Chocolate Cheesecake Macarons

The classic French macaron. A meringue and almond biscuit with a crisp shell and chewy interior filled with tangy, chocolate cheesecake filling.

So pretty and fRANch. That's how I like to say French sometimes.

Look, I'm not saying I'm Fiona Cairns or Katherine Sabbath...the local bakery with buttercream cupcakes could probably teach me a thing or two. That being said, I do know my way around a KitchenAid and had success making éclairs which are considered challenging by some. But it was with more than a touch of trepidation that I approached the ultimate in temperamental baking - the French Macaron. If I'm totally honest, I have actually been avoiding making them for some time. They seem so hard, so easy to mess up. I've heard that the weather affects them, if it's too hot, too humid, you've got a failure on your hands.



Always amazes me how all these things can come together and make cakes, biscuits, pies...baking is magic.

Something grabbed me in the last few weeks. It was time. Like a bird that knows when to fly south for the winter, I felt it in my waters. It was time to make macarons! I spent days reading about them, trying to find the magic recipe, the magic list of tips and tricks that would make my macaron recipe fool proof.


This is the stiff peak we want. The peak will not fall in on itself. It stays straight and true. The type of meringue where you can hold the bowl upside down over your head and not end up wearing them.



I did discover that many find the "Italian" process easier than the traditional "French" method. The Italian method uses a sugar syrup in place of powdered icing sugar. It produces a more stable batter which is less likely to fail. And do you know what, I almost went that way. I did want to be less likely to fail.



This is the stage that you want but scarily, I forgot to put colour in! I had to give it few more turns, which I did super slowly, like that would trick the batter.



 But if I wasn't doing the classic macaron, it would forever be my white whale. You can neither win nor lose if you don't run the race. I had to do the classic French macaron. I had to know that I could do it! And if I couldn't, I would pull a Jerry - "I choose not to run!" and hide the fact that I couldn't from everyone. Really, would it change my life that much? It's just some bloody biscuits.



Hold the piping bag at 90 degrees to your tray and apply firm and even pressure, pulling the tip up to allow the batter to fill the circle on the template. Thanks to Mr Cakes for taking this photo! What a pro.

The perfect macaron should have a smooth, crisp shell with a slightly chewy, soft interior. The biscuit should have "feet", a ruffled area of a few millimetres where the batter has risen. And it should have a generous but neatly piped filling. This are the minimum standards of a macaron.

I was not happy with the colour of that food colouring. Baby poo brown.

Also, don't be like me, remember to take the template out from underneath the baking paper before you bake them.

Well, let me tell you, my life has changed. For the better. Because I nailed it.

I can not tell you how pleased I was at this stage. Like I discovered a cure for the common cold.

I made French macarons.

This looks like my favourite emoticon.

And now, my hair is shinier, my skin is glowing, I got a promotion at work, I no longer read celebrity trash websites and I don't have irrational, unexplainable mood swings. None of which is true. But! I can now tell you how I made macarons pretty darn well. And that's life change enough. And guys. If I can do it, you can too!

This looks slightly ominous. Like those macarons in the background might attack these foreground ones.

First tip. Egg whites. Some of the wonderful resources I read, of which there were countless, advised that the egg whites should be old, or aged. This is done by leaving the separated whites in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days. The aged whites are said to whip up better and hold more air. I did not do this. I am not the most patient of people and I wanted to make them today! What I did do and what forms my first tip, is let the eggs come to room temperature. A room temperature egg white beats better than a cold one and a stiff, "dry" meringue is needed. I guess if a room temp egg white whips better than a cold one, maybe an aged one does whip better than fresh...but regardless, I didn't bother. If your impatient like I so often am, submerge the eggs in warm water to bring them to room temperature quicker.

Macarons piled pretty and high.

The second tip I have gathered for you is to sift the icing sugar and the almond meal. Even the store bought almond meal with have some larger pieces in it and for the smoothest shells on your macarons. This will also make the batter lighter, ensuring you have a better chance of your cookies getting as nice foot on them.

