Salted Caramel chocolate cheese cake

No Bake cheese cakes are the easiest to make & its definitely a crowd pleazer recipe. By being a little creative you can make the cheese cake look very stunning. The main thing is in setting the cheese cake & making it look appealing. The basic no bake cheese cake recipe is very simple & no one can go wrong. 2 weeks ago when my friend was around, I asked her if she has had cheese cakes before? She said no & since i made some cream cheese lying in the fridge for weeks, i thought will make some cheese cake. I have always made just one flavour cheese cakes, so thought this time will mix caramel & chocolate. Since my friend is a die hard fan of chocolate, I decided to go with this flavour.My hubby hates Chocolate cheese cake & he just had a small piece. The cake turned out perfect & it was really a rich cake. The most enjoyed people were my friend & my son:) When I served my friend with a piece, she was like "Waw!" you are totally a professional & this looks like a international standard. As usual I just blushed:)

I made a small quantity of caramel sauce as I had only 1/2 cup of whipped cream left in the fridge. The cake was well balanced & tasted yumm. This is a must try for all chocolate lovers. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• 250gms Cream Cheese (I used local Cream Cheese )
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup melted semi sweet chocolate
• 1 cup Milk
• 100 gms Agar agar powder or 1.5 Tbsp gelatine
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 10- 15 digestive biscuits
• 50 gms Butter

 

Method:

1. Crush the Digestive Biscuits in the Mixer. Add 50 gms of butter to this powdered biscuits & make a base in a cake tin 8 0r 9 inch (square/round mold or spring form pan). I made a high base till it reaches half way of the tin. You can choose to make a short base.
2. In an electric beater beat the cream cheese, sugar, melted chocolate & milk to a smooth mixture.
3. Add 100 gms of agar agar to 1/2 cup hot water & stir continuously so no lumps are formed. Now microwave this mixture for 30 seconds & mix it well to remove any lumps from them. Set this aside to cool down.
4. Once cooled, Pour in this mixture to the cream cheese mixture & mix well. Pour this into the mold & chill this in the freezer for an hour or in the fridge to set for 5 to 8 hours.
5. After an hour remove the cheese cake mixture & pour the caramel sauce on top of the cake evenly. Now put this back in the freezer for about 15 to 20 mins to set.
6. After its set a little, remove the cake out & top it up with the thick rich chocolate ganache. Now put it back in the fridge & not freezer this time. Cover the cake with a silver foil or cling wrap & refrigerate it for at least 2 hours to set well.
7. Now the cheese cake is ready to serve.

(My cake piece did not come out clean coz I cut it immediately once it was out from freezer. Please wait for the cake to stay in room temperature for some time & only then cut it to get clean pieces.)

Caramel Sauce:

• 1 cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tbspn unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 tspn salt

Directions:

1. First, make sure you have all of the ingredients ready. Once you start the caramel sauce you have to pay close attention so you don't burn it.
2. Heat the sugar over medium high-heat in the saucepan. When the sugar starts to melt, start whisking the sugar. The sugar will clump up, but keep whisking. It will continue to melt. When the sugar is melted, stop whisking. You can swirl the pan to move the sugar around.Continue cooking the sugar until it reaches a deep amber colour. Make sure you watch the pan very closely. This is where it is easy to burn the caramel.
3. As soon as the sugar reaches the dark amber colour, carefully add the butter & salt. Whisk until butter is melted.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream. Whisk until cream is incorporated and caramel is smooth.
5.  Let the caramel sauce cool  &once cooled, Pour the caramel into a air tight box and refrigerate it. You can store the salted caramel sauce in the refrigerator for about a month.

Thick Chocolate ganache

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 Tbspn of sugar
• Pinch of salt.

Directions:

1. Bring the cream to a boil along with sugar & salt. Now add in the chocolate chips into the hot cream & wait until all the chocolate is melted. Once it is cooled a little, use it on the cake immediately. If you allow it to cool down completely the chocolate will become hard & crumbly.

