Mascarpone Creme Brulee Cheesecake with Phyllo Pastry - Taste like ice cream!

Me and the hubby was watching Anna Olson on AFC the other day and he saw her baking this creme brulee and asked me to make some for him.

Before Anna could finish whipping the recipe up, I have already found the recipe online from foodnetwork. Talk about technology nowadays..

Needless to say, hubby was impressed and I told him no matter nice or not, he have to finish all cause Mascarpone are so expensive here! A small tub of 250gm cost about RM 25 from Cold Storage.

Despite the simple ingredients used, the end result was quite surprising! The creme brulee was soft but not too soft, almost like eating mousse or ice cream. Make sure you chill it properly before serving and I don't think its necessary to torch it anymore to achieve the creme brulee presentation! Also, do try and use real vanilla seeds fresh from the pods.

Mascarpone Creme Brulee with Phyllo Pastry
(Adapted from: foodnetwork.ca)
**Make about 4 ramekins

For the Mascarpone Creme Brulee:

250gm Mascarpone Cheese
1/4 cup Castor Sugar
1/4 cup Whipping Cream
Scraped seeds from half a vanilla bean
2 medium Eggs

1. Best Mascarpone cheese till smooth and soft then mix in castor sugar, whipping cream and the vanilla seeds. Mix using a hand whisk.
2. Whisk in eggs one at a time till mixture is smooth and well blended.
3. Line 4 ramekins at the base with non stick parchment paper and pour the mascarpone mixture in it.
4. Bake in a water bath at 160c for 35 minutes or until set and golden brown. (Mine is still wobbly in the centre but its alright cause u have to chill it)
5. When the cheesecakes are done, bring it out from the oven and leave to cool in the water bath till room temperature and then cover and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours before serving.

For the Phyllo Pastry crust:

3 sheets of Phyllo Pastry (The one I bought is called FILO pastry)
30gm Melted Butter
2 Tbsp Castor Sugar

1. Lay out one sheet of Phyllo pastry on a piece of parchment and brush melted butter and sprinkle some castor sugar on it, cover with another sheet of pastry.
2. Repeat with butter and sugar on the second sheet and cover with the 3rd piece of pastry.
3. Brush butter and sprinkle sugar again and then fold the pastry into half.
4. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out 4 circles of the pastry about the diameter of your ramekins.
5. Bake at 180c for 7 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Leave to cool and store in an airtight container.

To serve:
Run a sharp knife along the edges of the ramekins and over turn it on the cool phyllo pastry. Peel away the parchment and sprinkle some sugar on top. Using a blow torch, torch the top of the cheesecake till sugar caramelized. Serve immediately.

Chicken and Mash Cake for Dogs

Here is a cake I did for Renee's 2nd birthday. Renee is a friend's poodle and my friend asked me whether I could do a cake for her lovely toy poodle to celebrate her birthday!

I used fresh minced chicken and carrots as my main ingredients. I also added in some dried oregano found in my kitchen for some nice fragrance and aroma.

For the frosting, I mashed up some potatoes with unsalted butter and use as a doggie-friendly-frosting.

The cost of the cake cost a bomb as its a 100% meat cake, something like a human meatloaf.

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #16: Fun with Fondant! hosted by Yvonne of iceamericanos. 

Aspiring Bakers #16: CNY Fondant Mandarin Butter Cake

This is a basic butter cake i made for prayers on the 9th day of CNY. Initial plans was to only bake those cupcakes and decorating them with fondant. Since I finish everything the night before and had some free time in the afternoon, I quickly bake the most basic butter pound cake with some mandarin oranges zest and juice.

Decorated the cake with characters from the 恭喜发财 cutter and covering it with fondant. This is my first attempt to cover a whole cake with fondant. I spread a layer of marmalade jam on top the cake and the sides then i roll my fondant out thinly and cover the cake. The only mistake i did was i should level the cake out first before spreading those jam. Not leveling resulted in a cake that have portholes all over!

I will be submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #16: Fun with Fondant! hosted by Yvonne of iceamericanos. 

CNY Mandarin Butter Cake

Ingredients:
250gm Butter (I love SCS Salted butter)
160gm Castor Sugar
4 Whole Eggs (Room Temperature)
210gm Self Raising Flour (Sifted)
2 Tbsp Mandarin Orange Juice
2 tsp Mandaring Orange Zest


Method:
1. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the mandarin orange zest.
3. Under low speed, add in flour alternating with the mandarin orange juice in 3 batches.
4. Pour batter into an 8" round cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 160c for about 45 minutes to an hour.
5. Leave to cool completely in the cake tin before decorating.

*UPDATED* Aspiring Bakers #16: Fun with Fondant! (February 2012)

Dear aspiring bakers,

I am so honoured to be given the chance by SSB to host this month's Aspiring Bakers event. 

The theme for this month is ‘Fun with Fondant!’

Many people bake cakes, cupcakes and cookies. But have you ever tried to decorate them? 

Give decorating a try this month by decorating your bakes with fondant or gumpaste! 

Who can join?
Everyone! (if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your creation)

How to join?
Step 1 :
Decorate any whole cakes, cupcakes or cookies with fondant icing or gumpaste in the month of February 2012.
Homemade or store bought fondant icing or gumpaste can be used.

Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 1 February 2012 and 6 March 2012.
Your post can include the recipe for your cakes, cupcakes or cookies or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
*Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted. 

**Updated: To encourage members to play around with fondant this month, we also accept entries that do not come with any cake/cupcake/cookie recipes. As long as there is an attempt to make and decorate with fondant, we will accept it. (This exception is only for fondant theme this month only).

Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #16: Fun with Fondant! (February 2012) hosted by Yvonne of iceamericanos and provide a link back to this post HERE.
*Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4 :
Email to iceamericanos@gmail.com in the following format:

Your name or nickname:

Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your creation:
URL of your post:
URL of your photo (one photo for each entry):
(alternatively, you can attach your photo in your email, preferably less than 500kb).

Please use "Aspiring Bakers #16" as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry.

The roundup will be posted on 01 March 2012.

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As a token of appreciation to you, I will be giving away a set of 'Double Happiness Dragon Phoenix' Cutter to one lucky baker. The lucky one will be chosen by random.org based on the order of submission. 

******

If you are interested to view the entries of  Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight, please click here for more details.