Layers Of Cheesecake

I have another recipe for all you lovely bakers. This one had me very excited. I really wanted to make a Halloween themed cheesecake. I searched and searched and in the end I had to get creative because the recipes that I came across just weren’t jumping out at me. I decided to go with something that sounded easy, absolutely delicious and that I could easily decorate however I pleased. Below is my abridged version of the recipe that I used but I will add a link to the original at the bottom for anyone who would like to have a look. This triple chocolate Maltesers cheesecake was absolutely delicious and I’ll definitely be making it again with some edits. 

 Have a look at the pictures for some spook-tacular ideas for decorating. I decided to go for a graveyard theme. The gravestones are made using Nice Biscuits and an edible black food pen. The ghosts were made from marshmallows and cocktail sticks to hold them in place. I cut them to shape but if you come across the ghost marshmallows in the shop then you are luckier than me haha. The cheesecake was easy to make and its crumbly Maltesers topping was the perfect setting for my graveyard.

 

Ingredients:

150g of biscuits of your choice

125g of unsalted Butter (melted)

250g of Maltesers (crushed)

150g of white chocolate (melted)

200g of créme Fraiche

210g of cream cheese

100g of milk chocolate

 

Method:

To begin you’ll need to crush your chosen biscuits using whatever method you prefer. You can blend them or put them in a bag and beat the living day lights out of them – depends on your level of stress I suppose. You’ll want the biscuits finely crushed up. 

            Then melt the butter on a low heat in the microwave or in a saucepan over a low heat. Microwaves can be harder to keep an eye on. I always melt butter in a pot over a hob. Mix the crushed biscuits and butter together and line the base of your tin. The recipe suits an 8” or 20cm tin but you can always add more mixture if you’d prefer a larger cake. I used a 9” tin and used 2 full packets of Oreos.  You can line the base of the tin with baking paper or butter. Learn from my mistake and just use the baking paper lol Smooth out the base so it is even all over and place in the fridge to cool for around an hour.

            Melt the white chocolate (I used Cadbury White) and cool for a few minutes. Then add the Crème Fraiche and mix in about three quarters of the crushed Maltesers. I also decided to blend the Maltesers for this part so it was smoother. 

            Melt the milk chocolate (again I used Cadburys milk chocolate because I like quality). Stir the melted milk chocolate into the cream cheese and gently fold into the Créme Fraiche and white chocolate mix. 

            Once you have the mixture made and your base has been chilling for an hour pour the topping mixture over the biscuit base. I placed the remaining Maltesers in a bag and crushed them so that they were much bigger pieces over the top and then place in the fridge for up to 12 hours (I left it over night). I waited a few hours before decorating so that the gravestones would not be lost to the mixture. 

            

If you’ve been wanting to make a no bake cheesecake this is the one to try. It’s delicious and it’s so easy to make but just remember to make it well in advance of when you want to serve it. You can also pop the cheesecake into the freezer to speed up the process. Let me know if you give this recipe a go and share your cheesecake with me on my social media pages, I'd loved to see them. Can’t wait to try this one again!! Hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!! 

 

Caz xx

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/three-chocolate-no-bake-malteser-cheesecake-recipe 

The Cheesecake Factory?

 

It's not what it says on the tin. Celebrities rave about it. It seems to be the in place. Celebrities such as Drake, The Kardashians and Britney Spears are among the stars that are said to love The Cheesecake Factory. But what is it about The Cheesecake Factory that people love so much?

I myself have been to The “mystical” Cheesecake Factory. Boy was I in for a huge shock when I found out that The Cheesecake Factory was in fact not a factory full of cheesecakes. I thought I was going to the best place in the world. I had Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type fantasies except it was all cheesecakes. In reality it was an overpriced and underwhelming restaurant. Now don’t get me wrong I was spoiled for choice of cheesecake, so I still walked away happy but I wish I had just gone for three courses of cheesecake.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about The Cheesecake Factory operates 220 full-service restaurants in the US and around the world. My experience was in Las Vegas so I was in a fantasy bubble either way. It’s an American restaurant with a broad range of food options and a seriously long list of cheesecakes. The restaurant chain was founded by David M Overton in 1978. However it was his mother’s original idea. She began making cheesecakes and started a small store back in 1949 but gave it up to raise her kids. David’s first restaurant was set up in Beverly Hills. 

The Cheesecake Factory has had its fair share of spotlight moments. It’s biggest being its stint on The Big Bang Theory TV series. The characters Penny and Bernadette both worked there for a time and it became the gang hang out. It’s also had mentions in music and in movies. 

If you love cheesecake then you’d be mad not to go but I’d recommend just going for the cheesecake so you can try a few. Nothing worse than being stuffed after dinner and then only having room for one cheesecake from a whole cheesecake menu. If we ever get out of lockdown and are eventually allowed to travel once again I may just find myself in The Cheesecake Factory. They have some in Asia, might try new land. 

But seriously someone needs to bring me to an actual cheesecake factory though because I still haven’t fulfilled that dream.

 

Caz xx

A Brief History Of Cheesecake

I think this blog was helping me remember what it used to be like to sit in a restaurant and eat cheesecake. Remember the good old days. This got me thinking about the cheesecake of the past.  So heres a look at where Cheesecake came from and how it changed over the years.

We have to go way back to the 5^th Century and travel to Ancient Greece where absolutely everything seems to have begun lol The earliest mention is by Aegimus the Greek physician. He wrote a book on the Art of Making Cheesecake. Sounds like a brilliant book to me. Unfortunately there are no surviving copies of this book. 

