Baking 101: Chocolate Cheesecake - My New Found Love

Here's an addition to my cheesecake recipe collection...the chocolate cheesecake. I used the the basic cheesecake recipe from Dessert Comes First, added some chocolates and voila...a mouth-watering dessert! Yum-o! (borrow lang rachel ray heheheh!)

From this recipe, I was able to fill a 6-inch spring form pan and 9 cupcake liners.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

For the cheesecake
Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.
2 - 8oz bars of cream cheese
1 can of condensed milk
3 large eggs
juice from 2 calamansi or lemon juice
120g semisweet chocolate (must be of good quality!!!)

For the Crust
1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate biscuits (crushed oreo or crushed hi-ro)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps melted butter

Procedure

Crust:
1. Mix crushed cookies and sugar in a bowl.
2. Pour melted butter into the cookie-sugar mixture. Mix until well incorporated.
3. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the baking pan. Bake for 5 mins in a preheated oven (375 degrees F).
4. Set aside.

Cheesecake Mixture:
**Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
1. In a double broiler, melt chocolate. Cool.
2. Beat creamcheese with wire whisk or electric mixer until fluffy and lumps free.
3. Gradually stir in the condensed milk until smooth.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and the juice of calamansi. Mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
6. For spring form pan, bake the cheese for 50-55 minutes or until the center is jiggly.
    For cupcakes, bake for 20 mins.
7. Cool the cheesecakes before you chill them.

You can garnish it with whipped cream. I used whipped all purpose cream (eheheeh).

Homemade Ghirardelli Ice Cream

I made ice cream when I was 9. It was a vanilla ice cream made with coconut milk, powdered and condensed milk and vanilla extract. It turned out OK but a bit...errr...salty. hahaha! But my dad said it was delicious or maybe because he didn't want to hurt his little bunso's feeling hehehhe!


After 22 years, I tried making the ice cream again. I searched for the best recipe (i think!) and i decided to try chocolate ice cream. I used Ghirardelli baking chocolate (a padala from my sister) and it really did wonder to the ice cream promise! Sorry, but i think I browsed from too many sites and i forgot where i got this recipe...


Hey! making a homemade ice cream is not a joke, especially if you do not have an ice cream maker (argh!). You will need at least 3 hours before you'll have a taste of it. You need to freeze-beat, freeze-beat every 40 minutes. But who cares, I enjoyed the whole process! heheheh!


Try this and give your kids a treat!


This recipe can fill a 700ml ice cream tub.


Ingredients



1 cup of milk
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
3 oz bittersweet Ghirardelli baking chocolates, chopped (semi-sweet chocolates will do great too!)
2 cups cream, I used all purpose cream.
1 tsp vanilla


Procedure


Before doing this, you will need to chill a stainless wide and shallow pan or bowl.


1. Combine milk, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to simmer.


2. Place the yolks into a bowl and gradually mix half of the hot chocolate liquid. At this point, you need to continuously beat the egg yolks to prevent it from curdling. (I think this is what they call tempering of eggs -- so it wont curdle and you won't end up with scrambled egg.)


3. Return the egg yolks mix to the milk mix and continue heating until thick. It should cover the back of the spoon. Do not boil the mixture.


4. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate. Pour the mixture into the chilled bowl and refrigerate (do not freeze) for 2hrs until cold.


5. When the chocolate has completely cooled, add the cream and vanilla and mix it thoroughly with an electric mixer or with a wire whisk.


6. Freeze the ice cream. When the ice are beginning to form at the side of the pan, take it out from the freezer and beat it. Put it back to the freezer. Beat it again after 40 minutes. Repeat the freeze-beat process 3 times.


7. Once you achieved the creamy texture of the ice crea, transfer it to an ice cream tub and freeze until ready to serve.