The quintessential Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake, one I bake every year. Here’s this years version inspired by different recipes from @bbcgoodfood and a bit of my own. Fruit mince from scratch soaked in a gentle mix of orange zest, orange juice, garam masala, whiskey, brandy and rum. Not very potent yet pleasing enough. Some folk are surprised at garam masala in cake. This was what my mother always used when we were young. Ground cinnamon, nutmeg etc. were unavailable in the local market at the time. Garam masala or warm winter spices made up a heady bouquet, available in all our homes. A new year fruit cake was customary to bake in the armed forces then. I try to keep that tradition going!Each year I promise I’ll get the cake done in time, each year promising my self that I won’t procrastinate. Each year I fall back. This year too. Well, to my credit, I soaked the fruit in November and was walking on the moon! Aaaaaaand slowly, the clock ticked away, and soon it was December! Time to panic, yet I did only get the tins lined after Cocoka nudged me. Big time!So, three days ago I quickly got into baking mode, or rather Christmas Fruit Cake baking mode. Dug into recipes, ideas for last minute cakes, inspiration for here and there. Finally came up with this, inspired largely from a recipe on BBC Good Food, then a bit of my own.The hero of the cake is of course garam masala, my secret ingredient which makes the cake what it is. Strong warm spices that marry the cut fruit, languish in heady spirits, sweet fresh orange juice, some zest too. The end result is flavourful and so good!Look how beautiful the Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake looks! And I did have some soaked fruit leftover too. Watch this space to see what I used it for. Until then, here’s the recipe for the Garam Masala Fruit Cake. Maybe make it for New Year like my mother always did?
The quintessential Garam Masala Christmas Fruit Cake, one I bake every year. Fruit mince from scratch soaked in a gentle mix of orange zest, orange juice, garam masala, whiskey, brandy and rum. Not very potent yet pleasing enough.
4tbspcaramel {made from 4 tbsp sugar then 1 tbsp water added later}
5eggs
1tspvanilla bean paste
200gall purpose flour
100gwhole almonds
1tspbaking powder
150gwalnutsfinely chopped
180gcashewsfinely chopped
Instructions
Fruit Mince
Chop candied ginger and orange peel in food processor. Place in a large bowl and stir in remaining ingredients for mincemeat.
Mix to coat well. Clingwrap tightly and sit in a cool place for about a week. If it is warm, you can place the sealed bowl in the fridge {Remove a few hours before you plan to bake the cake}
Fruit Cake
Line one large 8" deep tin or 1 7" round tin + 1 mini loaf pan + 1 3" small round tin with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 150C.
Place the flour, almonds and baking powder in the jar of a processor. Process until the almonds are ground fine. Reserve.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk the butter and brown sugar on medium speed till smooth, 5-6 minutes.
Whisk in the eggs one by one, followed by the caramel and vanilla bean paste.
Once well blended, stir in the flour mix and chopped nuts.
Transfer batter to prepared tins, and bake for about 2.5-3 hours, until done.
As soon as they come out of the oven, pour oven about a cup of mixed red wine, brandy and rum {optional}
Allow to cool completely, then cover with clingwrap and leave in a cool place. Slice only once cool.
You could feed the cake a couple more times if you like.