 

Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Now the Haze situation seems to be getting better. I am just praying hope it doesn't come again due to wind flow direction. Last week when the Haze was really bad we decided to fly off somewhere & take a break for a week. My hubby is from Kerala & his house is just near the river. During Monsoon there will be bad floods & the water will come up to the living room. This time around there was floods & we dint want to travel to Kerala. Along with Floods comes all kinds of illness too. Heavy rains at my home town coorg too:(. To go there we have to take a flight to Bangalore & than drive all the way. To avoid all this hassel, we decided to go to Chennai. Can you believe, out of all the places we booked tickets to Chennai:) My sister lives in chennai & she has a 7 years old girl who is crazy about Zion. So thought it will be fun for the kids.

Now why Beach resort at Chennai? simply because while I was working at CSC, I used to do a lot of training programs for the campus grads at a off site location. Mostly we used to do it in Fishermans-Cove-Chennai & ideal beach resort. These 2 places were amazing & I use to love the 3 days training program. I was unmarried then & I always dreamt that I have to come to this place after marriage. This place is very romantic, the food is amazing & the property is really huge. Since we had one team building activity where in participants need to cook food, i used to get access to the kitchen . For this activity, I had to brief the chef's on what we need & I also wanted the chef to be our judge. Oh I really miss those days! I used to do like 3 to 4 workshops in a week & used to travel so frequently to Chennai from Bangalore. I cant tell you how much I love facilitating Training programs & I am so glad that I am back to facilitating job. The respect you get in this field is so good & Unexplainable. Its like how we still respect our teachers & look up to them. Its the same way here & the only difference is that I train adults in corporates:)

So now coming back to today's post, My son likes anything that looks like custard. He calls it yummy. Most of the time I make either egg custard or Vanilla Panna cota for him. There are times when I pick up ready custard from the supermarket. I had picked up some silken Tofu & thought of making pudding out of it. It came out very well & Zion Loved it. Tofu has a wired smell & its totally bland. Its very important to flavour it well. I made Chocolate Tofu Pudding & its very very easy to make. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup silken Tofu
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1 Tspn Vanilla essence
• 4 Tbsp melted Milk chocolate
• 1 Tspn Gelatin
• 1/4 cup hot water

Direction:

1. Mix the 1 tspn gelatin in 1/4 cup of water & let it rest for 2 to 5 mins. Now with a fork mix it well.
2. In a mixer tip in silken tofu, sugar, Vanilla essence, melted chocolate & gelatin mixture. Blend it for 2 minutes until everything is well combined.
3. Now pour it in a mould & let it set in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours, or in the freezer for 1-2 hour.
4. Since I had some cherries, I garnished this dish with cherries.
5. Note this pudding is very delicate so be careful when you cut it or serve it.

Note:

• If you dont like Tofu you just replace it with heavy cream/ whipping cream.
• Eat it fresh & try to finish it off by a day or 2. 
• Tofu is very healthy & rich in protien.

 

Mango Kulfi

This is my 2nd entry for BM 28 under Mango delight!

I love Kulfi & used to buy them more often while I was in Bangalore. In Singapore we order this for dessert while we are dining out at Indian restaurants. Well I always thought making this might be difficult at home & never bothered to look up the net for the recipe. Accidental I came across a post from "cooking" on Mango Kulfi & the recipe sounded very simple. Since I had all the ingredients, I gave it a shot. My impatient hubby wanted to eat it even before it could set & succeeded in it. He kept coming into the kitchen asking for more & I had to shoo him off every time:) I must say that this tastes good in all forms: hot, chilled & frozen. I chilled some for  my lill zion & he loved it. Well the Kulfis will take at least 4 to 6 hours to set completely. So you need to be really patient:) I did not add the fresh Mango puree as the Mangoes were not very tasty so I used Essence These kulfis are very rich, milky & delicious. This is how I made

