January Birthday ~ Chocolate Cheesecake w/ Dark Chocolate Glazing ~ 美式可可亞乳酪蛋糕

Foremost, I want to wish all the people who were born in January a happy birthday! Wish you good health, wealth and happiness! I have decided, staring January 2008, I will feature something sweet make especially for the birthday boys/girls at the beginning of each month n___n I always think that everyone should have some sweets on their birthday symbolizing that the time between now and their next birthday will be sweet like candy (weird. I know). It doesn’t matter if it is small or large, simple or extravagant, cupcake or pie, as long as it is sweet and yummy!


I first made this chocolate cheesecake w/ dark chocolate glazing for the Christmas party that just passed. My first try and a big success! To be honest with you, I had trouble choosing what to make for the party at first, but in the end I decided to stick to something more common for most (I don’t think lemongrass mousse will be a runaway hit like say, cheesecake!). I also made this as a thank you treat for my team at work and again it was a hit! This recipe is yet another entry from one of my Japanese books – I’ve found success many times with this book so I know something from here must be safe :-p The original recipe was for a cocoa and sour cream combination; though the combo sounded very interesting, but I don’t have any sour cream in the fridge so decided to have a go with something else. This is adopted from the famed New York cheesecake; very moist and rich. If you are a hardcore chocoholic, you’ll love it from the 1st bite ^____~

This cake is extremely easy to make and put together because all you need to do is keep mixing with a whisk (not even using a mixer for god’s sake!), bake, then decorate! BTW, I find this whole add and mix process really therapeutic ~__~


Make one 8 inches (1 ½ high) cake

Cheese mixture
300g cream cheese
200ml whipping cream
120g caster sugar
2 whole eggs
4tbs Dutch process cocoa powder
4tsp freshly squeeze lemon juice

Crust
180g Oreo cookies (w/o filling)
100g unsalted butter

I thought you should know:
* Cheesecake is best make using a spring form pan or a pan with removable bottom (I use the later).

* Cake Slicing 101: You can get your cake sliced just like the one they sell in the café by following these simple steps: first soak a knife in a cup of hot water, wipe off with a towel, then cut the cake while knife is still warm. Try to cut it through with only one cut and do not “saw”. Whip off any cake crump/residue and slice again. Just repeat these steps and you will have neat and pretty slices of cake that rival what they sell in the patisseries.

Prep:
- Wrap the cream cheese in plastic food wrap and place in microwave on low for 2 minutes to soften it.
- Preheat oven to 160 degree C/325 degree F.
- Wrap the bottom (up to half way) of the pan with 2 layers of foil paper.
- Boil some water for later use (appx. 2 liter).

For the crust: Break the cookies into small pieces, then place into a zip lock bag or any heavy weight plastic bag (remove air bubbles), and crush + roll using a rolling pin until cookies become fine crumb. Place butter in microwave and heat for 1 mins. over medium heat. Pour melted butter into the bag, remove air bubble and close the bag, then shake it to mix the two. Pour this mix into the pan; using the back of a large spoon, press crumb firmly to pan until packed; set aside.

For the cheesecake: Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Using a whisk, whisk cream cheese until blended; add the other ingredients in the following order, sugar --> cocoa powder --> eggs --> lemon juice --> whipping cream, make sure that each item is well blended before adding another. Strain the cheese mixture then pour into the cake pan.

Pour hot water (1 inch in depth) into a roasting pan, place the pan inside the roasting pan and bake for 90minutes. If the water dried out while baking, be sure to refill with more hot water. Once the center of the cake no longer quiver and the sides begin to pull away from the pan then it is done. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. Place in fridge for 3 hours or overnight to set.

Dark Chocolate Glazing
100g whipping cream
125g water
40g cocoa powder
160g granulated sugar
10g leaf gelatine

Prep:
- Pre-soak gelatine in a bowl of cold water, squeeze out excess water; set aside. If using powdered gelatine, add 2 spoon of water.
- Using a small round cookie cutter, scrape curls off a block of white chocolate.

Place whipping cream, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Then add in the cocoa powder and bring to boil again or till mixture slightly thicken; stir constantly to avoid mixture sticking to saucepan. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes then add the pre-soaked gelatine; stir until completely melted; strain. When cool to lukewarm, pour glazing onto cheesecake and let some drip down the sides. Place back into fridge for another 30 minutes.

