And it is so Cold..so very Cold. Its time for Summer and here am still feeling cold.The temperature is about 52 F and doesn’t seem to get any better. I am irritated to get back to the same old warm clothes..poor me! It was drizzling thru out the weekend too.Oh god, I wish I had a magic wand and change the weather the way I want it to be:)
In spite of the weather being bad,we didn’t compromise on our plans,especially on the Saturday. Weekends can be really quixotic and inspiring .P & I had a lovely day, “we” being formally dressed had a quiet and romantic Dinner at a classic American Restaurant, actually this is one of the finest restaurants here. Being a foodie I have been to all the kind of restaurants,have tried most of the cuisines and tasted best of the best foods, I guess very soon I should start blogging about my food and travel experiences too:-P.The restaurant pretty much had limited veggie entrée,but we were able to adapt a pasta dish (which was made veggie for us) called Linguini with fresh tomatoes (the original one had shrimp),we were happy to manage very well with the little that we could order.We also had Creamed Spinach which was served with Asiago cheese & some hand cut Idaho Potato fries,Bruschetta(grilled crostini rubbed with garlic and Virgin Olive oil topped with Roma Tomatoes,fresh Basil and Herbs).The dessert section was to die for – I had a Chocolate Lust cake ie., sinful layers of Devils food,Chocolate cheesecake and Rice Chocolate Truffle cake topped with Fudge Icing and Chocolate cookie crumbles…ummmm it was SINFUL!.
Well coming to the recipe, this is something I tried baking this weekend (Recipe taken from – the book “Taste of Home Desserts” along with my li’l variation) for something special…a celebration. I love cheesecakes and here is my endeavor with Apples and Cinnamon!
Preparation time – 15mins
Start to Finish – 1 hour(excluding the refrigerating time)
Yield – 12 Servings
Ingredients:
Butter – 1 stick/1/2 cup(softened)
Brown Sugar – ¼ cup
All Purpose flour – ½ cup
Wheat flour – ½ cup
Quick Cooking Oats – ¼ cup
Pecans – ¼ cup(finely chopped)
Ground Cinnamon – ½ tsp
Filling:
Cream cheese – 2 packages( 8 ounces each)
Condensed Milk – 1 can (14 ounces)
Apple juice concentrate – ½ cup
Eggs – 3 (lightly beaten)
Topping:
Apples – 2 medium( peeled and sliced,I used Pink Lady Apples)
Butter – 1 tbsp
Cornstarch – 1 tsp
Ground Cinnamon ¼ tsp
Apple Juice concentrate – ¼ cup
Method :
In a small mixing bowl,cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.Gradually add Flour,Oats,Cinnamon and Pecans until well blended.Press onto the botton of a greased baking sheet(1 ½ in. up the sides).Bake at 325F for tem minutes or until set.Cool on a wire rack.
In a large mixing bowl,beat cream cheese until fluffy.Beat in Condensed milk and Apple concentrate until smooth.Add eggs beat on low speed just until combined( the batter will be thin).Pour into crust.Bake at 325F for 40-45min or until centre is almost set.Cool and carefully run a knife on the edges to loosen.Refrigerate over night.
In a pan cook and stir in apples in butter over medium heat until crisp and tender.Cool and arrange over cheesecake.In a small sauce pan,combine cornstarch,cinnamon and apple juice concentrate until smooth.Bring to a boil.Reduce heat;cook and stir for a minute or until thickened.Immediately brush over Apples.Refrigerate for an hour or until chilled.
These cakes have to be consumed at the earliest(I mean it cannot be stored for long),else they turn a li’l harder. The original recipe doesn’t call for wheat flour,I wanted to reduce the intake of A.P Flour,hence used wheat flour .
A Culinary Odyssey! 