So, let me declare that Nigella is my desserts goddess. She really, truly is. Every recipe that I’ve dared to create from her “How to be a domestic goddess” book has turned out simply and magnificently (can any other Nigella fans vouch for any of her other books? It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a cookbook-buying binge!)
After the cinnabun disaster this morning, I was feeling sad and lonely, and like my kitchen skills had suddenly departed my hands (Oh why has thou forsaken me in my hour of need?!), so to make myself feel better I turned to an oldie but a goodie - Nigella’s recipe for a London Cheesecake.
If you haven’t tried this recipe - you bloody well should. It’s rich and the water bath ensures a silky, cloud-like texture. The sour cream topping is literally the icing on the cake and adds a firmer layer of sweet tartness once set (I know that sounds like a pure contradiction, but you’ll see what I mean).
Baked London Cheesecake (adapted from ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess‘)
Ingredients
200g digestive biscuits (I use Arnotts Marie biscuits)
100g unsalted butter at room temperature
600g cream cheese
150g caster sugar
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
300ml tub sour cream
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1. Either use a food processor or place the biscuits in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to pulverise. Add the butter and rub into the pulverised biscuits till they resemble breadcrumbs.
2. Line the bottom of a 20cm springform cake tin and press the biscuits in with your hands, making sure to compact them right into the edges. Put the base in the fridge to set and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
3. Beat the cream cheese till it’s as soft as creamed butter, then add the sugar and beat in again. Beat in the eggs and egg yolk, then the vanilla and then the lemon juice. Put an almost full kettle on to boil at this stage.
4. Remove the cake tin from the fridge and line 3 times with strong foil, making sure to alternate short and tall sides of the foil (since it’s rectangular and all…uhh…yeah…). Pour cream cheese mix into the chilled cake tin and place into a roasting dish.
5. Pour the boiling water into the roasting dish so it comes up halfway around the cake tin - bear in mind that less is better than more as overfilling will make removing the cake tin difficult. Place the whole thing in the oven and bake for 50 minutes till it feels set when you lightly touch the surface, and it wobbles like a set jelly.
6. Whilst the cake is baking, beat together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. If your sour cream is as thick and solid as mine, you may want to zap it in the microwave for a few seconds till it liquefies, as otherwise it will be a bit blobby on top of the cake. Once the cake has set, pour the sour cream mix on top of the cake and bake for a further 10 minutes.
7. Remove the cake from the oven, unwrap the foil and stand it on a rack to cool. Once it has cooled completely, leave it to set in the fridge for about 4-6 hours as it helps to make the cake more solid and the flavours meld together. Remove 15 minutes before serving to take the edge off the coldness. Unmould and use a knife which has been run under hot water to cut and serve 
See what I mean by velvety softness? Would you believe that this is a baked cheesecake? Ok, so I cheated and cut into it before it had finished cooling down, but even when this has cooled the texture is still moist and the cake just disslves in your mouth. Definetely worth a shot
Technorati Tags: cream cheese, cheesecake, biscuits, baking, sour cream
Well, for sure as crud I was feeling cocky after the success of my pizzas, and decided to try Rachel’s Cinnamon Rolls this morning, to go with my mid-morning study/tea break…
You’ll note that my sticky, doughy mess looks nothing like Rachel’s fluffy, light cinnamon bun. Where did I go wrong? Well, as I was hesitant about making so much of a recipe I’d never attempted before (4 cups of flour???), I halved the recipe. Perhaps this had an effect? I also had difficulty getting the damn dough to raise, which is kind of understandable when it’s only 15 degrees C (that’s 59 degrees F for all you farenheight persons) in the house and the only warm place in the house is on top of the gas fireplace.
You’ll also notice that my layers are considerably thinner than the inch that Rachel’s recipe recommended - this is unfortunately due to my love of the rolling pin, I always get overeager (I blame this on my play-dough addiction as a child) when rolling out doughs, which is why I stick to cookie doughs that do not have this as a requirement.
I also added raisins, but I doubt that had a major impact on the recipe…
Perhaps I need a mixer with a dough-hook? Being a poor student means that I haven’t been able to afford one yet, but surely you should be able to get by without one? Do they make a big impact on breadmaking and yeast-y goodness?
At any rate, after leaving it in the oven for 45mins and accepting that the sucker just was not going to rise anymore, I pulled it out and pulled myself a scroll to have with my now cooling tea.
Mmmm, sugary dough.
I’m now off to read corporate reports and lick my wounds, whilst everyone else bears witness to my first Kitchen Wench disaster!
If anyone has any ideas on what went wrong, or any recipes they think might be easier for a beginner to the world of yeast, please let me know!
Coconut & Lime’s Cinnamon Roll recipe below the link: (all measurements Aussie-fied ;))
Ingredients:
DOUGH:
4 cups plain flour
2 pkts dry yeast (14g)
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon sugar
150g butter, melted
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
100g cup butter, creamed
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast & sugar in warm water and let it sit till it starts bubbling.
