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A cloud of chocolate Chantilly cream resting on hazelnut dacquoise and crunch. All coated with rich and creamy ganache. A chocolate dream come true.
Source:
Hazelnut Dacquoise adapted from foodilicOus
Hazelnut Crunch improvised
Cream Chantilly from "Chocolate: More Than 50 Decadent Recipes" by Dominique and Cindy Duby
Chocolate Ganache from Martha Stewart
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 4 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
Hazelnut Dacquoise
- 40g ground hazelnuts
- 7g flour
- 50g egg whites
- 50g granulated sugar
Hazelnut crunch
- 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup puffed rice cereal
- 40 g dark chocolate
Cream Chantilly
- 50 g dark chocolate
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Irish cream
- 1/4 tsp orange zest
Chocolate Ganache
- 50 g dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- pinch of salt
Total: one 6 inch cake, 6 servings
Directions:
Hazelnut Dacquoise
1. Preheat oven at 350F and line a 6'' spring form pan with parchment paper.
2. Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff.
3. Sift the flour into the ground hazelnuts. Pour the hazelnut meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.
4. Use a little (about a teaspoon) of the batter to glue the parchment to the side of your pan. Then pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly.
5. Bake at 350°C for 15-20 minutes (depends on your oven), until golden. Then turn the oven on and leave the dacquoise in the warm oven for another 30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the crunch.
Hazelnut Crunch
6. Crush the puffed rice in a food processor, but don't bring it to the powder consistency - you want to keep that crunch.
7. Mix the rice with the hazelnut meal.
8. When the dacqouise is ready to be taken out of the oven, chop the chocolate and melt it in microwave for about 30 seconds, then stir and melt for another 30 seconds. Mix with the spatula until no chunks are left and all the chocolate is melted and uniform.
9. Add the hazelnut / rice mixture to the melted chocolate, mix well and spread over the dacqouise layer. Allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate.
Cream Chantilly
10. Chop the chocolate, and add the Irish cream and the orange zest.
11. In a small sauce pan heat the cream until it almost boils. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Mix well with a whisk and leave in the refrigerator to cool.
12. When the mixture is cold, whip it with a mixer on high speed until it forms firm peaks. Spread cream Chantilly over the chilled base and refrigerate again for at least 2-3 hours.
13. Before preparing the ganache transfer the cake into freezer. It will make it a little firmer for easier release from the pan.
Chocolate Ganache
14. Coarsely chop chocolate.
15. Bring cream just to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour over chocolate, and add salt. Let stand for 10 minutes (don't stir -- doing so will cool the ganache too quickly, making it grainy).
16. Stir with a whisk until smooth and shiny to break up any pieces and emulsify cream and chocolate.
To finish
17. Remove the cake from the freezer, release the spring form pan and remove the parchment paper from the cake. It should come off cleanly and easily.
18. Place the cake on a serving plate and pour the ganache over it.
19. Refrigerate again until ready to serve.
Afterthoughts:
- This cake is heavenly. The dacquoise layer is a little chewy, then the crunchy chocolatey layer, then the fluffy Chantilly cream and all topped with the rich ganache. So much texture and so much chocolate in all its manifestations :-)
- I think chocolate and hazelnuts were made for each other. I have this theory that the real reason for the discovery of America by Columbus was to unite hazelnuts, native to Europe, with chocolate, native to America. All other traditional reasons that they give you at school, like exploration, trade, imperialism, etc, pale in comparison, when one thinks about the world without Nutella, Ferrero Rocher or cakes like this one. Don't you agree?
- I might try to add a little gelatin to cream Chantilly at some point to make it a little stiffer and mousse-like, but I am not completely convinced it's needed.
To Recipe...
Summary only...
Delicious Singaporean street food, that does not have any carrots :-). It's a steamed savory daikon cake, cut into pieces and fried with eggs.
Source: Adapted from Mummy, I Can Cook
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 4 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
For the cake
- 1 large daikon (about 100 g), finely shredded
- 50 g fine rice flour
- 150 ml room temperature water
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
For frying
- one daikon cake from above
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp of sauerkraut (in absence of salted preserved radish (chai poh) from the original recipe)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp of fish sauce
- 2 tbsp of vegetable or coconut oil for frying
- chili sauce to taste
- 2,3 green onions, chopped
Total: 2 servings
Directions:
It's better to make the radish cakes the day before, and cutting up and frying the day after.
