Amateur blueberry cheesecake

I’m such a big slacker. This post must have gone out on 26th December, the day I made some of the best dessert ever, but like many others around the world I suffer from “Holiday laziness” and hence the delay.. what i made was nothing less than divine :)) dont believe me? Ask Father U, who I caught shovelling the cheesecake into his mouth with lightning speed,  also Sammy who devoured it in greedy gulps and told me that my cheese cake was the kind which would make one drop their spoon and perform an opera piece. I wouldn’t have called it a masterpiece if not for the boisterous, un-entertained kids of my aunt who said it was delicious except for one lame rascal kid who gobbled up an entire wedge and said that he liked sponge cake better.

In case I haven't already mentioned this, the greatest perk or bane (depending on how we’re looking at it) of my university is the incredible amount of time you get as off. There are so many holidays and long vacations that I can barely manage to keep track of them. As I’m jobless and I don’t have any other obligations what so ever I tag along with Sammyboy. This doesn’t necessarily keep me away from my ever so reliable white oven, although, it did run overtime when I baked carrot cake and some more cookies. Last week, I didn’t realize it was so incredibly simple to make cheesecake. I’m a sucker for all things cheese but this one didn’t really need cream cheese but was still worth the drool. When I decided to feed my friends and family cheese cake, V and I went scavenging one evening, daring a strike and the evening traffic at Paradise Circle, in search of the best quality of soya whipping cream. We returned with sore legs and a pack of what the shopkeeper claimed to be the best in Hyderabad. Now I was all set to make my first cold dessert. I had hung curds which would be used instead of cream cheese, Britannia digestive biscuits was to be used as the base and condensed milk, a little of which I could salvage after father U started using it in his tea for the right color (so he claims). Since Father U happens to be my favourite person, I let him eat my cache of walnuts, cashews and other dried fruits. This is something I’d never let anybody else even eye, let alone allow them to pop it into their mouths casually. And this applies even to my drive-me-nuts, lecturing, super-judgmental, critical, chronically-worrying, smaller-than-a-blade-of-grass, petite, lithe, 60 kg beauty who happens to be my mother and accidentally the other favourite person. I’m too broke to keep refilling them and my brother R loves me a little less these days to send me money to replenish my dwindling stock. With all the things I had gathered I started off to make what my masterpiece thus far

Blueberry Cheese Cake

What you need:
For the crust(A)
• 2 cups biscuit crumbs,coarsely ground
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/3 cup melted butter
For the filling
• 350 gm hung curd
• 3/4th cup condensed milk (room temperature)
• 3/4 cup whipped cream (optional)
• 1 tbsp gelatin (only if using whipped cream)
• 1/4th cup water
what you need to do
Prepare the crust by combining the ingredients listed under A
• Rub the butter in to the crumbs using your fingers
• Press the crumb mixture to an inch up to the sides of a 8 inch spring-form tin and chill for half an hour
• Prepare the filling by beating the hung curds first till a uniform texture is achieved
• Add the condensed milk and whip till well combined
• Prepare the gelatin (only if using whipped cream) by double boiling 1 tbsp of gelatin with 1/4th cup of water  till it dissolves completely
• Add the dissolved gelatin to the hung curd and condensed milk mixture and whip on high speed
• Add the whipped cream and beat thoroughly
• Pour the mixture into the crust, smooth it out and chill to set
• After it sets slather blueberry preserve; a number of variations of cheesecake can be made.

