halfway

Baking has been quite slow lately, i've either been busy working or trying to rest after working. I made this a couple of days ago and it was odd to read this recipe and discover that i didn't need an oven. As interesting as it was to make, i didn't like how it tasted very much. Of the sixty recipes in this cookbook, i'm on the thirtieth! Can't believe i've come this far, its been so much fun. Another cheesecake with bananas, orange juice, gelatin leaves but not baked. I was really curious about how they would all be put together and not be baked. 


30
fridgeset banana cheesecake

I've never used or heard of gelatin leaves before so when i got them it was very exciting to use. They looked like plastic laminate sheets, not much like something you cook with. I put them in tepid water for a few minutes and they changed completely, it was rubbery and sticky. 

Next, i put the mashed bananas and orange juice in a sauce pan and cooked it, weird combination. It was like cooking baby food and didn't taste good as you would imagine. After that cooked i put in the gelatin leaves and mixed till it dissolved. 

On to the cheese part of this cheesecake. This time it wasn't just cheese, i also added thickened double cream. After mixing it all together, i put it in the fridge overnight.

A couple of slices of banana to garnish it and then i tasted it. Looked nice but definitely not my favorite.

chocycheese

I went to a friends housewarming party on saturday and of course i take any chance i get to bake so i made this. I had to make it the night before because cheesecake has to left in the fridge overnight before serving. The party was fun. Cosy home, nice company and fantastic food. I'm sorry but i'm in love with food and if that is done right, nothing can be wrong. The host is opening a kitchen in london that delivers homemade nigerian dishes to your door so its no surprise it was so great. If you're in London it would be a bad idea to not click here Mortar and Pestle, London

29

chocolate cheesecake

For the base of this cake i had to use a food processor which i don't have so it was between my clean hands, a spoon and a sieve to get the digestive biscuits finely ground. Wasn't as easy as i thought it would be but i got there. After that, i added melted butter and pressed it down to the bottom of the tin then went on to make the rest of the cake.

I discovered a way to melt chocolate over boiling water without the bottom of the bowl touching the water. I put it in a sieve and it worked perfectly. Roughly broken up, i put the dark chocolate in a bowl and over a pot of boiling water for about ten or fifteen minutes. It was really cool watching the melting chocolate drown pieces of chocolate. 

I then had to mix this warm melted dark chocolate with the cold cheese mixture. I couldn't just pour it in though, had to mix in a little bit of the cheese mixture first to even out the temperatures of the two mixes then i eventually mixed it all together. 

Onto the base and into the oven.

something new

Its been crazy at school and i can't afford to fail so i had to go on a little baking break. After lots of consecutive sleepless nights and finally my assessment, I rested for a while and now i'm back! I stocked up on cream cheese in preparation for this cheesecake marathon. I also needed a tray deep enough to hold the cake tin and water as the recipe said so i went out to look for this. Unfortunately the one i got wasn't big enough so i just decided to use the oven tray i had which wasn't quite deep enough but it had to do. 


28
new york cheesecake
I've never made a cheesecake before but i've used this technique for a cookie recipe i've done a thousand times. Flour, sugar, butter and then one egg yolk beaten to a sandy consistency. I then pressed it down to the bottom of a prepared springform cake tin and baked for a few minutes. Then brought it out to cool.

While that baked i mixed the second part of this cake. Lots of cream cheese in this but i guess its expected as its a cheesecake. Once the mix was ready, i poured it over the cooled base and put it in the oven. 

I put the tin in the oven tray and filled it with water. It was meant to bake for thirty to forty minutes but when i checked it, it was definitely not ready so i left it for a while longer, checking on it regularly. After another thirty minutes, nothing had really changed so i put on the top burner and turned up the heat. 

Got carried away and left it in a few minutes too long. It rose really high and burnt. Wasn't so bad though, it was easy to take the top layer off then i put it in the fridge overnight.