Coffee Mascarpone Layered Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache, the cake of my dreams, one I baked in a hurry for my birthday! It was delicious once sliced, the flavours coming together just as I had hoped they would. Coffee and chocolate are my to-go flavour combination, and my basic sponge recipe a favourite too, one that lives in my head. It’s been a while since I baked a layer cake. The better half appreciatively called this one an old-fashioned cake, possibly because I fast track most cakes these days.It’s often a quick cheesecake or a flourless cake that I turn out, a reflection of ‘so much to do and so little time, also one that points towards my habit of procrastination. This one was planned no differently, yet, happily enough, I made a layered cake!A special occasion cake needs more effort, and for my birthday, no matter what, it’s A L W A Y S a coffee chocolate one I bake! And call me a sucker for punishment or what you like, I just came in from a long exhausting shoot the previous day. That was great fun but had me on my feet for almost 15 hours every day, and I came back to excited puppies and guinea pigs. Family too of course!All I wanted to was to vegetate, basically sit in one place and grow roots. Yet just the thought of coffee cake had me turn on the Kitchen Aid, eight eggs & sugar whipping away silently as I readied the other stuff. There’s barely anything else to this sponge other than lining the tins and preheating the oven of course. Add some flavour {vanilla, coffee powder, coffee extract if you like}, throw in some baking powder and a pinch of salt. A quick sifting of flour over, and a gentle fold through and that’s all it takes.Then I pretty much had to think the filling and frosting. That the filling was going to be coffee mascarpone was already in my head. Then I got a little lazy since I had forgotten to chill the cream, and decided to go with a dark chocolate ganache just because it seemed so much simpler! That was the simplest thing ever, one I hurriedly made as the sponges baked. Since the weather is quite cool, I left the chocolate ganache out at room temperature for 2-3 hours to rest. Once you have all the elements sorted out, the Coffee Mascarpone Layered Cake doesn’t take long to assemble.A quick brush of a simple coffee syrup, then coffee mascarpone, and repeat with all four layers. Since I was short on time, I popped it into the freezer for 30 minutes. Ideally I would have left it to sit for a couple of hours, or overnight, for the flavours to mature. That done, it was time for the ganache which was perfectly smooth at room temperature.You do need to move quick as the ganache hits the chilled cake. One thin base coat, followed by a generous top coat, a sifting over of cocoa powder, a scattering of chocolate flakes, a few coffee beans and we’re good to go! Into the fridge to chill for a couple of hours to allow the flavours to mature, hoping it was going to be delicious once sliced. I really had to chase the light to get a shot; daylight is really at a premium these days.
Coffee Mascarpone Layered Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Coffee and chocolate are a pairing made in heaven, and this Coffee Mascarpone Layered Cake doesn't disappoint. Make it the previous day if you like, the flavours mature well over time.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours45 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Coffee sponge 8" X 2
8eggs
1/2cupbrown sugar
1/2cupvanilla sugar
3tbspinstant coffee
1tspcoffee extract
1tspvanilla extract
1tspbaking powder
pinchsalt
1cupall purpose flour
2tbspcornflour
Coffee Syrup
1/3cupWater
cup½sugar
1tbspinstant coffee powder
Coffee Mascarpone Filling
250gcreamchilled
50gicing sugar {to taste}
3tspinstant coffee powder
250gmascarponechilled
Dark chocolate ganache
300gsingle cream
450g52% couverture chocolate
Garnish
cocoa powderchocolate shavings, coffee beans
Instructions
Coffee Sponge
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the bottom and sides of 2 X 8″ spring form/loose bottomed round tins.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs with both sugars till thick and mousse like, 7-10 minutes.
Add the coffee and vanilla extract and beat in again for a minute, then beat in the baking powder and pinch of salt.
Sift the flour over, folding gently in 3 lots, lightly till it’s mixed through well. Be careful not to release the beaten in air.
Turn the batter into the prepared baking tin, and bake for 30-35 minutes, till a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on racks, then slice into two horizontally, total 4 layers.
Coffee Syrup
Place ingredients in a small pan and stir until sugar dissolves. Cool.
tbsp instant coffee powder
Coffee Mascarpone Filling
Whip the cream, sugar and coffee together till medium stiff peaks form. Fold in the mascarpone. Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
Place chopped chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl and run at high in the microwave for 1 minute. Whisk until smooth, then leave it to rest to cool. Whisk again before using.
Assemble
Brush each layer with the coffee syrup, and sandwich with the filling.
Give the whole cake a thin layer of ganache as a base coat. Let it set for about 5 minutes.
Frost with the remaining ganache.
Sift over with cocoa powder and garnish with chocolate shavings and coffee beans.
Chill for about an hour or overnight. The flavours mature nicely over time.