Humble Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before I start telling you how I had my neighbour, Father U, V and Sammy swoon over my Chocolate chip cookie I have to admit that I have been a delinquent blogger.  The initial effort of sitting down andthinking of a blog name, configuring the font, color, setting up a profile, writing the About you part is the most challenging part; apart from a  hundred and twenty four other things that one needs to do So I decided I’d take a two day off and return with renewed enthusiasm with the subject for my new blog, the every so scrumptious, ever so lovely chocolate chip cookies. To bake a batch of these gorgeous cookies is any newbie bakers’ first step to the world of flour, butter and sugar
So when darling Sam got me a generous pack of Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate chips, I pondered and pondered as to where I can use these dainty morsels. I scampered through some food blogs, only to find the original Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate chip recipe on the back of the pack.I guess it was the mood that seized me and I felt I simply couldn’t go wrong (only to be proved that I was being a fool).  I then gathered all that I needed to embark on this new labour of love. I whipped the butter and sugar until it became wonderfully creamy and fluffy. Then came the turn of the eggs to be dropped one by one and whipped till the flavours fused.  In went a dash of not so pure vanilla (wishful thinking that somebody from Madagascar reading my blog shows his/her appreciation by sending me a bunch of vanilla pods). I nimbly mixed some flour and in it went a cupful of dusky choco chip beauties, resulting in a delicious, buttery, sugary dough which tastes delicious even without cooking. I resisted the temptation to clean it up as it has uncooked eggs. The oven glistened while I scooped out the dough and placed them on the tray and watched patiently as the mounds melted and cracked revealing their gooey inside. While baking always smells good this smell was  extraordinary.They came out aided by my cute mittens to be shifted on a cooling rack to harden, but alas they didn’t harden like they should ,only to be told by my over indulging neighbour who already  gobbled up  two "I love the CAKE you made"

Below is the recipe which I halved to make 12 cookies
WHAT YOU NEED

•       2 1/4 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
•       1 tsp baking soda

•       1 tsp salt
•       1 cup or 2 sticks butter
•       3/4 cup granulated sugar
•       3/4 cup packed brown sugar
•       1 tsp vanilla extract
•       2 large eggs
•       2 cups choc chips
•       1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
WHAT TO DO

•       Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius
•       Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl
•       In a large bowl beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar until creamy
•       Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, also add the vanilla extract, whip till mixed well
•       Gradually beat in the flour mixture
•       Stir in the choc morsels and nuts
•       Drop off rounded tablespoon or ice-cream scoop onto a ungreased baking sheets
•       Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or golden brown

For a perfect cookie these are a few tips to follow
• First measure all the dry ingredients, the flour followed by the sugars. Avoid using the same cups which has traces of butter in it
• Get the eggs to room temperature (unless the recipe asks for eggs from the refrigerator) to prevent curdling. Even if the mixture does curdle it can be salvaged by adding a spoonful of flour. Eggs could be

dipped into warm water to bring it down to room temperature

• Beat the butter first to soften it and then add the sugars and whip it on high speed. While adding the eggs bring down the speed to low and increase it to high later
•When folding in the flour use the kneading attachment of the hand held mixer (available on my Murphy Richards mixer). I just lovveee loveeee it. Be careful not to over-whip  the mixture but just enough till it is well incorporated
• Only grease/line the baking tray if the recipe asks for it. I  recently learnt that darker baking tray means more heat so keep a watch on the beauties to make sure not to over bake them
• Place the cookies at least 2 inches away even if it means you turn out 6 cookies in one batch , to help them spread and not become one giant blob (I wish I followed this strictly)
• Something I love to do is open the oven halfway to turn the sheet the other way around so that the cookies bake evenly, and I spot the cookie with more choc chips
•Never reduce the temperature from what is prescribed. You can either increase or decrease the cooking time and check if the cookies turned the desirable golden brown you need at the minimum cooking time. In this recipe it was 9 minutes
•When you bring the sheet out of the oven, leave them to cool on the same sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack. This will bring out  the steam trapped inside the cookies and harden them
while they cool
•And of course, the most important thing now that you’ve made a positively rich cookie is to ensure that you enjoy it without any distractions. Pick yourself one warm cookie and start with your favourite spot. With each bite, feel the texture, the taste and the opulence
Coming soon … Blueberry cheese cake!!

bake-a-phony

Wow. I can’t believe the fact that I've finally taken the plunge to set up this blog. You could call me a food freak but then who isn't one? In this blog I'd like to go overboard and brag about my baking experiences, upload lovely pictures of my golden bakes (depending on brother R gifting me a digi-cam for New Year's: Dude !!! you listening ?)
and share recipes and trade secrets that I've uncovered as a part of my experiments.

I know that this isn't the best introduction but it covers the ground
(or should i say plate :-)). So ... a Big Hello to all ... let the party begin ...