with meringue.

Pipe small meringues onto a paper lined tray. Bake for 80 to 85 minutes in a 110 degree C oven. Mine were a bit smaller than in the picture with the recipe, so they could have done with a bit less time in the oven.

Cute! This recipe is from the book Afternoon Tea by frankie magazine, which is a compilation of recipes that are perfect for afternoon tea. Enjoy!

Matryoshka tea towel and Pink measuring cups!

I love matryoshka dolls! Thanks to my mum for buying me pretty pink measuring cups and a matryoshka doll tea towel!

Millefoglie con Crema Chantilly

Millefoglie is like an Italian version of a vanilla slice. It is basically sheets of puff pastry cut into squares with custard/cream sandwiched in the middle. It is absolutely delicious! I made it with my Italian class a couple of weeks ago and then made it the next weekend.

Here's what you will need to make it (for 4 people):

500ml of milk, 5 eggs, 100g caster sugar, 45g cornflour, finely grated rind of a lemon, 100g fresh cream, pinch of salt, vanilla essence, puff pastry sheets (about 2)

First up add about 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence to the milk in a medium sized pot.

Add the pinch of salt

and the lemon rind.

Bring the milk to the boil.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs (just the yolks),


the sugar,

and the cornflour.

Whisk it with a fork to form a paste.

Add the egg mixture to the hot milk and return to a moderate heat.


Stir constantly until thick and until there are no lumps.

Put the custard in a bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Meanwhile, cut the pastry sheets in half, then cut the halves into thirds.

Place on a baking tray and prick with a fork.


Sprinkle pastry squares with sugar. Bake at 200 degrees (C) until golden.


Meanwhile, while the pastry is cooking and the custard is in the fridge, whip the cream to soft peaks.

When the custard is cool add the whipped cream.

To assemble: Place one pastry square onto a plate and dollop some custard on top.

Place another pastry square on top of the custard.

Then place another dollop of custard on top and another pastry square.

Then sprinkle with icing sugar. You could also put some berries on top and in between the layers.

Buon appetito!