Dark Chocolate Walnut Gateau … baking up for when the world’s lightest full frame DSLR comes over for a review. Well it’s a Canon, more specifically a Canon 6D Mark II, and you just know it’s time to add to the wishlist. Light, at a mere 685 grams, wifi enabled, a touch screen technology, good in low light, not sure what more you can ask for?Did they say adequate weather sealing too? YES!!Yes indeed, it’s a model that won me over even though I already use the Canon 5D Mark III. It seems a matter of luxury to have touch screen auto focus and even a shooting option with the touch screen. For a fleeting moment you might feel redundant since it’s a camera that appears to frame, focus and even shoot on auto! Yet once you get past that initial awe and excitement, this is a good feel, full frame snappy camera with a powerful processor.I speak from quite the non tech point of view but because I have always used Canon as a brand, I am a huge fan of the brand and quality products. I set off with a Canon PS40 when I began shooting, graduated to a G9, then an EOS 50D, and now use a 5D Mark III. Ever since I cut over to the DSLR beginning with a 50D, I used a Canon f/2.8 100mm lens for food photography. I’ve now graduated to an L series lens of the same specs and for me that’s the best lens to shoot food.The Canon 6D Mark II on review came with a kit lens, the 24-105mm f/4 which is pretty decent for a kit lens and the full frame camera. It has the image stabilisation feature that I find so useful, especially in low light conditions. Since I am used to shooting with the 100mm f/2.8 lens and used to the results that gets, it was only a matter of time before I snapped that onto the 6D body.
The images above are all with the kit lens and the ones that follow with the 100mm f/2.8. Such an absolute pleasure to shoot with the 6D. It’s snappy, it’s quick and has a great new processor and a large sensor. These relate to less noise in your images. The live view focus is also really fast and enviable, and the colours are great. The wifi function also means that you can instantly share images to different devices without the hassle of downloading to another device tethered, or via a card reader etc.For the modern day digital lifestyle, this is an amazing feature. It takes the ease of what the cellphone camera can do, and places it in a camera. You might argue that carrying a camera is cumbersome, and these days cellphones produce amazing images too. Then again, If you are like me and are used to a DSLR to take pictures, then there’s nothing else that can offer you the same satisfaction.For you then, the 6D is a good choice if it’s in your budget range. It begins at INR 1,32,000 and if you are a serious photography enthusiast, then it’s a great investment. Though it is always the eye that frames the shot, the person that visualises the frame, you need great equipment to deliver the result. With a full HD capability and an LCD that shoots upto 4 frames a second with less shake in a video, this just might be the camera to consider.I have this Canon 6D in my view even though I love my 5D Mark III to bits. I love the innovative approach Canon has. The latest features are a sign of responding to the ever changing dynamic times, making life simpler while improving on quality, and largely responding to user feedback. How else would you find built in smart device pairings, remote control functions via a smart phone and instant transfers to devices?
If you have questions do let me know. I’ll try and answer them. Canon is my brand of choice as I’ve used no other, and find it meets my requirements and more.
And for the record, I barely do any post processing as most folk who know me are aware. So with minimal fixes {if any}, these are basically just images straight from the camera. I’d love to play around with it more, figure out white balance better etc, but for now I’ll say adieu!
… oh, and before I forget, the Dark Chocolate Walnut Gateau is a delicious healthy alternative for dessert. It’s flourless, it’s wholesome, and chocolate of course! You could actually serve it without the topping, yet who wouldn’t mind added indulgence?
Chocolate and walnuts are a marriage made in heaven. Giving a favourite an even healthier twist, this cake comes with a serving of oats too. It’s flourless, gluten free, moist and delicious. Make it ahead as a tea cake or dessert.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 4 hourshours35 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Walnut Oat Base
30gclarified butter {ghee}
150gwalnuts
40gquick cooking oats
15gbrown sugar
Dark Chocolate Filling
4egg yolks
50gbrown sugar
1tspvanilla beanscraped {or 1vanilla extract}
15gcoffee powder
100gdark chocolatemelted
2tbspWater
4egg whites
1pinchcream of tartar
50gbrown sugar
30goatmeal
1/2tspbaking powder
10gpowdered sugar for sifting
Mascarpone Caramel Cream
200gmascarponechilled
2-3tbspsalted caramel sauce
Salted caramel sauce to drizzle
Instructions
Flourless Gateau
Preheat oven to 180 C. Butter an 8" springform tin. Line the base with parchment paper
Walnut Oat Base
Run walnuts, oats and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in food processor till ground. Add the clarified butter/ghee and pulse till it all comes together.
Gently press this into the bottom and up the sides of the baking tin to form a base.
Dark Chocolate Filling
Place the egg whites in the bowl of the stand mixer. Add 50g brown sugar, pinch of cream of tartar and beat on high speed to stiff peaks. Reserve in a separate bowl.
