Strawberry shortcake cheesecake

For my dad's birthday, I wanted to make a special cake for him. I couldn't decide on a cake until I came across the Junior's cheesecake cookbook. While browsing through the book, I found a recipe for a Strawberry shortcake cheesecake. The cake looks so beautiful in the picture, I had to make it!!

This cake was a bit time consuming to make. You really need to plan ahead because the cheesecake layer needs to be refrigerated overnight. I made the cheesecake layer and the sponge cake part the night before, and assembled it the next day. The result was great!! This cake is really delicious, but oh so rich!!! I highly recommend this book, there are so many tips for making a good cheesecake. As you can see in the recipe below, they are very detailed in their instructions. All in all, this was a great find!!

Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake
Junior’s cheesecake cookbook

Cheesecake layer:
10 oz (1 cup) frozen whole strawberries, thawed and drained well
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp cornstarch
3 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs
2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
3 to 4 drops red food coloring (optional)

For the sponge cake (2 layers):
2/3 cup sifted cake flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
5 extra large eggs, separated and at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp pure lemon extract
¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
½ tsp cream of tartar

to assemble and frost:
2 quarts fresh strawberries
1 tbsp unflavored granulated gelatin
3 tbsp cold water
1 quart heavy or whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Makes one 9-inch three layer cake, about 5 inches high

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter the bottom and sides of one 9-inch springform pan and two 9 inch round layer cake pans. Wrap the outside of the springform (but not the cake pans) with aluminum foil, covering the bottom and extending all the way up the sides. Very important: line the bottom of all three pans with parchment or waxed paper (do not let the paper come up the sides).

2. Pulse the thawed strawberries in your food processor until smooth (you need ¾ cup of puree). Stir in the 1 tsp of cornstarch and set aside. It will thicken slightly as it stands.

3. Put one package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl a few times. Beat in the remaining cream cheese, one package at a time, scraping down the bowl after each. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat in the remaining 1 cup sugar, then the vanilla. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each. Beat in the cream just until it’s completely blended. Be careful not to overmix! Fold in the strawberry puree, plus the food coloring, if you wish (use just enough to tint the batter light pink).

4. Gently spoon the batter into the springform, then place it in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes 1 inch up the sides of the springform. Bake the cake until the edges are light golden brown and the top is set, about 1 ¼ hours. Remove the cake from the water bath, transfer the tin to a wire rack, and let cool in the pan for 2 hours, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cold, about 4 hours. Then freeze overnight until ready to assemble the cake.

5. While the cheesecake is cooling, make the sponge cake layers. Check that the oven is preheated to 350 degrees and that the water bath has been removed. In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high for 3 minutes. While the mixer is still running, slowly add 1/3 cup of the sugar and continue beating until thick, light yellow ribbons form in the bowl, about 5 minutes more. Beat in the extracts. Sift the flour mixture over the batter and stir it in by hand, just until no white flecks are visible. Blend in the melted butter.

6. Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean medium size bowl and, using clean, dry beaters, beat the mixer on high until frothy. Gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. (the whites will stand up and look glossy, not dry). Fold about 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then add the remaining whites. Don’t worry if you still see a few white specks-they’ll disappear during baking. Divide the batter evenly between the two layer cake pans and bake until golden (not wet or sticky) and the center springs back when lightly pressed, about 12 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto the rack and gently peel off the paper liners. Let cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or until ready to assemble the cake.

7. on the day you plan to assemble the cake, hull 1 quart of the strawberries, then cut them into ½ inch pieces (you need 2 cups). Reserve the remaining berries for decorating the cake.

8. Make the frosting. Place the gelatin in a heatproof measuring cup, stir in the cold water, and let stand until it swells and thickens. Cook in the microwave on high for about 30 seconds or over a pan of simmering water for about 1 minute, until clear and completely melted. In a medium size bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer on high until it thickens and soft peaks just begin to form. With the mixer still running, add the sugar and beat just until the cream stands up in peaks (don’t overmix or the cream will curdle). Beat in the vanilla. Add the melted gelatin all at once and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate the cream for at least 30 minutes (preferably no longer than 1 hour) in two bowls: 2 cups in a small bowl for piping decorations on the top of the cake and the remainder in a second larger bowl for frosting the cake. Meanwhile, remove the frozen strawberry cheesecake from the freezer and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

9. Place one layer of the sponge cake, top side down, on a cake plate. Spread evenly with a thin layer of whipped cream frosting from the large bowl and half of the strawberry pieces. Release and remove the ring of the springform, then remove the frozen cheesecake from the bottom of the pan. Peel away the paper liner and place top side down on top of the frosted bottom layer. Press the cheesecake down gently, just enough so the two layers stick together but not enough for the filling to come out the sides. Top the cheesecake layer with some more whipped cream from the large bowl, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining strawberry pieces. Top with the second cake layer of sponge cake, top side up. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the whipped cream in the large bowl.

