No Bake Black Forest Cheesecake

I recently celebrated my birthday. Birthdays are really special to me and I have ALWAYS treasured the 24 hours each year that I get to have all to myself and get spoilt rotten. And, as far as I can remember - I have always been spoilt ROTTEN. My standard birthday cake growing up was a cheese cake, the no bake type. I strongly feel that there is a MAJOR difference between the two types of cheese cakes, bake and no bake, and I am a no bake fan! The taste is just much more tangy and the texture much smoother. SO anyways, like I said, they were my standard cake and they were usually made for me by my sister Tammy. If you knew Tam, you would know when I say that my birthday cheese cakes were very exciting! But she was always so sweet to make them for me - thanks Tam!

Since I have been married thou - I have had to make my own birthday cake. Sad I know. But I have come to terms with that fact. So this year I made some grown up cheese cakes - since I am grown up now! I made these cute black forest cheese cakes.

It all starts with some crushed biscuits (I used Tennis Biscuits, but I am pretty sure you can you Graham Crackers) and some melted butter.

And they get mixed together and then pressed into your "container" - which in my case were these really cute little stand alone cupcake holders that my sweet friend Carla sent me. Thanks Carla :)

And then these get popped into the fridge to "set" (for lack of a better word ha ha). Now its time for the filling...

Just a few ingredients go into the filling - it starts off with a tin of condensed milk and some smooth cottage cheese. Once mixed well, the lemon juice gets added (I love.love.love the lemon juice part - it totally makes cheese cake what it is!)

Ans it all get mixed really well. I could totally be satisfied to leave it right here and eat it out of the bowl with a gigantic spoon - but for the sake of everyone else I went onto the next step - I whipped up some cream.

I really find the whole cream thing confusing. I mean you get like 50 differently names creams around the world, and here, in South Africa, they only have like 2 of those! Ok maybe 3, but its just like double cream (very thick), whipping cream (self explanatory) and pouring cream (thin and cant be whipped). I used whipping cream for this - which I think is the equivalent of heavy cream, but I am not certain!

Anyhoo, moving on... Now it time to mix it up by adding the yummy, lemon and cheese mixture to the cream. Once that is all mixed - its time for the gelatin. Gelatine is not as daunting as some may find it Amy-lee (I wont mention any names). I used the powder type, but gelatin leaves will work just as well. Its as simple as measuring it out and adding it to some water to hydrate it. Give it a good stir until all the granuals are dissolved and it will be ready to use. David Lebovits has an awesome How To Use Gelatine article here if you are still feeling nervous (plus it has the whole powder/sheet/leaves conversion thing!

After the whole gelatine saga, the gelatine gets folded into the cream and cheese mixture until it is fully combined. That's is pretty much the end of a standard cheese cake making session (that is IF you were making a standard cheese cake) but I was making a BIRTHDAY cheese cake - so I had to go the black forest route!

Cherries and Chocolate! Morello cherries and chopped bittersweet chocolate to be exact! These got folded into the mixture just before it was spooned over the little biscuit bases that will chilaxing in the fridge.

Then - to authenticate the whole deal - I topped the baby cheese cakes off with some Mixed Berry Preserves.

And some fresh cherries! Then these little okes had to chill some more in the fridge before they could join in the birthday celebrations!

And that's it! Easy and delicious!

I made a pretty snazzy dessert using this same method which I will share sometime soon :) SO keep a look out for it!

Black Forest Cheesecake {Printable Recipe}

 Biscuit Base:

1 packet tennis biscuits / graham crackers
125g melted butter

• Crush biscuits and mix with butter
• Press in a greased dish and refrigerate for about 30min

Cheesecake Filling

1 tub cottage cheese (250g)

500ml whipped cream (heavy cream)
125ml lemon juice
1 tin condensed milk
20ml gelatine powder
60ml water
100g chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 jar morello cherries
cherry topping / cherry preserves

• Mix the cottage cheese and condensed milk until smooth
• Slowly stir in lemon juice
• Fold this mixture into the whipped cream
• Hydrate the gelatine in the water and fold it into the cream mixture
• Fold in the chocolate and cherries
• Top the cheese cake with the cherry topping / preserves
• Decorate with fresh cherries (if you like)
• Pour into the prepared biscuit base and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set

Banana Choc-Chip and Caramel Muffins

As promised...I am sharing these over at Carla's Confections today!

Go and check them out! I have been helping her out this week, that is guest blogging for her this week, because she is having a short vacation in Australia (her Instagram posts have been amazing this last week) before jumping on a plane and flying back to the States where her and her husband Matt plan settle down there! SO keep an eye out on her blog where she has promised to show case here adventures (and they look super yummy!)
 

Aaaand....if you have been following my instagram (see my feed at the bottom of my blog) you would have seen a sneak preview of what I am sharing here next week! 

Caramel Treat / Dulce De Leche

Ok, so its an easy one that almost EVERYbody knows how to do - but just in case you didn't - I am sharing how to turn condensed milk into caramel treat over at Carla's Confections today!

Go and check it out...

Homemade Caramel Sauce

This picture says more about this sauce then I could ever type! It is all that! Smooth, creamy, vanillary! When I first saw this on Annies Eats, I was smitten. I had one purpose in mind for it - to flavour my coffee! Aaaannnddd I ended up smothering my ice cream with it, dipping cookies in it and spooning it straight out of the jar and into my mouth. Its that good!


Its a fairly easy process, all it taskes is some sugar, cream and vanilla essence (and a vanilla bean if you like). I read Annie's post on it over and over because melting sugar on the stove top kind of freaks me out. But its REALLY not that bad. I also read each of the comments below her post - yes, I was unusually cautious, and I was really glad I was when this happened:

The comments from her readers all said to just KEEP on stirring until the sugar clump melts. So I did! The process from start to finish took me about 30min, and the results were totally worth it! Its super nice stired into a cup of nespresso!

Or just eaten by the spoonful!!! :)

Go and check out the recipe here.
Its totally worth it!