TBB: Stilton Baby Blue Cheesecakes

I think I have an acute sense of smell, or heightened sense of smell. I can smell everything from a distance.  So this week's baking with blue cheese worried me a little.  Blue cheese is known for it's pungent smell.  I can't even tolerate strong perfumes, they make me feel dizzy and nausea. I forbid my mom to wear perfume when she goes out with me..esp. when we have to be seated next to each other in enclosed area like in a car.  

However durians smell equally bad but I still like to eat durians. Perhaps it is an acquired taste?  I just need to get used to the smell? Then again, I don't like durian after-smell..it last forever even on your hands and when you burp.  Now that I have tasted blue-cheese,  it smells like smelly tofu. 

Chatted on FB with other fellow Alpha Bakers, I learnt a lot more about blue cheese and their green/blue veins...and pasteurised and unpasteurised makes difference to the smell too. 

Finally, I saw a tiny piece of Blue Stilton (actually looks green to me!) for sale and I thought for $6.90, I can take a chance to try it out.  Also I found out I have a few friends who loves Stilton. Well, I can make and give to them too for taste testing! :D  

Toast the walnuts and grind coarsely..

Place 1 Tbsp in cupcake cups. 

I decided to use these cups for easy handling. 

I baked 2x recipe so I can use up all the Stilton Cheese. 

Mix the Stilton with Sour Cream.  

The sour cream (import from Australia) is very thick & creamy..just like the heavy cream.

Very thick and creamy.. thicker than Greek yogurt texture. 

Blend the mixture till smooth.

Then it became quite liquid after I add the eggs, even though I didn't over-mix. 

Surely doesn't look like sour cream texture to me! The cream cheese above looks more like sour cream to me.

Pour/Measure into cups.

All Ready to be baked...Oh..I have left over Stilton so I put all into the batter for strong flavor..didn't taste very strong with the cream cheese mixture.  Oh..yes, I was brave enough to try some Stilton with slice of bread. Not bad actually, taste good except for the smell takes a bit of getting use to. 

All Baked!! When I opened the oven door, the smell hit me without warning!  It was like WOW - what was that?!  It smell stronger after baked. 

Put in disposable containers and into fridge. 

Easier for storage in fridge and transport as give aways to my taste testers. :)

After 4 hours later. Cut the case and peel off sides 

Lift and place on plate.

Sliced a ripe pear to go with it. 

Verdict:  Taste very good. Rich and Creamy.  But I can still smell the Stilton. It aint' going away just because I thought it has been diluted with lots of cream cheese.  This is not something I can eat everyday.  Only for special occasion like Mother's Day.  

My daughter and helper felt the same too.  And we never had any blue cheese of any kind before. Only Rose's desserts we are willing to go the extra-mile. :)  That said, I think my helper secretly like blue-cheese because she is willing to eat my husband's share.. when I asked her "you want this last one?" And she said "Yes" without hesitation. Before she was like "eww..So smelly!" lol!

Of course my husband stayed far away as possible...he was hiding in the room when we ate our share.  

One complain though.. I don't like the green color!! I should bought blue vein cheese instead of green. Or maybe I should use White Stilton next time..cos I saw the white ones yesterday at the same supermarket that I bought this green one. The blue/green Stilton sold out and they brought in the white Stilton..very white and pretty!  I wonder if they taste the same? Blue vs White? What's the difference? 

Comments from my friends who love cheese.. 

Ms Ratty  - "I tried it, it's so nice! Yes the smell makes you hold back for 1 second, but once you dig in it's creamy and rich and flavourful! Thanks much!"

Ms I - "The cheesecake is very delicious. It is heavenly. I didn't find it smelly."

Ms A - "The cheesecake is very yummy. The Stilton taste is there but not overwhelming.. Really good! The smell is definitely less after it is chilled". (I gave to her when cakes still warm)

Mr MB - "Tried the cheesecake. Creamy and indulgent. Really like the base too. I'm not 100% sure about the blue, but something different and enjoyed it. Even my friend who doesn't eat blue cheese finished one! BTW was good with a glass of wine :)"

Design Office - My daughter reported back that her colleagues enjoyed it very much. And everyone said it was rich and creamy and very good.  They asked her when is my next bake... LOL!  

TBB: Double Chocolate Oriolos

These are very delicious. Not too sweet, chocolatey, sandy-crumbly and melts in mouth. Perfect! 

Dough is mixed in food processor.

I did not have to knead the dough, it was already done in just a few pulses. I think cos our weather here is hot and the butter melts very fast. Been super hot weather for the past few weeks. 

Place in fridge and after roll in balls and flattened with sugar coated glass bottom.  This glass is a free gift from Magnolia Fresh Milk. 

All baked! Delicious! 

Oh..I forgot to add I made 2 batches.  I turned 1 batch of these cookies into Bourbon Pecan Balls - will be in the next post....whenever Marie schedule it. :) (ps..the Bourbon Pecan Balls  so addictive! ;) you might want to turn these wafer cookies into Bourbon Pecan Balls now) 

TBB Catchup Week: Dattelkonfekkt Take 2

Dattelkonfekkt - Take 2.  I made these again. Don't ask me why. They turned out better with some changes. However, I still can't pronounce the name or spell it correctly. I had to cut & paste each time I type this name.  I cut & paste from my earlier post..lol! 

