cheesecake » maameemoomoo

do pardon my 3 days old cake! procrastinated too long before i decided to do up the white choc + dark choc shavings

Another something that was thrown together to free up my freezer space!

I’ve had the chestnut puree up there in the freezer for the longest time — Pssttt, since my Mont Blanc cake! But since the puree was still in its tip top flavour (i tested :P), i decided to go ahead and whip up something which i had concocted in the head ever since i threw my purple sweet potato puree up there 2 weeks ago.

Because i didn’t want sour cream topping on it, i had to think of something to replace it. Initially, i wanted dark chocolate ganache but i thought the taste will not sit that well with chestnut and sweet potato. Then i thought of white chocolate!

I didn’t have a recipe to whip up white chocolate + fresh cream, so it was done pretty anyhow. My first attempt was quite a disappointment. It was too soft, the shape doesn’t hold at all. But instead of throwing it away, i turned it into something friggin’ decadent – White Chocolate Crème which i failed to guard. Failed to guard from the monster in me. Haha!

Out of 4 cups, which i was supposed to photograph the next day to share on this blog, i finished 2. As for the other 2 cups, i couldn’t possibly say no the boys right, since the mother was eating it herself! Heh!

But something good did happen out of it though. Because of this kitchen disaster, i won a FN goody bag from Food Network Asia!

Chestnut & Sweet Potato Cheesecake with White Chocolate

Crust

Oreo Cookies 140g, without the cream

Butter, melted 70g

Finely ground the biscuit. Pour warm butter over biscuit. Toss well to coat mixture with butter. Press firmly into an even layer on the bottom of pan. Freeze for at least half an hour.

Chestnut Cheesecake

250g cream cheese
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum
1/2 cup chestnut puree, sweetened

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs and egg yolks, beating them in one by one until they are incorporated into the cream cheese. Pour in the whipping cream, vanilla extract and rum, and beat again until smooth and creamy. Finally fold in the sweetened chestnut purée.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into the prepared crust and bake for 25-30 minutes at 150C on the lowest rack.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

250g cream cheese
40g castor sugar
1 egg
75ml cream
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sweet potato puree

Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add egg, mixing until just incorporated. Gradually add cream, alternate it with mashed sweet potato and lastly, add salt. Be careful not to over mix because we want to incorporate as little air as possible (to prevent cracking).

Bake at 150C for 45-60 minutes or till the edge of filling is set. Cool on rack completely before refrigerating.

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Verdict :

Well, if you love cheesecake, you’ll love this.

I heart the chestnut cheesecake quite a bit. Though subtle, i could still taste the chestnut. As for the sweet potato cheesecake, my first thought was, eh?!? rose flavour?!?! You can’t really detect the sweet potato incorporated in it. Perhaps because sweet potato doesn’t have any distinct taste? *shrugs*

So, eating this cake layer by layer is a big no no, but then.. who eats cakes like these layer by layer?!?!

You do take 1 mouthful don’t you? You know, a spoonful of everything together [oreo crust, chestnut cheesecake, sweet potato cheesecake and white chocolate fresh cream with dark chocolate shavings] ?

If you do, then this cake is absolutely irresistible.

You really just can’t stop at 1 slice!

I’m submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011) hosted by Jean from Noms I Must for the first time!

Oh dear… my digital weighing scale went bonkers and i can’t do any baking this week. It’s probably a sign.. a sign for me to stop eating so much.

Ever since i came back last Sunday, i have been eating quite a bit.. almost non-stop i’d say!

It’s scary… because i’m actually having this dreadful and very painful gum infection right now, caused by my wisdom tooth. The amount of food that i could chew despite the pain is amaaaaazzzing. I could even chew slices of hard sour dough multi grain bread, you know! *ouuucchiee*

Anyway, i received quite a number of emails regarding the Orh Nee Cheesecake for the past few weeks. And yes, you can halve the recipe if you like. Instead of baking the cheesecake in the boring springform tin, i halved the recipe and baked it in cupcake molds!

Personally, i like baking in cupcake molds a lot more…. because :

it’s less time consuming ; instead of baking it for 60-75 minutes, i only need 20-25 minutes!
it cools down waaaayyy faster.
small cakes are much more adorable!
i can halve the recipe or even quarter it if i want to (excellent when it’s just the husband who craves for it but very, very unlikely)
very presentable looking if you have guests coming.
i cannot sneakily slice a little bit off the cake again and again and again, after i finish my initial 1 big slice portion. hee!

So, there you go.. it’s quite impossible to say no to baking cheese cupcake now, isn’t it? :)

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Orh Nee Cheese Cupcake

** u might wanna read this if you are baking this for the first time ;)

(yields 20-22 cupcakes)

Crust

Oreo Cookies 70g, without the cream

Butter, melted 35g

Finely ground the biscuit. Pour warm butter over biscuit. Toss well to coat mixture with butter. Press firmly into an even layer on the bottom of the cupcake molds. Freeze for at least half an hour.

