FUDGE CAKE BASE
- 70g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
- 100g (1/2 Cup) unsalted butter
- 2 eggs or 1 Large Banana, Mashed
- 100g (3/4 Cup) Plain Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 100g (3.9 Ounces) Bittersweet Dark Chocolate, Coarsely Chopped
METHOD:
- Preheat oven, grease and line with baking paper, a round pan that is 18cm (7-8″) wide & equally deep. You can also make one with different pans you have in the house if you can’t find any you need. For example in the video I used an adjustable mousse cake making ring mould fitted on a shallow loose bottom cake pan. Well fitted and well lined it worked like a charm.
- Wrap two large sheets of foil around the pan and make sure it will be higher than water level in the baking dish or pan you will place the cake pan in. Wrap it well as water may get into your cheesecake batter otherwise.
- Melt butter & chocolate in microwave by nuking on 20 second blasts, stirring between each time, until completely smooth.
- Stir in the sugar & mashed banana/eggs.
- Stir in the flour & baking powder till well combined.
- Transfer into the pan and shake to level out.
- Wrap & store in fridge till cheesecake mix is made.
CARAMEL SPREAD
- 150g (2/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
- 30ml (2 Tablespoons) Water
- 140ml (1/3 + 1/4 Cup) Thickened/Heavy Cream
- 15g (1 Tablespoon) Unsalted Butter
METHOD:
- The caramel is simple, combine sugar and water in a pot over medium heat.
- Watch carefully as it bubbles up. Once it starts to colour in a spot the sugar should all be dissolved, you can swirl the pot to even out the colour.
- Continue cooking till the colour is a dark amber (too light it will just taste like sugar), add in the cold cream being careful of the splatter.
- Stir until it is smooth over the heat.
- Once it is boiling, cook it for 1 minute before removing from heat and stirring in the butter till smooth.
- Cool completely in fridge before using.
- The consistency should work out perfectly but if yours becomes too thick or runny here’s how to fix it.
- Thick: To get it runnier, simply loosen it by warming caramel a little, stir in more cream and adjust consistency from there. Cool to check consistency.
- Thin: Return to heat & give it a rapid boil 30 seconds more then cool and check.
CAPPUCCINO COTTON CHEESECAKE Ingredients:
- 250g 1 (Cup) Cream Cheese, Room Temp.
- 3 Sachets of Instant Strong Cappuccino Powder
- 6 Large Eggs, Separated
- 70g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar (Yolks)
- 60g (1/4 Cup) Unsalted Butter
- 100ml (1/3 Cup + 1 TBSP) Full Cream Milk
- 2 Teaspoons Fresh Lemon/Lime Juice
- 60g (2/3 Cup) Cake Flour / (2/4 Cups) Plain Flour
- 20g (2 Tablespoons) Corn Starch/Flour
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 70g (1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar (Egg Whites)
METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 200C (400F), place rack on lowest level.
- Line bottom and grease sides of a 8″ round cake pan.
- Over double boiler on simmering water, whisk cream cheese, coffee, butter and sugar slowly until smoothly combined. Whisking time to time, whilst you prepare other ingredients.
- Whisk in cold milk to drop the temperature so the yolks don’t scramble.
- Whisk in egg yolks one at a time.
- Whisk in the vanilla, salt and lemon/lime juice at once.
- Sift in the flour then whisk gently till combined.
- In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk egg whites on medium low speed till frothy and you can no longer see the liquid parts.
- Add the cream of tartar & continue to whisk on same speed till twice the volume.
- Begin to add the sugar gradually in small portions constantly till it reaches about 3/4 up the bowls capacity/height.
- It should be soft peaks, easily mounds on itself, still glossy and moves just a little when you tilt the bowl.
- Stir in 1/3 of the meringue to lighten the mix.
- Fold in another third of the meringue with the whisk gently.
- Fold in the last third until almost combined, use spatula to ensure base and sides have no mix that is not combined. Careful not to overmix.
- Pour batter into prepared pan over the chilled fudge cake batter. Tap pan gently on counter to release air bubbles.
- Bake in waterbath 20 minutes, then reduce to 135C (280F) for 150 minutes. Switch off oven & allow to cool completely. The water should be boiling and fill up to 5cm (2 inches) high at least.
- Remove from oven, ensure cake is cool before wrapping and chilling for couple hours or overnight. The fudge base needs the chilling more than the cheesecake as it is super fudgy but supports the cheesecake weight, so don’t unmold till you’ve chilled it thoroughly.
- Remove pans, baking paper and set on wire rack with bowl just bit smaller than cheesecake under the cake.
- Drizzle with thickened caramel sauce. Make sure each slice will have decent amount of caramel on it as it really makes the flavours work together.
- Keep airtight and chilled.
Sugary Lab 