Real vanilla bean cheesecake with blueberry topping

Everyone who knows me knows that I always order a cheesecake for dessert when I’m dining out. I have always wanted to try making it at home and now I can say with some confidence that I know how to make a decent one. I would still recommend that you buy one off the shelf rather than make one at home, simply because cream cheese is so expensive in India and It’s not worth it to make a huge one for a dinner party. But my love for baking and my gluttony for cheesecake make me want to bake it again and again!

My version involves a shortbread crust to go with the cheesecake but you could do with a biscuit/cracker base as well. I always use fresh vanilla scraped off the vanilla bean, but this can most definitely be substituted with vanilla extract.

This cheesecake is actually a shortcut version of the actual one; it takes only 20 minutes to bake and a couple of hours to chill before serving. I used Philadelphia cream cheese, which is the classic cheese used for cheesecakes. But you could also try ricotta, mascarpone, curd cheese or cottage cheese. However, if you want the taste to be spot on, go for Philadelphia cream cheese. It’s expensive but it makes the cut.

I can think of a few things you should remember while doing cheesecakes. First, all the ingredients must remain at room temperature. The cream cheese should be beaten till smooth and creamy without any lumps, and at a slow speed to reduce the amount of air incorporated into the batter. Cheesecakes are baked in a slow oven to prevent cracking and are done when the filling is set but still a little wet and wobbly in the centre. Let cool before covering and placing in the refrigerator for several hours, or even overnight. I tend to add a little grated lemon zest to the batter to perk up the flavours a bit, but then this is just my way of doing it.

This one is a basic cheesecake with vanilla bean flavouring; so it’s versatile in terms of what you wish to serve it with. Fresh strawberries, preserved blueberries, chocolate sauce or any other topping that suits your palate.

 Prep time: 15min

Cooking time: 1hr

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients
Shortbread Crust

130g plain flour

35g icing sugar

1/8 tsp salt

113g cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes

Filling

450g of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

130g granulated white sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract or ½ vanilla bean scraped

½ tsp grated lemon zest

120ml sour cream, room temperature

Method

Shortbread Crust

Lightly butter a non-stick 8-9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse till combined evenly. Add the butter cubes and pulse till the pastry starts to come together in small bread crumb-like lumps. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and using your fingers tips and knuckles, gently pressing the pastry into the base and up the sides of the pan. Use the back of a spoon to even out the surface of the pastry. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork (so it won’t rise while baking), cover the tart pan with cling film and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15-20 min to chill (so it won’t shrink while baking).

Preheat the oven to 220°C. When the pastry is completely chilled, place the tart pan on a larger baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 -15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C.

Filling

Beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and sour cream and beat until incorporated. Transfer the filling to the tart pan. 

Bake for about 18 -22 minutes or until firm but the centres of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).

Serve with strawberry or raspberry sauce, fresh berries, or drizzle with melted chocolate. These cheesecakes can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Espresso vanilla layered cake with chocoloate ganache icing

This is a simple adaptation of the all purpose pound cake (which simply means that you use equal quantities of sugar, butter, flour and eggs; each egg is considered equivalent to 50g). I have flavoured the pound cake with espresso and fresh vanilla, but feel free to make any combination you like. The chocolate ganache icing is really rich and makes the whole dessert go from mundane to amusing. I know I say this for every recipe I post, but honestly this one is a no-brainer. An easy recipe for those starting on the baking journey with little chances of going wrong. And yet, it looks fancy and tastes exotic!

The brown sugar in the recipe is not a must, but considering that this is an espresso cake, the brown sugar caramelizes beautifully giving it a lovely coffee brown colour. Like mentioned, I used fresh vanilla straight out of the vanilla bean, and if you try this once you wouldn’t want to go back to using that essence again. But again, you can tweak every recipe to suit your pantry (and your imagination).

Prep time: 20min

Cooking time: 1hr

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients

For the espresso cake

Instant coffee 4-5 tbsp (Use a dense flavoured coffee; I used Colombian)

½ cup warm milk

2 eggs, whisked

100g unsalted butter

100g brown sugar, powdered

100g plain all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ vanilla bean, scraped OR 1 tsp vanilla essence

For the icing

150g dark chocolate, cubed

100ml double cream, whisked to form soft peaks, kept at room temperature

For garnish

Fresh strawberries, sliced

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a non-stick cake tray with some unsalted butter. Keep aside.

Sift the flour with the baking powder. Add the vanilla essence/ fresh vanilla to the whisked eggs. Add the instant coffee to the warm milk and mix well. Keep aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a huge bowl till soft and creamy. Now add the eggs and the flour alternatively, a little at a time, folding in gently. Add the coffee-milk mixture to the dough and fold in till evenly combined. Pour the dough into the cake tray and bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 min at 180°C (or until a strand of uncooked spaghetti inserted into the cake comes out clean).

Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least an hour. Now slice the cake into two layers with a cake knife. Keep the two layers side by side, ready for icing.

Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler till smooth and gooey. Combine the melted chocolate with the double cream and quickly pour half the icing over the top surface of the bottom layer of the cake. Now place the top later of the cake on the bottom layer and pour the remaining half of the icing on top of the cake. Garnish with fresh sliced strawberries and a dollop of double cream.

Black magic cupcakes with honeycomb, strawberry cream and strawberry purée

My favourite place in the world is my gourmet wholesale store. It’s situated in a very crowded, busy (not to mention dirty), wholesale market in Kolkata. But when I’m there, I don’t see the filth and hear the loud noises, I just feel my senses going berserk with all the mesmerizing smells and flavours…cheeses, sauces, essences, vinegars, and chocolate! Yesterday I found these amazing Belgian bitter chocolate chips and I had to have them! Like a child in a candy store, my eyes gleaming with desire, I bought them home and made the most indulgent bitter chocolate cupcakes! Personally, I am not a huge fan of chocolate, but dessert is just incomplete without it!

I was disappointed when I couldn’t get the cupcake to ooze chocolate from within (as per my fantasy), so I made them a second time, without much success again (although these were better than batch 1; almost oozing but not wet enough). I realised that it’s the shape of the mould that requires changing and not the actual technique. Read my bench notes below to understand this concept better. Try them and let me know if you got the stubborn babies to ooze chocolate!

Ooze or no-ooze, this cupcake is just divine. Hence the name black magic (kala jadoo sounds more dramatic though)!




Serves: 12
Prep time: 20min
Cooking time: 40min


Ingredients
Cupcakes
125g unsalted butter, cubed
150g dark chocolate roughly chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp baking powder
50g plain flour, sifted with baking powder
Muffin paper shells
Muffin tray/moulds

Honeycomb
100g caster sugar
50grm liquid glucose
100ml water
1tbsp bicarb soda

Strawberry cream
50ml double cream, whipped
1tbsp icing sugar
50g fresh strawberries, puréed

Strawberry purée
50g fresh strawberries
1tsp caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
30-50ml water

Extra strawberries for serving

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cupcakes
For the cupcakes, grease muffin paper shells with some unsalted butter, and place in a muffin tray.

Place butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl (use borosil) over a pan of one‑third full gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir over medium heat until the chocolate and butter are smooth and combined. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla until thick and pale. Next, gently fold in the flour and then fold in the cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Divide the mixture among the prepared muffin moulds and bake muffins for 12-14min or until risen and just set, but wobbly in the centre. Allow to rest on the bench for 5 minutes, before removing the muffin paper shells.

Honeycomb
For the honeycomb, line a deep roasting tray with baking paper (coming up over the edges).

Place the sugar, glucose and water in a large saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 5 minutes or until a pale-golden caramel. Remove from heat and working quickly, whisk in the bicarb soda (it will froth and bubble – don’t whisk too much otherwise you will knock out all the air bubbles). Quickly pour into the lined pan and lightly shake to level out (take care as pan will become very hot). Cool for 45min or until hard. Break into small chunks

Strawberry cream
For the strawberry cream, whip the cream with the icing sugar until it holds firm peaks. Stir through the pureed strawberries and set aside.

Strawberry purée
For the strawberry purée, place strawberries, cater sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and water in a medium saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5min or until syrupy. Remove from heat; allow to cool for a few minutes and purée in a blender.

Finally, remove the cupcakes from the paper moulds, drizzle with strawberry purée, scatter some honeycomb and extra strawberries and serve with a spoonful of strawberry cream.




Bench notes
This recipe requires the use of non-stick dariole moulds which I could not catch hold of, and so I used the usual cupcake moulds. The shape of the dariole mould (like a tiny bucket) is such that it allows the sides of the cake to cook quickly, while the centre remains gooey and oozes out when you cut the cake (12-14min is sufficient for the outsides to cook completely). This is difficult to achieve with the muffin moulds as the shape of the mould allows equal and quick distribution of heat, leaving the centre of the muffin, surely softer that the sides, but not gooey and wet.

However, if you have non-stick muffin trays, don’t use the muffin paper shells. The paper further blocks the transfer of heat to the sides, leaving you with no choice but to wait until the sides get cooked, by which time the centre is no more wet or gooey. If you do use non-stick muffin trays, be sure to grease the moulds generously with butter.

It is important that while melting the chocolate in the double boiler method, you do not let the chocolate boil; stop heating when it melts.



As easy as it sounds, baking involves a lot of science and technique and it’s only when you get your hands dirty will you actually appreciate these subtle intricacies.