The Sugar Bar

I’m not gonna lie, I honestly thought this was going to be a failure. I was ready to sink into depression like a cake deflated and ruined. Thankfully, things worked out for the better. And so life carries on as usual.

After a blender disaster and an overly buttered crust that baked to a crisp (I followed a recipe quite blindly without doing the proper math therefore resulting in a crust with double the butter), I was sure this was doomed. Fortunately, following the advice of Marc of NoRecipes to let the cheesecake sit for possibly a day longer, this worked out fine. The parched crust absorbed enough moisture from the cheesecake filling. The layers gelled and the crust became more manageable. It tasted good too with a lovely smooth and fluffy mousse-like texture. The tofu flavour needed some getting used to and the matcha wasn’t strong enough to be really that noticeable but it’s definitely something I’d try again and tweak it as I go along to perfect it (until Mama Critic deems it worthy of her taking another spoonful). Also, I’d definitely use soy milk fresh from the markets in the future rather than the cartoned stuff from the supermarket because it lacked a little bit of that soy umami and the thick, creaminess of the former.

So here it is. Simple, naked for all to judge. I didn’t think it needed any more fussing or additional garnishing etc. The flavours worked. Besides, I thought it’d gone through enough – from being bashed up in an inferior blender, exploded in a slightly better blender, to being dripped all over the kitchen and completely let down by a messed up crust. That’s it.

Anyway, you can imagine my relief. A cheesecake saved from the bin. And somehow, still tasting pretty damn swanky.

Shame about the hole in the wall where I bashed my head into though. Expect repair works some time around end of 2011 until the state of my finances picks itself up again and the bits of my sanity return back to its mothership.

Tiny kitchen drama, Twitter to the rescue, overreaction controlled, etc. – story of my life. End of.

This recipe makes one round tin cheesecake. I’ve altered the measurements for the gingernut crust thankfully.

Matcha Tofu Cheesecake
Original recipe of filling from Manggy, inspired by Okashi Treats
Ingredients

For the crust:
250g tube packet of gingernut biscuits
4 tbs caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbs butter, melted and cooled

For the matcha tofu cream:
225g Philly cream cheese
1 tbs light brown sugar
70g caster sugar
225g silken tofu
50g heavy cream
50g sour cream
2 tsp powdered gelatin
100g soy milk
2-3 tbs matcha (or to preference)

Line bottom of cheesecake tin (preferably springform) with baking parchment or light grease it.

Crumb gingernut biscuits. Add sugar and salt and lightly whisk together with a small egg whisk or fork. Add melted butter and mix until combined. Transfer to cheesecake tin and press down into a nice even layer of bottom of tin. You can bake this in the oven 190d Celsius for 5-10mins or simply place it in the freezer for 15mins to bind (I prefer the latter).

Combine all ingredients for the matcha tofu cream, except soy milk and gelatin, in a blender and mix until smooth.

Sprinkle gelatin over soy milk and let sit for a few minutes. Then melt it in a baine marie (or in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water on the hob). Stir to dissolve completely, then process it into the rest of the tofu cream.

Pour complete tofu cream into the cheesecake tin and refrigerate overnight until set.

To unmold, warm the sides with a warm towel and use a thin palette knife to separate the cheesecake from the tin around the edges before unlocking the springform pan.

Serve chilled on its own or with a little bit of whipped cream. The flavours don’t need much else and will delight you quite pleasantly with a mild bitterness of matcha, creaminess of soy, honeyed sweetness from both white and brown sugar and a distinctive savoury and gingery flavour from the crust.

As you all know, my time on the blog has gotten very much shorter and the time to try new recipes and invent chocolate truffle combinations has been almost obliterated by the massive workload I have to complete. If I intend to save my degree, it’s all got to be done and The Sugar Bar has, unfortunately, to be placed on the backburner for a while. Nevertheless, I will update regularly (as much as I can) with some interesting pictures and places/little bits to eat. I won’t be gone completely of course. You see me on Twitter way too much.

The lovely Naomi, of BakersRoyale, noticing my struggle was very kind enough to suggest guest-posting for me and created a beautiful bit of heaven in the shape of a mini cake, all in the essence of a person with limited time and kitchen space.

