And they're still asking!

Easy to make, hard to dress up! But managed to scramble some passionfruit curd and papaya to make it local. I think this was literally because I wanted to post a new photo on instagram. hahaha.

Cheesecake. I'm sure it is unrequited too because it certainly does not help the waistline. It will probably take two taps of the Bay Run to work off...

Probably one of the most decadent desserts in cake form and most versatile. Baked, unbaked, philly or ricotta. Cookie crumbs, brownie base, pastry base... whatever the form, it is so delicious.

This one?

Super tall (did I mention I LOVE tall cakes?) Bailey's Irish Cream Double Baked Cheesecake with Bailey's Whipped cream, a sprinkle of cocoa and fresh strawberries. Is your mouth watering yet? A couple of the guys at work did TWO slices. Wow. Needless to say, invites to this morning tea were quite exclusive.

YES WE CAN!

Berries, the not-so-new wonder fruit. Low in sugar content and therefore perfect for the diabetic.

We made this baked cheesecake through some tweaking of our recipes and with Splenda. Sugar substitutes do not bake well in cakes. Ever. But looks like there may be some exceptions to those rules. More or less, the texture was like a normal baked cheesecake (dense, smooth and creamy and in this case, loaded with fruit) and 4 out of 5 people would say that the flavour is all there and if you hadn't told them it was sugarfree, they wouldn't have given it a second thought. Good news there!

So if you've got a friend of a family member who can't have too much sugar and a special occasion coming up, give this sugarfree cheesecake a thought or two!

Look forward to hearing from you :-)

Most popular summer cake yet

It almost felt like being on MasterChef and the Sunday Night Invention Test!

Was given the last of creating a cake for a farewell in the office this week and there was no brief! I could do anything i wanted!

I knew I wanted to make a cheesecake. And I knew most of the people in the office weren't keen on dense, designed cakes. Lashings of cream and soft centres seemed the way to go. Not to mention that the person whom the cake was originally intended for had just gotten braces so we had to go with something easily digestible!

And so this White Chocolate & Lemon Mousse Cheesecake with Scorched Meringue was born... yes, i know, it's a mouthful. But a yummy one at that.

Have to say it was a little nerve-wracking! It was the cake that I actually made for this office so knew I was going to be on the judging panel (and of course, it was all the more exciting with a couple of other avid bakers in the office!).

In the end, I think we only just had enough to feed the crowds. I honestly didn't know we had so many people in the office until Friday morning tea. Where did they all come from?!?! And very relieved (and happy, of course) that there were positive reviews all around! Yay! Someone even asked where I bought the cake from. Ha-ha... how flattering!!

Yield 1 x 10-inch round

Ingredients
250 g NICE biscuits
100 g butter, melted
750 g cream cheese, softened
150 mL thickened cream
1 C sugar
2 limes, juiced and zested
3 eggs
1/2 t vanilla

Method
1. Preheat oven to 110 degrees and grease and line springform baking tin.
2. Crush biscuits and add melted butter to form biscuit base. Press into the base of the tin and refrigerate until needed.
3. Beat cream cheese, lime juice and zest, sugar and vanilla until combined.
4. Add eggs one at a time until just combined. Beat in thickened cream.
5. Pour mixture oven base and bake in a slow oven for 45-60 minutes or until the centre of the cake is still slightly wobbly.
6. Cool with door ajar before refrigerating.

Yield 1 x 8-inch round

Ingredients
6 eggs, separated, room temperature
250 g cream cheese
50 g butter
100 mL milk
3/4 C sugar
1/4 t cream of tartar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 C flour
2 T cornflour

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and grease and line baking tin with baking paper.
2. Melt cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add half the sugar and milk and stir well.
3. Fold in egg yolks and sift in flours. Combine well and add lemon juice.
4. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form whilst gradually adding remaining sugar and cream of tartar.
5. Fold flour mixture into egg whites and pour into prepared tin.
6. Bake cheesecake in a waterbath for 60-75 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Leave door ajar and cool in oven for about 15-20 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Best if you halve these ingredients to make a 6-7 inch cake.

Yield 1 x 10-inch round

Ingredients
Brownie
125 g butter
125 g dark chocolate, chopped
1 C flour, sifted
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1/4 C milk

Cheesecake
500 g cream cheese
1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
115 g natural yoghurt
1 t vanilla

Method
1. Grease and line baking tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
2. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler until the mixture is smooth.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs and milk, beating well after each addition.
4. Fold in flour until just combined.
5. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 110 degrees.
6. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until sugar dissolves.
7. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add yoghurt and vanilla and beat until just combined.
8. Pour oven brownie base and bake for a further 40-45 minutes or until the centre is almost set.
9. Turn oven off and leave door ajar until cake cools to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight before decorating and serving.

Yield 1 x 9-inch flan

Ingredients:

Ingredients (serves 8)
250 g NICE biscuit, crushed
100 g butter, melted
500 g cream cheese
2/3 C + 1/2 C sugar
6 eggs (2 separated)
1/2 C lemon juice
1 C dessicated coconut
rind of 1 lemon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 9-inch quiche tart pan.
2. Prepare biscuit base by combining melted butter and biscuit crumbs. Press into tart pan and refrigerate until needed.
3. Place the cream cheese in a food processor, process until smooth, then gradually add the sugar. Add the eggs and 2 egg yolks one at a time, until just combined.
4. Add lemon juice and rind and process to combine. Pour over biscuit base in the pan and bake for 30-45 minutes or until the centre jiggles slightly.
5. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly for 15 minutes.
6. Beat eggs whites until soft peak form. Gradually add caster sugar and beat till thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut.
7. Carefully spread meringue over the cooled cheesecake to just cover the filling. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes or until light golden in colour and firm to touch.
8. Cool completely and chill before serving.

Yield 1 x 9-inch quiche flan

Ingredients:
1 x quantity shortcrust pastry
500 g fresh ricotta
150 g sour cream
1/2 C sugar
75 g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
2 eggs
100 g dark choc chips
1/2 C dried or fresh berries
2 T brandy

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Prepare pastry base as directed and blind bake until lightly golden. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 150 degrees.
2. Beat together ricotta, sour cream, brandy and sugar until well combined. Add eggs one at a time.
3. Stir in hazelnuts, berries and choc chips.
4. Spread the ricotta mixture over the pastry base and even with spatula.
5. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until filling is just set. Allow the cheesecake to cool in oven with the door ajar.
6. Chill completely and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Yield 1 x 8 inch round

Ingredients:
125 g NICE biscuits, crushed
60 g butter, melted
500 g cream cheese, softened
3/4 C icing sugar
1 T grated lemon rind
150 g raspberries
3 t gelatin, dissolved
200 g white chocolate, melted
300 mL cream, whipped

Method:
1. Combine the crushed biscuits and the melted butter and press into the base prepared tin.
2. Beat the softened cream cheese, icing sugar and the grated lemon rind until smooth.
3. Gently stir in the gelatin that has been softened in water, the melted chocolate and the whipped cream.
4. Pour filling into crust and refrigerate overnight.
5. Top with fresh berries and dust with icing sugar.