A little bit about cheesecake brownies

Who loves brownies? Who loves cheesecake? This one's for you!

I have a Studentlife conference reunion tomorrow and a group of girls are baking a lil some'in ;)

Although I can't join them, I thought I'd make some brownies to bring along...

I used Cadbury baking chocolate, but I think it would be nicer with eating chocolate; Whittaker's dark ghana, for example.

Okay, confession: I incorrectly read the recipe I was following- I thought I was supposed to melt chocolate and butter together, but it was actually just the chocolate to be melted, so I had to quickly reinvent the own recipe, altering the method and quantity... It turned out great in the end!

The cheesecake mixture: cream cheese, egg, caster sugar and vanilla.

Pour in brownie mix then cheesecake mix. Dollop remaining brownie mix over top

And marble with a toothpick

 

Half an hour later, you have cheesecake brownies!!

Cheesecake Brownies

Brownies:

200g block of dark chocolate

200g unsalted butter

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

1 cup plain flour

Cheesecake mixture:

250g cream cheese

¼ cup caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

1.       Over a low heat, melt butter and chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon.

2.       Remove from heat and cool. Meanwhile, make the cheesecake mixture: Beat all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

3.       In a separate bowl, beat caster sugar and eggs until combined.

4.       Fold in flour and pour in the melted chocolate mixture. Stir until smooth.

5.       In a lined tin, pour in brownie mixture, reserving about half a cup.

6.       Pour in cheesecake mixture over top.

7.       With the half cup of brownie mix, dollop over the top and make marble pattern using a toothpick.

8.       Bake at 180C for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9.       Cool in tin then cut into squares.

Om nom noms <3

And to conclude,

LOOK AT MY NEW MIRROR!!
It flips around and it's so great to put on my desk when I need to do my makeup, I can just flip it when I'm studying so I don't distract myself!

Signed,
Elisa

Tips on eating at a buffet!! Fortuna restaurant, Skycity

To celebrate my dad's 50th birthday, my mum booked a table for us at Fortuna Buffet Restaurant in Skycity.

It was so embarassing because someone else was having their 50th birthday party there and my dad just stood next to the balloon that had 50 on it and asked us to take a picture...

A friend had given Fortuna glowing reviews, especially the tiramisu dessert served in mini cups "so you can have four!!" Unfortunately, they didn't have tiramisu that day :( 

But for $22.50  all you can eat lunch, it was well worth it.

The place was great, it was relaxed yet had an upper class feel that didn't hold you back from going all out and filling up your plate.

Glazed ham, garlic bread, pizza...

Roasted vegetables, corn on cobb...

the seafood: shrim salad, sushi rice, smoked fish, prawns...

noodle, mushroom and chicken salads...

I started off with soup, there was a choice of either pumpkin or tomato. The pumpkin soup was very nice and not too hot to eat

I then had pizza, baked pasta, glazed ham, three different kinds of salads...


There was so much more food than what you see here, I couldn't take photos of them all cause I was hungry!!
From what I recall, there was also pork, potato chips, pasta dishes...

The dessert... pavlova, cheesecake, jelly, creme caramel, pecan tart, chocolate mousse, brownies, assortment of mini cakes...

Cheese platter, with crackers and dried fruits

I chose a slice of creme caramel, sponge cake, jelly, pecan tart, chocolate mousse...

and these cute cheesecake cups

oh and they had a soft serve ice cream machine with caramel, strawberry and chocolate sauces and a LOLLY JAR

finish off with a coffee...

Tips on eating at a buffet:

- It's not nice to unbutton in the middle of a restaurant! Don't wear clothes that are tight at the waist or non-elastic, such as jeans. :p
- don't go crazy at the sight of various breadrolls and eat three for the entree... not a wise choice. The carbs filled me up too quickly. I love bread and butter too much...
- take a look at everything that's available first, cause you don't wanna be piling your plate up at one station to discover there's another section you haven't seen!
- Fortuna's lunch is 12-3pm. Book for 12 because there was a long line to get your food at 1.30pm
- must book! That place is popular!
- take about 2 tablespoon of each dish, so you can try everything
- drink water because sugar fills you up
- three cups of cheesecake, seriously? I didn't have any more room for the chocolate mousse :(
- go for it.

My brother's technique:

- skip entree, load up on pork and chips
- halfway through your main, grab as many jelly cups as you can, incase someone takes all 100 of them
- go to the toilet
- repeat steps 1-3 as necessary

You know my favorite place in Skycity is watching the casino from the balcony above.

I don't know how the games work but it's fun watching the dealers' non-expressive faces and the gamblers' concentration.

BUT DON'T GAMBLE YOUR MONEY AWAY!

And to conclude,

I've had really nice food dates with jt lately.

