Condensed Milk Cheesecake

This cake is extremely light and fluffy. Despite using condensed milk as one of the main ingredients, it is not too sweet at all !

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 50g condensed milk
• 50g plain flour, sieved
• 130g cream cheese
• 35ml sunflower oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 egg whites
• 45g castor sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Method:

Greased and lined the bottom of a 6 inch round tin. Lightly grease the side too. Preheat oven to 150ºC/130º for fan oven.

Melt cream cheese by double boiling over stove. Once melted, whisk lightly to a smooth consistency. Set aside.

Mix yolks, 1 egg and condensed milk until well combined. Set aside.

Heat oil over stove. Once done, drizzle over sieved flour and quickly mix to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Pour yolk mixture into the cream cheese, mix well, then add in flour mixture, whisk until well combined. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until foamy, add in lemon juice, then add sugar in 3 batches. Continue beating until attain stiff peak.

Fold in meringue to the yolk mixture by several batches. Be sure to fold till you don't see any streaks of meringue.

Pour in batter to baking tin, tap a few times on table top to release air bubbles.

Send to bake by waterbath method at 150ºC/130ºC for fan oven for 30 minutes, then reduce to 130ºC/110ºC for fan oven for another 75 minutes.

Once done, invert to cool for 5 minutes and remove mould. Then revert back upright to cool completely.

Char Kuih Kak (Steamed Plain Rice Cake)

A popular Penang strert food, this Char Kuih Kak only use 3 ingredients ! It just takes a little time but it is really quiet easy to make.

Usually served  in a small portions, perfect for breakfast or supper. Char Kuih Kak  literally means fried squares of rice cake.

Ingredients:

For the steamed rice cake

• 195g rice flour
• 43g cornflour
• 960ml water

For frying the kuih kak:

• 5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 30g chai por (pickled raddish), chopped
• 2 tsp chilli paste/boh
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 125g ku chai (chinese chives), cur into 1 inch length
• 200g-300g bean sprouts, depends on personal preference, as some like more

Method:

For the steamed rice cake: Combine rice flour, corn flour and water in a medium non-stick saucepan over a medium heat. Stir as it comes to a gentle boil. The mixture will begin to thicken to a paste like consistency. This will take about 5 minutes. Turn off stove.

Prepare a steamer. Transfer rice and corn flour paste to a greased bowl or tray. Place the bowl or tray in the steamer and allow it to steam for 1 hour. Top up water in steamer if necessary.

Remove and allow rice cake to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.

Cut rice cake into ¾ inch cubes.

To fry the steamed rice cake: Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a non-stick fry pan. Pan fry cubed rice cakes  until lightly brown in colour, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Heat a large wok on the stove. Add remaining 4 tbsp of vegetable oil when wok is heated. Saute garlic, chai poh and chilli paste for 30 seconds.

Add in the pan fried rice cubes, light and dark soy sauce, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.  Create a well in the center of the wok. Crack in the eggs. Stir and toss rice cubes over eggs to get the coated.

Add bean sprouts and chives. Stir for another 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat and serve immediately

Runner Bean Chutney

This is one of my favourites and good for the late season glut of large runners, kindly given to me.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium onions
• 250ml malt vinegar
• 1kg runner beans
• 1 heaped tablespoon English mustard powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground turmeric
• 25g cornflour
• 250ml white wine vinegar
• 250g granulated sugar
• 2 heaped tablespoon wholegrain mustard
• 2 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Method:

Peel and chop onions into small dice. Tip into a large, heavy-based saucepan and pour over the malt vinegar. Bring to a gentle simmer cover loosely and cook for 15 minutes until softened, stirring once or twice.

While the onions are cooking, you can prepare the beans. Trim the ends, then cut down each side to remove any strings. Place each beans flat on the board and slice thinly lengthways on a long diagonal into 7 or 8 strips. How many slices you end up with will depend on the size of each bean. 

