Peanut butter cookie cheesecake

This is for a dear friend whom I met about 9 years ago, when I first arrived in Australia from Malaysia! My teacher assigned her to show me around and everything, and since then we've come a long way.

We have been in the same class twice in primary school, and we have been in the same class since we were 13 in high school until now. She recently did debutante and I was invited as one of her guests! So honoured and such a fun night.

More than grateful to have a friend like you M.

Anyway these are easy and super tasty. Definitely a crowd pleaser from the raving reviews I got from my friends. Great hybrid like oreo cheesecake ehehehe. So I'm just quickly posting this post because tonight I'm doing the 40 hour famine.. 40 hrs without technology! What will I be doing? Catching up on school work, reading lots of novels & magazines and perhaps going out for a walk (instead of the treadmill!).

Peanut butter cookie cheesecake
Ingredients
1 unsalted stick butter (113 g or 1/2 cup), softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chips (or chunks)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (1 block, 250 g)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Method
1. Make the cookie dough. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (I just baked at 350 F or 180 C). Cream butter, sugars, peanut butter until smooth and fluffy.
2. Add egg & beat well until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda & salt. Slowly add the flour mixture in with butter & sugar, mixing well after each addition. Stir in oats & chocolate chips.
3. Make cheesecake filling. Cream cream cheese, egg, sugar & vanilla until smooth.
4. Press half to 2/3s of the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish. Pour the cheesecake filling over the dough. Crumble remaining dough and sprinkle over the top or roll it into a flat layer and place it over the cheesecake layer.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned and cheesecake is set. Serve warm or cold, and store leftover bars in the fridge.

Adapted from Pinch of yum

Easiest cheesecake cupcakes

Hunting for a dessert that is ever so simple to make, yet it will impress guests & friends?

I was feeling a little lazy about crushing up oreos and adding butter for the base, so I was inspired by my other cheesecake cupcake recipe. The base is just a single oreo.

The beauty of these, are they literally take no time to make, since there's no processing of the biscuits for the base, mixing melted butter and baking it for a while. Simply pop an oreo, get your cream cheese mixture ready and SWIRL.

Alternatively, you could add an oreo base. Or you can add oreos into the mixture or anything else, if you're not a fan of berries. This recipe is quite versatile, so feel free to change up with add ins etc. End result? You're going to have to wait for some time, as cheesecake needs to be cold! But it's worth the wait for creamy, smooth baked cheesecake. You'll find yourself, slapping your hand from grabbing another one. It's so easy to eat more than one! Cheesecake is extremely deceptive, as it tastes so light.. Yet, cream cheese is your diet's worst enemy..... 

Berry swirl cheesecake cupcakes with an oreo base 
Ingredients
12 oreos
1/2 cup frozen raspberries or any kind of berry, thawed
1 tsbp of icing sugar/confectioner's sugar, sifted
375 g cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar (increase to 1 cup  if you like your cheesecake sweeter. I used 3/4 because berries are sweet.
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 degrees Celsius. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases, and place 1 oreo in each one.
2. Mash raspberries to a pulp with the back of a fork. Strain through a sieve and discard the seeds. Stir in the icing sugar.
3. Place the cream cheese in a bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand. Beat until light & fluffy.
4. Add the sugar slowly, beating until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition. Then, beat in vanilla.
5. Pour cream cheese mixture over biscuit bases. You can also put some drops of the berry mixture before you fill the cup to the top.
6. Place small drops of the berry puree on top of the cakes, and use a wooden skewer to carefully swirl through the cheese mixture.
7. Bake until just set. The recipe calls for 10-15 minutes, however I had to bake mine for about 25-30 minutes. Once it is done, leave the oven door open and allow the cakes to cool.

Adapted from Taste

Japanese cheesecake cupcakes

The weather has been driving me absolutely nuts. Last week, the weather was so miserable, I could not go for a run. And when I'm too lazy to go for runs, that equals to = more laziness and eating. And now, I'm even more annoyed because the sun just started to shine, and I already ate lunch BECAUSE THE SKY WAS GREY. So my mood and my tummy are not too happy. People who live in Melbourne will understand my annoyance at the weather.

Anyway, what's not annoying are these cupcakes. They're kind of dreamy to me. Perhaps, like Dr. McDreamy to Grey's anatomy fans. But these are McCheesecake-dreamy (or should it be the other way around?). Like eating clouds or pillows? Get what I mean?

