My Baking Attempt #26 - Say Cheese!

Tis was a long weekend, Good Friday PH! YEAH! K has been buggin me for some banana cake/bread/watever hence i baked her some, as well as some cheesecake "cubes". I shall save the banana cake/muffin to "tell" for another day as i think that recipe deserves an entry on its own. I call these cheesecake "cubes" as the original recipe actually requires your hands to roll the cheesecake bake into balls instead, then dip to coat wif chocolate granche (white or dark &/or nuts or fruits). The recipe and fotos were really wowweee but...
Not that i wouldn't allow my hands to get dirty but other than the squashy mess, i can imagine it to.. perhaps be rather unhygienic (think superSoft cheesecake texture tt sticks!) even if the chef has washed her hands clean, 3times & over. Anyway, there were better reasons to cut it into simple small cubes -- IT IS to SAVE TIME! Truth is, i thot i would attempt the ball-rolling act but i was utterly late for my appt, i had already baked the cheesecake the nite before, but it wasn't enuff. It still required MORE time for the 'balls-formation', freezing them in the freezer (WHERE GOT SPACE FOR SO MANY BALLS??) and then dip & coat (chocolate) AND THEN back into the freezer again to set, etc. No no NO, no way i could find the time for this loOoonnggg process.
I would try, in future when i have like.. erm, 2 whole free days to bake & decor.

My 1st time using cheesecake from Phoon Huat.



Water Bath



Just out of the Oven.

Chilled overnite.

Instead of scooping 'em into balls (pls try it out & tell me if it's fun, very tempted to redo tis recipe and roll balls, see if it melts in my hands =p), lazy me cut them into cubes.

Chilled for another hour or two. Thinkin' abt wat to do (wif 'em).

Strawberries to the rescue, like make-up to women. (if only i had almond flakes too! Freckles? *hurhur)

Think tis should work, my simple cheesecake 'cubes'! (banana muffins in the background)

Trouble came when i was rushing to leave the house. Rem? i was VERYVERY late O!ready!! And i was preparing these cheesecakes (& muffins) for more than 10 frens, how to bring 'em out?? They are so tiny, how to lay in boxes?.. Luckyluckyhengheng, i found these cupcake cases i bought fr phoon huat, just chuck 'em in & bring 'em out!

Stacked 2 per cup, no choice, NO TIME!! Gotta go!

Everyone got one muffin & 2 cheesecake 'cubes' cups =D



i knw my frens will wanna eat 'em right away & i didn't want them to use their dirty fingers to dig, again, my usual (window) shopping loot came in aptly! Bought packs of foodpicks from Daiso not hving any intentions to use them, just thot they were cute, now they can be put into good use! No dirty fingers diggin' into the soft cheesecake 'cubes'!


As you can see tt i'm a very new blogger (that also means i'm very enthusiastic, for now) by the birthdate of my blog, i have been actively reading up on other food-related/baker blogs to get food inspirations, as well as to just read the nite away - my way of destressin' from a day of fuss & buzz. i chanced upon some local bloggers' sites and discovered that they have "created" a community of their own & are hosting monthly baking.. erm, not contests but group submissions of sorts to a different food theme each mth! How interesting! So, here i am! Submitting tis entry to Aspiring Bakers #6: Say Cheese! (April 2011). All in the good name of fun! =) 

Here's the recipe for Cheesecake 'cubes' (makes 35-40 'cubes')
40 oz of cream cheese
400 grams of sugar
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream (i used multi-purpose cream from Phoon Huat, more watery tho')
Boiling water for the water bath (when baking)


Chocolate Granche to coat (or any white chocolate/fruits/nuts ideas u may hv) :
250 grams cooking chocolate + 170grams of heavy cream


1) Preheat oven 160degs. Set water to boil for water bath.
2) Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and salt till smooth. If using mixer, use low speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract & heavy cream after all the eggs.
3) Grease a 10-inch cake tin & pour batter in. Place cake tin in a larger baking tin. Fill larger baking tin with boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake tin. Bake for 35-45mins till cheesecake is firm and slightly golden (i didn't allow it to brown at all but it works perfectly fine & nice for me).
4) Remove cheesecake from water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover with cling wrap and chill overnight (or at least 3hrs).
5) When cheesecake is cold and firm, cut into cubes (or roll them into balls). Chill again and prepare chocolate granche & allow to cool. (you can plan your own timing re this step, coz i prepared the chocolate granche first & allow to cool. Once i cut up the cheesecake into cubes, i immediately pour the granche over (w/o chillin') then proceed for final chill again)
6) Coat cheesecake and chill (i.e. final chill).
7) Before serving, top with fresh strawberries or watever fruits you like!  =)