Truly, I am a brownie-girl and a cheesecake-girl.

Whenever I dine at restaurant, as long as their desserts menu has the word "cheesecake" or/and "brownie", I'm likely to be caught in between this two choices! Other cakes like Opera, Chocolate Fudge, Waffle, Molten cake wouldn't even be considered. It simply has to be a brownie, or a cheesecake, or BOTH!

Last night I was looking for a cheesecake brownie when I decided on David Lebovitz's. I'm sure he is not stranger to food bloggers! His recipes never fail us and I really admire his knowledge towards food (-desserts!). I wanted a brownie base that is moist and fudgy, yet a little cake-like. Not the heavy and dense kind that I usually seek for, because I didn't think I would be able to appreciate a cheesecake brownie that has both its layer so rich!

As planned, I bake it on an empty stomach this morning! (Ok.... the secret is also that I knew all cheesecakes have to be thoroughly chilled for at least 4hours, or better overnight before they can be eaten. BUT that isn't the case for a cheesecake brownie =P In fact I personally find them better when eaten warm)

I made the baking process short and sweet. I was really looking forward to the end results & once it came out of the oven, I let it rest impatiently for 5minutes, lift it up and let cool on a marble table for another 20minutes. Inevitably, I pinched the sides of the entire cake to eat. It was so incredibly satisfying.

Later, I gave away half of the cake to my Aunty and my cousins because I knew that if I were to keep all of them at home, I'd probably gain a kg tomorrow. LOL. I kept two for my mum, two for my brothers and I hid in the kitchen finishing the rest (hee)

I'd describe the cheesecake brownie to be perfectly sweet, very chocolatey and seriously delicious. The brownie is moist and tender while the cheesecake batter seems to make the bars a little salty, giving a very unique taste to it. This also balance the overall sweetness of the bars which makes it extra enjoyable.

However, if you are looking for a really dense, fudgy, chocolatey and rich brownie, you might want to try my Peanut Butter Brownies. It is the most popular post in my blog! :)

read more ...

Classic Fromage Fraise. My second attempt at it after much sweat and effort.

My first take at this 'upside-down-strawberry' cream cake was 2 years ago when I knew little about construction of such cakes. I'd always been hesitating to try this again but there were simply other recipes that appealed to me on the way! I did make a simpler Strawberry Shortcake last year though - which I was very pleased with, except for the sponge that was too dry.

Fortunately, my current restaurant served Napolean Strawberry Cake for our previous month's set lunch dessert. Being involved in the layering of the cake and a little on the production where I got to whip the mascarpone cream was a lot of fun! It is a pity I joined them too late to witness the process of making their pain de gene (cake made with almond paste in french).

In fact, working at The Dunearn has seriously led to my enjoyment of pastries and desserts even more. One practice of the job that I treasure a lot is the spreading of mousse/parfaits/cream over its base. I like playing with the angle spatula very much as my seniors in the pastry kitchen always do an inspiring job.

When we make our own chocolate decorations, I'm motivated to complete it nice and smooth. However, as my seniors tell me, it really takes practice after practice. For one sheet of chocolate deco I might be able to spread it smoothly, but it was too thin! For another sheet of chocolate deco I might be able to spread it evenly thicker, but I took too long, the chocolate has already set over the marble table before I can complete it!

I ought to thank my seniors who have been so generous in sharing with me their knowledge and so patient with their guidance. It saddens me that I won't be here for long, I might not even have the opportunity to try every of their recipe before leaving :\

Anyhow, I made this cake using a few components: almond joconde, sliced strawberries, whipped lemon cream cheese. Although Singapore does not have 4 seasons, I like to pretend we have. It doesn't hurts right :D It gives me an opportunity to learn the fruits of Spring for instance, and incorporate them in baking. Yeah, that makes my Fromage Fraise pretty much a good combination of cake to welcome Spring!