I met Naomi, or actually I found her, through one of the cake posts she submitted to Foodgawker and boy, did I gawk. Her cakes are stunning, little bits of art to be honest and all so meticulously put together. And I bet they taste as divine as they look – always quivering on my laptop screen, tempted to plop right out of it straight onto my dessert plate. She’s truly inspiring and such an easy-going person, we got along straightaway! In fact, sometimes I do wonder if she’s actually a twin of mine. We’re on the same wavelength. But enough of my chitter-chatter, let me give you Naomi! Here’s what she said:

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SoNo’s No Bake Cheesecake ~ A no bake cheesecake dressed up in a pistachio crumb and topped with some fresh raspberries.

This famous cheesecake is from John Barricelli’s SoNo Bakery in Connecticut and is featured in his SoNo Bakery book. After trying several no bake cheesecakes, this is hands down the best-period.

The bits of lemon and orange zest give the cheesecake a citrus balance that will refresh your palate with every bite. Add the pistachio crumb and the raspberries and this cheesecake moves from delicious to heavenly.

Aside from taste, the other reason I love this version of a no-bake cheesecake is John Barricelli’s use of gelatin to help set it. Now while he describes the finishing mixture as a mousse, I find the finishing mixture more similar to a baked cheesecake. No-bake versions tend to be very light and where this recipe not only has the velvety texture of a baked cheesecake, but it also has enough weight for every bite to be well tasted, rather than submitting and dissipating on contact.

I miniaturized this dessert into two inch mini cheesecakes the original recipe calls for a 9 inch pastry ring. If you don’t have one, a springform pan will work just as well.

SoNo’s No Bake Cheesecake
Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cup crushed graham cracker
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
7 tablespoon unsalted butter(melted)

Cheesecake:
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature (at least six hours)
2/3 sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Grated zest of orange
Grated zest of lemon
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¾ sour cream

For assembly
1 cup pistachios, shelled and finely chopped
2 cups raspberries

For the crust:

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs with sugar.
2. Add melted butter and blend until combined.
3. Press into pan. Set aside.

For the cheesecake:

1. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. Sprinkle water over gelatin and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Using a spatula scrape the softened gelatin and place it into the top of the double boiler. Set it over simmering water and heat until the mixture becomes liquid. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, beat the cream to medium peaks. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
4. Replace whisk attachment with a paddle. Wash out bowl. Add cream cheese, sugar, salt, lemon and orange zest and lemon juice in mixer bowl and beat on medium high speed until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes.
5. Add a dollop of cream mixture to the gelatin and fold with a rubber spatula. Return the gelatin mixture to the remaining cream cheese mixture and fold together.
6. Scrap the new mousse mixture into pastry rings or springform. Smooth the top and cover with plastic. Freeze for at least four hours or overnight to set.
7. Remove cake. The cake will have a slight sunken center. Using spread sour cream on top as if icing a cake to even out the top.
8. To remove from pastry ring, use a hot towel and wrap it around the ring. You may have to do this twice.
9. Don’t worry about the uneven sides as it will be covered with the pistachio crumb.

To assemble:

Cover sides with pistachio crumb and garnish top with raspberries.

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Hope you liked Naomi’s post as much as I did! If you want more, jump over to her blog here.

This past week’s been great – I’m very food-involved and there’s much talk about cupcakes which couldn’t make me any happier. There’s even been a cupcakery feature in the latest British VOGUE. Surely there are too many signs?

And then the bestie was in London all week on an audit job so she popped in on Friday night for my homecooked meal before we went out to catch up and unwind over a couple of drinks (we managed to fit in some awesome boogying as well).

After graduating from uni, our crew of friends were like a a bunch of seeds that went dispersing in the air. Some went back to the their hometowns, some went further out to look for jobs, some wandered south-wards (like moi) to continue with their studies, or not. Some stayed put and welcomed the next stage in life with somewhat hesitant and nervously open arms. It may seem like we’ve split ways and gone forward, hopefully a positive step towards our goals in life. The latter I reckon is true but the former, I hope will never happen. Partings can be sad and goodbyes are such bittersweet moments. But again, they are also a chance to say ‘hello’ again. So it’s good. Think positive.