2. In a small saucepan, warm butter and milk till they melt, but do NOT let it start boiling. Combine yeast and butter mixtures, slowly adding sugar, then egg, then salt, then flour. Mix till smooth. (Use a mixer with a dough hook if you have access to one)
3. Once all the ingredients are combined and have turned into a sticky dough, scrape it out onto a floured surface and knead till it is no longer sticky, adding up to 1/2 cup of flour if necessary.
4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Place it in a warm place and let it rise for about 45 mins or till it has doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
6. Remove the dough and place it on a floured surface. Roll out a 12 x 25 inch rectangle (30cm x 65cm roughly). Spread the creamed butter over the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the butter.
7. Roll the dough into a tight log and cut into 1 inch (3cm) slices. Place in 2 ungreased 20cm cake tins, forming a circle with one roll in the middle. Cover and place in a warm area again. allowing it to rise for about 30 mins, or till the rolls are almost level with the top of the cake pan.
8. Bake for 15-30mins, paying attention to the creases where the rolls touch each other. If still not done, continue baking, checking every 5 minutes. Once they’re done, remove from the oven and allow them to cool.
So, for mother’s day I volunteered to make dinner, as mom said she was planning on getting take-out pizza. I’m sorry, but take out pizza is a bit ick and oily, so I decided to try my hand at making pizzas.
One slight problem - you see, I’d never actually MADE pizzas before. Actually, I’d never tried my hand at anything involving yeast. This doesn’t seem to be an uncommon fear, as it seems many people who’ve never used the rise-y stuff seem uncommonly afraid of it. However, I was determined to create a feast, so I rolled up my sleeves and went at it with a-gusto!
(no pictures, damn pizzas were devoured before my camera battery finished charging)
Ingredients for pizza base
3 cups plain flour
1 sachet dry yeast (7g)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp olive oil
1. Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, then create a well in the middle, pour in the water and oil and mix with a wooden spoon till well combined, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead till almost smooth.
2. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with cling-wrap and place in a warm area for an hour, or till dough has doubled in size.
3. Remove the dough onto a floured surface and PUMMEL IT! That’s right, beat that dough into place, show it who’s boss, beat it till it can’t be beat no more
4. Place the dough onto a lightly oiled pizza pan/stone/tray, pushing it out to the edges gently, trying to get the thickness as even as possible.
This quantity will make 2 medium thickness pizzas, or 3-4 thin crust pizzas. Unfortunately, I was a bit over-eager with my dough, and didn’t try and maintain thickness, which ended up with some bits being as thick as foccaccia, and others as thin as a wafer. WEIRD. My fingers need a serious talking-to. But otherwise this is quite tasty, and can be topped with whatever you want.
My toppings of choice? Bocconcini, thinly sliced rump steak (leftovers from a previous dinner), onion, red/green/yellow capsicum (bell peppers), mushrooms, pineapple, grated tasty cheese, thinly sliced zucchini and potato.
And no - this wasn’t a consistant topping across the entire pizza! Different toppings were used for each half, resulting in a choice of 4 different kinds! Woot woot!
Now that I’ve conquered my fear of yeast, I kinda want to try my hand at a white loaf, but momma bear just bought one from the baker, so I might wait till that’s been devoured. What else is good in terms of easy, tasty recipes involving yeast?
Mr. Woofy takes a nap on the hardwood floor, and dreams of all things good…
Head on over to Sweetnick’s place to see all the fur-kid cuties taking part in Weekend Dog Blogging #34
Technorati Tags: wdb, dogs, golden retrievers, photos
Okay, before I forget, I have to document this sauce. Originally invented by A’s grandmother, it was perfected by his step-dad to the version which exists today.
Believe me when I say this sauce will beat ANYTHING you can buy on a shelf. Sure, it’s tedious and time-consuming, but when you pour it over a lamb chop, my god you’ll realise it was all worth it.
Ingredients
4.5 kg tomatos, blanched, skinned and quartered
1 kg apples, cored, skinned and diced
14g garlic
7g black pepper
7g cayenne pepper
7g allspice
14g cloves
1 cup water
500ml vinegar
650g sugar
1. Boil together water, apples, tomatos, garlic, cayenne pepper, black pepper, allspice and cloves for 2 hours, then use a stick blenter to blend ingredients till smooth.
2. Once smooth, add vinegar and sugar, and leave till it starts to boil, stirring occasionally.
This makes about 3-4 lemonade bottles worth of sauce, make sure that you sterilise the bottles otherwise it won’t keep as long as you’d like!
How to sterilise bottles
This method can be used to sterilise any glass container to be used to keep food not in the refrigerator. Bear in mind that once they’ve been opened, shelf live will drastically drop.
1. Wash the jars and lids in hot soapy water, then rinse in hot water
2. Put into a stockpot of boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain upside-down on a clean tea-towel, then dry thoroughly in an oven set at 150 degrees C (302 degrees F)
3. Remove jars from the oven one by one, filling them as you remove them. Make sure you don’t have any air holes when filling them, as they could host pockets of bacterial growth.
4. Place the lid on and leave them in a cool place (not fridge!) overnight to cool.
Technorati Tags: sterilising bottles, sauces, tomatos, apples