Plunge the beans into a large pan of boiling water and return to the boil. Cook for 3 minutes, then drain in a colander and refresh under cold water. Drain.

Mix the mustard powder, turmeric, cornflour and 4 tablespoons of the white wine vinegar until smooth.

When the onions are ready, stir in the sugar and remaining white wine vinegar. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the beans and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir the cornflour mixture until smooth once more and then pour slowly into the onions and beans, stirring vigorously to dispel any lumps, followed by the wholegrain mustard and salt.

Gently simmer the vegetables, mustard and spices for 20 minutes, stirring regularly so that chutney does not stick to the bottom of the pan. leave to cool. Cover, seal and store in cool dark place for at least 1 month

Biscoff Cheesecake

A cheesecake with a biscoff twist !

Ingredients:

For the base:

• 200g chocolate covered biscoff biscuits
• 30g butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

• 225ml double cream
• 125g castor sugar
• 675g cream cheesecake
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g biscoff spread
• 50g dark chocolate

To decorate:

• 100ml double cream
• 6 chocolate covered biscoff biscuits

Method:

Make the base: Line the base of the spring-form tin with grease-proof paper. Whizz the biscuits to a fine crumb in a food processor, then add the melted butter and mix well. Pour into the bottom of the spring-form tin, pressing well and evenly. Set aside.

Make the cheesecake layers: In a large bowl, whisk the cream until stiff peaks form. Set to one side. In a separate large bowl, with an electric hand whisk, beat together the caster sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract. Mix until the sugar has dissolved and it is nice and smooth. Add the whipped cream and gently fold it through using a spatula.

Separate the mixture into 3 bowls-2 with approximately 275g of cheesecake mix and one with approximately 350g. Tp the one of the 275g bowls, add the melted chocolate and to the other add 100g of the biscoff spread.  Leave the third plain. Pour the chocolate mixture on top of the biscuite base and smooth out. Next, pour the biscoff layer on top of the chocolate layer and smooth out. Finally, pour over the plain vanilla layer and smooth the surface. Gently heat the remaining 200g biscoff spread and pour this over the cheesecake. Leave to set for a minimum of 4 hours, ideally overnight.

To decorate, pipe 8 dots of whipped cream around the edge and place half a biscuit in the centre of each dot. Crush the remaining biscuits and crumble them over the top.

No-bake Blackberry Cheesecake

This very berry no-bake blackberry cheesecake is made using Skyr yoghurt, for a subtly tangy flavour and a lovely rich texture.

It is a refreshing dessert that is easy to make too.

For the biscuit base:

• 150g hobnob biscuits
• 30g toasted hazelnuts
• 50g melted butter

For the cheesecake filling:

• 2x 12g sachets gelatine powder
• 300g blackberries
• 4x 150g tubes Skyr mixed berry
• 340g cream cheee
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Method:

Line a 20cm springform tin with non-stick baking paper

Add the biscuits and hazelnuts to the bowl of a food processor, whizz into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter, and pulse briefly to combine (or bash biscuits and nuts in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, then add to a bowl and mix in the butter) Pack the crumb mix firmly onto the bottom of the prepared tin in an even layer, chill until firm for at least 1 hour.

Put 3 tablespoons of cold water in a heatproof bowl, sprinkle over the gelatine powder, stir with a fork, then let it stand until spongy (5-10 minutes).

Crush 100g of the blackberries in a small bowl with the back of a fork an d set aside. Add Skyr mixed berries, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt into a large mixing bowl, and beat until smooth using an electric hand mixer.

Put the bowl of gelatine over a pan of gently simmering water, stir until completely dissolved. Remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool for 1 minute. Pour the gelatine mixture into the cream cheese mixture and stir to combine. Fold through the crushed blackberries, then pour the mixture onto the prepared biscuit base and smooth the top, cover the tin tightly with cling film, then chill for at least 6 hours.

When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge of the tin before releasing the cheesecake. Transfer to a serving plate and top with the remaining 200g blackberries.