What did I make for dessert on Thanksgiving? Pumpkin cheese cake.... a cross between pumpkin pie and cheese cake paired with flavors of maple, chocolate and walnuts, what more can one ask for?
For the Crust:
-4 oz gingersnap cookies
-melted butter
*Crush the cookies, add butter and mix until mixture comes together. Press mixture into a cheesecake pan to make the curst.
Cheese Cake:
-1lb cream cheese
-300g pumpkin puree
-200g sour cream
-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-4 eggs
-1 tsp cornstarch
-150g sugar
*Cream the cream cheese until smooth, add eggs one at a time, then add sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cornstarch and beat until creamy. Add pumpkin puree and sour cream. Mix until combined. Fill the prepared cheesecake pan with batter and bake in a water bath, covered with foil at 325'F until the center jiggles like jello. Chill until sent (a few hours).
Maple Cream:
-2 egg yolks
-150g milk or cream
-30g maple syrup
*Heat milk in a pot. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and maple syrup. Once the milk comes to a boil, gradually add the milk to the eggs (aka tempering the eggs). Return the mixture to the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the cream thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Tulie Leaves:
Weigh the egg whites (left over from making maple cream). Scale butter, sugar and flour, each equaling the weight of the egg whites.
*Cream butter and sugar, add butter and flour. Mix until smooth. Use a stiff piece of paper to create a stencil of a leaf. Place the stencil on top of a silpat, use a small spatula to spread a thin layer of the tulie batter over the stencil. Lift the stencil off the silpat and volia! You have a leaf. Bake the leaves at 350'F until slightly golden brown, give them character by shaping them while still hot.
Burshed Chocolate:
Chop chocolate into uniform pieces. Melt them in a bain-marie over barley simmering water, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted but still contains a few small chunks. Remove from heat and continue stirring until all of the chocolate has melted. Using a pastry brush, brush the chocolate onto a piece of parchment paper. Place chocolate in a cool place to set. Once set, gently peel the parchment off the chocolate. Use chocolate as a garnish.
Glazed Walnuts:
-sugar
-walnuts
-toothpicks or bamboo skewers
*Skewer walnuts onto toothpicks or bamboo skewers. Place sugar in a pot with a little water (just enough to wet the sugar). Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue to cook until the sugar begins to turn amber in color. Remove from heat and allow the sugar to cool slightly. Dip the walnut pieces into the sugar, pull the pieces stright up out of the sugar; the sugar should "thread" as it's being pulled from the pot. If not, the sugar is too hot, wait a few minutes and try again.
12:03 AM |
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tt
good job on your new template - it is so much better
I like how you dressed up the otherwise plain pumpkin cheese cake. ;)
Love the new look!
refreshing new layout for the blog... great job TT.
Wow, looks good - hehe both the cheese cake and the template!
Hi Hoang Tam,
I'm from Australia. I have been following your post for over a year now. Really love your cooking and writing.
I need to host Christmas lunch this year for 25 Vietnamse people, half of them are children. Can you suggest a menu that both the adults with Vietnamese taste and the young kids with Western taste can enjoy.
Also something that do not require a lof of baking, because it is summer here and the temperature can reach to 100 F degrees.
The typical Australian Christmas menu often consists of cooked prawns with mayonaise, cold ham cranberry sauce, salads ....
I hope you can help me. I really like the guess to enjoy the food.
Thamk you and all the best
Linh
Linh,
let's see...
why not do a Vietnamese take on the Australian 'classics'?
ham and cranberry sauce.
>>Make spring rolls (goi cuon) with ham, lettuce, noodles, and cucumbers.
For dipping, make a sauce with cranberry, apple cider, chili peppers...sort of like nuoc mam except you're using cranberry for the tartness, apple cider for the sweetness, chili for it's spiciness, and salt and a dash of nuoc mam for the saltiness.
prawns and mayo
>>change it up a bit by sauteing the prawns with some garlic, rau ram, and coconut milk... the coconut mirrors the mayo and you can't go wrong with prawns.
>>main course
Marinate a bunch of meat with lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, 5 spice, honey... and have a bbq. Have plenty of noodles, lettuce, herbs (rau thom), beans sprouts, etc...available and everyone can make their own noodle bowls with the bbq meat.
and for course, a platter or two of fresh fruits and veggies....and dessert
that should be enough for a lunch menu...gotta save some room dinner :D.
Happy Holidays!
G'day Hoang Tam,
Thank you so much, you really are creative. I'll follow your advice with confidence that my guests will be pleased. I'll also tell them who helped me plan the menu.
Happy Holidays to you too from Down Under.
Linh
Hi,
My name is Richard and I'm the founder of: http://www.maplesyrupworld.com/admin/.
We would love to showcase your Pumpking Cheese Cake recipe on our site.
Give us a shout!
Richard
Hi Richard,
you're more then welcome to post this recipe.
Cheers!