There is however a book still in existence that contains cheesecake recipes. The book is called De Agri Cultura, this book is a manual on running a farm written by Cato the Elder. Cato was a Roman soldier, senator and historian born in 234 BC. He was big into conservatism and was opposed to Hellenization. Cato is said to be the first to have written history in Latin. Anyways lets get back to Cheesecake. His book contains recipes for three cakes that were for religious uses. These cakes are libum, savillum and placenta. Placenta is most like the modern cheesecake that we have come to love as it has a crust base that is prepared and baked separately. 

Forme of Cury is an English cookbook written in 1390. It contains a recipe for a cake called Sambocade which resembles that of a cheesecake recipe. It is for this reason that the chef Heston Blumenthal has said cheesecake is an English invention. You're wrong Heston!!! 

The name Cheesecake has only been used since the 15^th Century. The cheesecake style didn’t become what it is today until the 18^th Century. Over the years the recipe has changed. The styles and flavours have become plentiful. There doesn't seem to be a cheesecake flavour that hasn't been tried. Over the years Europeans have taken out the yeast and instead have used eggs. It is said to have a more dessert like taste due to this. 

Modern American cream cheese was developed in 1872 by William Lawrence. He accidentally made un-ripened cheese that was heavier and creamier while trying to make a new version of Neufchátel. Neufchátel is a soft crumbly, mold-ripened cheese made in France. This is the reason why the style of Cheesecake that is made up of uncooked cream-cheese lying on a crumbled cookie base was invented in the United States.

So there we have it a brief history of Cheesecake. A little information on the earliest mentions and how it has evolved. I think its still evolving and its only getting better and garnering more and more appreciation. I hope you enjoyed this little insight into the cheesecakes beginnings.

 

Caz xx

A Day In Bray With Cheesecake

What can I say about Bray its one of my all time favourite places to visit. I love the seaside. You can’t beat a walk along the promenade with a 99 ice cream (sprinkles, red sauce and a flake). You have that sea breeze that’ll have you asleep by 8pm. If that doesn’t do the trick you could always try the walk from Bray head to Greystones, that’ll surely tire you out and it’s definitely worth it. The views from the walking route are out of this world. Nothing beats the views from the coast of Ireland. We’re one lucky nation. 

My favourite stop for a bite to eat after a fun day of sea life exploring or hill walking is The Anchor. This lovely spot sits facing the seaside and bandstand. Originally we picked this location from two options. They both offered cheesecake so it was a very difficult decision as you can imagine. I chose The Anchor for the Ferrero Roche Cheesecake and their great selection of food.

Back then we were relying on the tram to get us back home so although I got to enjoy every bit of my delicious meal I unfortunately had to wolf down my cheesecake and didn’t get to fully savour all the flavours before we had to run for the tram. I have attached a photo for you to enjoy. It was a sandwich style cheesecake decorated with ice cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce. It was delicious. 

Don’t worry though I returned and was absolutely blown away by the facelift that The Anchor had undergone. It was even better than I remembered and this time we had a car. After a great day walking the Bray to Greystones route I was able to sit down, relax and savour every bit of the new menu including the new Maltesers Cheesecake. 

I chose their Chicken on a bed of mash potatoes and vegetables. The mash was delicious and creamy. The cheesecake was a crunchy and chocolate filled dream. I'd definitely like to try my own version of this. Hopefully I'll have a recipe posted for this in a later post so keep your eye out.

The Anchor is a great spot. The staff there are very friendly and the food is absolutely delicious. It’s great value for money too. They offer outdoor dining with sea views. So if you are lucky enough to be in Wicklow at the moment get yourself down to The Anchor, if not wait out the storm but make sure you try it next time you find yourself in Bray. 

Caz xx

Irish Rhubarb Cheesecake Shortbread

The new kid on the block, Rudy’s of Blanchardstown Village is a must for all you foodies.  This deceivingly small restaurant sits on the main street and looks straight onto SuperValu where parking is always available. It’s a little on the expensive side so it’s one of those nice treats every once and a while. Portion sizes can be quite small depending on the dish you choose so my recommendation is get the starter too.

I know this next part might shock you but for dessert I went with the Cheesecake haha. It was Irish Rhubarb Cheesecake shortbread. I wasn’t sure what to expect and while ordering it the girl taking our order clarified that it wasn’t like a usual cheesecake so I was of course intrigued. 

The cheesecake was made up of five layers. A cream cheese filling on both the top and bottom and then another layer sandwiched between two shortbread biscuits. Again the portion size seemed small at first but it was just the right amount. It was decorated with a fruit sauce that gave the flavour a little kick. It was light and was the perfect ratio of cream and biscuit. This was a must try and I must try it again.

Be sure to ask if the cheesecake is still available before getting your heart set on it as like most places Rudy’s do change up their menu. With or without the cheesecake I’d still recommend a visit. You won’t be disappointed. 

Rudy’s open from 12pm each day and offer brunch, dinner and cocktails. They are currently offering a dining out experience with outdoor seating. So if you’d love to dine out and are finding options limited at the moment they have a heated terrace but spaces are limited so be sure to book so as not to be disappointed. 

            As always I’d love to hear if you have visited the recommended restaurants. Share your experiences in the comments below and post pictures by tagging my social media pages @cheesecaketravelsblog (instagram) & @cheesecaketravels (Facebook).

 

Caz xx