There is always so much talking about Cheesecake amongst the local ladies' acquaintances ..This is THE total indulgence, they simply LOVE their Cheesecake. After merely two years here, I have noticed the eating habits here are so, to say peculiar..The talk was always goes with as far as sweet cakes are concerned, "it shouldn't be too sweet!", "Its too much cream lah.. or it is too creaming!!" "It tasted too much dairy - too heavy 'cow taste/smell'...[You see, the Asian loves their cream and cheese, but yet...] It is so damn difficult to satisfy the Asian palate, honestly.!!!!!
In contrast to their European counterparts, the local cheesecake has layers of very soft and moist sponge cake, filled with cream cheese and whipped cream. Through their creativity and cleverness, the local Cheesecake is filled with local produce and satisfying palate for example, Durian Cheesecake, Gula Melaka Cheesecake and Pandan Coconut Milk Cheesecake, just to name a few.. I presume such way of making a cheesecake is to 'lighten' the heaviness [the creamy part] of the 'real' cheesecake.
Where else the general making of cheesecake is the combination of crust pastry with a filling of cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, cream fraich and sometime mascarpone. Or simply just a combination of two of these cheeses would be equally delicious. These combination is usually enriched with eggs and whipped [double or thicken] cream [and not with light or single cream, otherwise you cannot obtain the volume of the whipped cream].
It was in the early days after the graduation of my culinary study in Austria, I accidentally found a non paid slip subscription of the Cook Book from the Time-Life magazine..Not really knowing what it was, I knew they were books..I filled in the blank with my details.
Having totalling forgotten it, one day the post man knocked at my door...How?? To make story short, my last landlady must have redirected my mail to Denmark ..
- God morgen, Jeg har en bog for dig.. Good morning, I have a bog for you..
- En bog? A book?
- Ja. Yes. [The post man had shown me the cover of the book]
- Vil du ha' det? Do you want to keep it??
- Ja tak. Yes please.
- Venligst tage dette følgesedler og betale på det lokale postkontor ..
Please take this slips and pay at the local post office..
Well, this Good Cook book is still with me and I am utilising it diligently..not only it is filled with beautiful pictures, it certainly contained comprehension descriptions. Reading a good cook book as such, helps me and simultaneously guides me to comprehend the structure and the science of baking. And I promise you they are rather intriguing and never a dullest moment.
Although I had baked this cake several times, but these two photos below were taken from my very first attempt last year. There were certainly some preparations to be made before baking..Mind you the anticipation of this is quite a comprehensive cheesecake recipe and you need to read it several times in order to comprehend its content; follow each steps of the recipe. It is crucial you have already prepared a mise en place.
[The French term mise en place (meeze-on-plahs) means to have all the recipe ingredients measured and prepared]
This is not an easy cake to bake for a beginner, but you need to tell yourself you have all the time in the world. There shouldn't be any rushing, no bad day, just on the contrary that you are looking forward to bake a good and successful wholesome cake..you are in a good mood and loads of patient!! Not only there shouldn't be any disturbance, especially no long chatting on the phone..there is absolutely no space in baking!!
The verdict of the cake:
As a first timer, even though I was absolutely concentrating, still I have made several mistakes.
Looking at these photos, I know it looked quite burnt on the crust, probably I have left it in the hot oven too long; perhaps being I was being too engaged in making the Cheese filling..Perhaps the oven bell has rang, I didn't hear it??
Nevertheless, the crust tasted deliciously [with little burn], however it was still crunchy; even after several days in the fridge. OK there was a cracked on the cake itself > due to my carelessness of the temperature!
[I should have known better!]
When the cake is totally cold, put it in an enclosed container in the fridge. Please consume this cake only after the second day! It tastes wonderfully, deliciously and smelt in your mouth! The texture of the cake is tangy flavour, smooth, creamy and velvety, with the combination of its crusty pastry; one can't say no to such delectable dessert/cake.. It is a heavy duty one, one should not be greedy while consuming [this] cheesecake..a smaller bite at a time..Otherwise, it will sit like a bomb in your tommy..
Serve it chilled, with your favourite/good cuppa of tea or coffee..Believe me, you will not be disappointed!
In conclusion, it took me about 4 hours to bake produces a nearly 2kg Cheesecake. It was awesome experience and worth every seconds and I am going to bake this again in the future..
[Sorry, I didn't have a picture of a slice of the Cheesecake..?!]
Lindy's Cheesecake
To make one 22cm (9 inch) cake > I made 24cm (10inch) cake
Biscuit dough
129g flour, sifted
60g sugar
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
125g butter, cut into small pieces
Cheese filling
1 kg cream cheese, at room temperature
400g sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp grated orange rind
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tbsp double cream
Methods
1. Prepare the biscuit dough by first combining the flour, sugar and lemon rind in a small bowl. Make a well in the centre and place the egg yolk, vanilla extract and butter in it. Using your fingertips, mix the ingredients until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Wrap the dough tightly in aluminium foil and refridge it for about 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius. Lightly grease the bottom of the spring-form tin. Place half of the dough on a lightly floured board and roll it out to 3mm (1/2 inch) thick. Place the dough on the bottom of the tin and trim the edges.
3. Add the trimmings to the rest of the dough in the refrigerator. Place the bottom crust on the middle shelf of the preheated oven and bake it for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is pale gold.
4. Remove the crust from the oven and place on a rack to cool. When the crust is cool, grease the sides of the tin, set it around the base and lock it.
5. Roll the remaining dough into two strips about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick and long enough to line the side of the tin. Fit the stips into the tin, pressing the ends toether to seal. Trim and discard the excess dough. Preheat the oven to 230 Celsius.
6. Beat the cream cheese with a wooden spoon. Blend in the sugar, flour, orange and lemon rind, and vanilla. beat in the eggs one at a time, and then the egg yolks. Stir in the cream.
7. Pour the mixture into the assembled crust and place it in the oven for 15 minutes.
Reduce the temperature to 100 Celsius and bake the cake for 1 hour more.
8. Remove the cheesecake form the oven and place it on a rack to cool. Let it cool for at least 2 hours before removing the sides of the spring-form tin.
