Cheesecake heaven

Difficulty level: Happy days.

The cake:
You'll need
- 400 grams of Marie biscuits or similar rich tea biscuits.
- 200 grams of cacao powder
- 1 table spoon of sugar
- 4 eggs
- a small amount of melted butter

Use a springform pan, this will make it easier to unmold your cheesecake. Line the base of your pan with greaseproof paper. Put your biscuits into a plastic freezer bag. Beat the living daylights out of your biscuits, but do not overdo it. Put the sugar, cacao powder and biscuits in a bowl. Add the eggs and melted butter. Mix everything by hand. If you do not want sticky hands you can choose to blend everything in a food processor or blender. Put your mixture in the springform pan to form the base of your cheesecake. Let your cookie layer rest in the fridge.

The cheese:
You'll need
- 500 grams of white chocolate
- 250 grams of curd
- 250 grams of mascarpone
- 250 ml of whipping cream
- 100 grams of white caster sugar

Melt the chocolate au Bain Marie. Beat the cream in a bowl. Add the curd, mascarpone, sugar and melted chocolate and mix it all up until you get a smooth batter. Divide the Cheesy goodness on top of the cookie layer. Let it chill and set in the fridge for three hours. You can do a little dance while you wait.

The balance:
You'll need
- Dark chocolate
- powdered sugar
- Choose your fruit. Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. Whatever you like. You could also go for passion fruit. Cheesecake and passion fruit share the same color pallet, this makes this combination less visually appetizing than the other fruits I mention. You can also combine fruits. It is your party as they say.

This is possible the most important part of the recipe and yet the easiest. Carefully remove your cheesecake from the baking tin.  Add your choice of fruit. Make sure you cover the surface of your cheesecake with fruit. Grate the dark chocolate and decorate your cake with it. Finish it off by adding powdered sugar.

Digg in!

After eating all this you might want to read our next post on how to burn that fat. Burn baby Burn!

With love, Ana ♡

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The happystepz food scale

I absolutely love LOVE cheesecake and just the thought of it makes me drool. Not everyone is sold on cheesecakes and that is probably due to the fact that there are so many bad cheesecakes out there. What makes a bad cheesecake? In this case not his attitude. A bad cheesecake makes you queasy just after tree bites or feel like you ate a ton of bricks. Cheesecakes like other 'heavy' pastries are meant to be eaten in moderation but when rightly prepared you don't feel like you've ate a cement truck. The definition of a good cheesecake is a piece of pie that is well balanced, smooth and velvety. The keyword is balance. You need acidity as a contrast to the heaviness of the cheesecake and lets not forget the importance of the biscuit layer. Soggy or tough cake is not a good companion to the cheese.

This recipe is my version of a good cheesecake. It is well balanced and oh so delicious. Before I share my recipe, for future references I have decided to add my own scale of measuring to indicate the difficulty and amount of work required to make a recipe. This was quite a challenge because how can I classify something as difficult or easy? What comes naturally to me may be a nightmare for someone else. I believe cooking and baking is something to be enjoyed, not something to stress over. If a recipe does not turn out the way you wanted, salvage what you can, order pizza and try again another time. That is why all my recipes and their level of work are based on how much cooking experience, patience and determination is required to make it. Not on how well you bode in the kitchen. Truly anyone can cook, even you!

The happystepz food scale

Easy peasy:
Even the Carrie Bradshaws of the world who use their ovens to dry their sweaters can do this.
 

Happy Days:
These recipes require a bit more attention and time, but it is still child's play.

Put your back into it:
Just like Ice Cube said: “You can do it, put your back into it.” This only means you need to take your time. Do not rush through the recipe. Remember a little hard work never killed anyone.

The Einstein level:
Do not worry I will not be asking you to pull a Heston Blumenthal. This recipe requires a certain skill set. Keep in mind skills can always be learned.
 

Everything comes to you in the right moment. Be patient. The cheesecake recipe will be posted tomorrow.

 

With love, Ana ♡

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Cherry pie

For me there is nothing more mindfulness than passing the time baking on a lazy Sunday morning.  Especially during those cold winter months, when leaving the comfort of your warm home can seem like a huge undertaking. I love food and there is just something about baking that brings a smile to my face. Perhaps it is the smell of goodies baking in the oven that brings back happy childhood memories. Or simply the comfort of eating freshly made pastries that makes me utterly happy. When I wake up with thoughts of cookies, cakes and desserts, there is no stopping me. The fun starts by searching through my cooking books to find something delicious to make. Or on this particular Sunday, googling till I find the recipe that fits my needs to perfection. A few weeks back I bought a new pie dish and I just had to try it out. Of course I never need an excuse to bake, but my new pie dish has been calling my name for several weeks now. I found this delicious Cherry Pie recipe online that I don’t want to deprive you from. The recipe is easy to follow and the end result is definitely worth it. Here’s a link to the site: Cherry pie 

I would also like to mention how much I’m loving my new baking essentials from the ‘Rudolph’s bakery’ line. For those of you who do not know who Rudolph is, he is a Dutch chef. He is known for his programs on the 24kitchen food channel. As an avid baker I’m always looking for something to expand my cooking utensils.  Rudolph’s Bakery marble plate was just the thing I needed to add to my baking gear. It makes kneading dough easy and leaves less of a mess to clean up afterwards.  The pie dish did its job perfectly and there is no better place to let your pie cool and take those scrumptious pictures then a cooling rack. I must say, I’m quite pleased with my new additions.  It’s well worth checking out. I’ll be posting more mouthwatering recipes and my thoughts on food soon. Happiness starts with a filled stomach. Happy baking everyone.

With love, Ana

  

          ♡

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