Meringues

I made meringues.

Orlando

Orlando. He is not afraid of April showers. Neither would you be if you had his furry coat.

Brighton tea-time

We found a tea-house in Brighton and sat on the roof in the sunshine. Lemon drizzle and Nepali tea go very well together.

What am I up to when I am not here

Well... many things. Baking cheesecakes is one of them. The other is throwing myself around Europe as if I collected air-miles. If I did I would get myself some nice holidays by now, but the airlines I use would probably rather ask for air-miles from me than give me anything. What? You want to take this jumper with you on board? You realise that that's 100g over your luggage allowance! Pay us TWICE the price of your ticket and then board!! Luckily the alternative is to put the jumper on you. And to wear your camera as a novelty necklace. It is all worth it though, because it means you can go home where there is cheesecake to be baked and good conversation awaits.

Coffee Cheesecake (in collaboration with Limonka)

250g mascarpone

700g full-fat cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

3 Tbs plain flour

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1 Tbs coffee liqueur (e.g. Tia Maria or Kahlua)

2 Tbs espresso

base:

250g digestive biscuits

100g melted butter

ganache:

100g dark chocolate                 and                      30g white chocolate

1/3 cup double cream                                             3 Tbs double cream

Zap the biscuits in a blender until they are just fine crumbs and then add melted butter to them. Mix the two well together and then press the mixture onto the bottom of a pre-greased cake tin. Cover the tin with cling film and put in the fridge until the rest of the cake is ready. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

The cheesecake will be happier if all of the ingredients are of the same temperature, it is therefore good to take them out of the fridge a bit before you commence the baking. Once they are the same temperature it is very easy to make the cake. Simply mix together the cheeses with sugar until smooth. Then crack in the eggs, one by one and mix well on medium speed if you have a stand-alone mixer. Once the eggs are stirred in and smooth add sour cream, coffee, liqueur and vanilla extract. Mix until the ingredients are just combined and smooth. Then sift in the flour and mix until just combined. If you do it for too long the cheese will be all runny. 

Pour the cheese mixture onto the biscuit base and bake in a steam bath (the link will explain how to do it). Steam bathing the cheesecake will mean that it bakes but remains moist and wobbly instead of cracked and dry. Bake for about an hour until the cheesecake is hardened on the outside but still wobbly in the middle. Switch the oven off and let it stand in an open oven to cool.

When the cheesecake is cooling down make the ganache: heat up 1/3 cup of double cream and melt dark chocolate in it. Whisk it so it is smooth and even. In a separate pan melt the white chocolate in double cream. Once melted take them off the heat and wait until they are cooled down. Take the cooled cheesecake out of the oven (make sure it is room temperature! otherwise the ganache will melt on it!) and spoon the dark chocolate on top of it. Even the surface out and using a toothpick add spots of white chocolate ganache on top. Swirl the spots with the toothpick to make a pretty pattern. And ... voilà! Cheesecake done. Refrigerate it over night and serve on the next day to make the most of its creamy texture!

Spring in London

 

Virginia Water

Warming food

It has been embarrassingly long since I have posted anything here. I did eat in the meantime (surprise there!) and have tried a lot of new recipes. It's just that darkness is not too inspiring and I can't really carry the food to work to catch some sunshine for photos. Setting up lights is hard work (however much Charlie claims differently).

Winter is a lazy time and the coldness in the last few days requires food that warms you all over. Well, here is a curry that most certainly warms me all over. I generally choose curry when looking for simple, warming comfort food. China Town in London is a weird and wonderful place. I bet you it has more products you have never heard of than you have had warm meals in your life. I buy the curry pastes they sell there at random. The standard "green", "red" and "yellow" I am bored of, but why not try panang curry for a change? It is still a Thai curry but sweeter and creamier than the red and green varieties. Perfect when it's freezing outside.

Panang vegetable curry

You will need:
1 onion (chopped)
1 potato
3 carrots (sliced)
1 red pepper (chopped into long pieces)
some bok choy

2 tablespoons of Panang curry paste
1 tin of coconut milk
splash of fish sauce
1/4 lime

some vegetable oil, salt and pepper
(and rice to serve).

Parboil the potato and once it is ready cut it into small cubes. In the meantime fry the onion in a large wok. Add the red pepper and bok-choy (chopped into strings) and stir occasionally, so that it does not burn. Then add the carrots and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the curry paste and stir it in well. Then add the coconut milk and the potatoes and allow the mixture to simmer until the carrots are semi-soft (it should take about 10 minutes, depending on how thick the slices are). I don't like my carrots to be too soft, but it is up to you. When the vegetables are ready add a splash of fish sauce and the lime juice. Stir in well and serve immediately with some rice.

If you find that the dish is not flavoursome enough add some more curry paste - they vary a lot, so sometimes the suggested amount may be too little. Or, too much in which case make sure you serve the curry with some yoghurt on the side.

Voila!