1. Steam or cook on low heat the shredded daikon with 75 ml of water for about 30 minutes, or until the daikon is translucent. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Add the flour, the salt and the remaining water to the blanched daikon, and mix well. Pour into a shallow 8 inch baking pan and steam on high heat for 45 minutes. At this point the "cake" should be firm. This was not the case for me, so I baked it in the oven for another 30 minutes at 325F, until it finally solidified. Let the cake cool, cover with cling wrap to prevent drying and refrigerate overnight.
3. When ready to cook, cut into little cubes when it's fully cool, don't worry about ragged edges as these are the bits that get irresistibly crispy.
4. Pour the oil into the pan and heat it to med-high heat. Fry cake cubes until crispy around the edges. You can press on it with the spatula for maximum crispy edges.
5. Add the sauerkraut and the garlic, reduce the heat to medium and and fry till fragrant. Drizzle with fish sauce and chili. Spread everything around the pan.
6. Beat eggs and pour the mixture evenly over the radish cakes. Let set until the bottom is nicely browned, before flipping over and browning on the other side. To make it easier on yourself, just cut roughly into smaller portions with the sharp edge of your spatula before flipping. It's okay for the cake to be semi-falling apart, like scrambled eggs.
7. Finish with chopped spring onions.
Afterthoughts:
- This is really delicious, with the soft and crispy texture of the cake and the fish sauce flavors. It makes a perfect meal for any time of day and night.
- I might be doing something terribly wrong with making the steamed rice cake. So far I tried this recipe twice. The first time I just steamed the cake, and it was not firm at all, even after a night in the fridge. And then when I was frying it it turned into a mushy mess. The second time I bought brand new rice flour and used a more traditional steaming pan, but the cake was still too soft. So I went to my well known method of baking cakes and it worked. I guess I have to experiment more with steaming cakes. Any suggestions on this topic would be welcome.
- I love using saurkraut in Asian dishes - it's a wonderful Oriental ingredient ;-). It's really great in Chinese fried rice too, ads a lot of crunch.
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Crunchy no bake Nutella treats in 15 minutes.
Source: Adapted from Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites on Cook Lisa Cook
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (270 cal)
- 1/4 cup cocoa (50 cal)
- 1/4 cup Nutella (400 cal)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (5 cal)
- 1 cup ground walnuts (185 cal)
- 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies (160 cal)
Total: 16 servings, 970 cal, 60 cal / serving
Directions:
1. In a food processor blend the coconut oil, cocoa, Nutella and vanilla extract until smooth. If your kitchen is hot and the coconut oil is liquid you can easily blend all these ingredients by hand in less than a minute.
2. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and stir in the ground walnuts and Rice Krispies.
3. Evenly scoop the mixture into a mini silicone muffin mold. Or in absence of one, with slightly wet hands roll small balls and place on a plate lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until set.
4. If you used a mold, press the bottom of each muffin cup to release the bites. Keep refrigerated.
Afterthoughts:
- These cute desserts are really light and crunchy, and perfect for anyone who loves Nutella. And it only takes 15 minutes to make them and then 15 more minutes to wait until they set in the fridge.
- This recipe uses Nutella instead of peanut butter and honey in the original recipe. Maybe peanut butter is a little stickier than Nutella and the peanut butter bites end up a little firmer. My Nutella balls were very delicate. Maybe next time I will try adding a little peanut butter or sunflower butter or even date paste.
- It would be nice to put these on a stick and coat them with chocolate for Chocolate coated crunchy Nuteall pops. But I wanted to try them right away and did not have enough patience to melt the chocolate :-). Oh well, next time...
- This post was my SRC assignment. Just in case you don't know yet, SRC, or the Secret Recipe Club is a group of over a hundred food bloggers, who are assigned a "secret" blog each months. Then they choose a recipe from that blog, make it and post it on their own blog on a given reveal day. Then there is a big party, where you hop from one blog to another and check what everyone's been cooking. Lots of fun! And terrible for your diet ;-) I want to thank Amanda, Jane and April for making it all possible!