Place the egg yolks in the same bowl of the stand mixer. Beat on high speed for 5-7 minutes until thick and mousse like. Add the remaining 50g brown sugar, coffee powder and scraped vanilla bean, and continue to beat for another 3 minutes. Gently stir in the oats flour and baking powder.
Fold in the melted chocolate and water.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites, beginning with a quarter at a time.
Turn the filling over the walnut base and spread uniformly. Sprinkle over with 1 tbsp brown sugar
Bake for approximately 30 minutes, cool in the pan for another 15-20 minutes
Loosen sides, and leave to cool completely for about 2 hours. The centre will drop/sink
Chill, then top with the mascarpone cream.
Topping
Whisk the mascarpone until smooth.
Take 2-3 tbsp and whisk in the salted caramel sauce to loosen, the gently fold this through the remaining mascarpone. Taste and add more sauce if desired.
Top the chilled cake with this, add some salted caramel popcorn if you like.
Slightly warm a little more salted caramel sauce and drizzle over to finish.
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Balsamic Cherries & Whipped Almond Cream … and how easy it was to bring the whole thing together using one basic magic machine in the kitchen. I’m talking about the Tefal Masterchef Gourmet that I recently received to review, and I have to say it is fab! Any new kitchen appliance is JOY for me, the prospects of using it to create something I enjoy, immense. Add to the experience the Tefal Hard Titanium Pan, and the joy doubled. I really enjoyed using the two.I’ve used Tefal products for a long time. Years ago when I worked with BA, I bought a lot of my appliances from the UK, and it was Tefal more often than never. I still have the Tefal Coffee Maker & Toaster for the 1990’s though it might well be a museum relic now! Just the nostalgia and connect to the days gone by made me happy to try the brand again now that it’s been launched in India.Unpacking the Tefal Masterchef Gourmet is like entering a candy shop. It has everything and more. The good thing about the machine is that it includes JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING you might need in the kitchen. Leaves you no requirement to buy additional appliances. I had to take a deep breath while unpacking as the bits and bobs seemed never-ending. I’ve yet to see a gourmet station that comes with a blender, slicer/shredder, meat mincer and juice extractor.I had to put it to use, and tried to churn out a cake using a few of the attachments. I have to say that the powerful 900W appliance did not disappoint. Seemed to do its job effortlessly and efficiently, with hardly any noise. My favourites were many, but the die cast beater that whipped up the cream to beautiful peaks won me over. Living here in India, that has to be one of the biggest challenges to making a layer cake with single whipping cream. {My secret is in the recipe below.}
Small amounts of cream just don’t get whipped up in large bowls, and often I reach for the electric hand beater. I like to make small desserts often for the family that are enjoyed and devoured quick. It gives me an opportunity to bake more often, keep experimenting and have fodder for the blog! It’s only when we have folk over that I need larger portions, and the large 4.6 litre capacity bowl works well for both.Thanks to its die cast beater and Flex Whisk Technology, the Masterchef Gourmet effortlessly whipped up the cream to beautiful peaks and made me SMILE! For me, that has to be the best thing ever. The appliance also effortlessly whips egg whites that are ultra fluffy and ultra airy, even from 1 egg up. That’s huge for me and for people who do home baking and need small portions. That it caters to larger portions as well is great!So I decided to experiment with a healthy chocolaty quinoa layer cake with a frosting, something much in line with my latest obsession of using whole grains. Add to it, the recent discovery of a love for quinoa, this was going to be fun. I put the blender to use for the quinoa, dark chocolate and wholegrain flour. The blender seemed light, yet was so efficient. It fits on top of the machine. It took me five minutes to figure out where it should go, but the French designed appliance had me covered. One look at the manual, and I found a neat hidden cap on the top.The appliance is very intuitive and fun to use. Within seconds, I had a crumb mix which I transferred into the large mixing bowl. In the next couple of minutes, I had batter. Really that simple! If you’d like a lighter cake, feel free to whip the single egg white separately, and fold it in gently towards the end.Flourless and wholegrain cakes generally have heavier crumbs, and it’s all a matter of taste. We love the bite and luxury whole grains offer. That said, I’m not a purist and I can’t wait to try a light as air sponge cake with the machine! Maybe that’s next!
