19 FEBRUARY 2011 :: THE HEAVENLY FIONA CHEESECAKE SURPRISE
I seem to have relapsed into the bad habit of neglecting my blog. I
could sit here and make excuses, my lack of time while trying to juggle
Stanford graduate study with the intense new job.... Or I could just
spend 15 minutes writing about my evening?
It's Sunday so it's sport night! Rangers vs Flyers live from New York.
But, my beloved Rangers have lost 8 of their last 10 games... there's
not a lot to get inspired about!
Fear not, instead of ranting about how much The Rangers suck, I bring
you the Heavenly Fiona Birthday Cheesecake Experience. So easy you
can make it while watching your team, no matter how bad they are. So
tasty people will be talking about it for days after.
Start with the base. Get a pile of digestive biscuits and a handful of
specaloo biscuits.
Put them in a zip lock bag and take to them with a rolling pin. It's
particularly therapeutic when your team are loosing yet another game
and
about to be knocked out of a finals spot...
Feeling better? No? Like most violence it's gratifying in the short
term
but does not fix the issue at hand. Sacking the coach, that might fix
the issue at hand? How about scoring a goal? Couldn't hurt.
Take your crushed up biscuits and mix them up with about 50g of melted
butter. Spread the mix into a cake tin to form the base.
Now for the cake itself. It's easier than the base, if that's possible.
Take 900g of light cream cheese
Add 190g of caster sugar and the first secret ingredient. A vanilla
pod. It'll look like this, and when you see it at the supermarket,
your first thought will be "I'm not paying that!"
Get over yourself. Buy it. You'll know why once you use it.
To get the vanilla goodness out you need to cut it down the middle.
use the back of a spoon to scrape out the seeds. It'll look like
caviar, and it's just as impressive.
Put the vanilla in with the cheese and sugar, you're now ready for the
2nd secret ingredient. While you'll want to brag to people about the
vanilla pod, this one's more of a dirty little secret.
It's the one you keep in in the back of the cupboard, only taking it
out when you're home alone...
Store brought lemon curd. Shhhhh don't say it out loud!
Use half the jar and hide the rest.
When people ask where the incredible flavor comes from, say it's a
secret.
Now you get to hand it all over to mans best friend. your KitchenAid is
about to do all the work. Mix the cheese, sugar, lemon and vanilla on
a slow speed. Add 4 eggs, one at a time and then mix on a medium speed
for
30 seconds.
That's it, seriously, you're done! What have The Rangers done in that
time? We'll to their credit they've pulled back to within a goal. But,
it's nothing compared to your cheesecake.
Tip the cake into the tin and stick it in the oven at 150 degrees C.
It'll
take a while. About 2 hours? When you take it out the edges will be
firm
and the middle will be soft.... Like The Rangers
There it is! Birthday cake for your co-conspirator.
Your team may have lost, again, but you'll always win with
the Lemon Cheesecake Surprise. Just keep the secret ingredient under
your hat.
Luke
x
When I grow up I'm going to Bovine University!
Ralph Wiggum