- Cook Lisa Cook, from which this recipe was adopted, is a wonderful blog. Lisa cooks with her charming sous-chef, Maisie, and they have lots of yummy recipes. When I was browsing the blog to choose a recipe for SRC, I put together a list of things to try, and I will be coming back for them: Lacy cheese crackers, Walnut Roca squares and Copycat KFC coleslaw
To Recipe...
Summary only...
Delicious aromatic exotic and super simple cake that looks like a slice of Shrek and tastes like heaven
Source:Singapore Shiok!
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp pandan essence
- 1/2 tsp pandan paste
- 160 ml water
- 4 eggs (280 cal)
- 160 g sugar (620 g)
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 400 ml coconut milk (750 cal)
- 140 g all purpose flour (510 cal)
Total: 20 servings, 2160 cal, 110 cal/serving
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F and grease with butter a 7"x10" baking pan.
2. Dissolve pandan essence and paste in water and mix well.
3. Combine eggs, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk until well combined and sugar has dissolved. Don't overbeat or the batter will rise in the oven and then sink and form a depression in the middle.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and pandan mixture. Gently whisk in the flour in two or three lots. Again, don't overbeat.
5. If you get lumps of flour in the batter, strain it when pouring into the baking pan.
6. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until set.
7. Remove from oven and cool before slicing into rectangles, squares or diamonds or cutting shapes with a cookie cutter.
Afterthoughts:
- Delicious! It's like a Malaysian clafoutis: gooey, soft, custardy and smells like pandan. And it's so easy to make!
- Note that this cake does not have any butter or oil, only coconut milk, which is supposed to be healthier than other sources of fat. Right? Or at lease I would like to believe that.
- If you are lucky enough to have fresh pandan leaves, check out the original recipe on Singapore Shiok!. It also has some facts about this cake and deep aesthetic discussion on its resemblance to eraser ;-). And even if you don't have pandan or pandan essence, you should still head on to Singapore Shiok! for much prettier photos of the same cake as well as lots of other amazing recipes. Denise, the encyclopedia behind the blog, seems to know absolutely everything about food in Singapore, which is only limited to Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and probably a dozen more cuisines. So whether you are interested in food or food for thought, her blog is a must read. And then you can also buy Denise's latest cook book "Mum's Not Cooking. Favourite Singaporean Recipes for the Near Clueless or Plain Lazy." Looks like this book was written especially for the likes of me, the lazy and the clueless ;-).
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Summary only...
An easy side for an Asian dinner
Source: Adapted from Inquiring Chef blog
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Ingredients
Ingredients
For the Dressing (150 cal):
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (5 cal)
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp honey (15 cal)
- 1 tsp peanut butter (5 cal)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard (5 cal)
- salt, to taste
For the Salad (1370 cal):
- 1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)
- 2 chopped green onions (5 cal)
- 2 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks (50 cal)
- 2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed (440 cal)
- 1 cup crushed cashews (755 cal)
Total: 4 servings,1520 cal, 380 cal/serving
Directions:
- Make the dressing. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside
- Toss the salad. Combine chicken, green onion, carrot, and edamame in a large bowl. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad; toss gently to coat. Just before serving, sprinkle peanuts over the salad. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.
Afterthoughts:
- Delicious simple Thai salad!
- The original recipe had chicken, but I used the salad as a side and skipped the meat. I will be making this recipe in its original version too, as a light lunch or dinner. Also, the original recipe called for peanuts, but I did not have them and used cashews instead.
- I made small modifications to the dressing. The biggest deviation was adding peanut butter. I am not a fan of peanut butter in baking, but I love adding it to Thai sauces.
- Inquiring Chef is a wonderful blog. Jess, the author, currently lives in Thailand and has a lot of Thai recipes, among many others. And her photos are absolutely professional and mouthwatering. If you have not been to her blog you are missing out :-)
To Recipe...
Summary only...