10. To decorate, hull the remaining quart of berries and halve them, from top to tip. Place a ring of berries around the bottom edge of the cake, tip ends up. Using 5 or 6 berry halves, make a star in the center of the cake, pointing the tips of the berries away from the center. Fit a pastry bag with a medium closed star tip or medium open star tip and fill the cream from the small bowl. Pipe shells or rosettes around the top edge of the cake and make a large rosette on top of the strawberry pieces.

11. Refrigerate the cake until serving time (it takes at least 2 hours to allow the cheesecake to thaw enough to slice easily. Use a sharp straight edge knife, not a serrated one. Cover and leftover cake and refrigerate. Do not freeze this cake.

Note:

• I didn't use that much frosting in my cake. I only used about 1 1/2 cups of whipping cream for the whipped cream frosting. I thought a quart was a little bit of overkill.
  

Lemon Meringue Pie

My Daring Baker challenge #2. I'm so glad that Jen from Canadian baker picked this challenge, because I have NEVER made a pie before, and I probably wouldn't have made any pies unless I was challenged to do so. I don't know the first thing about making pies, and it always intimidated me. I guess this is the spirit of Daring Bakers, to do something you normally wouldn't do. I was really worried about making this pie though, since my fellow bakers had so many problems with it. It was definitely a mixture, some loved it, some didn't have much success with it.

I did some research on my own on Lemon Meringue pie. There was so much talk of weeping..I don't even know what that means?!!! I'm completely clueless with pies!! I even watched some videos on how to make lemon meringue pie. Our recipe asked you to wait until the lemon curd has cooled to room temperature before adding the meringue, while most recipes tell you to put the meringue on when the lemon curd is still hot. But in the spirit of Daring Bakers, I am currently anxiously waiting for my lemon curd to cool...to be continued...

My pie just finished baking. Now I know what it means when LMP weeps. It's funny, it really looks like it's weeping...=( I'm so bummed because the pie is delicious otherwise. The crust is nice and flaky, and lemon curd is absolutely delicious, and the meringue is great too. The only problem is the weeping. Oh well..I will have to make it again because I think this is a good recipe. Maybe the failure is due to my watching Lost while baking..heehee =P Can't wait for next month. Here's the recipe:

Lemon Meringue Pie
from "Wanda's Pie in the Sky" by Wanda Beaver
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

for the crust:
3/4 cup (175 g) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water

1. Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible.

2. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together.

3. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl.

4. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

5. Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm).

6. Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

for the filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (200g ) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (60g) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes.

2. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

3. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.

4. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

for the meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

2. Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks.

3. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Note:

• Cook's illustrated suggests that if you don't have pie weights, you can use pennies instead. I didn't have any pie weights and didn't want to purchase any, so I lined my pie with foil and put my pennies in. It works great!!
  

Coconut shortbread

I've had this bag of shredded coconut sitting in my pantry for a few weeks now. Now that I think about it, I don't remember what I originally bought it for. But since I have this get together to go to tonight, I thought I would make something simple to bring. I needed something quick and easy, because I'm too tired for anything strenuous. I went to one of my favorite blogs, Baking bites, and did a search for coconut cookies. There were a few that looked really really yummy, but I ended up picking the coconut shortbread cookies. These can't be any easier to make, and the results were great. I thought there would be a more pronounced coconut taste, but actually it was actually very buttery with a subtle coconut taste. Very delicious, and so easy!! This is definitely a keeper. Here's the recipe:

Coconut Shortbread
From Baking Bites

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut (unsweetened is fine, too)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, or with aluminum foil.

2. In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer, blend flour, sugar and salt together. Mix in butter at low speed until dough is crumbly, but starting to come together.

3. Stir in coconut and continue to mix until dough resembles wet sand; there should be large and fine clumps of dough in the mixing bowl.

4. Pour shortbread dough into prepared pan and press it firmly down into a single, even layer. Score shortbread lightly to make it easier to slice later.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until edges are golden and top is very lightly browned. Middle of shortbread will be set, but not firm.

6. Cool shortbread for 5 minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut the shortbread into 18 bars. Cool shortbread entirely in pan.

7. When cooled, remove shortbread from baking pan and store in an airtight container. Makes 18 large shortbread fingers, or 24 smaller bars.

