cheese cake with white chocolate and raspberries.

November 23, 2011.

So, cheese cake has been the new curiosity for me. After succeeded in making Oreo Cheese Cake, i want to make more! This time is a classic cheese cake with white chocolate and raspberries on top. Want to try? It's so easy to make and it's not a time-consuming kind of recipe. Give it a try!

Ingredients:
4 packages cream cheese (908 g or 2 pounds)
4 tbsp butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
1 cup sour cream
1 pack fresh raspberries
1 pack wheat biscuit

Optional:
1/2 cup white chocolate buttons
1 cup heavy or whipping cream



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (or 170 degrees C)
2. Mix cream cheese and sugar until soft, add vanilla extract
3. Add eggs one at a time while still mixing the cream cheese mixture
4. To make the crust, crush the biscuits until it forms little crumbs. You can do this with a food processor. Add melted butter. Press this mixture into a spring form tin, press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.
5. Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula
6. Bake for 15 minutes in the oven. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 270 degrees and bake for another 1 hour. It doesn't necessarily have to be bake for 1 hour, but do check the oven every 20 minutes to make sure it has set and not over-baked.
7. Cool the cheese cake for about an hour.
8. Meanwhile in a medium heat in a pan, mix together heavy cream and white chocolate buttons until they mixed perfectly. Pour the chocolate sauce on top of the cheese cake. Let it cool.
9. Decorate with raspberries.
10. Serve.
    

carrot cupcakes with cheese cream frosting (Martha Stewart's)

November 20th, 2011.

I got this birthday present from my soon-to-be sister, mother, and father-in-law. They know that I'm crazy about baking cupcakes, so they bought me Martha Stewart's Cupcake book for my birthday. There are sooo many variations of cupcakes that i would like to try to make, so i started out on carrot cupcakes first. I didn't use some of the ingredients in the recipe due to the short time that i had last week. And i forgot to take the picture of the carrot cupcakes (do'oh!!). Here's the recipe, it's delicious!

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

• 1 pound carrots (about 450 g), finely grated
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 cups sugar (i only use 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (you can use sour cream or plain yogurt to substitute)
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved (simply use vanilla powder)
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (i didn't use this, cos many people don't like raisins)
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (didn't use this)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (also didn't use this)

Ingredients for the frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (additional)
• 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
  

Directions

1. Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line mini muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together carrots, eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla-bean seeds, and raisins. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.

2. Divide batter among liners, filling 3/4 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 23 to 28 minutes, rotating tins halfway through. Transfer tins to racks to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from tins; let cool completely.

3. Make frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter with 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar. Continue to beat while adding remaining sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Add vanilla, and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

oreo cheese cake with chocolate ganache on top.

November 19th, 2011.

Here i am back in the kitchen again. I was really nervous prior to my engagement day, so i spent like soooo much time in the kitchen. Finally i had made something other than cupcakes. I've always been curious about how do people make cheesecakes. After searching and searching for the most simple recipe, i've finally made this!

Ingredients for the Cheese Cake:
4 packages cream cheese (908 grams) or 2 pounds
1 package of oreos 16 oz or 450 grams
4 Tablespoons butter (45 grams)
4 eggs
1 cup sugar (200 grams)
1 Tablespoon vanilla (15ml)
1/2 cup cream (whipping cream, heavy cream) (180 ml)
1 cup sour cream (230 grams)

Directions:

1. Crush 1 pack of Oreo until coarsely chopped. You can do this with a food processor or you can beat the cookies with meat beater. Add melted butter and put this as the base of your cheese cake. After you put it in the cake tin, pop into the fridge for a bit while.
   
2. Mix cream cheese in a bowl, add sugar
3. Add eggs one by one while the mixer is still mixing
4. Add heavy cream and sour cream. Always remember that you can use plain yoghurt as a substitute for sour cream.
5. Add crushed oreos into the mixture. Mix well.
6. Put the mixture into the cake tin.
7. Bake 350 (170C) for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 250 (121C) and bake an additional 1 and 1/2 hours. When it's almost 1 hour, do check the oven to prevent overbaked cake and to avoid the smell of burnt cake.
   

Chocolate Ganache:
2 cups chocolate chips 12 oz or 240 grams (semi-sweet) or (milk chocolate)
1 and 1/3 cups cream (320ml)


Directions:

1. In medium heat, heat up the cream for a while
2. Put in the chocolate buttons or chocolate chip, stir until they combined well and produce a nice and glossy chocolate sauce
3. Sit the chocolate ganache for a while
   
4. Pour chocolate ganache on top of the cheese cake (you don't have to use them all)
5. Pop the cheese cake into the refrigerator and serve while still cold. Yum!!

Ok, this one (above) with the Oreo crust is burned. It sat too long in the oven.
Luckily i made TWO of these! I bought this Graham Cracker's pie crust at the local supermarket and i just poured in the excess cheese cake mixture and chocolate ganache.
It tastes ghhhh--hh--hood!

cupcakes saga.

November 19th, 2011.

Hello!

It's been too long since my last post. I've been very busy taking cupcakes orders for birthdays and family events. So, here are a few of them :)