A quick and simple weekday dinner
Source: Inquiring Chef blog
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)
Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Ingredients
For the Rice (1140 cal):
- 1 cup brown rice (685 cal)
- 1 cup light coconut milk (445 cal)
- 1.5 cups water
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced (10 cal)
For the salmon (1140):
- 4 5-ounce salmon filets (1040 cal)
- 1 tsp Thai red curry paste (10 cal)
- 2 tsp light brown sugar (30 cal)
- 1 tsp soy sauce (5 cal)
- 1 tsp olive oil (40 cal)
- 1 lime, cut into quarters (15 cal)
Total: 4 servings, 2280 cal, 570 cal/serving
Directions:
1. Combine the brown rice, coconut milk, and water in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. As soon as it begins to boil, reduce the heat to a very low simmer. Put the lid on the pot and allow to simmer for 40-45 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to rest, covered, for at least 5 minutes, or until you are ready to serve. Just before serving, stir in the sliced scallions.
2. Turn on the oven’s broiler. Place a wire rack on top of a foil-lined baking sheet, skin side up, if not using skinless filets. Brush the wire rack with olive oil to prevent the salmon from sticking. Place the salmon filets about 3 inches apart on the wire rack. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper. Put the salmon filets under the broiler for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the red curry paste, light brown sugar, soy sauce, and olive oil. Remove the partially-cooked salmon filets from the oven and brush the red curry mixture evenly over the top of each. Return the filets to the broiler and continue broiling until the tops turn brown and the salmon is cooked through, 2-4 minutes more.
3. Serve each salmon filet over about 3/4 cup brown rice. Squeeze juice of 1/4 lime over each filet.
Afterthoughts:
- This was a really nice meal. I loved the sweet and spicy glaze over salmon.
- The original recipe was asking for 3 times more red curry paste, but knowing the curry paste that is available in our local grocery stores, I had to cut it significantly.
- I loved the idea of broiling the fish and was happy to experiment. But I have left it to cook longer than the recipe directed and my fish ended up on the dry side. It's my fault, not the recipe's. I normally make fish in a skillet and it's so fast and easy to see when it is done. I wanted to experiment with a new method, but I think I will stick to my skillet in the future.
- This post was my SRC assignment for January. Just in case you don't know yet, SRC, or the Secret Recipe Club is a group of over a hundred food bloggers, who are assigned a "secret" blog each months. Then they choose a recipe from that blog, make it and post it on their own blog on a given reveal day. Then there is a big party, where you hop from one blog to another and check what everyone's been cooking. Lots of fun! And terrible for your diet ;-) I want to thank Amanda, Jane and April for making it all possible!
- I am so happy that I got Inquiring Chef as my assignment. It is a wonderful blog with delicious looking recipes and beautiful photos. The recipes are very well organized, which I cannot say about my blog, unfortunately. So it was a real pleasure choosing a recipe for my assignment. In fact, I chose 2 recipes: I also made a Thai salad, which made a great addition to the meal. I will definitely be visiting the Inquiring Chef blog frequently, and so should you :-)
To Recipe...
Summary only...
Probably the best chocolate mousse I've even had, perfect texture, a little nutty, super simple to make and you would never suspect it of being raw
Source: Vegan Magic blog
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
- 1 can (400 ml) creamy coconut cream (at least 75% fat, make sure the texture is very smooth) (1320 cal)
- 5 tbsp (1/3 cup) cocoa powder (60 cal)
- 1 cup (tightly packed) soft dried dates (18 in this case) (1200 cal)
- a few drops of vanilla extract
Total: 2 cups, 8 servings, 2580 cal, 320 cal/serving
Directions:
1. Refrigerate the can of coconut cream overnight to solidify and separate. Carefully turn it upside down, open and discard the transparent liquid (or reserve it to add in a smoothie or curry).
2. Peel the dates. This will be the most time-consuming part, and is best done while watching your favorite TV show.
3. Place the dates with 2 rounded tbsp of coconut cream and blend on high.
4. Add the remaining coconut milk and cocoa powder and blend together until smooth, then finally add the vanilla (or your preferred flavoring).
5. Can be served with whipped cream or whipped coconut cream.
Afterthoughts:
- Since I saw this recipe for the first time I've made it twice, which means a lot, given how busy it's been for me. And it's because the recipe is amazingly delicious and amazingly simple.
