Saturday, December 6, 2008

Its Yule time you'll !!!!....Coconut cream and chocolate striped cheesecake.

Here's wishing everyone a peaceful and joyful Eid!!!!! I thank God that I have met you all!!!!!

I also wish everyone a merry Christmas and just happy Holidays! Please guys do take care of St Nick by making him your lovely yummies! Remember he has to travel far and wide!!!!!! LOL!


This seductive cheesecake will have the "jolly fat man" fire up his sleigh and head on over to my house in a jiffy LOL! This Christmassy delight with its sassy stripes hit the jingle bell jackpot and will have anyone dance to the tune of yule time rock!


Look at the inside of this beauty!






It has a Mcvites digestive wheat cookie crust, mascarpone,
coconut cream, chocolate and very little cream cheese.





Adorned with cranberries and a sugared rosemary garland,
this yummy delight will have you ready for any Holiday
action, whatever it may be! Just brush the rosemary with
warmed agave nectar and lightly roll in organic sugar.





My home made cranberry preserves has a haunting
crimson color but these antioxidant little jewels scores big
in taste, nutritional value and presentation alongside this
luscious dessert. No nightmares here, only sweet dreams!
Pure "pucker - up" delight!





A sprinkle of orange powder!





This " orange haze" my dear friends, is one of the many
projects that I am currently busy with. I am on a mission
to develop my own organic natural food colors with their
respective flavors to match and have already developed
several other colors as well. Stay tuned to future posts,
you might just like what I have to offer!



Recipes
: See also other cheesecakes

Please use organic ingredients when possible! I have developed my very own recipe because I do not like the idea of too much cream cheese. Also place a separate pan of hot water on the bottom rack just under the spring form pan, this will keep the medium somewhat humid and moist and will prevent unnecessary cracking of the cheesecake. This is another thing I try to avoid and that is baking the cheesecake in a water bath. Set your oven on 325 degrees!

Coconut cream and chocolate striped cheesecake. This is for a 10 inch spring form pan

Crust:

  • 4 cups crushed Mcvites digestive wheat cookies ( A British product). About 1 and a half packages
  • 1 stick unsalted European butter
  • 1 t ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoons cardamom, cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup almonds ( Roasted)
  • 1/4 c roasted dessicated coconut. ( coconut powder)
Process the cookies and almonds in a food processor, mix in the spices and also roasted coconut, melt the butter and incorporate into this mixture. Grease the pan, place a round piece of parchment on the bottom of the pan and then press this cookie mixture firmly over the base and up the sides to form a shell. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.


filling:

  • 8 oz mascarpone ( Rm temp)
  • 6oz coconut cream. ( It has to be cream and not milk!)
  • 8 oz cream cheese (Rm temp)
  • 4 Egglands best eggs ( Rm temp)
  • 1T vanilla extract ( The one from Santo Domingo is really good!)
  • 2t coconut extract
  • 2/3 c organic superfine sugar
  • 6 oz of melted dark Valrhona chocolate
  • 1/4 c H2o
Beat all the cheeses and then add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add all the extracts and beat for another minute. Add all the eggs at once and beat until incorporated. DO NOT OVER BEAT! I found out that if you over beat, you incorporate more volume into the batter, and this expands in the oven and later "deflates" and causes the cheesecake to crack really badly. Much worse can happen to the makings of a cheesecake here in Colorado (5280 ft above sea level). Ha! ha!
Divide this mixture and fold in the melted chocolate and the water into the one half. So now you have a white batter and a chocolate batter. Spoon a cup of the white mixture on the bottom of the crust and tilt the pan so that it covers the bottom. Now take a cup of the chocolate mixture and pour into one steady motion in the middle of the white mixture. This motion will spread the chocolate mixture outwards. Continue with a cup of white mixture on top and in the middle of this chocolate mixture and so forth..... and so forth until you have no more batters. At this point you will be able to see very distinct white and chocolate circles. Place in the preheated oven on a sheet pan and bake for about 45-55 mins. Also cover with aluminum for the first 30 mins. of baking time. Turn up the oven to 350 degrees for the rest of the baking time and remove aluminum foil. When done, turn off oven and leave the cake in the oven to cool with the oven door ajar. You have to refrigerate this cheesecake overnight and decorate with more melted chocolate on the top, like my picture that is of course if you love chocolate the way I do!

Cranberry preserves ( simmered in Cran raspberry Ocean Spray juice)

Boil a package of cranberries with 2T organic sugar crystals and a half of a package of "Kojel" in about 2 cups of cran raspberry Ocean Spray juice( this juice is amazingly not sweet at all like other juices), the juice of a fresh orange, teaspoon of vanilla and a stick cinnamon until a rolling boil and then simmer for another 2 mins. You do not want the cranberries to be mushy! Sprinkle with some orange powder or orange zest. I shall divulge the recipe for the natural food colors later!

Please enjoy and e-mail me if you have questions!
Nazarina.


Chefs.com

50 comments:

Bunny said...

This is BEAUTIFUL Nazarina! You are so talented ! I know you have to be the sweetest person ever, have a great weekend!

Amy said...

Such a beautiful cheesecake! Looks so tasty!

Amy said...

Oh my goodness! Forget the jolly fat man. I'll be hopping on over to your place for that cheesecake. Yum!

Snooky doodle said...

wow the colours are beautiful and I bet the taste is to die for.

Cakelaw said...

Oh boy, oh boy - I saw this photo and my breath was taken away. I love cheesecake, and this one is so beautiful, especially with the shiny chocolate and cherries on top.