While the cake was baking, I turned to the cherries. What a breeze. It aint no secret that I love good quality frying pans and this one from Tefal, the Hard Titanium Pan is my new love. Its Thermo-Spot ring turns full red when your pan reaches the right temperature for perfect searing. Fancy! The range has a pancake pan, a wokpan and 2 frypans.Also, you can use a metal spoon to stir, which is just so convenient. I don’t need to constantly switch between metal spoons I use everyday to special spatulas. And did I tell you that it’s easy clean? Yes, and how. I’m one of those who work in the kitchen and wash up everything and put them back when I’m done. The pan was a breeze to clean.So here’s the recipe, much in line with my current obsession of baking/cooking with whole grains and my hashtag of #makehalfyourgrainswhole. Happily, this is a trend that Tefal promotes too, “the emphasis is on family, sharing, and healthy ingredients“. You can make this cake eggless. Skip the egg, add a tbsp of yogurt but do note that the cake must be chilled and preferably not layered as the crumb is very delicate.You can also make it gluten free using oat flour instead of wholewheat flour. Same thing applies re the delicate crumb. Lastly, make this vegan by using coconut oil, coconut yogurt and coconut cream to experiment. I haven’t tried that yet but think of the immense possibilities. Once you have a kitchen appliance that works like magic sorted out, you can experiment endlessly! Have fun!
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Balsamic Cherries & Whipped Almond Cream
Flourless and wholegrain cakes generally have heavier crumbs, and it's all a matter of taste. We love the bite and luxury whole grains offer. This Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Balsamic Cherries & Whipped Almond Cream is a simple one bowl cake. Topped with luscious whipped cream and seasonal cherries makes it a great tea or birthday cake. Recipe can be easily doubled.
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 3 hourshours5 minutesminutes
Servings 4people
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake
100gcooked quinoachilled
100gdark chocolatechopped, room temperature
50gwholewheat flour
50gclarified butter/ghee
100gjaggery
1egg
1tspvanilla extract
15gcocoa powder
1tspbaking powder
1tbspyogurt {dahi}
Balsamic cherries
300gcherriespitted
2-3tbspbrown sugar
1tbspbalsamic vinegar
1/2vanilla beanscraped {optional}
Simple Sugar Syrup
1/2cupWater
1/4cupraw sugar
1tbspKirsch {optional}
Whipped Almond Cream
200mlsingle creamchilled
30mlclarified butter/ghee
2-3tbspraw sugar
4-5drop almond extract
Topping
Fresh cherries
Sprigs of fresh mint
Instructions
Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake
Preheat the oven to 160C. Line the sides and base of a 4" springform round tin with parchment.
Place the quinoa, dark chocolate and wholewheat flour {or oats} in jar of Tefal blender. Attach to top of food processor and process for 10-15 seconds at a time, scraping down each time, until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
Place the above with remaining ingredients in the bowl of the Tefal Kitchen Masterchef Gourmet, with the paddle attachment fitted. Process on low speed for 30 seconds until you get a uniform mix. Don't overmix.
Transfer to prepared bowl. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for 20 minutes, then cool completely on rack. Cut into two horizontal layers.
Simple Sugar Syrup
While the cake is baking, place both the ingredients in the Tefal Hard Titanium Pan and keep over medium heat, stirring until the sugar melts. Stir in Kirsch if using. Transfer to a small jug {or bowl}, and use same pan for cherries.
Balsamic cherries
Place all the ingredients in the Tefal Hard Titanium Pan and keep over low heat, stirring often. Feel free to use a metal spoon. Cook down until the syrup is nice and thick and the cherries are deep red. Allow to cool completely, transfer to a bowl. Chill.
Whipped Almond Cream
Place all ingredients in bowl of Tefal Kitchen Masterchef Gourmet with the whisking attachment fitted. Whisk on the highest speed for 4-5 minutes until the cream thickens and holds peaks. Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
Assemble
Place the lower layer of the Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake on a serving platter, and moisten with simple sugar syrup.
Top with half the Whipped Almond Cream, then half the Balsamic Cherries. Moisten the other layer of the Dark Chocolate Quinoa Cake with the sugar syrup and place on top.