As a child, I would always love to peer outside the window (always loved the window seat) while flying because I was intrigued about clouds, since they looked like cotton balls to me. I had crazy thoughts, like any other 3 year old. "What if I could jump out of the plane and sleep on one of those clouds?" The original title of the recipe is "Cotton soft cheesecake". It is really like cotton-soft-cloud-cheesecake.

I was able to make 12 cheesecake cupcakes and 1 loaf! The batter is quite a bit, so I recommend halving the recipe if you're making cupcakes. I also put a green tea swirl, and stupidly enough I forgot to add some sugar. So it was a bit too bitter, so later I put some jam on top to try and balance it out. I also think a chocolate swirl would be really nice! Just use cocoa powder instead.

This is a different recipe to the one I used for my big Japanese cheesecake with the strawberries. I like both recipes, both easy! Although, I'll have to admit that I like the cornstarch added to it because I feel that it adds a bit more fluffiness, but nevertheless I still love Nami's recipe (the other one I used).

Japanese cheesecake
Ingredients
250 g (9 oz) cream cheese
140 g (5 oz) granulated sugar *
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50 g (2 oz) unsalted butter
100 ml (3.3 oz) fresh milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
60 g/2 oz cake flour / superfine flour (I didn't have cake flour, so I just one tbsp flour and added more cornstarch)
20 g/ 1 oz cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp salt
* I increased the sugar to 155 g because I know that Japanese cheesecake is not very sweet, and I like eating it plain but with just enough sweetness.

*swirl (if using) : mix 1 tbsp of green tea powder with 3-4 tbsp of hot water. Add a bit of sugar if desired (recommended).

Method:
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture and then sift flour, cornflour, add the egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar and whisk until soft peak forms.
3. Add the cheese mixture to egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into an 8 inch round cake pan or into desired pan.
4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 C (325 F)
Adapted from Diana's desserts

Strawberry cheesecake ice cream with Graham cracker crumbs

Are you a fan of Ben and Jerry's strawberry cheesecake or any of the other flavours ? I've had it in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong (thanks to my dear uncle from Penang, Ku Zhang who was with us for dinner and treated my sister and I), and back here in Melb, with an ultra mini tub I indulged in, given for my birthday.

It is my all time favourite flavour, because
1. Strawberries are my favourite berries. Don't get me wrong, I love all kinds of blueberries and raspberries, but strawberries? It's on a whole new level. Plus, did you hear that strawberries can be used to give you pearly white teeth?
2. Cheesecake. I've told you my profound love for cheesecake, and I swoon over the thought of cream cheese.
3. When something combines my two favourites like cream cheese brownies, I fall head over heels.

Japanese cheesecake

I admire the genius minds of the Japanese. I love all things Japanese; Japanese bidet toilets (after an experience in Japan in '10), sushi, tempura, cameras, anything matcha-flavoured, mochi and their breads. Especially with Japanese desserts, they somehow incorporated some French technique, and altered it to the Japanese style (crepes, cream puffs)

The thing I love about Japanese desserts, are that they are so inventive and also not too sweet. This isn't your regular heavy, cheesecake.  So even if you're not a cheesecake fan, try this! The author of Just one cookbook (her website is full of glorious Japanese recipes), does a really good step by step tutorial, so if you're afraid of how water baths work, like I was, it's good to refer to her tutorial.

Cookies and cream cheesecake cupcakes

 I've only made cheesecake bars and mini cheesecakes. Not an actual real big cheesecake. #projectforsummer 



These are perfect to bring for parties, and so much fun to make! What makes it real fun the bottom of the cupcake, which is a whole Oreo, which acts like a base. I'd normally put an Oreo crust, by actually crushing the Oreos with some butter and digestive biscuits, but this time I decided to put an Oreo instead.

I just can't get enough of Oreos!

Have you met anyone who does not like Oreo cheesecake? I sure haven't. The weird thing is, my dad will not eat any other cheesecake besides my mum's Oreo cheesecake. What is your favourite cheesecake? 

These are so easy to make, the hardest part is waiting for it to sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours. What helps, is when you bake at night! Bake at night, wait for it to cool, refrigerate and go to bed. 

Oreo Cheesecake cupcakes 
Recipe from Martha Stewart via Handle the heat 

*Makes 30 (I only made half) 

Ingredients

42 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds (4 8-oz packages) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 275°F (135 degrees Celsius). Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

4. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

*I mixed by hand. I've become a little bit lazy to take out the mixer.