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!

Children, don't drink too much coffee and ... mocha cupcakes

I have had a cake decorating set for a while but never felt brave enough to use it. I have also started work recently and very quickly got addicted to coffee (which I am now trying to cut down on), so one of the first baking cravings I've had since starting work was ... coffee flavour cupcakes. My favourite Hummingbird bakery has a recipe for some but this time I opted for a general internet search. I made them, shared them with lots of people at work who all drink way too much coffee and then ... lost the recipe. Below is my attempt at remembering it, so if it is not perfect I do apologise. I think it should be though - it sounds about right. They are very nice - I don't really like muffin like baking, but these ones I could happily have with my co... tea. Tea is what I meant to say.

Mocha Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup freshly brewed espresso
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk

For the frosting:
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 double shot freshly brewed espresso

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease about 18 cupcake cases.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl, sifting them through. In a separate bowl beat the butter with both sugars for about 5 minues until light and fluffy. Add egg and egg yolk one at a time into the butter mixture each time whisking well. Once well mixed add milk and espresso to the bowl and stir until the ingredients are well combined. Add the flour mixture into the other one mixing well but not too thoroughly - neither cupcakes nor muffins require that much attention when being stirred. Scoop the mix into the cupcake cases (they should be 2/3 full, but if your oven is as overly keen as mine you can fill fill them until half full, so they don't rise too much). Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a stick inserted into them comes out clean.

As they are baking make the frosting.
Make sure your double shot of espresso is cool before you start. Beat the butter and sugar together again until light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence and espresso and mix well. Voila! Frosting ready - I was surprised how easy it was.

Before you can frost the cupcakes you need to let them cool down. Otherwise the frosting will melt on them and it won't look nice. Trust me - I was so excited about my cupcakes that the first two were ruined like that. So, once they are cooler frost them as you wish - using a fancy frosting kit or just a pallette knife. Either way - they will be tasty!

 Enjoy!
(also, my cake decorating set is messy and so much fun!)