Top with remaining cream. Garnish with fresh cherries and sprigs of fresh mint.
“But don’t forget, in the meantime, that this is the season for strawberries. Yes.”
Clarice Lispector
Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone & Strawberries might well be my best cheesecake to date. Smooth, rich, indulgent, satisfying and quite impressive for something made so simple. It’s inspired of course by the Dark Chocolate Cheesecake which is an absolute winner recipe by Ruchira.I had to bake dessert the other day, another late decision, another fast track recipe. I wanted something different this time, something lighter, something more Spring. This was experimental, and we waited with baited breath while it was cut. One bite … and I knew it was a winner.It’s not always easy to throw in this and that, hoping things will work out. Sometimes stuff like this works, sometimes it’s a total disaster. This time around it was surprisingly a 100% success. There was nothing I’d change about this Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone & Strawberries recipe, and I’m glad I took notes as I threw things in.As I mentioned earlier, I was really short on time. I first put the white chocolate into the Thermomix and blitzed it into a fine powder, then just added the remaining ingredients and stirred everything together. Ideally, like most cheesecake recipes with chocolate, you need to first melt and cool the chocolate before adding it to the batter. Well, this worked fine for me, so I think that’s yet another chocolate cheesecake shortcut will turn too often. If you have a sturdy food processor, then it takes less than a minute to grind chocolate really fine. Do try it this way too someday!This Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake is the easiest as the base doesn’t need to be baked separately. Leaves you a ton of time to figure out how to top it. Maybe too much time because I went a little indulgent. Well, to be honest, it was a special occasion bake, so some luxurious vanilla bean spiked mascarpone was much in place. Then of course the strawberries. So much you can do with them! This season in North India has seen an EXCELLENT strawberry crop, possibly the best ever. I’ve used them in just about everything, and they’re still falling off carts in the city. A quick jam like reduction, some balsamic, some vanilla, a dash of lime juice and sugar of course yielded a beautiful topping for the Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake.
Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone &; Strawberries
Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake with Mascarpone & Strawberries might well be my best cheesecake to date. Smooth, rich, indulgent, satisfying and quite impressive for something made so simple. A quick jam like reduction, some balsamic, some vanilla, a dash of lime juice and sugar of course yielded a beautiful topping for the cheesecake.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 9 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Biscuit base
185gdigestives biscuits
25gjaggery {or brown sugar}
55gbutter
White Chocolate Filling
200gwhite baking chocolate melted
300gcream cheese
400mlsingle cream
20gcornflour
4eggs
1/2tspvanilla bean paste {or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract}
100graw sugar
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
150gmascarpone cheese
25graw sugar
1/2tspvanilla bean paste
Strawberry Topping
250gstrawberrieschopped
Few sprigs fresh rosemary
100gsugar
1/2tspvanilla bean paste
1tbspbalsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime
Instructions
Biscuit base
Whiz the biscuits and jaggery in food processor until you get a fine meal. Add butter, whiz again to mix. Press into 7-8" loose bottom tin. Chill in the freezer while you get the filling ready, and the oven preheats.
White Chocolate Filling
Preheat oven to 160C.
Place all ingredients in bowl of food processor, and blend well to mix, 1-2 minutes on medium speed.
Pour into crust, and bake for an hour.
Cool completely in the oven, then chill covered in the fridge, preferably overnight.
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
Place all ingredients in a large bowl an whisk until just mixed and smooth. Don't overmix. Spread over chilled cheesecake.
Strawberry Rosemary Topping
Place all ingredients except lime juice in a non reactive sauce pan. Simmer over low heat until it becomes jam like and reaches the desired consistency. Taste and adjust sweetness. Discard rosemary. Add lime juice if desired. Cool completely {Can be made a day ahead}. Top the Vanilla Mascarpone Cream with this.
Garnish with freshly sliced strawberries and fresh rosemary sprigs.