That wooden spoon looks so pretty, with a bow in it's hair. Where you off to, Spoon?

Tip 3 might be the most ambiguous and also the most important of the tips. Do not over or under mix the batter. An under-mixed batter will crack and be lumpy. An over-mixed batter will spread when baked and not rise. The tricky thing though is that there is no exact number of turns of the spatula that I can tell you. The batter should have a "lava like" consistency. It should move slowly off your spatula when lifted. Turn the batter gently but firmly with spatula until the almond meal is thoroughly mixed, no more turns. If the batter becomes runny, you've gone too far!

Yum.

 Once you pipe your macarons on to the prepared tray - I used these stencils to ensure they were all the same size - make sure that you bang the tray, very firmly, on the kitchen bench 3 times. Obviously don't hit the tray down so hard that the batter comes flying off but you want to make sure that any air bubbles in the macarons move to the surface so the tops of the shells are smooth.

These macarons are carrying a wounded fellow solider back to the safety of the pile.

Finally, after they have been piped and banged (hmm) it is time for the final tip I have for you. Let the piped uncooked shells sit  on the bench to dry for 30 minutes. The macarons will develop a skin which will prevent the from spreading, which means the only way is up! Baby! For you and me now! And for the macarons.


Little do they know Mr Cakes is coming and safety in numbers will not protect you.

So that's it. That's all I have to tell you. Now it's a matter of getting in that kitchen and baking them frilly little biscuits like a freaking baking warrior! Get in there and bake, you glorious muthalicker!


YAY!


Chocolate Cheesecake Macarons
Use this template  to ensure your macarons are even and consistently sized. Lie the template under baking paper and pipe the batter on. Make sure the template is removed before baking.


Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Total time:  35 mins

Servings: 24 sandwiched macarons

Macarons
3 large egg whites, free range, room temperature
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
50g caster sugar
200g icing sugar
1 cup/120g almond meal
Brown food colouring
Chocolate sprinkles

Chocolate Cheesecake Buttercream
150g milk chocolate
110g softened butter
110g cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Macarons

1. Preheat oven to 150°C
2. Using a template to ensure the macarons are evenly sized, line a two trays with baking paper.
3. Beat egg whites in the bowl of a mixer until egg whites are foamy.
4. Add pinch of salt and cream of tartar and continue to beat egg whites,
5. Slowly sprinkle in caster sugar and continue beating for around 8 minutes, until egg whites are stiff, peaks hold and do not collapse.
6. Add food colouring.
7. Sift almond meal and icing sugar in to a medium bowl.
8. Gently add sifted almond meal and icing sugar into the egg white mix.
9. With a flat spatula, gently and precisely fold the almond meal mix in to the egg whites. Batter should be thick and flow off the spatula - think 'molten lava'.
10. Pipe macarons using a large piping bag and open round tip.
11. Once they are all piped, sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles.
12. Allow piped macarons to sit uncovered on the bench for 30 minutes. A skin will form that feels tacky to the touch and does not leave a fingerprint.
13. Bake for 18 minutes. Bake one tray at a time, on the same shelf to ensure they are baked evenly.
14. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely,

Chocolate Cheesecake Buttercream

1. In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate in 30 seconds bursts until completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter until creamy.
3. Add cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and beat until combined and mix is smooth and creamy.
4. Add melted chocolate and beat well.

To assemble

1. Once the biscuits are cooled, match each with another of the same size.
2. Using a round tip fitted on a piping bag, pipe a generous circle of buttercream on one biscuit then sandwich corresponding biscuit, pushing buttercream to edges.
3. Store in an airtight container.

Caramel Easter Egg Cheesecake

An indulgent and decadent Easter cheesecake with a layer of caramel and chunks of caramel Easter eggs baked in, topped with milk chocolate ganache, more caramel and more Easter eggs!

Oh baby.

Easter is upon us. Or as we like to call it in my household, Chocolate Christmas. What I first envisioned when I was dreaming up an Easter recipe was a Cadbury Creme Egg Cheesecake. But bunny help me, I just don't like Creme Eggs! I know they're all the rage and we're all supposed to be whipped up into a mad buying frenzy when January rolls around and the supermarkets start putting out their Easter wares. 