- The first time I did not peel the dates, as suggested in the original recipes, and had 2 versions of this mousse: the non strained one with small pieces of date skin and the strained one. Both tasted great, but the silky texture of the strained one made it truly incredible and moussey. The problem was, I really hated straining. I find it extremely time consuming and probably I am doing it in the least efficient way. So the second time I decided to peel the dates upfront. It takes a lot of time but it is less strenuous than straining, and can be done while watching TV or talking about existential questions. And with the peeled dates and a powerful blender, you will have the best mousse ever in 3 minutes.
To Recipe...
Summary only...
Delicious melt in your mouth cookies for the Holidays and not just
Source: Cooking and Beer
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup granulated sugar (775 cal)
- 1 cup hazelnuts (470 cal)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (1630 cal)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (795 cal)
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar + extra for dusting (230 cal)
Total: 24 cookies, 3900 cal, 160 cal/cookie
Directions:
1. In your food processor, pulse together the sugar and the hazelnuts until they reach ALMOST a fine powder. Slice the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the food processor and add the vanilla extract. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour and the salt. In 1/4 cup increments add the dry mixture to the food processor. Repeat this step until all of the flour is incorporated, and the mixture has formed a nice, soft ball of cookie dough.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes. In my case, I refrigerated overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 325F degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. No need to spray with a non-stick, there’s already a ton of butter in this recipe!
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and with your CLEAN hands, start pinching of baby balls of dough from the larger. Roll into 1 inch balls and spread evenly on the baking sheets. The cookies will spread a little so leave at least 1 1/2 inches between them. Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes or until the tops just begin to brown.
6. Remove from the oven, let cool for 2-3 minutes to harden just a little so that they don't break, and place on a wire rack. Wait about 10 minuets for the balls to slightly cool. Meanwhile, pour the confectioners sugar in a bowl. After the balls have slightly cooled, toss them gently in the sugar. Place immediately back on the wire rack and let cool completely for about 2 hours.
7. Dust again with confectioners sugar, using a sifter. You can also dust with a touch of cocoa powder.
8. Will keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container, stored in a cool place.
Afterthoughts:
- Delicious, simple and very buttery cookies. I was surprised that the recipe did not contain eggs. The cookies are a brittle, but that's just part of their melt in your mouth texture.
- I bet they will also taste amazing with chocolate coating. To try next time.
To Recipe...
Summary only...
Love from the first sight and until the last bite
Source: Cheesecake adapted from Baker Street, crust adapted from The Heritage Cook, sauce adapted from Martha Stewart
Taste: 6 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
For the crust (1125 cal):
- 1 cup ground hazelnuts (525 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (195 cal)
- 1/4 cup butter, melted (405 cal)
For the cream cheese layer (2330 cal):
- 12 oz / 350 g cottage cheese (305 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (195 cal)
- 3 eggs (210 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (10 cal)
- 1 cup Nutella (1600 cal)
- 2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tsp boiling water
For the sauce (575 cal):
- 1/3 cup Nutella (535 cal)
- 1/3 cup milk (40 cal)
Total: 6 inch cake, 6 servings, 4030 cal, 670 cal/serving
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 6-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.
2. For the crust: In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts with the sugar until finely ground. Add the butter; pulse until the mixture resembles moist sand. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
3. For the cheesecake layer: While the crust is baking, in a very powerful food processor beat the cottage cheese until completely smooth and fluffy. Add sugar and process until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Lastly, add the Nutella and coffee mixture into cream cheese and beat to combine.
4. Prepare a bain-marie: When the crust finished baking, take it out of the oven (leave the oven on). Wrap the bottom and sides of the sprinform pan in one large sheet of aluminum foil. Place the 6 inch pan with the aluminum foil inside a larger non-springform cake pan. Fill the larger pan with about 1 inch of hot water. This is your bain-marie. Not too complicated, right?
5. Pour the batter over the crust and bake at 350F for about 1 hour. The center of the cheesecake should still be slightly jiggly.
6. Let the cake sit in the oven for one hour after it has been turned off.
7. Remove the cake from oven and cool completely before removing from the pan. Chill for 4 hours to overnight before serving.
8. For the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup Nutella with 1/3 cup milk. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and whisk until smooth.
9. Pour the warm sauce over the cake right before eating. Serve with whipped cream and savor every bite!
Afterthoughts:
- This is one of the best cakes I've tasted. It is perfect in every way: great texture, amazing combination of flavors and it's extremely satisfying. It is so rich, that half a serving is more than enough (even for me).
