Sunday, November 25, 2007

How can it be too chocolatey? Chocolate and Ginger cheesecake


(Nederlands recept onderaan de pagina!)
Mmm, I should think so. And I know what you don't know yet (and wouldn't have guessed by the looks of it) is that I replaced almost half of the 70% stuff with milk chocolate. Come again? Yes, that would be milk chocolate. Mind; not any ordinary milk chocolate, this is Callebaut milk chocolate we're talking about. Milk chocolate drops which I happen to have a large bag of and occasionally dip a hand in. Only whenever I pass the nook where I hide it. Only. On. Occasion.

I noticed before and will say it again, although the claim is that we women neeeeeed our chocolate, in our house it's the other way round. Come to think of it, DH's genes must have been very insistent little fellas, all three kids are very sweet oriented.

I know it's nearing the end of November but since I missed each and every deadline of any food blogging event during the last weeks months I am very happy to add this one to Sunita's Think spice!; a monthly event at Sunita's world in which she chooses a particular spice and participants blog about a dish featuring the spice of the month. In this case: Ginger!

This dessert goes a long way, it is so rich, fudgy and powerful that it's best served in tiny slices, together with an after dinner coffee...

Non bake Chocolate and Ginger cheesecake
Crust ingredients:
6 oz cookies, crushed to crumbs in a food processor
(I used a mix of gingersnaps and chocolate biscuits)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together and press the mixture over the bottom of a prepared 8-inch spring form pan. (Oil insides and line with waxed paper, oil paper again). Refrigerate to set.

Filling ingredients:
14 oz good quality chocolate
(I used half 70%, half milk chocolate, I would advise against using 70% for the full quantity)
2 oz sugar
2 knobs of preserved ginger, finely chopped
2 knobs of crystallized ginger, finely chopped
2 tbs ginger syrup (from a bottle or the jar)
1/8 to 1/4 cup alcohol*
(eg. dark rum, Tia Maria, Cointreau, Mandarine Napoleon, Baileys, Kahlua)
1 cup fromage frais (or low-fat sour cream)
1/2 cup whipping cream, beaten to soft peaks

Break up the chocolate, and melt in a large bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Add sugar and gingers, syrup and alcohol and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from the heat and let cool, give a quick stir every now and then.
Beat in the fromage frais, fold in whipped cream and pour into the pan. Cover and refrigerate until set and firm (approx. 3 hours).

Verdict: Rave reviews by serious chocolate lovers (teenagers and adults alike), for me it was a little too dense and I would have preferred a softer alcohol, I felt that the Stroh rum "38" I used was a bit too harsh, I wished I had thought of Baileys at the time...

* As this cake is not baked, the alcohol will not evaporate so you might want to substitute for maybe orange juice or milk.
=================
Recept in het nederlands:
Bodem:
1 rol (200 gram) chocoladekoekjes/biscuitjes/bastognekoeken!
45 gram gesmolten boter/margarine

425 gram chocola (half om half puur en melk)
60 gram kristalsuiker
2 bolletjes stemgember, fijngesneden
2 bolletjes gesuikerde gember, fijngesneden (of gebruik nog 1 bolletje stemgember)
2 el gembersiroop (uit een flesje of uit de pot)
2-5 el alcohol* rum, koffie- of chocolade likeur
225 dikke magere kwark (of magere zure room)
150 ml slagroom, lobbig geklopt

Voor de bodem verkruimel je de koekjes (gebruik evt. een keukenmachine) en meng de krummels met de gesmolten boter. Op de bodem van een ingevette springvorm leg je een op maat geknipt stukje bakpapier, dit vet je ook even in. Vervolgens duw je de krummels vlak op de bodem, zet in de koelkast om op te stijven.

Voor de vulling: smelt de in stukjes gebroken chocola in een pannetje (au bain marie) op laag vuur, voeg suiker en gember toe, vervolgens ook de siroop en de alcohol. Roer totdat de chocolade goed gesmolten is. Het ziet er nu glad en glanzend uit. Van het vuur af (even goed laten afkoelen en af en toe roeren), klop je nu de kwark erdoor en spatel je voorzichtig de lobbig geklopte slagroom door de massa. Giet dit over de bodem, dek af en zet wederom in de koelkast om de boel op te laten stijven (reken op zo'n 3 uur).

8 comments:

  1. That's one seriously rich cheesecake...being the chocoholic that I am, i don't mind it at all :-)...thanks for sending it over.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kijk dat zijn nou van die recepten die je gaat maken en waarvoor je best even op het Engels wilt puzzelen. I want choclate , I want it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Groetjes truus

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh. OH, I need this cake. TODAY.

    YUMMMY.
    I am thinking I would use no milk chocolate, either. Only dark. Only dark and add to it a bit of Kahlua... so delicious looking, thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rich, 14 oz of any chocolate is going to qualify as rich. Looks super good. Umm and I know all your boys went wild for this one, the sweet freak crew!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nu weet ik zeker wat ik komend weekend ga bakkken, of nou ja bakken is niet helemaal de juiste term met dit recept. wat ik ga maken dan maar. Heel hartelijk bedankt.

    Groetjes truus

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm thinking that something like a sweet Port wine might go well, to round the flavour out a bit. Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Goed idee Truus, ik hoop dat 'ie je smaakt!

    Now, that's an interesting thought David, I wonder how that would be like...somehow I'm afraid it would remind me of some savoury sauce.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Goed idee Truus, ik hoop dat 'ie je smaakt!

    Now, that's an interesting thought David, I wonder how that would be like...somehow I'm afraid it would remind me of some savoury sauce.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting! I really appreciate and enjoy reading all your comments! If you have any questions feel free to email me.