Entry Date 19/10/2011

Well as you can tell from the title of this post I came first place in the Big Cake Bake Off at work, all thanks to the delicious Chocolate Cheese Cake recipe by Nigella Lawson!
There were 2 categories to win in, 'Best Tasting' and 'Best Presented', Scott's very alcoholic Gateau tied first place with mine for the Best Tasting cake and the chocolate Echidna came in Best Presented. (see pictures below)
The 'Match Sticks' received an honourable mention but didn't come in any place, I must admit I was very nervous when they were brought out for judging; and I was slightly displaced as Match Sticks aren't really a cake per say.
But I was over the moon when they called out my delicious chocolate cheese cake as first place for Best Tasting! And so many people raved about my cake, my chest swelled with pride and my hands shook for at least an hour afterwards from the excitement!

I've never won anything before, so my winning streak starts here!
If you would like the recipe for Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Cheese Cake (it's award winning!) please go to Katie's Recipes.

The cakes at the competition

This is the recipe for Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Cheesecake, I made this scrumptious cake and it came first place for Best Tasting in a cake baking competition (see Katie's Journal for more info).

Now a few things I'd like to point out before you start making this cake, consider the size of your spring form pan; this cake is indeed very rich.
I used a large spring form pan so that the cake was thin and would serve more people (over 20) for the competition. This turned out to be an excellent idea as 1 slice was enough for one person and none was wasted, whereas if the spring form is smaller the cake will be larger in height, meaning your servings are going to be quite big.
So consider your audience and the meal your having before hand, are they going to feel over full if you serve a large slice after a roast lamb dinner?
I like to stick with the old saying 'Less is More'. Although a large slice with a cup of tea in the afternoon never goes astray!

Also I didn't put an exact measurement of sour cream in as I was half asleep baking this at midnight the night before the competition, so when I tasted the mixture before pouring into the spring form pan; it was too sour. I added extra dark melted chocolate to balance it out.
This made the cake richer in chocolate but it tasted amazing, and I noticed that Nigella's cake in her picture was much lighter in colour than mine. I felt that this was fine. So should you find your cake mixture not quite rich enough, add more chocolate and no harm done.

INGREDIENTS

 

METHOD

Katie's Journal

Entry Date 11/10/11

I received an email at work today that there will be a big cake bake off this Friday!
Apparently each team has to nominate somebody to bake the best cake with chances of winning, and my team nominated me!
I'm SO excited, a thousand cake recipes whirled through my head at the thought of a baking competition; should I do the traditional Victorian Sandwich?
Or A big fat Chocolate Mud Cake?
Or one of my own creations, the Cheese-less Cheesecake?
My sister highly recommended I do her famous Mars Bar Cheesecake, it is rather devilish and extremely rich so I'm thinking maybe not this time, if the judge has a slice of that cake they wont be able to try any others. Although on the other hand? hahaha no that's a bit evil and I'd like to win on my own merits.

My partner strongly urged me to make the Victorian Sandwich which is his favourite, due to the fluffy texture and the home made strawberry jam. But again I really want to wow the judges and do something no body else will think of.

http://missyeshref.wordpress.com/tag/nigella-lawson/

With melted chocolate and cheesecakes swirling in my mind I went to my old favourite Nigella Lawson, who is the master artist of deserts amongst many other things. And of course Nigella did not let me down, I'm going to bake Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Cheesecake. The smooth rich creamy taste of cheesecake with the tingling sense of chocolate delighting every bite! mmmm I think this one will be the winner!

I'll post photo's and keep you updated!

Wish me luck!!

Rekorderlig Strawberry-Lime Cider

For all us unit dwellers who haven't quite mastered the art of home made cider yet, I have come across REKORDERLIG!
A Swedish cider range sold here in Australia, Rekorderlig is to best describe it:
Like being punched in the face with a punnet of strawberries!

Once you pop the top, a mouth watering flavour of strawberry like you've never known before; fills your nostrils and excites the senses!
A strong and sweet strawberry kick with a slight (and only slight) twist of lime, I have tried every strawberry cider available at the liquor store and this by far, is the most spot on with real strawberry flavour. It doesn't taste artificial, it's not too over powering and leaves your taste buds wanting more!
I highly recommend the Rekorgerlig range as no label has brought me disappointment, for cider lovers and even those who aren't; this is a drink worth trying before you die.

I've had some great triumphs and some sad disappointments in my garden, one of my biggest enemies is the weather.
Living in Darwin Australia, we have 2 different weather types here; Wet and Dry.
From blasting heat to severe down pour, and every day I'm battling through it to keep my garden running, it's not all bad though; it's exciting when I can get something to start growing and enjoy the fruits of my labour.

This is my patio where I have all of my vegetables and herbs growing, my partner loves chilli's and has 4 plants currently growing madly in pots.

My Patio

French Taragon when I first planted it in August 2011

French Tarragon October 2011