Makes around 8 Kulfis
Source: Cooking

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole Milk
• 1 tin condensed Milk
• 1/4 tspn cardamom powder
• 1 tspn Mango essence
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp Corn flour
• 1/4 cup water
• Fresh Mangoes for garnish

Method:

1. Boil the milk & condensed milk on low flame for about 15 to 20 mins. The milk has to become thick & reduce in amount. Keep stirring in between.
2. Now add in cardamom powder, essence & salt.
3. Dissolve the cornflour in little water & add this mixture to the Milk. Keep stirring & boil this for about a minute. Turn off the flame & let it cool
4. Once cooled completely, pour this liquid into a kulfi mould or Popsicle mould.Freeze this for about 4 to 6 hours.
5. Before serving just keep the mould under running water so that the Kulfi releases easily.
6. Serve chilled with some chopped Mangoes.

Check this step by step picture:

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Mango Cheese Cake

 
This is my 1st post under BM 28 under Mango special.

I made this cheese cake almost 2 weeks ago when we had gone to visit one of our friends place for lunch. I am a big fan of no bake cheese cakes & I find these desserts very light & tasty. You can see that I already have a good collection of no bake cheese cake recipes in my blog. Well all these pics were taken at my friends place. I really dint have much time to plate them. Some how managed to click from pics in their balcony. We all loved this cake & my friends hubby was all praises about this dessert. Unfortunately the Mangoes I picked up was not very tasty & that is why I have added some Mango essence for a nice flavour.
This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• 250gms Cream Cheese (I used Philadelphia)
• 100 gms powdered sugar
• 2 large Mangoes chopped & pureed
• 1 cups whipped cream soft peaks
• 1 tspn Mango essence
• 1.5 Tbsp Gelatin
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 8 to 10 digestive biscuits
• 3 tbsp Butter
• 1/4 tspn yellow colour
• 1/4 tspn salt

Method:

1. Crush the Digestive Biscuits in the Mixer. Add 3 tbsp of butter to this powdered biscuits & make a base in a cake tin (8 or 9 inch square/round mold).
2. Add 1.5 tbsp Gelatin to 1/4 cup hot water & stir continuously so no lumps are formed. Set  this aside to cool.
3. Now pop in the 2 chopped Mangoes to the mixer & make a smooth puree.
4. To it add  cream cheese, sugar, salt, gelatin,  essence & grind for about 1 minute until its smooth
5. Now fold in the whipped cream mixture into the Mango cream cheese mixture & also add some yellow colour.
6. Mix it well & pour this into the mold, chill this in the freezer for an hour or in the fridge to set for 5 to 8 hours.

Note:

• I added Mango essence as the mango did not have much flavour.
• Colour is optional, since I wanted a rich Alfonso mango colour so added some colour
• If you don't get cream cheese just hang thick yogurt in a cheese cloth overnight & you will get fresh home made cream cheese.
• I added color only to half of the cheese cake mixture & made it like 2 different color layer.

 

 

  

In the below picture you can see the biscuit base & the next picture I have poured the cheese cake mixture in the mould & its ready to go into the refrigerator.

 

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Blondies

For video recipe click here

Blondie's are cousins of Brownie & cookies. They are such a wonderful treat & absolutely tasty. I used Peanut Butter chips in my recipe. Well you can also add chocolate chips & nuts if you want. This is a wonderful snack for your kids. Its definitely rich as there is a lot of butter going in there. My lill Zion loved this sweet & I was so happy to see his snack box empty:).

I have been in the process of making video recipes, due to time & also support constraints this has been pending in a long while. Well where there is a will there is a way right? I am going to dedicate some time for this & you will see more of my video recipe soon. I must thank my Maid Mary for video graphing & always being there. Thankfully Zion was sleeping & we could shoot most of it without any disturbance. However you will hear him in the last part of the video:) I am waiting fir feedback from my readers & I hope you will love my video recipe.