Anything made up of this is gonna be good.

But I just think they're too sweet. And that might sound strange from someone who calls herself Cassie Cakes but it's the truth. So there I was, rolling ideas around, bouncing them off my friends to see what they thought but I just wasn't getting the excitement in my waters. Until I realised, "hold on, this is MY recipe! I can make whatever I like!". And so I give you my Caramel Easter Egg Cheesecake!

Giving the food processor its well deserved glory.

People seem to get upset each year when the Easter eggs start popping up in the shop, as though the Easter bunny got dementia and forgot when he was supposed to come. But personally, I think it's great! How could longer to enjoy delicious, delicious Easter chocolate be a bad thing?

Making caramel the easiest way ever!

Seriously magic.

 I don't want to blow my own horn but this is seriously one of the best cheesecakes - if not THE best cheesecake - I've ever had. TOOT TOOT! What we have here is a classic vanilla baked cheesecake with a layer of dulce de leche (Latin American caramel) and chopped caramel Easter eggs in the center. Then, because too much of a good thing is never enough, a layer of smooth and silky milk chocolate ganache is poured on top followed by lashings of more dulce de leche. Whole caramel Easter eggs are arranged around the outside and boom. Mind blown.

Okay now I think the food processor might be getting a big ego.

It might be a justified ego...look at the smooth, cheesy goodness.

Cheesecake is my jam. I love it. I love the texture and the taste...there's simply nothing else like it in this world. Some people will try and tell you that a cheesecake doesn't have to be baked, that you can make what they call a "set cheesecake" but those people are liars and you don't need that in your life. Team Baked. Team Baked FOR LIFE. 

Those chunks of Easter egg are just amazing when you bite into them in the cheesecake,

Tiny peaks of chocolate hinting through.

I have a big old food processor that I hardly ever use. I love it, it's one of my appliance children but it's definitely the child I leave in the cupboard with it's brother, The Juicer, cos frankly, I can't be bothered washing them up. But this cheesecakes gives you a chance to bring the neglected child out of the cupboard and give it a bit of well deserved glory. Use it to crush the biscuits then after, pop all the cheesecake ingredients in and give them a good processing. If you don't have a food processor, a hand or stand mixer will be more than adequate for the cheesecake mix and there's nothing wrong with bashing some biscuits with a rolling pin.

Oh I've really wanted to say this...you just Jackson Pollock the caramel on top...

...Nigella always says that.

That caramel, that ganache!

Now a note on dulce de leche. It is so easy to make at home but you do need to keep on eye on it. To make, place a whole can of sweetened condensed milk (for this recipe you'll need two) on it's side in a heavy-based saucepan and cover completely with water. Simmer for 2 hours, ensuring the can is always covered with an inch or two of water. If you allow the can to simmer uncovered, it can explode. And that would be a mess to clean up. A delicious mess, but a mess nonetheless. If this sounds too time consuming, you can buy a can of Top 'n' Fill from the supermarket - it's basically exactly the same. I just like doing things the long way. 

I love you, cheesecake.

But oh what a cheesecake. I can't say that this is a quick dessert, but it's not hard, just time consuming. And since you have a whole long weekend coming up, why not give it a go? I give you my word that you'll love it. Unless you don't like deliciousness and then I don't even know why we're friends. 

Ready for its close-up!

Drool. 

I could look at this beauty all day, erryday,

To. Die. For. 

Caramel Easter Egg Cheesecake

Prep time: 140 mins 

Cooking time: 60 mins

Total time:  3 hr 20 mins 

Servings: 14

Dulce de Leche
2 x 395g sweetened condensed milk

Baked Caramel Easter Egg Cheesecake
125g butter + extra, melted
250g packet butternut biscuits
750g cream cheese, softened
300ml sour cream
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 x 125g Cadbury caramel Easter eggs

Milk Chocolate Ganache
300g milk chocolate
300ml thickened cream

Dulce de Leche

1. Place both cans on their side in a heavy bottomed pan
2. Cover with water, until there is two inches of water covering the cans
3. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 2 hours, topping up with water regularly. DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED.
4. Carefully remove from water and allow to cool before opening.
5. Once cooled, decant into a bowl and vigorously beat with a fork to make smooth. Set aside until required. 

