Tag: #cheesecake

Should’ve, could’ve would’ve, did

Saturday I should have been in Staplehurst competing in the Essex Trophy 10 bell striking competition. Sadly our team had to withdraw so I had one of those days that was all wrong because the plans had changed.

It did mean I could have a bit more of a lay in and leisurely bacon buttie for breakfast. No complaints there.

I had decided to make a Biscoff cheesecake for Sunday lunch so while C was getting ready, started to prepare. I hadn’t realised that the recipe was actually for a baked cheesecake. Not that that’s an issue, cheesecake is cheesecake and acceptable in any form, but I’d never made a baked one before.

I’ve seen so many times on GBBO how baked cheesecakes split because they’re cooled down too quickly so decided to leave it in the oven, but turn the heat off, whilst we popped into town.

I bought myself some flowers (no one gonna buy them for me) and would’ve purchased a load of fruit from the High Street Market stall. Only it wasn’t there. We ended going back up to the old market and got some from there but it didn’t look as nice.

Once home, I removed the cheesecake from the oven and was rather impressed it hadn’t sunk or cracked. Yay, me!! It needed covering in melted Biscoff spread and sprinkled with more Biscoff biscuits. Did look rather delish even if I do say so myself.

I could and probably should have then spent the rest of the day dealing with reports, emails and actions but I was far from in the right mood, feeling rather annoyed by something and nothing. So I sat reading a book, drinking peppermint tea instead. That did of course mean cramming more things into Sunday but nothing like a bit of pressure to get motivated.

I needed to be nice to myself on Saturday so revelled in self indulgence.

When is a cake not a cake?

It’s been far too hot recently to want to spend much time in the kitchen, and thankfully I don’t do the cooking in our household anymore.  But I would hate to be a professional baker or chef when its hot outside. 

I love baking cakes when I get the time and of course, I love eating them too.  But during the summer months my favourite kind of cake often does not require any baking at all.  I do love a cheesecake.  I could eat cheesecake every day.  Its another type of cake I don’t get to make very often.

C and I sort of follow a Slimming World diet in as much as we use either their recipes, or Pinch of Nom or similar.  I try to count calories, but I like food too much and often see that I have exceeded my recommended daily amount. Small wonder I’m not actually loosing much weight, just the odd pound here and there.

This past week we have been using the recipes from the July Slimming World magazine and I was happy to see that one of the recipes was for a vanilla and chocolate cheesecake.  We don’t often have homemade desserts, generally don’t have the time to make them but not one to miss out on the opportunity of cheesecake, I decided that I would make our dessert for Sunday lunch. 

I made the cheesecake on Saturday afternoon, so it had plenty of time to set.  It was a chilled one rather than a baked one, so no slaving over a hot oven.  There’s always that moment of apprehension when you loosen the springform pan sides and hold your breath hoping that it won’t slip and slide all over the place.  Fortunately, it had set very well.  And I’d remembered to put a sheet of baking paper under the biscuit crumb to avoid it getting stuck to the bottom of the tin, meaning I could slide it easily on to a plate.  Just to make sure though, I didn’t take it out of the tin until Sunday morning. 

Perfect.

As there’s only the two of us at home, the next question is how many servings we should cut it in to.  The recipe says eight, even if we were generous, we’d only make it six.  But given that there’s only the two of us, we have a whopping quarter of it each.  Somewhat negates the Slimming World part, right? What’s the point of dragging it out over several days, it won’t keep that long, will it?  That’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it.

This particular cheesecake tasted very nice but the consistency was a bit strange.  It was more of a panna cotta style wobbly rather than a light, fluffy filling. Maybe that was the combination of cream cheese, yoghurt and quark, with the gelatine. 

Anyway, it satisfied by cheesecake craving for now.