Turkish Delight Fridge Cake

Jingle Bells!

Open Sesame! The ark is open here in Cape Town. If you exit a door you fall over a tourist, or their cameras, whichever. There is defenitely a sense of expectation in the air and I like it! My sister over at nowathome and I are so giddy with excitement, awaiting the Christmas visit of our other sister(the real baker) that we ourselves started baking in a big way. We had to get the Chrismas cakes going you see, so that it can be topped up with brandy in the month to come to be ready for the event(s) planned. At this stage all of the events include either eating or wine tasting or cheese and chocolate tasting on the farms and I still do not know how it happened but we ended up baking 11 Christmas cakes and 3 cheese- chocolate fridge cake doodah thingies all on the same day. The recipes for the two types of fruit cake ( one dark and full of spices and the other light and buttery) are both posted on nowathome as she is much better with weighing and measuring things than me, so she wrote it all out for us.

Fruit cake jewels

Talk about overkill, but I figured this amount of cakes would do for the family birthdays and other visitors comming and going before THE VISIT of my other sis on the 24th of December. A cake gift here and there to others won’t hurt either (guilty concience perhaps). So a lot of messing and testing going on inbetween.

Oops….

I made the chocolate- cheese fridge cake as a birthday cake for my husband and followed my mother’s recipe, which used to be my birthday cake-wish every year.

Turkish Delight Fridge Cake

I made two of them the traditional way and the other one my way by adding Turkish Delight to the already unholy concoction of fattening stuff, but well, it was for his birthday and all that.

Layering

The old fashioned triangular shape I kept because it is just too precious to change and it will always remind me of my mother.

Shaping

Ingredients: 

1 cup sugar, 2 x 500 gr full cream cottage cheese, 3/4 cup butter, 1 egg, 2 packets biscuits, 1 t vanilla, glazed cherries, chocolate flake( optional) 2 slabs milk chocolate, tin foil. I replaced the cherries with Turkish Delight and used dark chocolate as an alternative.

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat well. Add cottage cheese and vanilla. Place 4 biscuits in a row, 5 or more down on a well greased piece of tin foil. Spread cheese mix over the biscuits and repeat the biscuit layer this time 3 in a row and spread again. On top of the last cheese blanket place the cherries and flake( or Turkish Delight) and by placing your hands under the tin foil, form a triangle, close the tin foil and smooth the tin foil out with your hands to tidy and neaten the triangular shape. Freeze over night or at least 3 to 4 hours

The nice part:

Melt the chocolate over a double bouler and spread over the frozen cheese cake, thickness to your taste. Freeze open for  half and hour and then you can close the foil loosely to keep in the freezer. Thaw for about 10 minutes before you cut slices so that the chocolate does not break or flake.

Chocolate cover

Everyone swears it is the most heavenly creation they have ever tasted. I agree and I solemnly promise not to have it more than once a year. My sister ( the real baker) says her hand luggage is allready filled with her baked goods, ready to fly over for the festivities so I honestly do not know where on the scales we are all going to end up this summer…..

Fridge Cake

Random Photo:

I dreamed I could fly

Eating chilli con carne with sweet potato chips

Chilli Con Carne & Sweet Potato Chips

This post is not about a recipe at all, more about the way I like eating this dish. It all came about in South Korea last year when I had one of those days that I did not feel like eating authentic Korean food. I just booked my tickets to go there again and maybe that is what made me think of the chilli con carne I had there of all places. It is exceptionally cold over there in Dec/Jan and I was in the mood for a hearty, warm, filling something that day, very hungry as always.

Sweet potato chips

We were in a food court of a very big shopping centre and there were hundreds of Korean and Asian dishes to choose from which I normally did, but as I said, not really in the mood for it that day. I spotted an American Diner type place with burgers and of all things between all of the normal fast foods also a chilli con carne (originally a dish from Texas USA according to Wikepedia), served with freshly grated cheddar and crispy french fries. Chilli served in a bowl, topped with the cheese and dipping the chips in the sauce and melting cheese and there I just knew: I will forever remember that meal and will eat it like that forever more!

Dippin’ n scoopin’

Exactly like I made today, but I used sweet potatoes baked in the oven instead of french fries. Try it, fork in hand and dipping and scooping away.

Tex-mex!

I served it with guacamole as an extra and I mixed smashed avocado, lemon juice, white pepper, red spring onion and full cream cottage cheese to make a thick guacamole. Another thing I can eat by the bowl full. I would imagine if you combine the meal with tortilla chips or wraps it would not be half bad but it hit the mark, just as I served it.

Guacamole

Food memories. I wonder what my next trip there will bring me on that front, other than spending time with my one and only precious girl.

Hope you had a good Sunday.

Random Photo:

My African Violet is blooming!

African Violet

Circle of Friends

Strawberry Cheese Cake and Nut Crumble

Today, as the saying goes: I shall stay in the moment…..unless of course I do not like the moment, in which case I shall take a nap!

Pink heaven

I recently made this cheese cake originally blogged by drizzleanddip and it is honestly the nicest nut crumble I have ever had. The photo’s are not great as the light faded fast and a retake or re-do is time wise just not an option.

Recipe – makes 12 individual portions( however in this house only enough for 6….)
Nut crumble
250 g flour, 170 g butter, 110 g macadamia nuts, 110 g almonds, 110 g Demerara sugar, 1/2 t vanilla extract.

To make the crumble topping, preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas mark 3. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until the mixture is the texture of breadcrumbs. Spread out the crumble on a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes, being sure to stir the crumble mixture every 10 minutes. Remove when the mixture is golden brown and set aside to cool.

None of the utensils I have, wanted to work properly so I made the crumble in batches with my nifty little blender thingy I bought in Turkey. Yip, that was in the suitcase too!

Cheesecake

125 g crème fraîche, 225 g Philadelphia cheese, 100 g icing sugar, 150 ml Strawberry Syrup (plus extra to garnish), 250 ml cream, 3 leaves Gelatine, Fresh strawberries for garnish.
For the cheesecake, soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes, and use a little bit of the cream and melt the gelatine over a double boiler. Set aside to cool.
Mix together the crème fraîche, cream cheese, sugar, and strawberry syrup (I used an electric stand mixer with whisk attachment). Put the cream in a separate bowl and whisk until stiff. Gently fold the gelatine into the cream mix and gradually fold the stiff cream into the cream cheese mixture little by little until completely combined.
To assemble the cheesecake, spoon out a layer of crumble at the bottom of your serving glass and top with a good dollop of strawberry cheesecake mix. refrigerate until ready to serve.
Decorate with a drizzle of strawberry syrup and a few slices of fresh strawberries.

I made my own strawberry syrup by boiling frozen strawberries and sugar and blitzing it into a pulp.

Rich ingredients but not too rich in taste at all, only heavenly in fact .

Strawberr Cheese Cake&Nut Crumble

Random Photo:

Cheers to November!