 Baked Cheesecake

1. Preheat oven to 160°C
2. Melt butter and use a pastry brush to brush the base and sides of a 24cm spring-form pan with melted butter. Set remaining butter aside til required.
3. In the bowl of a food processor, process butternut biscuits until fine. Alternately, place biscuits into a freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin until fine.
4. Add the melted butter to the biscuits and pulse until the biscuits begin to pull away from the sides.
5. Press the biscuits firmly into the base of the prepared pan then refrigerate until required.
6. Wipe out the food processor bowl then place remaining ingredients into the bowl and process until smooth. 
7. Pour half the cheesecake mix into the biscuit base then return to the refrigerator. 
8. Set aside 14 of the caramel Easter eggs, then roughly chop the remaining eggs.
9. Spoon 3/4 of the dulce de leche mix onto the cheesecake, then top with chopped Easter eggs.
10. Pour the remaining cheesecake mix on top, covering any lumps with the mix.
11. Bake for one hour, then turn the oven off and allow to cool with the door shut for 10 mins.
12. Leave the cheesecake in the over, after the 10 mins have elapsed, with the door ajar until cooled. 
13. Refrigerate until cool. 

Milk Chocolate Ganache 

1. Melt the chocolate in a large microwave proof bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals.
2. Once melted, add cream and stir to combine until smooth.
3. Allow to cool slightly. Ganache should be pourable but not hot.

Assembly

1. Remove the cooled cheesecake from the refrigerator.
2. Pour the ganache over the top of the cheesecake until completely covered.
3. With a spoon, drip the remaining dulce de leche over the top of the cheesecake,
4. Arrange the reserved 14 Easter eggs around the outside of the cheesecake.
5. Serve and enjoy! 

Rum Ball Trifle



So many jokes about balls to be made.

For week 3 of my Four Weeks of Christmas baking, I have for you another Cassie Cakes original - Rum Ball Trifle! Sometimes I feel as though Christmas might be loving me back. When I was dreaming up this one, I was musing to a friend of mine how I would like to make mini trifles and she said that she recently had spied mini trifle dishes at a very expensive homewares shop. I got online and saw them and I ummed and ahed over whether to splash out on them. Would I ever use them again? Should I be spending that much before Christmas on some very specific bowls?
 

Ah rum. The only time I ever use you is in rum balls.


Well, I needn't have worried. Days after the conversation about mini trifle dishes, I got the very excited call from my friend - she was at a store that sold 6 mini trifle dishes for $7! Can you believe it? What are the chances? You tell me! What are the chances!? See. Christmas loves me back. And my lovely friend does too for buying some for me.
 

My lovely KitchenAid processor.


So I've never been one for traditional trifle. The cake goes soggy. I don't like jelly and custard together. It's got gross tinned fruit in it. It's just naff and gross and no one should eat it anymore. Yet when I was thinking of what I could make, trifle kept popping up in my head. Trifle, trifle, trifle. Time to give the old nasty trifle a makeover.
 

The life stages of a rum ball.


I think I made trifle even more Christmassy. This trifle has rum balls in it! And layers of silky cheesecake mix, raspberries, chocolate ganache then topped with grated chocolate. All of those things are amazing on their own so imagine their powers combined. This trifle is epic in Captain Planet proportions.  

One little rum ball...

 


Lots of little rum balls! ... balls.

If you get given rum balls over the season or purchase them at a bake sale, this would be a great use for them but they really are very easy to make so either way. Start by making the rumballs then set them in the fridge to firm up. Rum balls are a great kids in the kitchen activity. It's really fun to get your hands all sticky and coconuty. Mr Cakes was very vocal in his opposition to the rum in rum balls but I told him to shush up and trust me. And in the end, he loved them. I put 1.5 tablespoons of rum in. Put as much or as little as you want.
 

