Monday, March 7, 2011

Cheesecake recipe as easy as A B C!

When it comes to cakes and cheesecakes, I prefer it simple, plain and non fussy. Although, many cakes are so divine looking  with it towering heights and  pipings swirling magnificently around it , sometimes the plainest of things taste better in the morning. Besides, merely looking at those elaborated gateaus is enough to pile on some pounds ! Of course I don't claim that eating simple and plain looking cakes makes me weigh less. Ha!

I baked enough cakes to figure out the cause of FF's expanding belly and Ms.E's widening girth. This recipe however, tops my list. It has everything, we both love. I enjoyed the crusty ,dense biscuit base and FF, its compact but silky, sweet  but not so overpowering cream cheese filling. The best part is, it's so easy to make! It's not the bought-at-the-counter, eat-me-with-your-eyes- and I'm-taller-that-you-are-when-you-were-two kind of torte. It is striped of all the volumes and flairs of tall, light and bland cheesecakes. What it has, is plain cream cheese goodness. If you are the kind of person who likes fine taste and  little twist, you can pour your creativity and preference to this basic recipe. Swirl some Nutella or melted chocolate,  add some mint  if you dare, sprinkle  some lemon or orange  zest if you feel like it and hey pour that blueberry sauce you've been saving in the fridge after baking. If not, savor this recipe as it is.  It is in itself mouth watering enough. So here we go.


Simple but Yummylicious Cheesecake



Recipe inspired by  Dessert Comes First post


A- For ''Assemble'' everything. Starting off with the base or the crust. My weird propensity to anything that sticks to that pan is somewhat extended to cakes and pastries. When I eat cakes and if it  has a crust, I tend to eat the crust first . When the cakes is layered and ginormous, then I end up eating ''only'' the crust which people around me find peculiar.   Ms. E's  not a big fan of fluffy, creamy, gelatin based filling which is quite common in the tortes here. When it comes to muffin and and bread, I always end up eating the outsides first , like peeling it, and nibble my way to the inside. What can I say? I'm a crust goddess! The good thing about this cake is, I could make the crust or the base thick enough without  ruining  the cake aaaand will  send me to bed with a smile on my face. Its a win win situation and I'm lavin it!



First, butter a round spring form ( regular 9 inch sized) and prepare the crust.Using a mortal and pestle, crush 200 g of biscuits into crumbs. I would love to use Graham Crackers but since I can't find any here then I just used Leibniz Butterkeks. To add a some color, I add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and 2 tbsp of sugar to it. Transfer crumbs into a big mixing bowl and add in 70 g margarine. Soften butter will do. Combine everything until crumbs hold together.

Transfer crumbs into to prepared pan and press it firmly at the bottom of the pan using the back a spoon.  I once scattered toasted almond crumbs on this base and FF loved it. This time I skipped it. I like to have a bit of crunch in my crust to I deliberately let few big biscuit crumbs as well.

B- For Bake. Bake the crust for 10 mins at 160°C . Baking  the crust would make it more dense and compact, just the way I like it. Take it out from the oven and set it aside. Next prepare the filling. Using a hand mixing, beat 2 packs of Philadelphia cream cheese ( 265 g each) until fluffy. Then add in about half a can of sweetened condense milk. One can is about 400 g, which would make the cream cheese filling too sweet for my liking. Hey pour the whole can if you feel like it and if you don't have issues with sugar! Now add three eggs into the mixture one at a time until everything is well incorporated. In this point you can add what ever extra yummy points you have at hand. Few drops of nutella, chocolate chips or swirls of melted chocolate, orange zest, anything you fancy. I like to be purist when it comes to this recipe so I simply add few drops of vanilla.



Pour the mixture over the baked crust ( doesn't matter if it's still warm) and bake the cheesecake at the 150° C  temperature until set but still jiggly in the middle ( about 50 mins to one hour). Try not to overcook it as it will dry out get some unpleasant and not so pretty cracks. We don't want some cracks, right? Cool for an hour and let the cheesecake have its peace at the fridge for few hours before mutilating it. Here's a tip: Store at a cool safe place. Small rats with big teeth and voracious appetite tend to make a midnight snack out of it if left unattended. 


C -for chew ,chow down and  consume!






Come to Mami!



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