An advocate of home baking: this week I tried combining the idea of Cappuccino bars from my childhood baking class with Chef Jill Sandique, and I'm very lucky that despite the hot weather, my experiment yielded a good hybrid.. This is my "Cappuccino, Peppermint & Pretzels"
I baked the cheesecake one night ahead and let it set in the chiller over night. While I was unstacking my pantry of old ingredients and culinary tools, I found this old, little rusty, manual hand mixer. I go like "look how cool my mom is"
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| Mommeh, you so cool! My mom got some vintage baking toys that she passed on me, like this one. |
Going back to my featured recipe this week, this is a jackpot of a beginner's luck or just got lucky today kind of recipe ... few of the recipes that I post are untested prior to featuring, meaning I bake them first time and then if it works, I post it. Most are old tested ones though, especially when I tagged it as my "favorite in the world" or "childhood favorite". Honestly, I have enough in my draft that is unpublished because it's a total failure/bad idea/ really bad idea. HAHA.
On baking Cheesecakes however, I'm betting my whole salary for the month, that one could never go wrong and most likely to succeed, win the heart of your crush, unless you try to save on money and use low quality ingredients. Cheesecakes is one of the reasons I could never get abs, or one of the primary reason I'm bloated this very moment, but as they say cherish every minute, this is my celebration!
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| Cheesecake Diary essentials; Oreo cookies or Graham crackers, Australian Creamcheese, White Chocolate, and fresh Eggs |
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| This is my very first mixer; My sister bought this for me as a gift when I just started in cooking school. It came with a box and standing detachable body and plastic bowl that rotates on its own. I was so happy and teary! This is not even Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer, but the thoughts just hit me well, that one day, my resourcefulness will pay off. I still have it and I used it now for I'm little lazy to manually whip my components |
I started baking (and going to baking class) at 14, before that, my curious inner Julia Child is (til now) very experimental. I'm always creating crap out of jams, cheddar cheese and saltine crackers and I thought, honestly, even if this costs my credibility, that is how you make Blueberry Cheesecake and it was a funny disaster.. that afternoon my sister just gave up on me and said "Okay, since you are really persistent with these experiments of yours, you're going to baking class, but you make me what you learn in class" -Maaan, that's how I started! That was October 14, 2006
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| Now, a real Cheesecake recipe on my cue... |
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| I used a 10" x 10" x 2" square cake mold for this recipe. I'm not a fan of spring form pans though my good friend Phillip Ching gave me one for my 18th, because the water could get in. |
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| Basic crust; combine crushed Oreo cookies and melted , unsalted butter. Then press it against the prepared mold and set aside in the chiller. |
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| Whip creamcheese and sugar together until light and fluffy |
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| At the same time, melt chocolate over hot water bath and dissolve coffee in hot water |
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| Then add eggs at a time, notice that the batter will loosen and become smoother |
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| Slowly pour in the coffee and continue whipping, then fold in melted white chocolate |
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| Whip until the mixture is smooth, I prefer it a little airy. |
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| Pour in the batter into the prepared Oreo crust and bake over warm water bath at 160C for 25 mins |
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| For walking the tray into and out of the oven;Pour the hot water just about halfway or quarter of the mold, you can refill if it dries out than pouring a lot more and spill on your hands |
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| The bottom will be a little jiggly but firm. Then cool down a bit and chill overnight |
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| The next morning, I unmolded the baked Cappuccino cheesecake and continued my components |
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| already good on its own | | | |
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| The morning that came after... |
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| I used a plastic chocolate mold for this Praline. Drizzle tempered and colored chocolate in the mold for a rustic two toned effect. I used color green and a darker shade of mint green. |
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| Spoon tempered white chocolate and tap facing down to take off excess. Set aside the shells and dry at 22 C room temperature or in the chiller |
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| A rustic, two toned Green on White effect. |
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| Add crushed Pretzel in the Ganache and chill to thicken the consistency |
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| Pipe the Pretzel Ganache in the prepared shells and fill up each cavity to 3/4's full |
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| Seal the Pralines with remaning tempered white chocolate and hardened and dry fully before unmolding |
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| Melty Mint & Pretzel Pralines |
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| Melty Mint & Pretzel Pralines |
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| Liquid filling; the consistency loosens when exposed at warmer temperature upon serving |
Baked Cappuccino Cheesecake
400g Creamcheese
95 g Sugar
2 pcs Eggs
135g White Chocolate
4 tsp Instant Coffee diluted in 2 Tbsp Hot water
240g crushed Oreo
90g butter
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| Let this be a mother Ganache base and divide into three for this recipe's other components; Scald milk and melt chocolate, let it set until thickened in the chiller. Divide the Ganache as per recipe |
Chocolate Ganache
2 cups Dark Chocolate
160 ml Fresh Milk
Mint & Pretzel Praline
100g Tempered White Chocolate (28 C)
1/2 c Dark Chocolate Ganache
1/4 tsp Peppermint Oil
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| Black & White |
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| Combine Ganache and Mint oil together, then add in Heavy cream, whip until stiff peaks and chill |
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mousse
1/2 c Ganache
1/4 tsp Peppermint Oil
300g Heavy Cream
Pretzel Ganache
1 c Ganache
1/4 c Pretzels, crushed
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| Spread Pretzel Ganache on top of Baked Cappuccino Cheesecake |
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| Pipe Mint Chocolate Mousse on top of Pretzel Ganache layer |
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| Even and spread Mint Chocolate Mousse until all is covered |
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| Then using the tip of offset spatula, make random swirls for an edgy effect |
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| Top with Chococlate decors and Melty Mint & Pretzels Praline. Finish with more Chocolate Ganache with tadpole effect |
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| Trim the sides with a clean, warm Chef's Knife, better cut it when very set or frozen. |
One of the challenges in home baking is the warmer temperature at compact, home kitchens and the
chiller that is not as cold and spacious as the industrial, restaurant ones. What you
do is to be very patient while making your components and wait for them
to set. Move quickly to avoid your cake and chocolate from melting, and plan your baking as we have many components in this recipe.
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| Gluttony forecasted! |
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| Layers of baked Cappuccino Cheesecake, Pretzel Ganache, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mousse and hand made Pralines with Melty (liquid) Mint & Pretzel |
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| Layers of baked Cappuccino Cheesecake, Pretzel Ganache, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mousse and hand made Pralines with Melty (liquid) Mint & Pretzel |
And oh, my little Apprentice is at work again today!
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| He got the stool, climb up and did it. I was just, there standing, capturing his tiny baker hands |
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| Little Apprentice is busy |
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| Don't worry it's not plugged in |
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| Taste Tester! |
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| Bugger Little Beast |
Happy Home Baking!
