Yellow Yellow Ugly Fellow

It is now 2.30am, Saturday morning, in the week of school holiday. I have just finish blog hopping and finally willing to write about my latest bake that I did last week.

I have been itching to bake for a long long time. My last bake is in December! However, I am really lazy and  I am still adjusting to new routine (My girl went to P1 this year) .. blah blah blah... ok so I want easy, fast .. so I went to my shelves and took the "Easy Stir n Bake Cakes" book. I remember I have the cheese (since Nov! and yet not expired and not mouldy *phew*) so I settled for "Pineapple Cheesecake". I revisited my first try, knowing how my kids had liked it, I went ahead with full confidence.

However, I had problem melting my cheese into smooth and creamy state, but luckily that did not affect the cake at all. I cannot explain why the cheese has tiny lumps thou. Beside this difference, I also must note that I did not have enough cream cheese but since slice cheese can make into lovely cheesecake, I am sure there is no harm making up the difference with a slice of sliced cheese. I did worry about the saltiness of sliced cheese, but what can I do then? :-) I also deliberately reduce the sugar (since the pineapple should be sweet coming from a can) and oil. I reduce both by 20g.

Although there wasn't much hiccups during preparation, the cake rose unevenly in the oven, so unlike the first try.

 


Was quite upset by it since it is suppose to be fail proof. However, the end result is so well received by my kids, as expected.
The cake is gone in day 2 and the boy make a big fuss as he only has two pieces in that 2 days.

I took a few photos (cos I also love photography) even though it is a simple cake so now I had problem choosing one to be place here. (Note : Please do not expect good pictures, cos loving to take doesn't means I can do it well now.)

Shall spare myself the agony of looking at those pictures (now at 3.09am) by putting only just one.

A piece that looks like coming from a perfect loaf.


















As this cake has pineapple, I would like to give my support to a challenge started by SSB and now hosted by Jess.

For the challenge and convenience, I am posting the details of recipe here.

Ingredients

180g cream cheese
120g caster sugar
90ml corn oil
3 eggs
130g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
170g canned pineapple (diced)

Method

1) Grease and line a 10cm x 20cm (4 x 8 inches) loaf pan. Preheat oven to 170dC.
2) Stir cream cheese and sugar over simmering water until soft and smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in oil and eggs until well combined.
3) Combine flour, baking powder and soda. Fold into cheese mixture together with pineapple dices until well blended.
4) Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake in oven for 40 - 45 minutes or until cooked. Stand for 10 minutes and turning on to wire rack to cool.



Recipe from Kevin Chai - Easy Stir 'n Bake Cakes


I am submitting this entry to this month's Aspiring Baker#5 : Fruity March (March 2011).

Sliced cheese cheesecake

I am very happy to be able to fulfil my wish of trying out this recipe from Blessed Homemaker. It is a baked cheesecake recipe using NOT philly cheese but sliced cheese. I am sure parents with kids will always have sliced cheese in their fridge.

I read about her try on this recipe for a few times, even the comments, and finally 鼓起勇氣, have it done last friday afternoon when the boy is not having school (due to PSLE oral). Blessed Homemaker doesn't have problem in getting the cheesecake done in a short time, but I almost took an hour, from measuring all the ingredient to putting the final product into oven, that includes whisking the 4 egg whites with my hand whisk. *sigh* really regret not using the mixer... 4 egg whites! So tiring, but I manage to have medium hard peaks (but egg whites did not fall when I turn mixer bowl upside down) after like 10 - 15 minutes with lots of short rest in between. My arm ache for 3 days after that, and I even have problem brushing my teeth. (goes to show how much exercise I lack)

I have to note, when sifting the flour inside the egg, milk, cheese, butter mixture, I can see specks of flour floating around, so I do worry about getting balls of flour in the end product, but luckily, no, no trace of flour. :-)

Blessed Homemaker advise me to lengthen the baking time since I am using a 8 inch pan. As I see dark patches forming, I did not follow the recipe's 20 minutes 170 degree Celsius. I only bake 15 minutes and turn it down to 140 degree Celsius and further bake the standard 40 + my extra 15 minutes.

The cake rose beautifully in the oven after 30 minutes. See this.

Finally, I off the oven and wait for it to cool inside ... and also to see it shrinking from the sides, sinking as well and ended up like this.

So sad ... I am already expecting Kueh, not cheesecake, but after I cut, hmm still look reasonable ok, and very tasty. As expected, the cake has a dense layer at the bottom (caused by the sinking) and that layer taste saltish, but my kids say it is still tasty. My hubby even volunteer to share the last piece with me cos he feels that it is tasty. The cake is all eaten up on the 2nd day. I think I have to try again, using the KA to beat the whites. However, I still feel that my skill of folding the whites into the batter needs lots of practicing. But I like the idea of using balloon whisk to fold in the whites. Let's hope I get the time to try again.

Sharing with you how the "cheesecake kueh" looks like.

Do not be deceived, the cake is still very soft.