Isn't it the worst when you have yourself all set up with your lappy on your knees and the DVD is in and you are all ready to multi-task writing your blog with watching the last part of that Dragon tattoo girl trilogy and then you realise that the DVD remote is over THERE. I hate that. Anyway crisis averted and we can get on with the delightful task of discussing cheesecake and Yo-yo's or melting moments if you know them by that name.
Oh that's right it's a foreign language film. Darn it. Oh well, I read the books I'll figure it out.
I recently visited the superpower of the last century, the USA, it felt really quaint and old fashioned much as I expect parts of Austria feel - except without all the rolling hills and goats. At any rate it was very nice to be back in the States and to see my friends, co-workers and that orange cheese I'm so fond of.
I wanted to make something sweet to show my appreciation to my lovely San Diego hosts, Holly and Jared, and also I owed Kevin at work about a truckload of cookies for various "favours". I decided that I would attempt two different dishes - a lemon cheesecake because the only flavour that Jared seems interested in is lemon and Yo-yo's, because who in the world doesn't love shortbread sandwiched together with butter icing? No one.
My first challenge was in getting the ingedients. We stood in a very fancy, vaguely hippie, supermarket.
Me: I need custard powder.
Jared: ...
Me: (more loudly) Custard powder
Jared: I don't know what that is.
How do Americans make custard? Jared doesn't know and neither do I. Anyway it turns out that this:
is basically the same thing. But without the lovely colour of custard powder.
Me: I also need icing sugar.
Jared: Ic-ing sugar
Me: For icing, wait, frosting.
Jared: Nope.
Me: How do you make frosting?
Jared: No idea.
We got the rest of the ingredients with little difficulty as well as dinner which was cheese and chacuterie. Very French.
Lemon Baked Cheesecake (on Taste.com)
Crush the biscuits as if you were a dictator crushing the spirit of a long degraded populace. Crush them well, crush them completely, do not let one escape. Then pour melted butter all over them. Smush it all up.
Press the biscuit butter mess into the tin and push it up the sides and across the bottom evenly. You could use a glass to roll it on the sides if you like. Refrigerate and let the rising tide of the revolution cool down.
Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and lemon rind in a KitchenAid if you have one. Pretend that you aren't aroused. Add the eggs one at a time and then the lemon juice - beat until smooth. Don't beat more than you need too because you like the feel of the machine under your hands....
Pour the mix into the prepared tin.
Bake for 50 mins to an hour until the middle is set. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven. They suggest 4 hours. Seems like a long time to me, especially as I took it out immediately.
It was delicious, but the biscuit bottom was too thick on mine, that's because I had all sorts of ratio problems with the tin. It's nicer when thinner. Like Oprah.
I also made yo-yo's too which are my favourite biscuit of all time. I love them. Crumbly and buttery and sweet. Excellent. I don't think that the Northern Hemisphere version was quite as good as the one's I make here and so here is my regular recipe. They are easy as pie.
Yo-Yo's
Pre-heat oven to 180cel
300g plain flour
300g soft butter
100g icing sugar (powdered sugar if you're American)
100g Custard Powder (Corn Starch)
Mix all these ingredients together until they are a loveable, malleable, buttery dough. Form small balls (a teaspoon worth - they are better smaller) place them in a tray and squash them with a fork. Gently.
Bake them for about 10 to 15 mins until they are slightly darker. When they are cool sandwich them together with frosting or icing or anything sticky and delicious. You'll thank me.
The feedback from the American test eating audience was positive.
Oh that's right it's a foreign language film. Darn it. Oh well, I read the books I'll figure it out.
I recently visited the superpower of the last century, the USA, it felt really quaint and old fashioned much as I expect parts of Austria feel - except without all the rolling hills and goats. At any rate it was very nice to be back in the States and to see my friends, co-workers and that orange cheese I'm so fond of.
I wanted to make something sweet to show my appreciation to my lovely San Diego hosts, Holly and Jared, and also I owed Kevin at work about a truckload of cookies for various "favours". I decided that I would attempt two different dishes - a lemon cheesecake because the only flavour that Jared seems interested in is lemon and Yo-yo's, because who in the world doesn't love shortbread sandwiched together with butter icing? No one.
My first challenge was in getting the ingedients. We stood in a very fancy, vaguely hippie, supermarket.
Me: I need custard powder.
Jared: ...
Me: (more loudly) Custard powder
Jared: I don't know what that is.
How do Americans make custard? Jared doesn't know and neither do I. Anyway it turns out that this:
 |
| The closest thing to custard powder in the United States |
Me: I also need icing sugar.
Jared: Ic-ing sugar
Me: For icing, wait, frosting.
Jared: Nope.
Me: How do you make frosting?
Jared: No idea.
 |
| You make frosting with powdered sugar. |
Lemon Baked Cheesecake (on Taste.com)
- 250g plain sweet biscuits
- 150g butter, melted
- 500g cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Crush the biscuits as if you were a dictator crushing the spirit of a long degraded populace. Crush them well, crush them completely, do not let one escape. Then pour melted butter all over them. Smush it all up.
 |
| We couldn't fight her. |
 |
| Holly and Jared own this. Swoon. |
Pour the mix into the prepared tin.
Bake for 50 mins to an hour until the middle is set. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven. They suggest 4 hours. Seems like a long time to me, especially as I took it out immediately.
 |
| Well cooked - but a bit on the flat side. |
I also made yo-yo's too which are my favourite biscuit of all time. I love them. Crumbly and buttery and sweet. Excellent. I don't think that the Northern Hemisphere version was quite as good as the one's I make here and so here is my regular recipe. They are easy as pie.
Yo-Yo's
Pre-heat oven to 180cel
300g plain flour
300g soft butter
100g icing sugar (powdered sugar if you're American)
100g Custard Powder (Corn Starch)
Mix all these ingredients together until they are a loveable, malleable, buttery dough. Form small balls (a teaspoon worth - they are better smaller) place them in a tray and squash them with a fork. Gently.
Bake them for about 10 to 15 mins until they are slightly darker. When they are cool sandwich them together with frosting or icing or anything sticky and delicious. You'll thank me.
 |
| Nom nom nom |
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