Strawberry cheescake- with chocolate crust

think- fresh strawberries and cream with a dark chocolate crunch. yes and my mouth is watering now. this was really good. the cheesecake filling is very fluffy and light and the crust is rich topped off with sweet strawberries. 

one thing i can assure you is that this cake, once cut, does not travel well. i mean thats not that hard to guess because it is a cheescake. but the filling is particularly soft. so one shouldnt eat some for breakfast and then walk to work swinging said cake in a bag and then expect one's cake to look fantastic when presented to one's colleagues. although, my boss (who never eats sweet things) did have a teeny slice. i think perhaps this was out of pity. BUT, there was no cake left to take home. enough said.

rustic looking to the perfect end to dinner on the deck,  those unexpected guests for afternoon coffee or in my case, breakfast! 

if you take one thing home with you tonight folks, it should be that this crust is flipping fantastic and i want to eat it every day of my life. if you need a good chocolate crust recipe. here it is!

Recipe:

Chocolate crust:

adapted from The Australian women's weekly- Sweet old fashioned favourites, recipe book.

for one 18cm cheesecake

185gr flour

30ml cocoa powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

125gr chilled butter, chopped in blocks

1 egg yolk

- mix flour, cocoa and sugar, rub in butter with fingertips until combined. add egg yolk and mix until ingredients cling together. add a little water if you need.

- knead dough on a floured surface (more like press together until it forms a smooth dough) wrap in clingwrap and refrigerate for 30 min

- line baking tin with parchment paper. press dough into the tin with your fingertips, until evenly covering sides and base of tin

- put baking parchment paper in tin over dough, fill the paper with dried rice or beans, bake at 180'c for 15 minutes. remove parchment and beans and bake for a further 15 min. allow to cool before filling it with...

Cream cheese filling:

- 200gr cream cheese

- 5 tablespoons icing sugar

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- 120ml fresh cream (measure out the amount then whip the cream)

1. in a bowl beat cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice

2. fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and spread over the prepared tart crust

3. put in fridge for a few hours or in the freezer (cover tin with tinfoil)

Strawberry topping:

500gr fresh strawberries, washed and chopped
150gr or about 1/2 cup strawberry jam

1. once the  cheesecake has set, place strawberries ontop in a heap. or i suppose you could make a pretty pattern with them.

2. heat jam in microwave until liquid enough to pour. spread over strawberries with the help of a pastry brush.

3. put in fridge until ready to serve

·       

1. 

Everybody's favourite Chocolate chip cookies

these will always be welcome. chewy, soft , eat them straight from the oven or leave them in jars on your counter top to tempt you when you walk past

i used white and dark chocolate chips but you can use whichever chocolate you prefer.
walnuts, hazelnuts or pecan nuts would also taste delicious in this biscuit

this is one biscuit i can never make enough of. within a day or so, they are all finished.

Recipe for Chocolate chip cookies:
makes 24 medium cookies

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
- teaspoon vanilla essence
- small egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup roughly chopped chocolate chunks 1/2 cup white choc, 1/2 cup 70% cocoa choc (using chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate of your choice)
optional - 1/3 cup walnuts (or another type of nut)

1. heat oven to 180'C

2. cream butters and sugars, add vanilla and egg. beat well

3. add dry ingredients and mix until combined

4. stir in chocolate chunks and nuts if using.

5. drop large teaspoonfuls 3cm apart on baking tray lined with baking paper

6. bake for 10-12 min

Hot cross buns.. from scratch

so easter has rolled round another year and for the second year running i have stranded myself in a bun-forsaken place where no-one  knows what a hot cross bun is! eish wena.

but what is easter without hot cross buns ek se!
this recipe produces a not so sweet bun that is very soft, glazed with orange syrup and delicious straight out the oven

these beautiful plump spicy delicious buns are a typical easter treat for western countries. they have spices, sultanas and candied orange peel (which i also had to make from scratch by the way). and are best eaten, by the packful. toasted, with honey or jam or cheese.

yes, the glaze is special. its the syrup left over from candying the orange peel for this recipe. 

the pictures are so yellow because i had to photograph them at night. because tomorrow, there wont be any left

recipe for buns i got from taste.com.au, you can see it here

Hot cross buns:

makes 12 buns 

this whole process is going to take about 2 hours including rising times so be prepared, i
had a good book. a movie or other distraction is also a good idea.

ingredients:
3/4 cup warm milk
12gr fresh yeast (or 3.5gr dry yeast)
1/8 cup (30gr) melted butter
1/2 beaten egg
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar (possibly more because these buns werent too sweet)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice
2/3 cup sultanas
1/8 cup mixed peel (or home-made version of mixed peel, recipe below)

1/8 cup cold water
1/4 cup more or less of flour to make a paste


1. combine warm milk, yeast and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar in a cup, stir until yeast has
dissolved. leave for 15min or until frothy.

2. add egg and melted butter to milk mixture.

3. in a bowl mix 2 cups flour, salt, spice, and sugar. add sultanas and peel.

4. mix wet into dry mixture until just combined.

5. turn dough onto well floured surface and knead for 10 min or until a smooth dough forms.

place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. place in a warm place for an hour.

6. heat oven to 200'C. knead for a few minutes. divide dough into 12 pieces. line tray with
baking paper. place balls on tray. put in a warm place for anotther 30minutes.

7. meanwhile mix remaining water and flour together. it should form a smooth paste. spoon
into piping bag or ziplock bag. snip off end of bag.when dough has finished its second rise,
pipe the crosses on the buns.

8. bake at 200'C for 10min then turn oven to 180'C for about 15min, check that they arent
burning. they should be golden and sound hollow when tapped.

9. glaze tops with orange syrup- recipe below.



Candied orange rind:

peel 2 medium sized oranges, being careful not to take the white pith, only the orange skin.
eat the orange insides at will.
in a saucepan heat 1/4 cup sugar, cup water, a tablespoon of liquid glucose (not a trainsmash
if you dont have this, just exclude it)

put in orange rind
allow mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally until there is only sticky orange peel in
sticky syrup (be careful not to let it burn when the water level gets very low, stir often).
take the orange peel out, trying to get at little syrup as possible with the peel.
wait until it cools slightly then chop it up with a sharp knife into miniscule pieces.
(yes this is a sticky mess)


Bun Glaze:

but the best part of this whole recipe is the orange glaze!
so, remember the sticky orange syrup that was left in the saucepan after you took out the
orange peel? do not rinse your pot just yet!
so, by now the syrup should have gone almost completely hard in the pot.
add about 1/4 cup water and reheat the pot, stirring all the time.do not let it burn!
now using a pastry brush, brush the syrup over your hot cross buns.
and voila! glossy glazed heavenly smelling buns!