a little straw hat

it is a very very very yummy but heavy cheesecake. i swear i will never make it again; maybe i adore the Japanese cheesecake too much.

Crust:
2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 30 squares)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 pound cream cheese, 2 (8-ounce) blocks, softened
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream
1 lemon, zested
1 dash vanilla extract

Warm Lemon Blueberry Topping, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.In a mixing bowl, combine the ingredients with a fork until evenly moistened. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Pour the crumbs into the pan and, using the bottom of a measuring cup or the smooth bottom of a glass, press the crumbs down into the base and 1-inch up the sides. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

For the Filling:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute until smooth and free of any lumps. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined. Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. The batter should be well-mixed but not overbeaten. Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of aluminum foil and fold up the sides around it. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake. Bake for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle (it will firm up after chilling), so be careful not to overcook. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours. Loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the inside rim. Unmold and transfer to a cake plate. Using a spatula spread a layer of Warm Lemon Blueberry topping over the surface.

Slice the cheesecake with a thin, non-serrated knife that has been dipped in hot water. Wipe dry after each cut.

Warm Lemon Blueberries:
1 pint blueberries
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tablespoons sugar

In a small saucepan add all the ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or so until the fruit begins to break down slightly. Leave to cool before spreading on cheesecake.Yield: 6 servings

Reference: http://www.foodnetwork.com

I finally bought the coco powder from valrhona, I guess it is possibly the cheapest item you can find under this brand. Somehow the coco powder from Hershey does not taste like chocolate at all, it just has a very strange flavor. This chocolate cake is a very good way to get rid of the vanilla (or plain) yogurt. Thinking yogurt is a very healthy snack, I always grab the largest container (Vanilla flavor) because it is the cheapest in terms of cost per unit. However, it always ends up sitting in the fridge with more than half left. This is a medium heavy cake depens on how much coco powder did you add into the batter. I personally prefer a lighter and fluffier cake, so I will stick with the original recipe in the future.

Ingredients: (8-12 serving, I used 9-inch cake pan but the cake rised 1/3 above the pan)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Dutch processed cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Methods:

1. Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 teaspoon of cocoa and dust the inside of a greased 9-inch bundt or tube pan with this mixture, shaking out any excess.
2. Sift 2 cups of flour and 2/3 cup of cocoa together with the baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt, in three parts. Do not overmix.
5. Stir in the vanilla. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (I bake it for 70 mins)
6. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a rack to cool completely.

Reference: about.com

Gâteau au Yaourt à la Framboise (okay, let’s just make it simple – Raspberry Yogurt Cake)

Dear Clotilde, I guess we just do not share the same taste buds. My version looked exactly as yours, although it doesn’t look the same because I can’t take good pictures. Can you tell me why the cake was so moist? It was just too moist (for god’s sake) but I still finished it because there were antibiotics in the berries. I don’t think I am going to try this recipe again because it was just too “scary”. Please forgive me, Clotilde! Maybe your recipes are too fancy for me.

Ingredients: (9 inch cake pan)

2 tubs of plain yogurt (one tub is 125 ml, the French standard, which amounts to 4 oz, or half a cup)

Use one of the empty tubs to measure out :
2 tubs of brown sugar
1/2 tub of oil
3 tubs of sifted flour
1/2 tub ground almonds

3 eggs
1 Tbsp (one packet) baking powder
300 g raspberries (fresh or frozen — no need to thaw them if they’re frozen)

Methods:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Copiously grease and flour a 9-inch (22 cm) round cake pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, the oil and the sugar with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition.
4. In a medium bowl combine the flour, the baking powder and the almonds.
5. Add the flour mixture to the batter in three or four additions, and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
6. Pour half the batter into the cake pan. Cover evenly with half of the raspberries. Pour the other half of the batter, and arrange the other half of the raspberries on top.
7. Put into the oven to bake, for 50 to 60, until the top is springy and a cake tester comes out clean. If it looks like the top of the cake is browning too quickly, cover with foil for the rest of the baking time.
8. Let rest on the counter for ten minutes, then run a knife around the cake to loosen it, and turn out on a rack to cool completely.

Reference: chocolateandzucchini.com

it is a very moist cake and a typical American cake, which is basically not one of my favorite types of cake. However, it is a healthy cake because it doesn’t include any butter and I like the antibiotics in the raspberries.

