Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mothers out there! Hope you're able to connect with your loved ones during these difficult times.
My siblings and I had a special stay-at-home-and-eat day planned out for my mom. We ordered dim sum for lunch and had a Mother's day high tea set ordered from Audrey Moment Afternoon Tea plus a dozen liege waffles delivered from Wonderffle, Coquitlam for tea-time, and Greek food for dinner! Plus, I had made a special Mother's Day Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake! Yes, we were all in a food coma after that.
I don't usually make cheesecakes but since my mom really wanted one, I had decided to make this little guy! It basically consists of a honey graham crust at the bottom, cheesecake with strawberry sauce swirled inside, chantilly cream, fresh fruits, and of course, gold flakes!
I relied solely on the eggs for my cheesecake's structure, which also helps in making it have a super creamy and soft texture. You could add in cornstarch or flour to give it a sturdier texture with cleaner slices, but I decided to let the eggs do the work. Using a water bath is also a great way to prevent the cheesecake from cracking (besides not overwhipping), and helps the texture stay creamy. Instead of putting the cake into a water bath, I like to fill up a pan with water and place it below the rack that the cheesecake is on. Make sure not to open the oven door while the cheesecake is baking or you'll let out the steam!
In general, cheesecakes are usually plainly decorated. I wanted to try something different and decided to decorate my cheesecake with whipped cream, completely covering the top. I used a no.48 piping tip to pipe the lattice design and a no.104 piping tip for the frills. I piped multiple layers on top of each other to give it a skirt-like pattern. I had also recently bought some gold leaf paper and really wanted to add some gold to this cake... or any cake really hah! This adds a pretty and whimsical touch to the cake.
If you wanted, you could even use the leftover strawberries to make slices for the sides of the cake. I personally prefer it without the slices, but my mom really liked it so I left them there for her.
This is a slightly different style of decorating a cheesecake, but really, your imagination is the limit. Feel free to experiment with different designs and find ones that you like. There's no right way to decorate, each person has different ideas. So, go crazy and find your own touch!
Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
Yield: One 6" Cake (Serves around 8 people)
Ingredients
Graham Crust
30g Melted Butter
102g Honey Graham Crumbs
Pinch of Cinnamon
Strawberry Sauce
~ 227g Fresh Strawberries
5g Cornstarch
20g Sugar
77g Water
Cheesecake Filling
673g Cream Cheese
186g Sugar
165g Eggs
8ml Vanilla
80g White Chocolate Chips
Chantilly Cream
230g Whipping Cream
30g Icing Sugar
2ml Vanilla Extract
Toppings
Fresh Strawberries
Fresh Blueberries
Gold Leaf Paper
Steps:
Strawberry Sauce 1. Place strawberries and sugar into a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring to boil
2. Mix the cornstarch and water together to avoid lumps
3. Add the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and stir
4. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20-25minutes, or until thicken
5. Pour sauce through a strainer and allow to cool.
Graham Crust
1. Mix the honey graham crumbs and cinnamon together.
2. Pour in the melted butter and mix until well incorporated. Be careful not to mix it too much or the butter will leak out during baking.
Cheesecake filling
1. Place room temperature cream cheese and sugar into mixing bowl, and whip with paddle attachment on medium-low speed till mixture is creamy
2. Add in the vanilla and beat until combined.
3. With the mixer on medium-low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time. Wait until the previous egg is just mixed into the batter before adding the next one.
4. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of mixing bowl well to avoid lumps
5. Gently mix in white chocolate chips by hand
Chantilly Cream
1. Whip up the cream with a whisk attachment.
2. When the cream reaches soft-medium peaks, add in the vanilla extract and icing sugar
3. Whip till stiff peaks
Assembling
1. Cut out parchment paper and line cake ring or pie tin
2. Fill up a pan with water and place at the bottom rack of oven to act as a water bath
3. Preheat oven to 175C
4. Press crumbs into cake ring
5. Keep aside a little of the cheesecake batter to mix with the strawberry sauce
6. Pour half of the cheesecake batter onto the crust and pour in some of the strawberry flavoured batter. Feel free to swirl it around to give it a cool swirled effect
7. Pour the rest of the cheesecake batter into the ring. Pour the remaining strawberry batter on top and use a toothpick to create your desired design.
8. Bake in oven at 175C for about 35-40 minutes
9. Reduce heat to 150C and bake for 20 more minutes. Slightly shake the pan, it should be done when the outer sides look set but the inner circle still jiggles like Jello.
10. Allow to cool, unmold, and then place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours to allow it to set.
11. Decorate before serving. I used the no.48 piping tip to pipe the chantilly cream into a lattice design and frills on the surrounding with a no.104 tip. Add fruits, gold flakes, and any other decorations you prefer!
Enjoy!