Ta da! Little rum ball all snug in his bed of cheesecake and ganache.

You might have rum balls left over, depending on what dish you choose to serve the trifle in, so you could gift them to others...if you don't eat them all. I have to confess there are only two left in our fridge and I'm probably going to eat those in a few minutes.
 


How lucky was I to get those bowls.

Once the rum balls are in the fridge, make a simple ganache from chocolate and cream. I did this on the stove top but if you're nervous about the chocolate burning or seizing, melt it in a double boiler - a heatproof bowl over some simmering water. Or it's just as easy to do it in the microwave by melting the chocolate in 30 second bursts and stirring the cream in. Any way will work. So make the ganche then put that in the fridge to cool slightly. You'll still want it to be runny to pour over but by the time the next step is complete, it will be perfect.
 

That bauble is pretending to be a rum ball. Go home, bauble. You're drunk.

Personally, I've never been a big fan of custard and cream that traditionally goes into a trifle. It's very old fashioned and a bit blah. What I am a fan of is cheesecake! Yum! So I decided to put a cheesecake mix into my trifle in the place of custard. Beat together cream cheese with icing sugar and vanilla, then in a separate bowl whip cream. Fold the cream into the cream cheese and viola! Cheesecake. So delicious. I could eat this with a spoon.
 

WAIT! It would be the rum balls that were drunk! Not the bauble!

Then it's on to assembly. Put a big dollop of the cheesecake into your trifle dishes, you could do this in a big trifle dish or even some pretty champagne glasses then arrange some raspberries on top. Break up some rum balls and pour some ganache on top then top with another big dollop of the cheesecake mix and then some grated chocolate on top. You'll have ganache left over so you can pour more on top as required after serving.
 

Rum balls be drunk as hell, losing shoes and stuff.

So there you have it. My take on trifle. The rum ball trifle. You can make these a few days before and have it ready to go on Christmas day - one less thing to worry about.
 

There you have it, Rum Ball Trifle.

Next week is week four! And I have something special planned for the pièce de résistance.

Have a look back at the weeks of Christmas Baking past:
 
Week 1 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Christmas Star Cherry Tart with Cinnamon Honey Roasted Macadamia Ice Cream
Week 2 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Raspberry Jam Drops
Week 4 of Four Weeks of Christmas Baking: Eggnog Cake


Rum Ball Trifle

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 5 mins

Total time:  20 mins

 

Servings: 4 plus extra rum balls

 

Rum Balls

250g plain sweet biscuits - I used Milk Arrowroot
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup desiccated coconut, plus extra for rolling
395g can sweetened condensed milk
1-3 tablespoons rum, according to taste

Ganache
200g milk chocolate
1/2 cup thickened cream

Cheesecake Mix
1/2 cup thickened cream
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g Raspberries to serve

Chocolate curls to garnish

 

Rum Balls

Crush biscuits to a fine crumb in a food processor
Add to a large bowl with cocoa and coconut and mix thoroughly to combine
Add the sweetened condensed milk and rum and mix til all combined
Roll tablespoon sized portions of the mix into a ball then roll in extra coconut.
Once all the mix has been made into balls, place in fridge

Ganache

Melt chocolate in a small saucepan or in a bowl over simmering water. Remove from heat
Add cream and stir well until smooth
Decant into jug and place in fridge til required.

Cheesecake Mix

Whip cream with electric beaters til soft peaks form, about 3 to 4 minutes on high
In a separate large bowl, add cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla and beat with electric beaters til smooth
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix til smooth

Assembly

Place a layer of cheesecake mix in the bottom of the bowls
Arrange a layer of raspberries on top of the cheesecake mix, pressing them gently into the mix
Break the rumballs in half and arrange on top of the raspberries
Pour a generous amount of ganache on to the rum balls
Fill to the top with cheesecake mix and garnish with chocolate curls