Ingredients: (20 serving)

Sugar 2 c
All purpose flour 3 c
B. powder 2 tsp
Salt 1tsp
Eggs 3
Vegetable Oil 1/3 c
Milk 1 c
Vanilla 1tsp
Sliced Cranberries 2 c (I used Raspberries because I did not have cranberries at t home)
Chopped Walnuts 1/4 c (I always use 50% more than the suggested portion because I really like the chunckiness of the nuts)

Methods:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″x13″x2″ pan.
2. In a large bowl, using a wire whisk, stir the first 4 ingredients until well blended. Combine eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla – whisk them in.
3. Stir in cranberries and walnuts and turn into prepared pan.
4. Sprinkle top with a little sugar
5. Bake until cake is golden brown and shrinking from pan and a toothpick emerges clean, about 40 minutes. Let cake cool in the pan and then cut into squares.

Reference: bedandbreakfast.com

Having too many cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory, I strongly feel there is nothing special about their cheesecakes but lots of butter and cream cheese. Of crouse, a little gimmicks help to boost the sales as well, at least I am one of those who have tried their Godiva and Oreo cheesecakes. I honestly do not think they have applied any special techniques in preparing the cheesecakes.

This Japanese cheesecake is very light and moist, which is totally different from the American cheesecake. Although I don’t like moist cake, but this is obviously one of the exceptions. I have been looking for cream of tar tar for a long long time, and I still do not know why this item belongs to the spices session.

Ingredients:

8吋份量 3個蛋的配方 2個蛋的配方
忌廉芝士 200克 170克 100克
牛奶 128克 109克 64克
無鹽牛油 43克 37克 22克
低根麵粉 26克 22克 13克
粟粉 14克 12克 ７克
蛋黃 4個 3個 2個
檸檬汁l 1/4茶匙 沒有加 隨意可省
蛋白 4個 3個 2個
糖 86克 73克 43克
cream of tar tar 1/4茶匙 1/4茶匙 1/4茶匙或更少

Methods:

1. 忌廉芝士切成小塊，加入牛奶浸泡30分鐘。無鹽牛油隔熱水坐溶。
2. 浸泡30分鐘後隔熱水加熱，一邊攪一邊加熱至無顆粒，再加入己溶化的無鹽牛油拌勻，熄火稍稍放涼。
3. 篩入低根麵粉和粟粉拌勻，再加入蛋黃拌勻，最後加入檸檬汁拌勻。此時麵糊光滑無顆粒，如仍發現有小許顆粒，可將麵糊過篩到乾淨的mixing bowl中，待會與蛋白霜混合。
4. 蛋白打成粗發泡後，加入塔塔粉打勻，糖分三次加入打至企身，提起攪拌頭，蛋白的尖峰會下垂。（Clarey 會在頭兩次用高速打發蛋白，每次1分鐘，在第三次用低速打，直至想要的硬度。這樣可以令蛋白沒有很大的氣泡，製成的蛋糕質感軟綿細密，外觀也很好。 ）
5. 取1/3的蛋白與麵糊混合，再將麵糊倒回蛋白霜中輕手混合直至單一顏色就好。
6. 倒入模具，然後拿起模具在”木台”上輕敲幾下。
7. 用蒸焗法（即是放圓模在加有熱水的焗盤上），放入己預熱的焗爐以170c 焗15-20分鐘至表面上色，然後調較至150c，打開焗爐門，直至加熱顯示燈再次亮起，關閉焗爐門，焗40分鐘。在最後的10-15分鐘，要留意蛋糕的色水，如已達到你想要的色水，可加鍚紙在蛋糕面避免蛋糕表面太深色。
8. 出爐後放在綱架上稍稍放涼，用小刀界開蛋糕邊和模邊(其實不會太「痴」的)只是希望蛋糕出爐後沉降得靚一點。然後小心脫模。(小心熱)
9. 蛋糕可襯熱食，也可放涼後食，不用放入雪櫃。

Tips:

1. 3個蛋和4個蛋的配方Clarey都試過，同樣是用8吋圓模，3個蛋的配方大概入模時去到模的一半高度多小小，4個蛋的配方麵糊倒入模時已去到4/5高，蛋糕在焗製時已發得高過模具，原食譜用5個蛋的配方用8吋模，但Clarey覺得太多，所以用5個蛋的配方時建議用9吋模。

Reference: leisure-cat

I did it!! How can someone make a swiss roll without a proper baking sheet (or jelly roll pan), again, nothing can stop me from making my favourite swiss roll. Although I still need to practice more on rolling the cake, I guess I manged to make a great cake base. It’s too bad I don’t have sweet cream, because the filling is very important in deciding how good is the swiss roll. As I don’t have mango, I used strawberries instead.