Deeba PAB said...

That's just too NEAT Naz...took my breath away! WOW...great great cheesecake! nd am waiting to see the flavours you working on!

Dewi said...

The best cheesecake I've ever seen, Nazarina. The slices are beautiful, and I am sure it tasted divine!

Hey, my husband was born in Joberg and grew up in Cape Town, before moved to Jerusalem then came to California. I've been to SA, and we took our son on Safari for 2 weeks. We plan to go back in the near future.
Cheers,
Elra

vanillasugarblog said...

Another gorgeous creation here my dear. I just love those swirls--so pretty.
I always appreciate your talent and can't wait for the next creation. How's the skiing going? How much snow so far?

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Terrific! That cheesecake sounds and looks marvelous!

Cheers,

Rosa

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Nazarina...what a magnificent cheesecake. You are such a pro! It doesn't matter what you make, it always looks scrumptious. I'm so proud of you sweetie.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful cheesecake! Thank you for your comment on my blog about my cat. I'm also a foodie and have added you to my favorites list. Cheers! :)

Lucy..♥ said...

Simply put, this cheesecake is AMAZINGLY beautiful, just gorgeous, Naz!!

MaryBeth said...

Wonderful looking as always..you are an artist of food. You are my inspiration to become a better baker.

Rosso said...

Hey Naz,

Looks tasty, nice pics too. Please do check out my blog for some health tips and ideas.

Thanks

Rosso

Chocolate Shavings said...

That looks beautiful! I could really go for a slice right now.

Anonymous said...

Nazarina! This cake should be illegal! McVities for a crust..now, why did I never think of that! The bloke would love me :)

Gloria Chadwick said...

Your food is always so beautiful! Love the cheesecake; it looks very Christmas-y.

Sunshinemom said...

Beautiful stripes, and I love the tips you have given.

Jo A. T.B. said...

A gorgeous holiday presentation Navarina, and one which is also pleasing to every palate! Your cheese cake is a winner, and coconut is my favorite!

PG CakeCraft said...

Hi Nazarina, i'm totally lost for words to describe this awesome cake.Your creations never fail to amaze me. U hve the inate ability to make even a simple ingredient into something magnificent & exotic.

Anonymous said...

I dont want to reserve some for Santa, I want that lovely slice of delicious cheesecake for me! :) Very pretty cheesecake!

lubnakarim06 said...

I love the detailed recipe dear. Thank you for the piece of cake. Wish to lick off whole cake. That hand is offering me berries too. Wow. Awesome presentation. Eid Mubarak To You and Your Family dear.

ochikeron said...

Hi Nazarina, Beautiful indeed!!!

How could you make these sophisticated layers!!! You are real foodie ;) I need to learn.

Very little cream cheese is a good idea! I love it!!!

lubnakarim06 said...

Take time to participate in FIC-White and Rendezvous with kitchen flavours event.

Amanda said...

Wow! That is absolutely gorgeous!! I am bookmarking this :)

Live.Love.Eat said...

Wow Nazarina. Your own organic food color? Have you gone to school for food science? The cheesecake looks incredible!!!!!

Cooking nurse said...

Wow, that's yum!

Salt N Turmeric said...

Nazarina, Eid Mubarak to you too! This is a busy month isnt it? So many celebrations. I love it! lol.

Unknown said...

Wow. You have SO much talent! This is incredibly impressive. It looks fantastic and I like that you've made it really your own with less cream cheese and all that.

Darius T. Williams said...

Now that looks good and tasty!

Happy Holidays!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

Chandani said...

beautiful presentation once again!! cheesecake looks divine...

inland empire restaurant and food reviews said...

This looks so delicious!!!!

Lori Lynn said...

Oh so lovely, what a nice invitation to the holidays. And the cranberries do look like jewels. Gorgeous!

The P & A Food Chronicles said...

thanx for the comment your cake looks delicious...

The P & A Food Chronicles said...

thanx for the comment your cake looks delicious...

Jean Chia aka Ms.Yummy~licious said...

lovely nazarina!! i love the chocolate swirl.. yummy!! Merry Christmas to u! :)

Jean Chia aka Ms.Yummy~licious said...

hi nazarina, my future MIL & I wanted to bake a butter cake. Do you have a good recipe? Pls let me know, ya! ;)

tiarastantrums said...

that cake is so beautiful!! Looks delicious!

Deepthi Shankar said...

that looks totally gorgeous

Anonymous said...

Too yummy! Love the idea of organic food colors. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

NKP said...

That is so beautiful! I love the sugared rosemary. I have no idea how your slices turn out so perfect, I always manage to make a mess out of mine!

Unknown said...

i just am so amazed with your creation... all so festive... :)

Anjum said...

mashallah mashallah i dont have any words to express they all r simply awesome

Daily Meals said...

Beautiful cake...

Nazarina A said...

Hi Jean chia,

I do have the rich English Madeira cake version and I do cut the sugar a lot! Email me at Nazarina@karston.com

Nic said...

Wow, wow wow!!!
That's one amazing beautiful cake you have there. I bet it tasted fabulous too!!

Premyscakes said...

You have all wonderful creations in your blog. beautiful and yummy cheese cake.

Allie said...

I love the way your cheesecake looks it's beautiful!

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely brilliant! I've never seen anything like that before :O I can only imagine everyone's reaction when you set that down on the table :D Bravo!

thecelticcookinshanghai said...

Thank you for leting us take a peek at your Christmas. Have a great one and look forward to seeing you back in 2009.