DB April Challenge, and a happy mistake

Okay, so I'm not that good at making cheesecake come out neatly and unbroken from its pan. In my defense, I used a shallow square non-springform pan to bake it, thus making the exercise of removing the sticky, gooey deliciousness extra hard. Really, I'm not just making excuses for myself. The leftovers which I baked in ramekins turned out nicely with a smooth and satisfying plop at the slightest coaxing.

Add that to the humiliation that somehow the bavarois recipe I had intended to accompany the cheesecake did not work. I intended to make a fig, muscatel and pear bavarian cream to accompany the blue cheese cheesecake I had made. Unfortunately, I had an unforeseen glitch in my choice of fruit. It turns out that fresh figs contain an enzyme called Bromelain--- found in foods such as pineapple, kiwi, papaya and ginger roots---which breaks down gelatin, thereby inhibiting thickening. And of course, I had only researched this as I was typing this post, thus explaining the glob of goo on my plate. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right?


Anyway, although my bavarian cream is beyond redemption, I had a moment of enlightenment with my cheesecake. Seems like divine intervention had saved me from the looming doom that is shame and humiliation of failing a DB Challenge. As I was gathering the scraps of my fallen cheesecake, a thought whispers itself in my head. I can't remember its exact words, but it went something like this: hey, why don't you roll them into a ball, then cover them in walnut crust? And so I did. And it turned out to be a good move.


I'm not adept at creating and plating multi-component desserts, unlike my friend Y, whose creations are works of arts. Her desserts may look like they were spontaneously crafted at the spur of the moment, but believe me, those organic structures on a plate are carefully calculated with a good dose of restraint, resulting in a balanced and harmonious plate. Like Jackson Pollock, but much better; in my humble opinion anyway. Plus I feel it's partly owing to her mentioning a cheese plate cheesecake that I was able to salvage my cheesecake. Maybe it was her voice in my head...hmmm....

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Comfort food for the winter chill

I seem to have an inclination towards rustic, simple desserts of late. It must be the uncharacteristically wet weather we are having--I've never experienced such a wet winter in the past 5 years that I've been in Melbourne.

But I digress. The bread and butter pudding, a traditional English fare, is perfect for a chilly winter's night. This treat emanates the most heavenly smell from the oven, which makes waiting for it to set to the perfect wobbly texture an excruciating experience. Fresh out of the oven, with a sprinkling of icing sugar, bread and butter pudding is the perfect comfort food. You don't have to get dressed up or dolled up to enjoy this dessert; it is unpretentious, and no, it will not judge you on the way you look in your pajamas and spectacles, nor will it ostracize you for the shockingly unrefined way in which you are eating it.

This is a dessert you would eat unabashedly with a big spoon straight from the bowl.



Bread and Butter Pudding
(adapted from The Gourmet Traveller)

serves 6, or 4 very hungry adults

85 g sultanas
2 Tbsp brandy
5 eggs
300ml pouring cream
300ml milk
55g caster sugar
Finely grated rind of an orange
Seeds of 1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 slices day-old white bread (or any of your choice; i used raisin toast)
60g soft butter, plus extra for greasing
1 Tbsp demerara sugar
Icing sugar, to serve


Combine sultanas and brandy in a small bowl and set aside.Combine eggs, cream, milk, caster sugar, orange rind, vanilla seeds and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside. Spread both sides of the bread with butter and halve lengthways. Scatter 1/3 of the brandied sultanas into a lightly greased 1 litre capacity oven-proof dish (i used 4 x 250 ml ramekins). Trim bread slices to fit dish and layer, scattering remaining sultanas between each layer. Pour cream mixture evenly over bread slices and stand for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 180C, and bake until golden and custard is firm (30 min for ramekins, 50 min for large dish). Serve immediately, with a dusting of icing sugar if desired.