Friday, July 03, 2009

Going Light

I wish I could reprise the no of cakes I used to make or the desserts loaded with sugar and cream... I'm not shying away from everything I used to love...in fact I still indulge in those kinds of things on occasions. At this point in my life, there are just things that I prioritize more. Making the right choices when it comes to food is one of them. I don't believe in totally abstaining from the food that I love but I would rather have something close to what I love but containing lesser calories and most importantly it should have nutritional value as well. I have been on a look out for recipes that would help me achieve my goal.


Chocolate Marble Tofu Cheesecake


I used to shun away from tofu before but after making this dessert I now see it in a different light. I am eager to explore the uses of tofu in cooking and most importantly in desserts. This recipe is something I adapted from the book "Crave" (Mac Woo and June Lee). Instead of using sponge cake as base, I decided to use Oreo cookie crust. My intention was to make a chocolate marble version but it turn out the filling was too liquid to be marbled. Of course there were other options of chilling one layer at a time to achieve another effect but I didn't have the time to undergo the process since I wanted to serve it for dinner. Initially I wanted to use bittersweet chocolate but unfortunately, I didn't have enough so I used some Dutch processed as well. This recipe is so versatile that you can actually make a lot of variations to it. My kids who are picky eaters loved it. You can't taste the tofu because it absorbs the flavour of the cheesecake and chocolate.


Chocolate Marble Tofu Cheesecake

Chocolate Marble Tofu Cheesecake

Crust:
*150 grams crushed oreo (without filling)
2 tbsps melted butter

Combine and press firmly on the bottom of an 8 inch spring form pan. Chill

*Alternatively, you can also use digestive biscuits or graham crackers if preferred

Filling:

2 and 2/3 tbsps gelatine powder
90 ml water
220 ml low fat milk
145 g castor sugar
380 g Reduce fat Cream Cheese Spread
160 g silken tofu
70 g bittersweet chocolate
3 tbsps Dutch processed cocoa

Soak gelatine in water

In a saucepan, warm milk and sugar over low heat

Remove from heat and add in the gelatine mixture. Stir to dissolve. Set aside to cool.

In a blender, process cream cheese and silken tofu, until smooth. Add in the milk mixture and pulse until well blended.

Strain and discard residue.

Pour half of the mixture in a measuring jug. For the other half add in the melted chocolate and cocoa. Process just until blended.

Pour the 2 mixture alternately on the crust. Swirl with a knife. Chill for at least 3-4 hours.

Serve with chocolate syrup if desired.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Hibernating

Father's Day Cake


My blog has been inactive for weeks now. I have been quite busy lately especially since it's school holidays. My kids are at home and my time and energy is mostly consumed by them. Honestly, I also haven't been baking much so there's really nothing to update. Hopefully, I could resume my normal routine when holidays are over :-)


Father's Day Cake

Anyway, Happy Father's Day to all daddies out there! I made this cake while my hubby and kids were out in the mall. I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it since they were back in less than 3 hours. Good thing though it was done when they arrived :-)

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

From Blog to Blog

Having been busy coaching my kids for their exams has left me little time to browse books in the library.I have refrained from borrowing books for over a month now to fully concentrate on my kids. Pressure is easing off since tomorrow will be their last exams. Thank goodness it's almost over...now I can finally relax.

Since there were no recipes from books to keep me inspired I then turned to some of my favorite foodie blogs for reliable recipes I can create at home.


General Tso's Chicken

This is not the first time that I've tried re-creating Lynn's recipe. In fact, I have tried quite a few from her blog and her recipes never fail me. When it comes to cookies she is my guru :-) Although this dish may not be her expertise never the less the result never disappointed me and my family enjoyed it as well.



Honey Castella

I have always preferred cakes which are less fussy to make. Although I have made this cake last year, this time I made it again using Mark's recipe. It was soft, sweet, simple and quite addicting.The downside with this cake would be not getting enough of it.



Cappuccino Muffins

This is something I made because I was craving for something coffee-ish. These muffins came out light and tender because of the buttermilk. I was feeling over indulgent at that time so, I filled it with ganache and topped it with chocolate streusel. Recipe for the muffin can be found here.



Chocolate Cake

My post wouldn't be complete without a chocolate cake. This recipe really caught my attention because it looks so delicious and it was easy to make. What's more, this chocolate cake is a lot healthier than the rest. Maple syrup was used as sweetener instead of sugar. I coulndn't find any wholewheat pastry flour so I just used plain unbleached flour. I also substituted some of the flour with 2 tbsps oat bran, 2 tbsps flaxseed meal and 2 tbsp wheat germ. If you use good quality chocolate, believe me you will love it. It has that deep chocolate flavour which will surely delight anyone. Although I skipped the frosting, it was still good on it's own.