Picture this for a minute. A buttery shortbread crust, generously topped with a smooth, rich, creamy, melt in your mouth cream cheese filling, followed with a lightly sweetened layer of vanilla sour cream and finished off with a decadent Toblerone ganache. Yep, that’s this cheesecake. It’s most definitely not the easiest cheesecake recipes out there, but I believe with great effort comes great cheesecake.

Happy Birthday Hamzah! Even though I didn’t actually make you this cake..its the thought that counts yes? Just reminisce to a time you’ve eaten a cheesecake made by me.

New York Style Cheesecake with Toblerone Ganache
(loosely adapted from Anna Olson)

Ingredients:
Crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Filling
2 pounds (4 pkg) cream cheese at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Topping
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Toblerone bar, chopped
1/8 cup whipping cream

Directions:
Crust
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy
3. Beat in egg until smooth
4. Stir in flour and mix until dough comes together
5. Divide dough in half, wrap one half and chill
6. Spread the other half of the dough onto the bottom of an ungreased 10-inch springform pan
7. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool
8. Once cooled, press the other half of the dough onto of the first layer. Do not bake second layer
Filling
9. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees
10. Beat cream cheese until very fluffy and smooth
11. Gradually add sugar while beating
12. Beat in flour
13. Add eggs one at a time, waiting until egg is fully incorporated before adding next
14. Beat in vanilla and 1/2 cup sour cream
15. Scrape batter onto crust base and bake for 10 minutes
16. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 30 minutes
Topping
17. Stir sour cream, sugar and vanilla together until sugar dissolves
18. Remove cheesecake from oven carefully and gently spread sour cream topping over cheesecake
19. Return to oven and bake for 15 minutes
20. While cheesecake is baking, heat whipping cream and add Toblerone pieces to melt
21. Remove cheesecake from oven and spread Toblerone ganache on top
22. Cool cheesecake for 30 minutes, then run a spatula of knife gently around the edge of the cheesecake
23. Cool cheesecake to room temperature and chill overnight

Enjoy!

Like any normal person fasting for 17 hours, I spent most of my day today perusing food blogs. It made me miss my own blog. A lot. So I scrambled to find my camera’s memory card hoping to find pictures of something I was too lazy to had forgotten to upload. Lo and behold, I had forgotten this little gem. Made these for my co-workers back in April. So rich, so dense, so chocolatey…

Took one of my favourite brownie recipes, Anna Olson’s Triple Chocolate Brownies and decided to do a little twist by replacing the white chocolate with toffee bits. The result? Chocolate caramely goodness.

Double Chocolate Toffee Brownies
(adapted from Anna Olson)
[Yields 16]

Ingredients:
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 ounces toffee bits (Skor ones work great)
4 ounces milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Grease and line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper
3. In a bowl resting over a pot of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring gently
4. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla
5. Stir in eggs, one at a time
6. Stir in flour and salt
7. Fold in toffee bits and milk chocolate chips
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the brownies comes out clean

Enjoy!

Oh, well hello there! I know, I know…I’ve been absolutely inexcusably missing in action from the blog. I just had myself stretched thin with work and life. But you know what they say–when life gives you lemons…make lemon yogurt cake!

When I first came across this recipe, I almost died of shock. An Ina Garten recipe with no butter in it?! This must be one of those end-of-the-world signs everyone keeps talking about. I’m glad I recovered from the shock quickly, because this is one of the most delicious and moist cake recipes ever–and doesn’t it just scream summer?! On that note, let’s take a moment to look outside and admire the gorgeous weather we’re having here in Toronto. Ahh…

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake
(adapted from Barefoot Contessa)
[Yields 1 loaf]

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease and flour a loaf pan
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt
4. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract
5. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
6. With a spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, until well incorporated
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with blueberries, slightly immersing them into the mixture
8. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until done
9. Meanwhile, cook the lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves
10. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes
11. Carefully slide it out of the pan and place on a baking rack over a sheet pan
12. Poke numerous holes in the cake with a toothpick or skewer
13. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in

Enjoy!

Being of South Asian background, I’ve had plenty of Indian/Pakistani dishes in my time. So when I say, this dish makes it to my top 5 best Indian dishes of all time, I mean it. I’ve always been a HUGE fan of South Indian food and this chicken main course does not disappoint. You’ll probably need a trip to your local South Asian grocery store to pick up ingredients for this dish but it’s soooo worth it. The combination of spices brings out the most wonderfully complex flavour profile in each bite. Heads up though, it’s definitely on the spicy side so adjust the amount of chilies/pepper to your taste.

Pepper Chicken Chettinad
(adapted from VahRehVah.com)
[Serves 4]

Ingredients:
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
4 cardamom pods, crushed
2 small cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 onion, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 green chilies, finely chopped
2 sprigs curry leaves, destemmed
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
12 ounces boneless chicken, cubed
1 tbsp freshly crushed peppercorns
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pan
2. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and bay leaf
3. Cook for a few minutes until spices start to crackle and release aroma
4. Add onion and salt, and cook until onions are slightly golden
5. Add turmeric, garlic cloves, ginger, green chilies, and curry leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes
6. Bring heat down to medium and add tomatoes, chili powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder
7. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until oil separates from mixture
8. Add chicken and cover, letting cook for 5-7 minutes
9. Add crushed peppercorns and cook for a few minutes until sauce is of desired consistency
10. Finish off with fresh coriander leaves

Enjoy!