- I fell in love with this cake from the moment I saw the Nutella Espresso Cheesecake recipe on Baker Street. I barely have any time to bake these days, but I simply had to make this recipe.
There was another cheesecake recipe that I was hoping to make, the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Walnut Crust from The Heritage Cook. So I decided to combine these two recipes and make a nut crust for the Nutealla cheesecake. To be consistent with the Nutella theme, I used hazelnuts and not walnuts for the crust.
Another great idea that I got from The Heritage Cook was making a sauce to serve with the cheesecake. But I was missing some of the ingredients for The Heritage Cook's sauce. So I did a quick online search and found Martha Stewart's Chocolate Hazelnut sauce. It was meant for pancakes, but it worked really well on this cake too.
- Some notes about the cheesecake batter. I was going to use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese to make the cake lighter. To compensate for the lighter texture I was going to use a little flour in the batter. But then I read Baker Street's very convincing advice against using flour in cheesecakes. I was still very hesitant, but eventually decided to skip the flour. And given that the cake was perfect, it must have been the right decision.
Another point that made me worried was adding coffee. I had tried several other coffee / chocolate recipes before where the addition of coffee ruined the final product. So I made the batter without the coffee, took out a teaspoon of the batter, added a couple of coffee drops, tasted, liked and added the coffee.
My conclusion from the points above: you can safely trust anything from Baker Street :-).
To Recipe...
Summary only...
Quick, delicious and as healthy as a cheesecake can possibly be.
Source: Adapted from Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars as published on Cooking with Chopin, which, in turn, was adapted from The Pajama Chef
Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Ingredients:
For the base / streusel
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
For the cheesecake layer
- 8 oz / 220 g cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups apple sauce
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10"x7" baking dish.
2. Prepare the cookie base in a large bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir together the oats, flour, salt, and baking powder. Pour 1 tbsp or lemon juice over the baking soda, mix until bubbly and add to the bowl. "Cut in" the butter pieces with two knives or with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then stir in the honey with the spoon. Set aside 1/4 cup of the cookie base, add to it walnuts and mix again. Press the remainder of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.
3. For the cheesecake layer, while the crust is baking, pour the cottage cheese into food processor and blend on high speed until it is uniform. Add the other ingredients, except apple sauce and process until combined.
4. After the cookie base has baked for 10 minutes, remove it from oven. Spread cheesecake filling over the partially-baked crust. Then spread the apple sauce on top. It will most likely sink partially, so you will have swirls rather than 2 separate layers. Sprinkle the reserved cookie topping over the apple sauce and bake for 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.
5. The cheesecake must cool down to room temperate (or even be refrigerated) before removing from the pan and cutting, otherwise it will break and sag.
6. Store in the fridge.
Afterthoughts:
- The cheesecake is delicious. There were 2 minor issues with the crust: it was a little too salty, and there was not enough of it. The quantity was completely my fault. The original recipe used an 8"x8" pan, and I used a 10"x7" one, which is larger, but somehow I assumed they had the same area. That's why I had to add walnuts, because after I had filled the pan with the crust there was practically nothing left for the streusel. So next time I would increase the crust quantities by 1/4. Regarding salt, next time I might use 1/4 tsp, or skip it completely.
- The original recipe on Cooking with Chopin used cream cheese and a little less flour for the cheesecake layer. I wanted to save the fat and the calories, so I used cottage cheese. But to make the layer firmer I had to use more flour, and I think the consistency of the cheesecake was perfect. But be sure that you have a very powerful food processor that really can make the cottage cheese uniform. Otherwise you will have those small lumps and it's not the best cheesecake texture (I had already experienced it before).
- Now the funny thing is: the circle is round! I just discovered it now when I was finishing this post and pasting the links. Because this was the first time I visited the "original original" recipe on the Pajama Chef blog, which was later adapted by Cooking with Chopin, which was now adapted yet again by me... And it turned out that the Pajama Chef had Apple Cheesecake that turned into a Pumpkin Cheesecake on Cooking with Chopin and now was again transformed into an Apple Cheesecake ;-P. I guess one could conclude that both apple and pumpkin are such natural choices for this cake that when one is thinking about changing something, they are the first things that come to mind :-)
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