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!

Ahoy! Sailing in Fethiye, Turkey

Beneteau Oceanis, 40ft

And there I was flying from Istanbul to Dalaman and driving onwards to Fethiye. To the blue yonder. Where I wanted to be, far away on the water. 

We did not have much wind but enough to sail leisurely. So different from blasting through and over the ocean which I also love. On anchor and lazing, swimming in the ocean and eating the freshest of cold watermelon. That is life. 

Back in Fethiye town, at the local fish market with a court yard and various restaurants surrounding the raw fish buffet is where I tasted the best calamari ever.

Best calamari ever

You basically choose and buy fresh from the mongers what you would like to eat and then you walk around and choose a restaurant to prepare the seafood you bought and order the sides and drinks from them. Brilliant concept, wake up to the idea Cape Town….

I could eat the stuff until I fell over but that did not happen, it nearly happened because of the Turkish puff- breads. If I did not walk all day, every day from morning to evening( or rest….) or swim or sail, I would have puffed up exactly like those breads. 

And we shall not talk about the baklava and ice cream all around…….it follows you everywhere, I swear…

Oh yes, the baklava

 It is just the kind of place where you do not dare think that you may not ever see again.

Fethiye Marina

Random Photo:

(or not so random on this holiday, come to think of it.)

All in a day

Sometimes it is better not to plan. Just go on a whim by the seat of your pants. This weekend was one of those.

Room with a view-Simon’s Town

We went for a one night stay in the sleepy Naval village of Simon’s Town about 40 km from Cape Town. Browsing, shopping a bit, eating a lot and sleeping well.

Simon’s Town

The next morning the full intention was to go straight home but a detour here and there and playing tourists in our own area, we ended up at Cape Point. To most it feels like the most southern tip of Africa but is is not, it is however open water from there right to Antarctica. Ahoy sailer!

Cape Point and then Antarctica!

A very nice weekend always has to end with a special lunch of sorts……

White and dark chocolate desert. Hotel Hohenhort Constantia

Random Photo: #ilovecapetown

This is how far we are