Cheesecake Omnia

Its been sometime that I started visiting Diva's blog and the visual onslaught of some of my favorite dishes out there has made me go back for more everytime. It's one such post that caught my eye or rather, woke up the sleeping gastronome. It was the Beauty and the Feast challenge. All it required to do was to pick a cosmetic/beauty product which had a food related name or ingredient and combining the flavors as best as one could come up with a dish inspired by it. This one required me to think and conjure up something different.

I immediately looked up my stock of guy products. Now some would argue that it would mean just a few, cos guys really don't have that many. But I spend quite a bit on myself and really have a decent collection of guy products but nothing that I could turn into a dish. Next was my wife's cabinet...and that took time. Finally, I zeroed in on the most unusual product ...her parfum and the vast bouquet of ingredients really presented a challenge. It had Mandarin, White Chocolate, Masala Tea (yes, masala chai ) and saffron. Now these varied ingredients posed a good challenge. It was going to be an uphill task to come up with something that had all of these. How would it taste ??? If it smelt good, it must taste good too. So here I was making something out of the ingredients used for Bvlgari Omnia Parfum...and rightfully I named it the Cheesecake Omnia. In simple terms it's Mandarin & White Chocolate Cheesecake with Masala Chai Sauce.

To be honest, when I started out in the morning, I really didn't feel like entering the kitchen. It was more like a day meant for lazing in the bed, watching a movie after the other. IPL had almost lost its charm after Delhi Daredevils failed to make the cut. Thankfully, Sachin is still there. I walked almost unwillingly to the kitchen and on the way put on my ipod and selected a random playlist and hey! it started belting out one amazing track after another. I felt ready to take on the kitchen. This creation of mine is as much a help from music as the challenge posed and the amazing family that shares my love for cheesecakes.
It tasted heavenly and my son finished one whole tart. Most of them were hijacked by my better half, whatever I did lay my hands on, I enjoyed and silently patted myself. The Tea Sauce was a killer.
Diva, this is officially my entry to the Beauty & The Feast Challenge. If time permits, more will follow.

Cheesecake Omnia Ingredients:

For the Crust:
Refined Flour - 1 Cup
Butter - 1/2 Cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2 Tblsp
Water - 3 Tblsp

For the Cheesecake
Hung Yogurt - 1 Cup
Orange Pulp /Juice - 1 Cup
White Chocolate, melted on a double boiler - 60 gms
Custard - 2 Cups
Gelatin - 2 Tsp
Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur - 30 ml

For the Custard -
Egg Yolks - 2
Milk - 1 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 1/2 Cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 Tsp

For the Sauce
Tea Leaves - 1 Tsp
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves- 2
Green Cardamom - 3
Ginger- 1 tsp
Peppercorns - 2
Water - 2 Cups
Sugar - 4 Tsp
Butter - 3 Tsp
Saffron - a few strands ( soaked in some milk)

Method: Make the short crust pastry
1. Sieve the flour and salt together in a bowl.
2. Add in the sugar (now traditionally sugar does not go into a short crust pastry...but I used it).
3. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub lightly into the flour. Life the mixture as you do this to incorporate air. Keep doing until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Stir in water (little) and knead to make a soft dough.
5. Put it in a polythene bag and chill for 30 mins.
6. Take it out and roll it out into the shape you desire or the mold that you have and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg for 18 mins.
Note : I love this site. Tells you step by step on shortcrust pastry.

Make the Custard
1. Beat the egg yolks with sugar on a double boiler till the mixture turns white and creamy.
2. Slowly add in the milk continuing to whisk.
3. Keep whisking till all ingredients combine and the mixture starts to thicken.
4. Take it off fire.
Note : Use the ready to make custard powder that you get in the market. I can't help it, I have been taught how to make it the traditional way...still cannot use the powder. My wife however, excels in using it ( Despite my sarcasm on the real way).