I did spent a little time slicing the joconde thinly, but it paid off because it went really well with lemon whipped cream cheese. I like how the lemon taste and strawberries dominate the cake's flavour, making it tangy and less sweet. Furthermore the cream cheese filling makes the cake more stable than it would be if I only spread whipped cream in it.

The top cloudy white frosting is actually Marshmallow Frosting made using the Italian meringue method. I always had luck with italian meringue without using a thermometer (LOL). I mean really! But getting a candy thermometer'd still be more reliable and it prevents a lot of other problems that may arise if you pour the sugar syrup into the whites before it is hot enough.

Ultimately, I'm very please with my Fromage Fraise. It is like the classic yet gorgeous cake that you'd have seen many times. It is very presentable to give away for birthdays or parties. My only regret is that I feel that I should have frosted the top part with whipped cream. It'll be easier to spread and it complements the overall flavour of the cake better.

I suggest that you freeze that cake after layering so that it is easier to cut. My cream was already slightly softened when I cut them, resulting in less neat and sharp sides.

On my third attempt, surely, I will use Mascarpone whipped cream. My first taste of it at my workplace was amazing. It was totally not what I had expected and the only reason why I didn't use this for this trial is because it was unavailable at both the supermarkets I went to yesterday! In fact I was pretty upset with the change of my filling, but still went ahead with it as I didn't want to leave my sponge in the fridge for more than one day :\

read more ...

I made this cheesecake twice for 2 consecutive days. & for the first time in my kitchen I used a 9-inch springform pan! I don't know if this convince you, but I did it again (&doubled the recipe) simply because my first attempt at it was excellent.

I just love how I find myself chewing on those melty caramel and nougats. Even my brother agree that this's an interesting approach! Thick oreo crust, mars bar, and even the nutella swirl which was only slightly noticeable.

I shot some pictures of my first one but were unfortunately, rejected by the food galleries. I was really upset because I had never felt like there was such a NEED to share something so good with you before. I even proudly proclaimed that it can win the Nobel prize award on facebook! I mean ...

just kidding...... HAHA.

But the rejections were good lessons, because it made me realised that I'd been compromising the kind of pictures I shoot recently as a result of my enthusiasm to update my food blog. That's why I've decided that from now on, I'd take greater pride in food photography! We all eat with our eyes first and I want what I make to appeal to you, especially when it is something this good. I deleted my previous post and the pictures to do a new one :)

I'll submitting my pictures later and I cross my fingers that Foodgawker & Tastespotting will both bring you here. I even planned my table with a little props before shooting the pictures.. Plus I got a MacBook Pro for my 17th birthday 2 weeks ago, this's the first batch of pictures I'm editing using iPhoto! ('d love to get photoshop one of these days) I don't think these photos are very impressive, but I will keep practicing until I produce better and better pictures.

Anyway, I'd like to apologise to any readers who have been constantly supporting this space but have problems commenting on my posts. I regret to say I really like my blog host and will not consider to move. I have a question though, if you can comment, please tell me your opinion.

When a recipe instructs you to cream butter and sugar (in a KitchenAid mixer), do you use the whisk or paddle?

(I personally prefer to use whisk if its a cake recipe and a paddle if its a cookie/brownie recipe. Is that right?)

A very very sinful but irresistible cheesecake recipe to keep! I cut into many slices, put them in some pretty boxes before giving away to my friends! I'm looking forward to their feedbacks :D

read more ...

I love having blocks of butter and cream cheese at home. I love the I-need-to-clear-my-butters-so-I'm-baking! feeling whenever I open the fridge and see them arranged on top of one another. Its like a reflection of my passion for baking!

I don't know if that's the same for you, but they certainly are the fastest-moving yet most expensive ingredients I use.

Cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, bars...... I can hardly escape from opening sticks after sticks of butter. Especially when baking becomes a little more intensive, like how I've been baking almost every day for the past one week, I've finish almost 4 cups of butter!

