Very chocolaty chocolate cheesecake

A very belated post again. I made this chocolate cheesecake to celebrate dearest Ca's birthday. Since Ca is a chocolate lover, I thought of making her something with a chocolaty. I found this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers' website: http://lateliervi.blogspot.com and it seems pretty legit. Cheesecake is one of the easiest and yummiest cake to bake and it could never go wrong! So I baked this for her w/o having to take a first try myself. Luckily it turn out to be very delicious.

Make one 8 inches (1 ½ high) cake

Cheese mixture 300g cream cheese200ml whipping cream120g caster sugar2 whole eggs4tbs cocoa powder4tsp freshly squeeze lemon juiceCrust180g Oreo cookies (w/o filling)100g unsalted butter Prep: - Wrap the cream cheese in plastic food wrap and place in microwave on low for 2 minutes to soften it.

- Preheat oven to 160 degree C/325 degree F.

- Wrap the bottom (up to half way) of the pan with 2 layers of foil paper.

- Boil some water for later use (appx. 2 liter).

For the crust:

-Break the cookies into small pieces, then place into a zip lock bag or any heavy weight plastic bag (remove air bubbles), and crush + roll using a rolling pin until cookies become fine crumb.

-Place butter in microwave and heat for 1 mins. over medium heat.

-Pour melted butter into the bag, remove air bubble and close the bag, then shake it to mix the two.

-Pour this mix into the pan; using the back of a large spoon, press crumb firmly to pan until packed; set aside.

For the cheesecake:

-Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Using a whisk, whisk cream cheese until blended; add the other ingredients in the following order, sugar --> cocoa powder --> eggs --> lemon juice --> whipping cream, make sure that each item is well blended before adding another.

-Strain the cheese mixture then pour into the cake pan.

-Pour hot water (1 inch in depth) into a roasting pan, place the pan inside the roasting pan and bake for 90minutes. If the water dried out while baking, be sure to refill with more hot water. Once the center of the cake no longer quiver and the sides begin to pull away from the pan then it is done.

-Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. Place in fridge for 3 hours or overnight to set.

Dark Chocolate Glazing

-100g whipping cream125g water40g cocoa powder160g granulated sugar10g gelatin

Prep:

- Pre-soak gelatin in a bowl of cold water, squeeze out excess water; set aside. If using powdered gelatin, add 2 spoon of water.

- Using a small round cookie cutter, scrape curls off a block of white chocolate. Place whipping cream, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Then add in the cocoa powder and bring to boil again or till mixture slightly thicken; stir constantly to avoid mixture sticking to saucepan.

-Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes then add the pre-soaked gelatin; stir until completely melted; strain.

-When cool to lukewarm, pour glazing onto cheesecake and let some drip down the sides. Place back into fridge for another 30 minutes.

Decorate the cake with white chocolate curls before serving.

Japanese Green Tea Red Bean Mouse Cake (日式綠茶紅豆蛋糕)

It's been a WHILE, actually a long while since my last post. It's not that I have forgotten this lovely cooking space, but rather I had been insanely busy the past 5 months! Needless to say, I took a 1.5 month vacation to Asia where I indulged myself in the shopping and food paradise. And immediately after my "luxurious" vacation, I got penalized for the crazy audit busy season! So don't be jealous, life is FAIR... Anyways, before I took off to vacation in late November, I have tried this yummy Japanese cake receipe which it immediately became my favorite cake recipe! I always believe that the combination of green tean and red bean makes the best combo and this recipe combines the best of both world. This cake is really easy to make, though it's more time-consuming... Part 1 – Sponge Cake (use 7” or 8” cake pan) Refer to Sponge/Chiffon Cake recipe

Part 2 – Cake crust (use 8 inch cake pan) Ingredients · 1 cup graham cracker crumbs · 1 Tbsp sugar · 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted · Pinch of ground cinnamon Procedures: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Mix together cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon, then add in melted butter until moist crumbs form 3. Press the cracker mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan 4. Bake the crust until it is set and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Cool.

Part 3a – Red Bean Cheese Mousse Ingredients · 120g mascarpone cheese · 30g sugar · 200g red bean paste · 30g milk · 200g whipping cream · 6g (1 1/3 tsp) gelatin · 30g water Procedures: 1. Pour gelatin over water, put over double boiler to allow it to dissolve completely in the water 2. Beat whipping cream until stiff peak form 3. Beat the mascarpone cheese with a electric mixer to lighten it up then add sugar 4. Fold in milk, in two additions 5. Fold in whipping cream into cheese mixture, in 3 additions, then fold in red bean paste, gelatin mixture 6. Place a small amount of red bean cheese mixture in the center of the cake pan, then place the sponge cake in the middle to hold it in place 7. Pour all of the red bean cheese mixture into the cake pan 8. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour

Part 3b – Green Tea Mousse Ingredients · 100g whipping cream · 40g sugar · 6g (1 1/3 tsp) green tea powder · 3g (2/3 tsp) gelatin · 30g water Procedures: 1. Pour gelatin and green tea powder over the water, put into double boiler and allow them to dissolve completely into the water 2. Beat whipping cream until stiff peak, fold in green tea gelatin mixture 3. Pour green tea mixture over the refrigerated red bean cheese mousse 4. Refrigerate for at least another hour

Part 4 - 蛋糕装飾 - (可以自己随意自由發揮)