Blueberry Cheesecake

This is a very simple baked blueberry cheesecake recipe from Taste.com The original recipe is Baked Lemon and Blueberry cheesecake however, I had adapted the recipe to suit my taste and preference. You see, I prefer my cheescake baked so this recipe was quite handy.

Adapted ;)
Ingredients
375g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
300ml cream  did not use, seriously, I forgot!
1 teaspoon lemon zest used in making coulis
2 tablespoons lemon juice used in making coulis
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups Coles Brand Australian Fresh Frozen Blueberries
Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
Fresh blueberries, to decorate (optional) I added strawberries 
200g Scotch Finger biscuits   Used biscuits crumbs from a packet
80g butter, melted

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C (150C fan). Spray side and base of 22cm springform pan with oil. Line base with baking paper.
2. In a food processor, process biscuits until they resemble fine bread crumbs. Add butter and pulse until mixture comes together. Press crumb mixture into base of pan. Refrigerate.
3. Wipe processor clean and add cream cheese, sugar, half of the cream, zest, juice and vanilla. Process until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, and process in short bursts. Pour into pan, scatter over blueberries and stir gently to distribute evenly.
4. Bake for 1 hour; the cheesecake should still be slightly wobbly in the centre. Cool completely in oven. Refrigerate overnight.
5. Dust cheesecake with icing sugar and serve with remaining cream, whipped, and fresh blueberries.

Strawberry Icecream

Hi all, sobs.....Summer is here and she has been a scorcher, with her unwelcome heatwave. I must admit, I am not a summer person, I detest the heat and the humidity and I would hibernate if I could. Every summer I would curse and swear, that I would move to Antartica but it never happens. Maybe I should learn to ski and go hide in the snow somewhere.

But enough whining, here is one of my survival tip for summer. Eat lots of icecream. Invest in an ice cream machine, you can make sorbets, gelatos, yoghurt, and icecream and even slushies if you want. It is the perfect treats for those hot summer days and nights. However, for this post, I am going to share a very basic icecream recipe for the beginners.

Recipe for Homemade Strawberry Ice cream.  

It is very important that you read the manual of your ice cream maker. Please put the freezer bowl in your freezer overnight prior to making ice cream. You need to do this before the day of making your icecream. The bowl needs to be freezing cold, when it is churning your mix.

Ingredients

•         I to 2 small punnet of fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced, reserve a few for garnish.

•         1 freshly squeezed orange or mandarin. You may use 2 teaspoon of lemon juice as an alternative.

•         150 gram of caster sugar

•         600 ml of thickened cream (double cream) also known as cooking cream.

Method

•         Reserve a few strawberries for garnishes.

•         Chop up the rest of the strawberries with added caster sugar, put it in a blender to process. Once this is done, put the content into a mixer, pulse the strawberry with the heavy cream until it mixes in. Use a hand mixer if you haven’t got a standalone.

•         Transfer the mixture into the freezer bowl, turn on the ice cream maker and let it mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes.

•         Five minutes before mixing is completed, add some chopped up strawberries and let it mix in completely. This is for the fruity bits in the ice cream. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture but not runny. If you prefer your ice cream a  little firmer, transfer the ice cream to place in freezer for about half hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes, garnish before serving.

And that is all. Stay cool and don't forget to slip, slop and slap if you go out in the sun! 

Vanilla cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream frosting

To make up for the lost of time from last weekend for when I was sick, I did lots this weekend ;)

I went shopping, then some photography then some more shopping but at the garden nursery and then came home to do baking, now blogging... heheh... oh wait, I also have to catch up on some movies recorded on MyStar, errr, .........once I get around to understanding the instruction...translation in English please...S.L.O.W.L.Y...

For those wondering, I get fixing computers, but I don't know how to use a VCR or DVD player etc...LOL ;) Brainfart!!

Oh dear, I digress, yes back to me now...here, look at some pretty pics form my baking, this recipe is adapted from Taste.com who adapted it from Honey and Jam blog... LOL ;) Cracks me up! But we must give credit where it's due....BTW, I am taking this to work tomorrow... ;)

Bakes 12 Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients:

• For the Vanilla Cupcakes:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• .
• For the Strawberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 (16 oz) package powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, chopped or processed in blender, I cooked mine in caster sugar.
• additional strawberries cut in half to garnish

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat a medium-low speed just until blended after each addition (the batter will be thick).

Line a 12-cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners. Divide the batter evenly between the liners. Bake for about 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a rack before frosting.

To Make the Strawberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

Beat the first 3 frosting ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with strawberries, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Spread on cooled cupcakes.

Summer is here to stay......Spring, what Spring?

The only thing I like about this hot weather is the summer fruits, err, this is supposed to be Spring? It looks like Summer is here to stay....take a back seat, Spring...Oooh...is it Global Warming, do you think? Is it all hot air?

While you chew on on that thought, take a look at what I have been eating today....oh dear, eating this much fruit in a day is just wrong...I don't care what the dietician said. Lucky for me ..I am eating ice cream too.....can't have my body going into shock, LOL ;) This sure is yummy and cooling!

 

Profiterols are yummy...

It was too hot to do anything today...outside is 35°C and so I lazed around watching movies and eating yummy stuff. Now, I didn't make this dessert, I picked her up from Woolies earlier today. Dinner is just going to be a prawn salad. I will post that photo another day.

Presenting a super yummy profiterols dessert with custard creme inside..I  topped it up with choc sauce and served with fresh strawberries.