Ingredients: (9 x 11 inch baking sheet)

低根粉 60克 　
奶 粉 3克 　
泡打粉 1.5克 　
蛋 黃 30克 　
沙糖 A 38克 　
沙拉油 30克 　
水 45克 　
云里拿油 少許 　
蛋 白 120克 　
沙糖 B 50克 　
檸檬汁 少許 　
鹽 少許

芒果（切粒） 適量 　
忌廉(打起） 3克

Methods:

1. 低粉和泡打粉過篩。
2. 水和沙拉油煮熱。
3. 蛋黃和沙糖A攪勻，水和沙拉油分幾次加入充份攪勻，再加入1，拌勻至沒又粉粒。
4. 用另一盤將蛋白加檸檬汁、鹽打至起泡將沙糖B分3次加入打至企身。
5. 將3份1蛋白加入面湖拌勻再倒回3中輕手用切的方式伴拌勻,倒入焗盤抹平入爐用180度焗12至15分鐘 。
6. 芒果是在卷之前將 D芒果切粒，在蛋糕上抹上cream，將芒果粒均勻放上再抹上cream，然後卷就ok啦！！

Reference: leisure-cat

I alway want to try to make swiss roll. This swiss roll was made way before I got my mini baking sheet, in case you don’t know, I bake everything in a very tiny toaster oven. I love my toaster oven very much because it is my first “oven” ever, I have never blame it for burning my cakes or cookies, because I know it is trying its best. You are the best, Cuisinart TOB-175BC Convection Toaster Oven/Broiler! The filling of the swiss roll is sweet cream (or pastry cream), however, I can’t seem to find it in Boston. Since nothing can stop me from making the swiss roll, so I beat heavy cream wih confectionary sugar to make the filling. Of course, heavy cream is very soft and unstable, so it can’t compare with the authentic swiss roll. I wish there is a Maxim’s next to my house, I will buy lots of lots of cream cakes and swiss rolls!

Ingredients:

清水 150克 
沙拉油 200克 
低筋麵粉 300克 
泡打粉 3克 
食鹽 2.5克 
蛋黃 250克 
蛋白 500克 
砂糖 270克 
抹茶粉 18克 
塔塔粉(Tartar Powder) 5克

Methods:

1. 把清水和沙拉油混和。加入低筋麵粉和泡打粉。充分攪拌直至沒有粉粒狀。
2. 加入蛋黃。攪拌至光滑麵糊。備用。
3. 打蛋機中放入蛋白。用中速打成氣泡狀。加塔塔粉和食鹽。轉高速繼續打。分三次加入砂糖。打到原體積的三倍。至硬性發泡成蛋白霜。
4. 先取1/3蛋白霜加入做好的麵糊。用橡皮刀用切拌的手勢攪勻。
5. 然後將麵糊全部倒囬剩餘的蛋白霜中。用翻書的動作上下切跺拌勻
6. 取適量麵糊與抹茶粉充分拌勻。
7. 將抹茶麵糊倒入蛋糕麵糊當中。用橡皮刀稍微劃兩下即可呈現雲彩狀。
8. 將抹茶蛋糕麵糊倒入已鋪好油紙的烤盤中。抹平。入爐烘烤。
9. 事先預熱完烤箱170度。把烤盤放在烤箱底下的第二層。烘烤大約20分鍾左右。
10. 完全烤熟之後。出爐放涼。把四周焦黃的蛋糕邊角切除。
11. 把整塊蛋糕放在新的油紙上。抹上奶油。卷成卷狀。
12. 靜置約30分鍾。成型後取走油紙。分切成一件件即可。

Tips:

1. 拌入抹茶麵糊時。不用拌勻。只需輕輕攪一兩下。就可以形成雲絲一樣的花紋。
2. 如果涂抹打發的鲜奶油，吃起来口味非常棒。而且也容易把蛋糕卷紧。
3. 鑒於各人的烤箱不同。在烘烤其間最好多畱意烤箱的情況。以免烤至變形。

Reference: leisure-cat