Recipe Source:Laura
Serves: 16 bite size pieces
Making time: 45 mins

For video recipe click here

Ingredients:

• 1 cup+2tbsp Plain flour
• 1/2cup brown sugar
• 1/2cup granulated sugar
• 80 gms Butter
• 1 egg Lightly beaten
• 1 Tspn baking powder
• 1/4 Tspn salt
• 1tspn Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup PeanutButter Chips

Method:

1. Cream the butter & sugar until smooth
2. Add lightly beaten eggs & blend in well
3. Add in flour, baking powder, salt, Vanilla Essence & mix well
4. Finally add in the PeanutButter chips & fold in the mixture
5. Bake in a preheated oven for 25- 35 mins or until tooth pick insert comes out clean.

Note:

• Add 1 tspn of flour into the Peanut Butter chips so that they dont settle down while baking.
• You can add in nuts if you want
• If you want it more crunchy than you can bake it a little longer may be 40 mins

Banoffe Pie

This will be by 2nd post for BM#27 under occasions. This is one dessert that will be a hit at your home party, festival celebration, birthday parties or any celebrations.

The first time I heard about this Pie was in last years Master chef India episode. After watching this on TV, I did some research on the net to know how it is made. The recipe was very very easy & for some reason I dint try making this immediately. Now I really regret for not making this in the past. This pie is amazing & at the moment this is our fav dessert at home. I just had a piece now & sitting in from of my laptop still staring at this pic & salivating for more:) LOL . I made this both on Saturday & Sunday. My hubby was so impatient & wanted to have it even before it was set. Well we actually had the first pie even before it could set completely:) Since the pie got over so soon, I had to make it again the next day for Easter lunch. The recipe is very simple & I think anyone can make this pie. Everyone must try this & I am sure you will fall in love with this pie.

There are various version of this recipe on the net, but I used dulce le leche in my recipe.  According to Wikipedia dulce le leche is a confection prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. Literally translated, it means "candy of milk". You can make this either cooking the condensed milk in a pot of water for 3 hours or just pressure cook it until 4 whistles. The condensed milk gets thicker by doing this & is used as a sauce in many dessert recipes. I refered here for the recipe, but modified it a bit. This is how I made it...

(In this picture the condensed milk was not cooked for too long & thats why this has a light brown color & not very thick.)

This condensed milk was cooked for longer. I pressure cooked it for 20- 25 mins with whistle on low flame & took around 8 to 10 whistles.

Serves: 6 big pieces.

Making time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1 Tin Condensed milk

10 digestive biscuits

50 gms butter

3 big Bananas sliced

2 cups of heavy whipping cream (Whip it until stiff peaks)

4 tbsp of icing sugar

3 tbsp of grated chocolate

Method:

1. Step 1:In pressure cooker place the condensed milk in a bowl with water covered till the neck of the tin. Cook this on low flame for about 20 - 25 mins until 8 to 10 whistles.
2. Once the cooker is cooled, remove it carefully & place it under the running water to cool.
3.  Once its cooled remove the tin cover & keep it in the fridge for it to cool for some more time
4. Step2: Tip the biscuit crumbs into a bowl. Add the butter and mix in. Spoon the crumbs into the 8 inch loose bottom cake tin base and about halfway up the sides of the tin to make a pie shell. Chill for 10 minutes. .
5. Step3:Spread the Dulce le leche base evenly on the pie base
6. Now place the banana slices on top of the sauce
7. Whip the whipping cream with icing sugar untill still peaks. Fill the piping bag with whipped cream & fill the pie with 2 inch thickness whipped cream. (I used the star tip to get this flower design)
8. Garnish the top with grated chocolate & chill in it the fridge for about 2 hours. If you are impatient liek me, than put it in the freezer for about 1/2 hour & its ready to serve.

Note:

If you want you can make many layers of these.

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