Jessica's Killer Chocolate Birthday Cheesecake

I know it's a little late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!

I'm going to make 2009's first post a really yummy one. My baby sister is officially an adult in Canada. She can smoke, drink, gamble, and vote legally now. I hope she doesn't do all that at once.

I usually make her birthday cakes, and this year was no different. However, she didn't want the usual cake with Happy Birthday plastered all over it. She wanted something extremely decadent and grown up to share with her friends. After going through several options with her, we decided on a chocolate cheesecake. It was up to me to make it WOW.


I hadn't made a cheesecake in over 10 years since my hubby's specialty is cheesecake (he uses the Philly Cream Cheese recipe, and calls it his own after he smothers it with fruit topping - lol). Even though D's recipe is pretty good, I knew Jess wanted something more. So I searched through all my recipes and found three that I liked. I ended up mixing these recipes and got one heck of a killer cheesecake. I thought I'd share with all of you, and hopefully you'll have the same response. Enjoy!

Jessica's Killer Chocolate Birthday Cheesecake

Ingredients:
5 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sugar
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound dark chocolate, chopped finely
Garnish:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound dark chocolate, chopped finely
Fresh Clean Strawberries
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped toasted nuts (I used pecans)
Melted white chocolate

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter. In medium bowl, combine graham crackers, 1/4 cup sugar, and butter. Mix well, and pour into a 9" springform pan. Press weill into pan. Bake until set about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
3. To make the ganache, place 1/2 pound of dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream in sauce pan. Remove from heat as soon as it starts to bubble and boil. Pour into dark chocolate and let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. Stir until ganache is smooth.
4. Reduce oven to 275 degrees F.
5. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add remaining sugar and beat until well combined (about 3 minutes).
6. Add ganache to the cheese and mix on slow speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides as needed.
7. Drizzle in eggs one at a time and mix until blended. Beat in sour cream and salt. Scrape down sides and mix until well blended.
8. Pour batter into crust and bake until the sides have set but the center appears soft (about 1 hour and 45 minutes).
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Using a knife, run around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. When completely cooled, cover cake tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Let the cake set for at least 4 hours, preferably over night. This allows the flavors to come out.
10. Deck out the cake. I made another batch of ganache which I first dipped the strawberries in before pouring the rest on top of the cake. I mixed the chopped nuts with the mini chocolate chips and pressed the mixture onto the sides of the cake. Topped the cake with the strawberries and drizzled melted white chocolate with a fork all around.
11. Slice cake and serve. YUM YUM YUM! It gives 12 very generous portions.

* Note: this cheesecake is beautiful and delicious as is and can be served without all the "fussy" decor. It can also be made as a plain cheesecake, by leaving out the ganache in the batter and substituting it with a teaspoon of vanilla. Or made as any other cheesecake by substituting the flavoring. It's a versitile recipe!

Awesome Desserts in Hong Kong

It's been a while since I've posted, and it's been even longer since I've posted ones that aren't related to baked goods.  (Well, there are more cupcakes, cookies, and a birthday cake coming up.)  As I was looking through my summer photos today, I came across these.  

This is a little dessert shop my mom took us to.  She had seen a Hong Kong dining show introducing this place.  I don't have an address (no business cards available) and since I don't read Chinese no English name to share.  Sorry.  But I do know it's located next to Newport Theatre which is a famous older movie theatre in the Mong Kok District.

It's a very popular joint among the locals and movie goers.  It's tiny and super crowded, and they manage to maximize every square inch.  If you don't have a full table, you are forced to share.  So a small table for four could seat six most of whom are strangers.  But no one seemed to mind, and in fact it added to the atmosphere.

They had a small menu, but special dishes were posted on the walls.  My mom insisted on trying the "Stir Fried Rice Noodles".  It's actually fresh mango chunks with noodles which I believe is probably some sort of coconut gelatin strips.  

It really did look like rice noodles, but with a firmer texture almost like fresh young coconut flesh.  The mangos were perfectly ripe and the mango puree was so smooth.  The dish was fabulous!!  I could have eaten another bowl of it all by myself. 

My sister Jess ordered the "Steamed Rice Rolls" which were black sesame "noodles" stuffed with black rice and fresh mangos and topped with coconut milk and sesame seeds.  It was served warm and not as sweet as the other desserts.  I liked it, it was very creative, but on a hot Hong Kong night, I preferred the cold offerings.  

My mom also ordered the newest dish "Fruit Salad with Hawthorn".  It was a mixture of fresh fruits including cantalope, honeydew melon, mango, and hawthorn gelatin topped with evaporated milk.  Hawthorn is good for you on hot days.  It helps detoxify your body from the heat.  It is also an appetite enhancer.  Before this trip I've only had hawthorn candy, so it was a treat to try it prepared differently.

As for me, I chose a "Tower of Shaved Ice".  Yum - my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Since my trip to Taiwan a few years back, I've been obsessed with shaved ice.  I have it everywhere I see it, and I still think Taiwan serves the best.  But that's left for another post.  

The shaved ice is served with a variety of fresh fruits.  I chose strawberries and watermelon.  Some of the other options were mango, coconut, cantalope, honeydew, Asian pears, and mixed beans and gelatins (which is the original way to eat shaved ice).  Almost every table had ordered this "Tower".  The ice, though not the finest I've had, was pretty fine and was surrounded by fresh strawberries and watermelon balls.  It was then all topped with watermelon juice and condense milk.  Oh, it was so refreshing and sweet.  I loved every bite and slurp.  (l0l)

As you can see, between the three of us we did a pretty thorough job on the desserts.  Everyone else pretty much ordered one dish per couple.  (lol - We love our desserts).  I can't wait until my next visit, so I can try a few more creative sweets.