Decorate the cake with white chocolate curls before serving. Indulge yourself and your loved one ^0^


我要跟所有一月出生的birthday boys and girls說一聲生日快樂﹗希望你們平安健康快樂﹗我決定以後每個月我都要給那個月生日的人做一個甜點﹐就算你們吃不到﹐也能感受到我的祝福 ^0^ 我一直認為在我們生日的那天一定要吃點甜食。不管是一顆巧克力truffle﹑一塊蛋糕又或是supersize份量的冰淇淋﹐因為它意味著到我們下個生日的日子都會是甜甜的。我知道你們一定在笑我怪怪的>o<沒關係﹐這只是我個人的信仰。

這個美式可可亞乳酪蛋糕﹐我還是這個holiday才學會的。第一次就穫得成功﹐我還真有天份…呵呵呵… 這個Christmas party真的讓我攪盡腦汁﹐想了很久。我總不能做個檸檬香草慕斯呀(因為好像我身邊的人沒有嘗試新味道的精神>_<) 當我快抓狂的時候﹐ 突然記起這本書。以前從書裡學做過很多受歡迎的乳酪蛋糕﹐那麼再從書裡學做另一個應該不會錯的。而從它給人吃個清光的情況看來﹐我的選擇是對的…嘿嘿嘿… 然後我也送了一個給我的員工﹐也同樣被吃個清光。那好吧﹗就是它了。一月的birthday sweet﹗這個乳酪蛋糕本來是可可亞和酸奶油的組合﹐但是當初冰箱裡沒酸奶油﹐改做巧克力glazing(人家是chocoholic啦)。我想這個組合應該比較讚吧?!

這個乳酪蛋糕只需攪拌烘烤﹐做法簡單。真的只要不斷地加入材料﹑不斷地攪拌﹐再放入烤箱﹐然後放入冰箱冷藏即可。而一般製作蛋糕最害怕的遇到的狀況﹐像是蛋糕沒有發起來﹑口感不夠鬆軟等等﹐在這個製作過程是絕對不會遇到的。好輕鬆喔! 這可可亞乳酪蛋糕是個隔水蒸烤式的乳酪蛋糕﹐就是人稱紐約乳酪蛋糕﹔有著細緻滑嫩﹐濃郁濕潤的口感。如果你自認是死忠的chocoholic﹐那麼你不做來吃﹐你會後悔的 ^__^



18cm底板可以拆除的模- 1個
可可亞乳酪糊
300g 奶油乳酪
200ml 忌廉/ 鮮奶油
120g 細砂糖
2個 全蛋
4大匙 Dutch process可可粉
4小匙 檸檬汁

Oreo 餅皮
180g Oreo餅乾 (去除夾心)
100g 無鹽奶油

要注意什麼呢?
- 做Cheesecake最好選用底板可以拆除的模具﹐方便脫模。
- 要切出像patisseries賣的蛋糕一點也不難﹐只要用溫熱過的刀子來切﹐就可以切得像店家賣的一樣整齊。首先﹐將刀子浸在熱水裡﹐擦乾就可以切了;每切完一刀﹐就把沾在刀子面上的蛋糕屑擦乾淨﹐並再度放進熱水裡溫熱。重複這些步驟就成了

事前準備:
- 將奶油乳酪用保鮮膜包起來﹐放進微波爐﹐以弱溫加熱2分鐘﹐使其軟化。
- 將烤箱預熱至325F/160C。
- 在模具底部包上兩層鋁箔纸。
- 燒一壺熱水﹔備用。

Oreo餅皮: 將Oreo餅乾裝入拉鍊袋﹐用桿麵棍打碎。滾動桿麵棍﹐將餅乾壓成細末。奶油放進微波爐加熱至融解﹐加入袋內並封緊袋口﹐用手搓揉混合。倒入模具中﹐用湯匙背使勁壓平後﹐備用。

可可亞乳酪糊: 將奶油乳酪放入mixing bowl裡用打蛋器攪拌至順滑﹔再依序加入細砂糖--->可可粉--->蛋---> 檸檬汁--->鮮奶油﹐每加入一樣都必須確實攪拌均勻。用濾網過濾後﹐倒入模具中。放進烤箱﹐隔水蒸烤﹔在烤盤裡注入約1 寸高的熱水﹔以325F/160C 烘烤90分鐘。隨時注意烤盤裡的水﹐若烤乾了可添加。待烤好後﹐從烤箱取出﹐靜置冷卻﹐放進冰箱冷藏3個小時或以上。

黑巧克力光亮漿
100g 鮮奶油
125g 清水
40g 可可粉
160g 砂糖
10g 明膠片 (明膠粉)

事前準備:
- 明膠片用冰水泡軟之後擠掉水分，備用。如果用明膠粉: 將其倒入水裡泡脹後備用。
- 用圓形cookie模﹐在巧克力磚上刮出巧克力卷作裝飾。

將砂糖﹑鮮奶油及水裝進小鍋裡，開中火煮至融化沸騰後加入可可粉﹔不停的輕輕攪拌可可漿﹐讓它不會燒焦或黏鍋。待再次沸騰﹐而可可漿變濃後﹐熄火。將泡軟的明膠片加進漿裡，攪拌至完全融化後﹐用濾網過濾﹐稍微放涼但還是流動狀的液態的時候﹐淋在蛋糕上﹐撫平﹐任可可漿溢滿源周邊流下。記住這時動作要迅速﹐因為可可漿很快就凝固。放進冰箱冷藏30分鐘。最後就是用巧克力卷裝飾蛋糕。