Chocolate cheesecake with strawberries (no-bake)

Chocolate is such a rich and distinctive flavor, and as a cheesecake, even more deadly. I asked family which cheesecake they wanted me to make this time and it was split in two : plain and choco, so I made both.

I opted for the simplest possible recipe, no-bake and no eggs this time, since I'm on vacation, so the so-called "lazy version". But I did go through the cupboards to find cookies for the base and all I could find were coconut-sesame-chia-sunflower-seed clusters which I pulverized, mixed with a few chocolate butter cookies and 1/4 cup butter for the base. You can also do the (classic graham cracker or) oreo cookie crust. Just mix 4 tablespoons butter with 24 crushed oreos.

As for the cheesecake batter made with a 3-ingredient recipe (ok, ok, 4, with the extract, mister blog police), easy as can be :

16 oz (450 g) softened cream cheese

1 can (14-oz /396 g) sweetened condensed milk
1-3/4 cups semi-sweet dark chocolate

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/.2 vanilla bean

In a bowl, with a beater, mix the cream cheese with condensed milk until creamy. It's important that the cream cheese is first softened (10-15 seconds in the microwave) so that it doesn't form little clusters that don't dissolve easily into the batter. Fold in melted chocolate (make sure it is cooled to room temperature), then vanilla. Pour onto crust, chill in refrigerator overnight.

Here's the chocolate ganache recipe, I kind of improvised because I had an "incident" with the surface. As I'm not in my own kitchen, I didn't have a springform pan, I used a regular cake baking pan and couldn't get the cheesecake out. Who has this happened to?! So I eased the cheesecake out with a knife, put parchment paper on top and flipped it over. Then flipped it over again on a dish. Upon peeling off the parchment paper, the surface was pockmarked. Note to self...

No worries, here comes the ganache :

1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 oz softened cream cheese
1/2 cup softened dark chocolate

Whip the cream in a bowl with a mixer until it forms soft peaks, about 3 minutes. Add the cream cheese, (softened as mentioned above), mix another minute. Fold in softened and room temperature chocolate. This chocolate cream should be thickened, if it's not chill in the refrigerator about 2 hours. Pipe onto cheesecake or decorate with a knife. Add sliced red fruits (strawberries, cherries...) or decorate with edible flower petals, cookies, Ferreros or sprinkles.

Enjoy, everyone !

Comments

Cotton sponge cake with strawberries and cream cheese frosting

My kids had a birthday to celebrate so I made the cakes and they decorated. I used to do this when my children were small, set up a table for them to decorate cookies or gingerbread houses, even had parties like this, and to this day, they like assembling treats and are good cooks. Here's the batter recipe I often use which you can find in my other recipes (mocha sponge, apple cider cake...) : Cotton sponge cake recipe : 4 eggs, separated 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar 1-1/4 cup (180 g) cake flour 3/4 cup (150 g) confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup cider (60 g) (French kind, or 4.5% alcohol) or beer or carbonated water 1/4 cup (60 g) sour cream (or thick cream) 1/4 cup (60 g) milk (as needed) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 180° F / 350° C. Line pan with parchment paper. I used a 7" spring-form pan and a small fluted brioche mold. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar a little at a time and continue

Santa Swiss roll

Hello, everyone! Now that it's the season... Had quite a bit of fun making this yule log. I was dreaming of a red and white Santa-inspired cake with raspberries. I was so pleased with the result, the cake was so soft and not too sweet, the cream light and the raspberries added that perfect tanginess and sweetness. Here's the recipe for the pink velvet and raspberry base: 60 g cooking oil 80 g milk 100 g cake flour 70 g sugar + 3 tablespoons more for the egg whites 6 eggs, separated 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon of coffee extract 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon red gel food color + fresh raspberries, rinsed and pat dried + macarons, candies, sprinkles to decorate Cream cheese frosting 200 g heavy whipping cream 200 g softened cream cheese 50 g confectioners sugar 1 teaspoon lemon juice Preheat hoven 340° F / 170° C. Line a large rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper (I used a 13" x 17" pan). In a bowl, whisk cooking oil, milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, salt

Pink Black Forest cake

Hi guys ! A bit late but I did say I would post this recipe, which was a fun cake to put together for a birthday. I layered pink velvet and fudge brownie cakes with vanilla cream and candied cherries to make this Pink Black Forest cake for October Rose (breast cancer awareness month). Believe it or not, I didn't have fresh cherries, since it was late in the season, but here is reason to believe you can use frozen or preserved cherries and it works out well too. To be honest, I did make this cake over the space of 2 days. First I preserved the cherries, then made one cake layer and refrigerated everything. The next day I made another cake layer, as well as the cream and assembled it. Start with preparing the cherries. In a medium saucepan, over low heat, add 400-500 g of frozen or preserved (unsweetened in water) whole pitted cherries and 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of kirsch. Once simmering, add 1-1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch until dissolved and simmer ab

Islands in the sky, food & travel

Search This Blog