Dark Chocolate Cheesecake with Wine Macerated Strawberries is really as good as it sounds and looks, and tastes even better. The cheesecake is a chocolate lovers delight – deep, dark, rich, sensuous, indulgent, sinful. With so many superlatives, I might well throw another in. It’s dead S I M P L E too! Make it ASAP and you’ll know just what I mean.It’s a recipe I’ve minimally adapted from Ruchira @ Cookaroo. She’s quite the best ‘chef’ I know. Her recipes are always quick, simple and foolproof. I’ve made this Dark Chocolate Cheesecake before and it was SO GOOD that I couldn’t wait to make it again.The recipe now lives in my head. I go about tweaking it here and there depending on what I have on hand. It’s a keeper! Minimal fuss, maximum taste! I throw it together in my Thermomix and it takes under 20 minutes to come together. I used digestive biscuits the last time. Didn’t have digestives on hand this time, so I threw in Hobnobs instead. Just as good! I do a lot of chocolate desserts, simple ones mostly. Simple recipes like these leave you a lot of time to think about what more you can do. I could have just gone naked {ahem} with the cheesecake, but a luscious rich chocolate ganache takes this beautiful Dark Chocolate Cheesecake to a delicious new level. How could I skip it. The cake was for a birthday, so now something had to be celebratory, I mean a little more celebratory. Also, so much time on hand makes me fidgety. I just have to do something more!
I thought maybe salter butter caramel and had visions of gooey goodness dripping off the edges. Yet when I opened the fridge, I saw a box of juicy fresh strawberries and I knew I had to have them on some way. Maybe do strawberries in balsamic vinegar? No, no, strawberries in red wine screamed the bottle of Shiraz at me.You might remember these Lamb Chops with Red Wine I made recently, best I’ve ever made. Rosemary, garlic, and a limited edition Shiraz came together ever so beautifully to create this dish with so much character and loads of depth. There was some wine left over, so red wine macerated strawberries it was going to be.Anything on my kitchen counter becomes an ingredient in my recipes. Loads of fresh oranges and star anise sitting pretty on the counter could only mean one thing. They would help flavour my macerated strawberries. In went the zest of an orange and a few star anise. They created delightful undertones as you can well imagine.The result was a flavoursome, beautifully coloured red wine topping which tastes as good as it looks. Here you go, the recipe is a must try. For me, it’s the only chocolate cheesecake recipe I’ll ever need! Thank you Ruchira ♥!
Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Red wine macerated strawberries
Dark, divine, sinful, creamy, chocolaty and above all, as simple as can be, this Dark Chocolate
Cheesecake will leave you wanting for more. Recipe minimally adapted from Ruchira @
thegreatcookaroo.com. You won’t need another recipe ever! Can be made 2-3 days ahead of time.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 13 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
Biscuit base
150gHobnobs or digestive biscuits
30gcocoa powder
20gorganic jaggery granules
50gbutter
Dark Chocolate Filling
200gdark couverture chocolate melted
300gcream cheese
200mlsingle cream
30gcup cocoa
3eggs
1tsppure vanilla extract
90gorganic jaggery granules
Ganache
100g52% couverture
100mlsingle cream
Red wine macerated strawberries
250gstrawberrieschopped
50-75gbrown sugar
2-3star anise
zest of one orange
100mlred wine
40mlorange juice
Instructions
Biscuit base
Whiz the biscuits, brown sugar and cocoa in food processor until you get a fine meal. Add butter, whiz again to mix. Press into 8″ loose bottom tin. Chill in the freezer while you get the filling ready, and the oven preheats.
Dark Chocolate Filling
Preheat oven to 160C.
Place all ingredients of the filling in bowl of food processor, and blend well to mix, 1-2 minutes on medium speed.
Pour into crust, and bake for an hour. Leave to cool in the oven, then cover and chill for 4-6 hours, better overnight.
Red Wine Macerated Strawberries
in a non reactive bowl, put in the strawberries, star anise, orange zest and brown sugar. Stir to mix, then pour in the wine. Stand covered in the fridge overnight.
Discard the star anise, and strain the strawberries. Reserve in a bowl. Place wine in a small saucepan with a quarter cup orange juice, and simmer until thick and syrupy. taste and adjust sweetness if required. Cool slightly, then pour over the strawberries.
Ladle the strawberries over the ganache. If the syrup is thin, reduce it further until nice and thick. Cool and pour over strawberries.
Ganache
Place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Whisk with a balloon whisk until smooth. Cool about 30 minutes, then whisk again. Chill until a little firm. Whisk once again till glossy and smooth, and holds peaks. Spread over chilled cheesecake.