The earlier ones I made with somewhat more moist dates. I figured maybe if I used drier dates would be better. I can't find pitted dates, so I used Chinese red dates. My husband bought 2 different types for me, the seedless & the ones with seed. So when the seedless ones didn't measure up to 250g, I topped up with the ones with seeds and had to remove the seeds. 

When the food processor was churning the dates & almond mixture , I could hear loud crackling noises. Oh no!! There must be some seeds in the supposedly 'seedless' red dates!!! Pfft!!!?!? Too  late to do anything now..except to grind it finer...  Cannot trust fully next time when they say it is seedless! Actually I did try some and the ones I ate were seedless.

To keep the meringue stable in our humid climate, I heat up the sugar and egg white by bain-marie method, until all sugar disappeared.

I ran out of sugar and only used 180g instead of 200g.

Mix the date/almond mixture with meringue. 

This time, I can feel the mixture is drier and not as wet as before. 

Almost hard to pipe it out.

I had to use a lot of my strength to pipe out the very sticky batter onto the wafer disc. 

Then I baked in very low oven at 100c for 2 hours like I would with meringue. This time they didn't collapse when out of the oven.

When cooled down, they turned hard and crispy.. a bit too hard. But the next day, the cookies became slightly softer and chewier inside - Perfect to me now. I like the texture and flavor. Maybe because I like red dates. Also red dates are not as sweet. I am quite addicted to these cookies now and keep eating them.  They should be perfect except that there are some partially grinded seeds present and have to eat with caution in case I break my teeth. 

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It was long weekend, so I made our local dessert as well call Ondeh Ondeh. Made with sweet potatoes & glutinous rice flour, with Gula Melaka aka Palm sugar inside, coated with freshly grated coconut. When you bite into the chewy balls, the Gula Melaka oozes out. So yummy!  Gluten free and vegan too. :D Actually come to think of it, a lot of our local desserts are gluten free. 

BB: Touch of Grace Biscuits

I made half recipe as I wasn't sure if anyone would want to eat it. Good thing it was public holiday on May 1st and I could make it in the morning in time for breakfast. My daughter and helper ate up all. They liked it very much. 

Rub the shortening into the flour

Mix the cream/yogurt with the flour mixture

Use a scoop to scoop into flour 

Into a 6" pan & bake

Melt some butter..

Brush butter when it's out from oven

When it was hot from oven, it was very wet and doughy.

After it cooled down, it was just right.

Pretty good biscuits and easy to put together.

TBB: BlueRhu Pie

I finally got my Rose's Pie plate! Yay! :)  I really like the design and I had no problem releasing the pie from the plate. Some people commented saying that they had difficulty, I didn't have any. You can see from the pictures below that the crust on the sides automatically lift off by itself when cooked. 

I've never tasted Rhubarb so I am very keen to taste it.
I hunt high and low for rhubarb and managed to find 2 stores that had stock.

I made order for one store but saw another store had theirs in early so I bought it. So expensive at $12 for 3 stalks! Anyway, since I was eager to try, I paid for it anyway.  

My daughter said we have tasted Rhubarb before in Australia.. I can't remember though..(sign of me getting old....)

Many thanks to Catherine who taught me to remove the stringy part of the rhubarb like celery. Otherwise, I won't know how or what to do.  

I removed quite a lot because there was lots of stringy parts..no more red left! 

Next, macerate and then cook the BluRhu filling. 

Oh..the pastry..I figured, there is no need to take photos again because it's basically the same pastry we have been making. So I rolled the pastry onto my new pie plate. :) Wrapped it and let it relax in the fridge.

After fill with filling and roll another pastry above. 

I didn't want to do lattice design again..so I tried a different method..and

made a rose in the centre since I'm using Rose pie plate too. :) 

 Cover with foil around the sides. And bake for 30mins. 

Baked and out of oven. 

I think next time I should sugar the bottom crust before the rose on top..to make it look prettier. 

Couldn't wait to taste!  

So delicious! 

I love rhubarb! Taste so soft. Slightly tart but not as tart as cranberries.

It's so soft and translucent just like aloe vera to me! 

Usually I like more crust, but this time, I wished I had double the filing!

See the translucent rhubarb...hard to tell/see. 

Another slice the next day. The rhubarb on the tip..:)  

My family loves it. 

Esp. my husband, he kept saying it's very good for many times while eating! 

Even the next day, he said the same thing too.  LOL!

At least I found out I like rhubarb! :D

I packed some for my daughter to bring to her work place. Her colleagues are young people who work till 11pm almost every night and they can afford more calories..lol! They liked the pie. Only one didn't and said it tasted like vegetable..(I guess must be the rhubarb she was referring to..lol!). 

My helper helped me eat up the rest of the pie. She's not picky and often she says all my bakes are yummy except when you notice that she's not eating them..means they are not good..LOL!..like the Dattelkonfekt.  I'm glad to have a helper who can eat and not worry about getting fat. And she eats a lot of rice too. She says she has no energy if she doesn't eat rice. LOL! I think not just her.. most of us Asians are like that.. we must have our rice. :)