The delectable., the divine, the cheesecake

I adore cheesecakes. I am not fussy i love fridge cheesecakes, with their crusty base and creamy smooth fillings. I love baked cheesecakes from the classic New York cheese that is crumbly and creamy to the sweetest caramel topped slice. Of course the Japanese cheesecake without a base, that is also known as the jiggle cake is light, crumbly and creamy all at the same time - absolute bliss. While testing out various recipes - yes and tasting them all! I kept coming across all the different types of cream cheese & creams, its so confusing when you stand in the fridge aisle and try to find the correct one for your recipe. So I thought I would share with you a quick and easy chart on what the different cream names are all about.

First cream cheese and cottage cheese, always a price difference here so what is it all about? Well cream cheese is soft, smooth and an unripened cheese made either with cream or a mixture of milk and cream. It is usually almost white and has a mild, rich flavor. It is this delectable cheese used in our bakes - full cream is my personal preference but you can use medium fat. Cottage cheese is similar to cream cheese but has a lower fat content as it is made from skim or nonfat milk. .

Now for creams. The main difference between the creams is down to their fat content. Heavy cream has a fat content between 36 - 48%. The more fat the thicker it is in the tub. Higher fat content means it is more stable for whipping, is dense and ideal for piping. Cream marked whipping cream has a lower fat content around 30% and whips into a lighter & voluminous cream, glorious spooned over desserts. Pouring cream contains the lowest fat content, and is used to enrich soups and sauces. Sour cream is a tangy cultured cream, using pouring cream as its base with a low fat content of 18% it does not whip, added to bring a tart flavor to cakes & sauces. Creme Fraiche is made from fresh cream that has been cultured to produce a slightly tart taste, it has a high fat content but cannot be whipped Adds a creamy taste to sauces and is ideal served with fruits, it is a lovely table product with a refined flavor. . 

I use a ton of creams, and cream cheese in my baking. I love the richness it brings and the flavor it produces. So here is to the glorious cheesecake - the sweet, the sour, tart and the tangy!

New York Cheesecake

Salted Caramel cheesecake

Japanese cheesecake

S' more's - what on earth?

Including S’mores cookie bars as a flavour of the week was inspired by my friend Rae.. At an afternoon around the table, our teenagers went off with a bag of marshmallows tot eh fire and came back with these indulgent treats. I love the blend of crisp biscuit, gooey melted marshmallow and pools of melted chocolate int eh centre - Bliss. I decided to find out where they came from and why the weird name. This is what I found out.

The name is a contract of the term “some More” because once you’ve tried these you just want some more. The first recipe for the campfire treat is 90-years-old and recorded in a cookbook - “ Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts”.. I found it amusing the idea behind the book was to encourage healthy eating, but the recipe that is most used is that for S’mores or as they were originally called “ Graham Cracker Sandwich” or simply “Some More”.

It was the French who first marketed marshmallow as a treat and by the end of the 19th century, the original plant extracts were replaced with gelatine to give us the marshmallows we know today. The Graham cracker is my best bit. these basic, bland dry crackers were the idea of a Minister Graham who wanted to curve man’s obsession with carnal lust by creating this biscuit. It’s so ironic to think that this biscuit is the base of cheesecakes, desserts and part of the glorious S’mores today. The closet we have in my country is the Digestive biscuit tot original Graham cracker.

 The original Girls Scout recipe ran something like this: To feed 16 hungry scouts take 16 graham crackers, eight bars of plain chocolate and 16 marshmallows. Next, toast the marshmallows to a "crispy, gooey state." Then, put the marshmallow on top of a chocolate bar and in between two graham crackers and, viola, you got a "Some More."

As a tribute to this great campfire tradition and in honour of my darling friend Rae I now present the S’Mores Cookie Bar! A delicious blend of marshmallow, biscuits and chocolate in a cookie bar base - blissful, delightful and reminiscent of summer evenings around the fire.

Crazy year!

This year is a weird one, pandemics, lockdown, social distancing and masks. ? I have put baking for others on hold as we had shortages of ingredients and how do you sell when you can’t see or talk to anyone except over zoom.

While the virus is still causing chaos, commerce is slowly opening up and I have taken the time to join philosophy of yum’s business course. My goodness, it has been educational, inspiring and exciting. So here is to new starts, new ideas and fresh bakes.

A new idea is to launch a flavour of the week each Friday - these will only be available on the day, Watch out for these amazing tasty, mouthwatering treats.

Early days

Baking has always been my happy place

One of my earliest memories is standing in the kitchen with my grandmother making rock cakes and jam tarts. My gran was one of the old school bakers, and I remember watching her intently as she added a bit of this and a pinch of that. She always let me get stuck in to mixing and kneading and then we would wait impatiently for the oven to finish its work. I remember always taking cakes before they were cool, and gran always telling me I would get a tummy ache. I never did! From way back then I have always loved to play in the kitchen, trying out new thing, recreating old favourites and sharing with all and sundry. This love affair has lasted through all the years of teaching, working, rasing a family and has now developed from ahobby baking for friends into a full on home bakery. I am looking forward to sharing my journey with you, as well as my passion for butter, sugar and cream.

The Challenge

Fudge - my absolute addiction

While several of my friends embark on the local gyms bi annual fitness challenge. I am faced with the task of selecting only some of my favourite bakes to sell in the bakery. How to choose between lemon butter biscuits and shortbread? Do I include breads and croissants or just stick to cakes and biscuits? I think I will have to run specials every month with the bakes that didn’t make the short list. Happy baking.