Make the Cheesecake
1. Add in the cooled custard to the hung yogurt.
2. Add in the mandarin pulp, melted white chocolate, Mandarine Liqueur and gelatin(soaked in warm water).
3 Pour in the molds and keep in fridge.

Make the Sauce
1. Make the masala tea, bu boiling water with all the spices and condiments added to it.
2. When the water start starts to boil, add in the tea leaves, and let them infuse into the mix.
3. Simmer for 10 mins. Take off flame.
4. Pour the sugar in a saucepan and put on a medium flame.
5. Once the sugar starts to caramelize, add in the butter. This will prevent the sugar from burning.
6. Add in the Masala Tea and let it cook for 5 mins.
7. After 5 minutes, stir the sauce and mix the caramelized sugar with the tea. Stir till sauce thickens a little bit. Add in the saffron.
8. Take it off the flame and cool.

Serve the cheesecake on a bed of masala tea sauce and some dribbled over it, garnished with either white chocolate flakes or a small cube of it and some orange slices.

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Yeh Cheese(Cake) bada hai mast mast !!!

So, rounding up my cook a meal for your wife day and getting into another one (the weekend has begun), I give you a relatively easy and tasty cheesecake. Cheesecakes occupy a significant place in my life and our household. Much before, my wife fell in love with me, she fell in love with the cheesecakes I made at Hotel Management Training facility. Even though she would hate to catch my sight and interact with me, she would queue up to get a bite of the cheesecake. Time flowed by, and I moved on to a different department in a different city, we met again,fell in love and tied the knot. The Cheesecakes stopped coming. The only cheesecakes we had post marriage were the ones we had every other weekend at the Cheesecake Factory at Beachwood, OH. Thus it was but natural for me to round up the meal with a cheesecake made by me after all these years.

Now cheesecake comes in a wide range of styles on the way it is made, taste and the type of cheeses it uses. For more information on the different styles and sub-styles read this wikipedia thread. It provides a real meaningful and academic insight. Taking a queue from one quote mentioned there, it is indeed a canvas to work on.

I typically made a cheesecake that used a short crust base and was set (with the aid of gelatin). This time however, I used a cracker (biscuit) crumb base and baked the cheesecake. For knowledge sakes, it was a cross between different styles namely, the Ann-Arbor and the New York style. The heart shape again was not by design. I could not get to find a springform pan in the city (I have really searched high ...donations are welcome :D), the heart shaped cookie cutter was the only one available. Needless to say, both mother and son, polished of the whole thing in minutes (and there were 8 batches that were made).

Ingredients:

For the Base / Crust
3/4 cup cracker crumbs ( I use either Glucose biscuit or Marie crumbs)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

For the Cheesecake:
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt ( hung for 2 hours to drain water )
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup cream cheese ( I used the amul version available...worked fine)
2 large eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Cup Strawberry Puree

For the Coulis
1 cup Strawberry puree, chunky
1/4 cup sugar
2 tblsp water

Method: For the Base:

1. Mix butter and biscuit crumbs and blend until crumbs are evenly moistened.
2. Press crumb mixture over bottom of prepared pan ( read springform, else use a big cookie cutter ..easy to remove as base is crumbly).
3. Bake crust until just golden, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside while preparing filling.

For the Cheesecake:

1. Combine yoghurt, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. set aside.
2. In a large mixer or a bowl, beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.
3. Slowly add the yoghurt mixture, eggs, and vanilla to the cream cheese mixture; beating on low speed until combined.
4. Add in the Strawberry puree slowly, so as not to curdle mixture.
5. Pour into prepared pan over the base.
6. Bake at 160°C for 45 mins, or until the center is nearly set.
7. Cool for 30 minutes, remove the sides of the pan, then cool completely. Chill for 4 to 6 hours.

For the Coulis:

1. Combine ingredients.
2. Put on a low flame. Simmer, reduce a little and remove. 10-15 minutes
3. Chill.

Before signing off ....Happy Holi !!!

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