Crust Pizza, so delicious...

 Mediterranean lamb and bbq chicken

We actually only ate half for lunch then got full

Students who have Liked their fb page get a 25% discount! 

So one pizza was only like $8, and for us that was lunch and dinner. So much good food...

And while I'm blogging about food, jt's blogging about much more important things; theology and the church leaders' views on the Christianity. The link is here http://abclogical.blogspot.co.nz/

It is very very interesting.

Signed,

Elisa

A little bit about hazelnut mint brownies

So a while back, my mum bought a block of peppermint chocolate to make peppermint cheesecake.
Months later, no cheesecake and only half a block left.

So I decided to make mint brownies.

With hazelnuts!

This recipe is great if you don't have any cooking chocolate, because it only uses cocoa powder

It was after mixing this and putting it in the pan that I realised I should've added Nutella !!! for that real hazelnut flavor

Improvements for next time:
Don't let anyone eat the chocolate beforehand, so you can have more in your brownies

Arrange squares of chocolate in the middle and cover it up with the rest of the batter

Hazelnut Mint Surprise Brownies

1 2/3 cups sugar
170g butter, melted
2 Tbsp water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsps vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup crushed or chopped hazelnuts

block of peppermint chocolate

1. Combine sugar, melted butter and water in large bowl. 

2. Mix in lightly beaten eggs and vanilla. 

3. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl, stir into sugar mixture. 

4. Stir in nuts and chocolate. 

5. Spoon half the batter into prepared baking pan, arrange squares of chocolate pieces and cover with the rest of the batter

6. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack then cut into squares, bars, triangles or parallelograms

Variations:
You can omit the hazelnuts, or use chopped walnuts or pecans
Try replacing 2 Tbsp of cocoa with Cadbury Mint Chocolate drink powder for an overall minty brownie :)
And any kind of chocolate would be good, really... White chocolate, caramel, chocolate chips, Crunchie pieces, peanut butter chocolate, any kind of chocolate!

The brownies I've made in the past resembled cakes, they were crumbly or weren't dark like the ones you buy from cafes
But these were good.
I especially like the peppermint soft-centred chocolate surprise

I took these to Suze's BBQ yesterday.
Start of summer, no exams, Castor Bay, ultimate frisbee... mint.

I heard a funny story that happened in Thailand, involving JoJo and 1K2:2 "I am about to go the way of all the the earth... So be strong, show yourself a man."
But you'll have to ask the Chan brothers for the full story :P


And to conclude,
It's practically summerrrrr and the sun will come out and it's going to be a gooooood week. xoxxo

Signed,
Elisa

A little bit about Altar cafe

I finished exams.

To celebrate the start of my 4 month holiday, Calci and I went to Altar cafe in Mt Eden afterwards and had dessert

 Passionfruit creme brulee and baked cheesecake. $9.50

They were good.
Although, Calci said my chocolate chip cheesecake had more flavor and a better biscuit base. Wow!

To celebrate the end of Calci's exams next week, we are going to watch Argo in the cinemas.
It's supposed to be really good. I think I'll enjoy it cause it's my kind of movie with all my favorite elements:
CIA + hostages + ben affleck



And to conclude,
I saw someone being held at gunpoint at the viaduct

Just kidding, that was a camera behind the pillar.
What were they filming??

All the best for your exams.

Signed,
Elisa.

A little bit about no-bake oreo cheesecake

There have been a lot of cheesecake posts lately. This one I made for the five-boys-plus-one-girl's flat. I've baked them cookies before, which apparently went down well and disappeared pretty quickly :)

Oreos were on special...

I asked Stef what she would like me to make and she said, "Anything. Oreo cheesecake." How convenient...

Place one oreo on the bottom of a paper case

This is what happens when you bake at 11pm in your pyjamas without an apron...

The mixture should be smooth and light and delicious looking.

Mix in the crushed oreos by hand

Sometimes... I wish I don't have to give away ALL my baking... :P

Pour the batter into the prepared cases and refrigerate.

 Embellish with more Oreos if you wish

This is a super easy recipe and requires NO BAKING. Better than the oreo cheesecake cupcakes I made a while back.

Oreo cheesecake
300ml bottle of cream
250g block of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
whole and crushed Oreos

Beat cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, until smooth.

Beat cream in a separate bowl until peaks form.

Combine cream and beat together both mixtures. 

Fold in oreo cookies.
Place whole oreos in the bottom of cupcake cases and drop spoonfuls of cheesecake.

Refrigerate.

I really enjoy baking for their flat. I always imagine Stef running around cleaning between kitchen and bathroom, but I know you guys help out like good brothers :))

And to conclude, look

what

I

found.

I want a tub of the peanut butter Reese's use

Signed,
Elisa