Last night, I was really tempted to 'clear' my cream cheese again. LOL. It'd be the best chance for me to finish my remaining sour cream from the superlicious Blueberry Crumb Cake too! After much consideration on what cheesecake I should I bake, I decided on New York Cheesecake!

The recipe was from a book bought by one of my best boyfriend in Taiwan. Although the entire book was written in CHINESE..... (Okay, I'm a Chinese, but I really dislike reading chinese words!) I still wanted to use its recipe because I'm actually very appreciative to get his support for my interest! I adjusted the recipe a little as I was a bit disturbed by one of the ingredient "butter" in the cream cheese filling. I substitute it with milk instead =)

The result was really great. I love how the surface of the cheesecake is slightly brown. The best part was that it didn't cracked, it didn't sink in the center, and it wasn't over-baked!

See. Still nice and creamy, one of the best cheesecake texture I'd made!

read more ..

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

Tiramisu brings back a very exciting familiarity for me as this was just what I had been preparing weekly one month ago at the restaurant I worked! Yes, a very traditional Italian restaurant selling Cannoli too, remember? Haha! There is a very huge difference, though, between the recipe chosen for this month's challenge and the one I used at work. Ours are actually simpler in the ingredients used but still unique in its own way.

(My sponge fingers were really delicate, thus I brushed the coffee syrup over them instead of soaking them in it. I was very sure that it might melt within the 0.5 seconds in liquid LOL.)

Anyway, I'd been really busy the past few days and didn't got the chance to use the computer, so here's a very late post!

read more...

On the 18th was the birthday of one of the loveliest girl I know in school :) We were from the same sportsclass during our lower secondary - she plays badminton! And she is really so sincere in everything she does. She writes card and buy donuts for me! HAHA She loves media & photographs-editing too. If I had 3 hands, I'd have given her 3 thumbs up for all the videos she'd made for our class and sports performance :D

Anyway the images of the cake is a little lacking because there's something wrong with my DSLR's focus. I took all these using the manual mode because photographs taken by the Auto mode is worse! Arghs, sent it for repair already though. I miss having it and capturing all my baking moments =\

So one of my buddy came over to my house on a RAINY morning to get her cheesecake done (she loves cheesecake. she loves coffee). Therefore, we made Cuppucino Cheesecake :) Brilliant. Whipped Cream on top of the cheesecake because she love cream, too. And I like watching her eating sweetened whipped cream on its own (at Starbucks) LOL.

read more ...

My post title says it all. Are you laughing at my pathetic & thin layered cheesecake? :( I don't have a smaller cake pan and since it's not my plan to use an extra package of cream cheese, I decided to just go ahead with my 'budget cheesecake'. Laughs!!

Cream cheese are ridiculously expensive if you don't buy them from suppliers, but then again, even if you get them from suppliers you end up with blocks of cream cheese weighing at least 2kg. I agree 2kg for cream cheese is not a lot, but with the limited space for pastry items in the fridge, I can't buy 2kg of cheese at a go!! o_O

read more ...

HELLOOOO AGAIN! :D I've got two great treats up,

Blueberry cheesecake with hazelnut crust

Pumpkin cheesecake with Marshmallow Sour Cream topping

I made both of them last week together (scroll down for more pictures). Lovely yeah? I've been really crazy over cheesecake ever since I baked my first one. I like how dense and neat they are! The blueberry cheesecake ones were great, but I reckon I'd put lesser almond extract next time because the almond taste is really empowering. I wonder if it has got to do with the brand I use..?

I served this with some sliced apricot (bought from Fremantle market in Perth previously :D ) I got the pumpkin puree from Jason's Marketplace. Not sure if you can get the same brand from FairPrice or Cold Storage though. By the way, I did not use the Gingersnap cookies as the cheesecake base. I really cannot find them anywhere!!! Not even in Perth =\ I used Pumpkin oat cracker instead. Haha. (but I still believe Gingersnap cookies would be a better choice!)

continue for the recipes ....