DELICIOUS CHEESECAKE (NO-COOK TYPE)

from the kitchen of a friend


INGREDIENTS

250 g or 9 oz plain biscuits (graham style)
120 g or 1/2 cup butter
250 g or 9 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup condensed milk
4 tablespoons lemon juice
300 mL or 1 1/4 cup fresh cream
1 teaspoon sugar
ground nutmeg or fruit for topping


HOW TO PREPARE

A) TO MAKE PIE CRUST

1) smash or crush biscuits to almost crumb state
2) add melted butter to crumbs and mix
3) press crumb mixture into pie dish
4) refrigerate until crust is set

B) TO MAKE PIE FILLING

5) whip cream and set aside
6) whip cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth
7) mix lemon juice into milk mixture
8) fold mixture into one-half of the whipped cream
9) pour or spoon mixture on top of crust
10) place on shelf in refrigerator until set

C) TO MAKE TOPPING TO SERVE

11) add sugar to remaining whipped cream
12) spread whipped cream on top of pie
13) sprinkle top with ground nutmeg or with fruit before serving

Short Crust

from the kitchen of a friend


8 3/4 oz (248g) flour
4 1/4 oz (120g) butter
1 egg
A pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cold water

This recipe makes a good basic pastry that can be used for a variety of sweet and savoury dishes. To prepare, sift the flour in a bowl. Add the butter, egg and salt blending them quickly into the flour. Add the water little by little and form the dough to a ball. Chill for two hours. Press the dough directly into the pie dish or roll it out first between two pieces of wax paper. Bake the crust in a fairly hot over 400 degrees F (200c) or as the recipe directs.

SOUTHERN SWEET POTATO PECAN PIE

from the kitchen of a friend


1/4 cup soft butter
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1 1/4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pecans
Pastry for 1 9 inch pie, unbaked

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in salt, eggs, corn syrup, sweet potatoes, and vanilla. Add 1 cup of the nuts and pour into pastry lined pie pan. Sprinkle remaining nuts over top.

Bake preheated 375 F oven for 50 to 55 minutes.

Last-minute Christmas Fruitcake

from the kitchen of Sandy


Here is a very easy fruitcake to make for Xmas. I sent the recipe to several people told me they had tried it successfully. Dare I say - it is even better than the ones my mum makes!!


1 1/2 cups of any combination of dried fruit (e.g. raisins, sultanas, pitted chopped prunes, candied peel, candied cherries, etc.) 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped nuts (I like walnuts and almonds) 1 medium carrot, grated (makes the mixture nice and moist) 1/3 cup of rum, whiskey or any other boozy beverage, or orange juice if you prefer
1 3/4 cups of flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (omit if you don't have any!) 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large can of crushed pineapple, drained

In a microwave-proof bowl, mix dried fruit, nuts, carrot and boozy beverge (or OJ). Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 2 mins. (Or leave the mixture overnight at room temperature.) Preheat oven to 170 deg. and grease a cake tin with butter. Mix flour, baking powder, spices and sugar in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix eggs, oil and pineapple, and then add to flour mixture. Finally add dried fruit, and mix everything together until just moist. (It will be lumpy.) Turn batter into cake tin and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until a chopstick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins, then run a knife round the edge of the tin and turn out the cake to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and keep in the fridge until needed.


my friend also notes:
In New Zealand, we would cover the cake with marzipan (very sweet paste made of almonds), and then royal icing (highly sweet hard white icing) on top of that. But we don't need all that here! So I usually just drizzle a simple icing over the cake and serve it with candles on Xmas Day. My mum would think this was highly strange, but somehow candles on cakes at Xmas seems quite normal after living in Japan!

LAST-MINUTE CHRISTMAS CAKE

from the kitchen of a friend


- 1 1/2 cups of mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, candied peel, cherries, chopped prunes, whatever you have)
- 1/2 cup of roughly chopped nuts (I use almonds and/or walnuts)
- 1 small carrot, grated (can be omitted but helps to make it moist)
- 1/3 cup of rum, brandy or other boozy beverage, or orange juice if you prefer
- 1 3/4 cups of flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 small can of pineapple, drained and roughly chopped

Mix the mixed fruit, nuts and carrot and boozy beverage (or juice) in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high, covered with plastic wrap, for 2 mins.(Or cover and leave overnight at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 350F (170C) deg, and grease your tin (loaf pan or round pan both work
OK). Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl. Mix eggs
with oil and pineapple in another bowl, and pour into the centre of the flour
mixture. Add fruit mixture, and combine everything until moist. (Batter will
be lumpy) Pour into tin and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, till a knife inserted
in the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins in tin and then turn out the
cake and cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap well and refrigerate.

Decorate as you wish - I just drizzle over some icing and add candles for Xmas, but
marzipan (yum) or even just whipped cream would be fine!

Chocolate cake without eggs

from the kitchen of a friend


2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups WARM water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the liquid ingredients.

Bake 180 C for 30 min. or until done.

Warm water, means not at the boiling point but quite hot (60 C). As
for vinegar I used the "genmai su" (white vinegar).

Cranberry Delight

from the kitchen of a friend

3 cups unpeeled apples -- chopped
2 cups raw cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats -- uncooked
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter or margarine -- melted


Combine apples, cranberries and sugar in a
2 quart buttered casserole. In a separate bowl, mix oats, brown sugar,
flour , pecans, and melted butter. Top fruit mixture with oat mixture.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake 1 hour or until bubbly and lightly browned.

6-minute chocolate cake

from the kitchen of a friend


1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking SODA
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water or brewed coffee
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vinegar


glaze (not necessary)
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cup hot water OR milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F (170C)
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into an ungreased
8-inch square or a 9-inch round baking pan. In a 2 cup measuring cup,
measure and mix together the cold water or coffee and vanilla. Pour into
baking pan and mix batter with a fork or small whisk. When the batter is
smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the
batter where the baking soda and vinegar are reacting. Stir just until the
vinegar is distributed throughout the batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Set cake aside to cool. Reset the oven to 300 if you choose to make the glaze. For the glaze melt the chocolate in a small oven proof bowl for about 15 minutes. Stir in the hot liquid and the vanilla until smooth. Spoon over cooled cake and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.