Filling

250g cream cheese

60g castor sugar

1 egg

75ml whipping cream

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup mashed yam, peeled, steamed, pureed

few drops of purple colour (optional)

Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add egg, mixing until just incorporated. Gradually add cream, alternate it with mashed yam and lastly, add salt. Be careful not to over mix because we want to incorporate as little air as possible (to prevent cracking).

Bake* at 150C for20-25 minutes or till the edge of filling is set. Cool on rack for 5 minutes.

Topping

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 tbsp coconut milk

Using hand, whisk together (very gently to prevent air bubbles) sour cream, sugar, and coconut milk in a bowl, then spread on top of cheesecake and bake 3-5 minutes at 150C.

Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about half hour to 1 hour.

Cover and chill until cold, for at least 4 hours.

Note :

* you can fill 1 or 2 out of 12 holes in the muffin pan with water if you like to prevent drying

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Have fun trying!

The girlfriend in the States just texted me regarding the recipe which she says didn’t quite work.

After a few texts being exchanged, i realized the girlfriend followed the recipe from the newspaper. I didn’t quite read the recipe printed there but all i know is it was very detailed. Rebecca Lynne Tan, the Straits Times journalist made mammoth effort to re-write my recipe so that it would be much friendlier to non-bakers.

After the girlfriend complained, i took out the paper to re-read and noticed a few boo boo.

A few things to take note if you are gonna follow the recipe on the paper :

do peel the yam first before steaming
if you want your cheesecake to have bits of yam, just puree the yam for a shorter period of time
if you do not want your cheesecake to have bits of yam, puree the yam till smooth
all the mixing is to be done via food processor or mixer — you don’t have to fold in via hand –
the purpose of cornflour being added is to prevent eggs from scrambling but in my case (you won’t want that to happen on your first attempt as it can be quite demoralizing), i don’t add it as i understand my oven’s temperature really well and i know i would be baking at the correct temperature (i have oven thermometer). to quote Cindy Mushet, ‘starches mar the texture of a creamy cheesecake and can compromise the flavour as well’.

Do let me know if you have encountered any other problems?

xoxo
Sherie

p.s : to be on the safe side, it is best to follow the orh nee cheesecake recipe on this blog :)

I love Orh Nee.

And i love cheesecake.

After my previous attempt on Yam Cheesecake, i decided to further tweak my recipe to turn it into Orh Nee Cheesecake. This is the best i could come out with after 2 tests and trials. My first trial on the topping wasn’t quite successful. The cream didn’t quite set even though gelatine was added in. Also, the coconut taste was a little overwhelming. In short, the coconut was the star and the yam was almost non-existent. Definitely a no-no. Furthermore, judging from how slow the slices of cake were wolfed down, i knew this version was a failure.

Then i decided to stick to sour cream topping. I hesitated quite a while to be honest, because i simply can’t imagine sour cream and coconut milk together. Won’t it taste like some expired coconut milk?!?

But guess what?

It did not!

The truth is, the combination blew me away!

I LOVE IT!

And the family LOVE it!

It was thumbs up from every one including Beep, my fussy 4 years old. I like how all the flavours blend so well together. Most importantly, i like how the yam is the star and how the coconut is just the icing on the cake – literally!

So yes, here you go…. My Orh Nee Cheesecake. :)

Hope you will love this precious recipe of mine as much as i do!

Orh-Nee (Taro) Cheesecake

(Ideal for 8″ cake)

Crust

Oreo Cookies 140g, without the cream

Butter, melted 70g

Finely ground the biscuit. Pour warm butter over biscuit. Toss well to coat mixture with butter. Press firmly into an even layer on the bottom of pan. Freeze for at least half an hour.

Filling

500g cream cheese

120g castor sugar

2 1/2 eggs

150ml whipping cream

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cup mashed yam, peeled, steamed, pureed

few drops of purple colour (optional)

Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until just incorporated. Gradually add cream, alternate it with mashed yam and lastly, add salt. Be careful not to over mix because we want to incorporate as little air as possible (to prevent cracking).

Bake* at 150C for 60-75 minutes or till the edge of filling is set and center is slightly wobbly. Cool on rack for 5 minutes.

Topping

1 cup sour cream

2 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp coconut milk

Using hand, whisk together (very gently to prevent air bubbles) sour cream, sugar, and coconut milk in a bowl, then spread on top of cheesecake and bake 5 minutes at 150C.

Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 1-2 hours.

Cover and chill until cold, for at least 4 hours.

Note :

* feel free to bake the cake in water bath but if you are using spring form pan, be sure to wrap the bottom of the pan in 2 layers of foil to prevent any water from seeping into the cheesecake. alternately, you can just slide in a tray filled with water just beneath the rack.

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Yup, that’s me! :D