We’re doing the best we can to stay in touch and sometimes, being such a laidback/chilled out bunch can mean there are long periods of time when the only contact we’ve had is the odd text or 2 minute phonecall. But even those moments are great. And whatever chance we get to see each other, we make sure that we have a great time in such a way that we might be said to re-define the phrase ‘quality time’. In the past few weeks, it’s been superb as most of us have done our best, booked our train tickets early, etc. to get down to wherever for a birthday bash, a dinner, a wicked nightout, a quick weekend meet-up. It’ll definitely get harder as everyone’s getting busier with work and it’s very tricky to try and sort something out between everyone’s schedules. Because of that, I’m over the moon when someone comes to visit even for a short while. These moments become all the more precious since they’re so hard to come by.

Since bestie and moi had gone for that ridiculously divine meal at Murano the last time she was down in London (and flippin’ gave myself indigestion because of it, not that I’m complaining – I’d do it all over again even if you added something more injurious to my body to the mix!), it was time for a homecooked meal, with a slight touch of sophistication I say. I’m fortunate to know girls who have hearty appetites and enjoy sitting in front of the telly with a plate of good food, scoff it down unabashedly whilst sipping daintily on a glass of whine. A bit of an oxymoron appearing in that sentence but that’s sorta like what we are. Chilled out, reaal chilled out the two of us, sophisticated (I hope!) with brains to boot, do I dare say with a touch of class and yet always eager to eat food like it should be eaten in real time. Here I am proud to announce two real women in real time! The others I’m sure you’ve either heard of on this blog or I shall, in good time, schedule in their grand entrance.

Yes, real women eat real burgers. Unless pardon me, you’ve special dietary requirements, no offense anyone!

I love sandwiches. I love good bread – especially when baked fresh so it’s crusty warm outside and almost melting buttery soft on the inside. Some good extra virgin olive oil that almost tastes grassy as a dip and some butter on the side, it’s a heavenly combination. And because good bread’s such a luxury, I like homemade burgers in anything but the cheap burger buns you can get in the shops. It jazzes things up a little, makes it look and taste better and surely makes the whole eating experience a lot more exciting?

I chose a seeded bun for this as I’m like a bird, or a squirrel, whichever. I eat loads of seeds and nuts a day. I’m addicted to them things. They make me happy. And looking at the generous sprinkling of seeds on the bun tops, I was well chuffed. I was hoping to get sourdough bread, which is what the Handmade Burger Co. we often visit serves their burgers in and I do love the texture of good sourdough. Unfortunately, my (eeks) last minute trip to the shop came back with nothing and I had to settle with the leftover stuff in the bakery section.

These burgers have a special ingredient. What’s that? Chutney! What kind of chutney? A totally spanking Mr. Vikki’s Tomato & Nigella Chutney I got from the BBC Good Food Show. It flavoured, along with the added spices and fresh coriander, the lamb very nicely and I was a little shocked how good it tasted with just a couple of simple things like that. The lamb burger also retained all it’s moistness so when I squished my bun together with the burger fillings, it oozed out all that juice and caramelized liquer which the bottom bun bread was very eager to absorb. Yum yum. Will definitely make this again and again.

For 2 servings
Spicy Lamb Burgers
Ingredients

250g lamb mince
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs tomato & chutney chutney
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch of smoked paprika
fresh coriander, chopped
slices of mature cheddar, for filling
2-3 large leaves of lettuce, for filling

Put all the ingredients, except the cheese and lettuce, together in a large bowl. Mix well and then split the mince mixture into two. Form into balls, gently pat down and form the round sides in a burger pattie.

Add some oil to a hot frying pan and cook each side about 4 minutes on medium heat. Serve in a bap, burger bun, ciabatta roll, seeded bun, etc. Top with fillings, onion marmalade and eat!

Onion Marmalade with a Kick
Ingredients

1 red onion, sliced into half moons
1 yellow onion, sliced into half moons
2 tbs virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbs white wine
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 small yellow chili, finely chopped
sea salt & ground black pepper, for seasoning
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey

Add oil to a hot pan. Sauté the onions until they are soft and slightly translucent. Add white wine, thyme, chopped chili, salt and pepper. Lower heat and let it cook gently and caramelize for about 45 minutes. You may want to let it caramelize to a stage where it’s a lot wetter and gooey but I like to have the onion pieces still fairly whole and visible.

When cooked to your preference, stir in the balsamic vinegar and honey to taste. Serve on top of your burger.