Cheese chiffon cake

After making the souffle cheesecake last week, I wanted to make a chiffon type cake with cheese flavor. I looked everywhere for a recipe...and finally found it at Cherry Pinky Fantasy's website. The problem is the recipe is in Chinese!!! I'm horrible at reading Chinese..and google translate is not really good with translating Chinese either. After reading it over and over again, and guessing at some of the steps, I was able to decipher the recipe. The result was definitely worth the work!!! This is a very light chiffon cake, with a very subtle cheese flavor. Because it's not very sweet, it's perfect for a snack with a nice cup of tea. But because it's so light, I kept going back for more. Yikes!

The preparation is similar to the Souffle cheesecake, only you don't have to bake it in a bain marie. I also like the way this recipe tells you to melt the cream cheese first, and then add the other ingredients into the mixture. I didn't have any remaining cream cheese clumps like I did with the souffle cheesecake. Overall, definitely a keeper. Here's the recipe:

Cream cheese chiffon cake
Adapted from Cherry pinky fantasy

3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
45g milk
10g lemon juice
40g cream cheese
20g melted butter
55g cake flour, sifted twice
80g sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt cream cheese over double boiler.

3. Once the cream cheese is melted, slowly add the milk. Add the melted butter and lemon juice. Whisk the mixture to combine after each addition.

4. Whisk in one egg yolk at a time. When the mixture is incorporated, sift cake flour into the mixture. Whisk together until just combined.

5. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Once the egg whites are foamy, add in the sugar, tablespoon by tablespoon. Whisk until soft peak forms.

6. Add a third of the egg whites to the cheese mixture to lighten it. Then, gently but thoroughly fold the rest of the egg whites to the cheese mixture.

7. Gently pour the mixture into a 6 inch round pan. Gently tap the pan against the counter a few times to remove large air bubbles. Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

8. Allow the cake to cool upside down in the pan. Once the cake is cool, remove from the pan and serve.

Note:

• I didn't have a six inch round pan, and ended up using two small cake pans I bought in Japan.
• I only had to bake the cake for 35 minutes.

Souffle Cheesecake

My favorite type of cake would have to be cheesecake. I normally like the really rich creamy cheesecake, like a New York cheesecake. But once in awhile, I like a light cheesecake. This cheesecake is really light in texture, but still has a lot of flavor. It's not too sweet and it only uses 1 block of cream cheese, as opposed to the 4 blocks required for a New York cheesecake. It is a little bit time consuming to make this cake..but it's definitely worth it. This recipe comes from Rabbit Sims.

Souffle Cheesecake

adapted from Rabbit sims

Ingredients:
250 g cream cheese
50ml fresh cream
100m milk
80g butter
Cornstarch 25g
50ml milk
150g Egg white (appx. 4 large eggs)
10g cornstarch
100g sugar
138g Egg yolks (appx 4 large eggs)

butter and plain flour (for buttering the mould)

1. Melt cream cheese, cream, milk and butter over a pan of simmering water until the mixture liquefies (stir every 3 minutes), use spatula to stir the mixture well. Let mixture cool slightly.

2. Mix the cornstarch and milk together until cornstarch dissolves and pour into the cream cheese mixture, stir until well-combined. Add in beaten yolks. Strain this mixture through a strainer.

3. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line bottom of mold with baking parchment paper. Butter the sides of the mould and coat it with plain flour, remove excess flour. If using loose bottom cake tin, cover the outside of the tin with 2 layers of aluminum foil.

4. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites till foamy and add in sugar and cornstarch in 3 batches and beat until soft peaks stage.

5. Take 1/3 egg white and stir into the cream cheese mixture to loosen the batter. Pour the cheese batter into the remaining egg whites and using cut and fold method quickly fold in the egg whites, do not over fold or else the air in the egg whites will escape.

6. Pour batter into cake tin. Sit the tin in a bigger mold or baking tray. Bake in a bain-marie (water-bath). Water must be boiling hot when poured into the baking tray or bigger mould. Water level should come up to ¾ of the height of the cake tin, at least half if you cannot manage ¾.

7. Bake at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes until the top is brown. Reduce the temperature to 26o degrees and bake for another 60 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the tin. Remove from tin when cooled and refrigerate.

Note:

• I used caster sugar for this recipe.
• It takes a long time for the cream cheese mixture to melt. When melting the cream cheese mixture, there will be lumps of cream cheese that are left in the mixture that won't melt. Don't worry, those will be strained out later.
• It's important to strain the cream cheese mixture because otherwise you'll have lumps in your cheesecake.
• Keep checking the water level of the bain marie to make sure you have enough water in the pan.