Cantuccini Plum Cheese Cakelettes



After a pretty (and very needed) relaxing weekend, where Soeren spent the entire weekend at his grandparents' and Tom and I had the weekend to ourselves, the week was quite hectic. In between doctors appointments - I needed to get a check-up again after being so ill the week before last and Soeren needed to get his quarterly check-up to see if the tubes in his ears are still OK - we had our usual weekly routine of music school, library and sports all on the plan.

Furthermore, as I will be traveling on a business trip next week I needed to finish up a few things at work. On top of all that, this was a very important week for Tom too. He was due to give a lecture at the University in Darmstadt, which counted towards his thesis and the Who's Who of many top Universities from around the World were to be attending. So, we practiced his lecture in the evenings or corrected and translated some papers and ... learned how to tie a tie!



The lecture was Thursday (yesterday). On Wednesday we went through the lecture one last time and then, as Tom was to leave really early in the morning he put out his suit and other stuff to wear. He asked me which tie he should wear and I suggested "the yellow one I bought for you!" Note: I have bought all of Tom's ties! But as luck would have it the tie had come undone.

See, Tom cannot tie his ties, he gets his dad to do it for him and then he simply loosens it and slips it off keeping the knot for easy wear the next time. Well I am not very good with ties either so we Googled through the web and believe it or not we found a fantastic site that explained, with pictures, how to tie a tie in many different styles. We've bookmarked this page! Now both of us can tie the "English tie knot" close to perfection. Praise for thee, Google!

The lecture went very well and a few important people are now aware of what Tom is doing. This is great. See, when Tom is finished with his PhD. we plan to make a big move - hopefully out of Germany and hopefully to Dubai!!

To celebrate I decided to make a dessert for dinner. I also decided to kill the proverbial two birds and create a little something for the current session of Hay Hay it's Donna Day being hosted by the awesome Peabody.

Cheesecake - hmmmmn! Cheesecake - yum! Cheesecake - biiiig!

I kind of shy away from making too many big cheesecakes. Simply because they taste too good and we can never resist pigging out on them. I really mean it - we pig out on cheesecake. So, I decided to do the same thing I did here and use my ramekins to make smaller dessert sized portions.



I had a box of cantuccini, plum preserve and cream cheese. The beginning of an interesting cheese cakelette!

I was curious about one thing though. What does Google define as cheesecake. Here are the results. I especially like the last definition LOL!

More on Cheesecake:
Wikipedia



Monthly Mingle Info!

The round-up for the Savory Cakes - Monthly Mingle will be next week. So stay tuned for that!



Music while cooking

Mika - Grace Kelly - New on my iPod. This is a fantastic hit.

Listen to it

Buy it at the WFLH Mall








Ingredients:

110g Cantuccini
50g butter - melted
6 tablespoon plum preserve. I used one with actual plum bits in them.
200g cream cheese
50g sour cream
40g sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 vanilla bean

Kitchenware you will need: baking or mousse rings

Shop at the WFLH Mall for these products:







Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

In a kitchen mixer finely chop the cantuccini. Place the cantuccini crumbs in a bowl and drizzle the melted butter over them. Mix well.

Place four metal rings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. If you do not have such metal rings you can line ramekin bowls with baking paper or grease them.

Now divide the cantuccini crumbs onto the bottom of the rings/bowls and press down firmly with your fingers. Put into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Divide the plum preserve on top of the canntuccini crust, even out and once again place in the refrigerator for approx. 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl whisk the cream cheese, sour cream , sugar, eggs and flour into a smooth mixture. Cut open the vanilla bean and with the back of the knife scrape out the inside. Add this to the cream cheese mixture and stir in well.

Pour the mixture evenly into the metal rings and bake for 40 minutes.

Take out and allow to cool and then release each cake from the ring.



Verdict:

Perfect portions for a little dessert. The plum preserve was refreshing and full of aroma. It complemented the almondy cantuccini flavor extremely well. The cheesy topping was moist and soft, which made this a huge success. It was so easy to prepare and took so little time that I am pretty darned sure I'll be making several variations of this in the future.



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21 comments:

  1. Hi Meeta! I looooove plum preserves, and I loooooove miniature anything - so your little cheese cakelettes certainly caught my eye. I bet these were absolutely luscious...

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  2. That looks delicious Meeta! I definitely have a problem with pigging out on cheesecake too, even if I try to freeze part of it, it doesn't work, I eat it frozen, straight out of the freezer.

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  3. I love the look and sound of this cheesecake... what a tasty dessert!

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  4. Good luck with the thesis, Tom! This is such a busy and exciting time in your life! The dessert looks like the perfect celebration :)

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  5. What a perfect celebration cheesecake!! Drool worthy.
    Googled tieing a tie! I love that...there just isn't anything you can't do now!

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  6. Sounds delectable. You know how much i love minis. This definitely looks incredibly delicious. And definitely makes a great celebratory dessert.

    Last year, i mass produced mini cheesecakes for my niece's christening which went down very well.

    I've always wanted to join HHDD but i haven't one Donna Hay's cookbook!!! :(

    Mae

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  7. Thanks everyone for leaving your comments.
    Gilly They really were and I hope you get around to making them too.

    Bri Frozen? Really? Anyway, I think if we get together we'd have a blast cooking and a bigger blast eating!!!

    Kristen Thanks.

    Nupur Yup, it really is busy. Thanks so much for your wishes. I'll pass it along.

    Tanna Yeah - I think you can Google just about anything. Actually Tom gave me a funny look too when I suggested that. Ha!

    Mae, I discovered minis myself and find them so practical. Should I let you in on a secret? I do not own a Danna book either. I think it is not really required. The host gives a basic recipe and you have to simply adapt it.

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  8. why can't i see the whole post and recipe? and the comments lead to your orchid's valentine. meeta, this is an outrageously good looking cake.

    you always outdo yourself.

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  9. These look so delicious Meeta, and the sound of plum cheese is making me drool. your spring garden looks lovely.

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  10. Cheesecake looks delicious! I'd like to celebrate with it, too. :-)

    congrats on learning how to tie a tie!

    Paz

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  11. This looks way too pretty to eat! Well, on second thought...looks really romantic and I ,ove the biscuit base.

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  12. COngrats to Tom on the lecture going well! I know how to tie a tie all to well, we had to wear them at school from the age of 5-16!! Yikes!
    The cheesecake looks delicious!

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  13. Great sounding recipe, and smart idea with the smaller portions. I could eat a whole cheesecake by myself!

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  14. What yummy sounding mini cakes! The gingersnap base sounds extra yummy too :) Congaratulations to Tom! And to both of you as well for your new found tie-tying prowess! :)

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  15. Hi Meeta! I found that bit about the tie amusing. My husband doesn't like to undo his tie knot either :) :) Loved your cakelette, its kinda cute name.

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  16. Cakelettes? How couldn't love a dessert with a name like that? It looks delicious! Wishing Tom the best of luck with his thesis.

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  17. Bee Thanks for the tip ;-)

    Mandira you are a sweetheart. Thanks!

    Paz C'mon over we can party with these together. Yes, learning the tie was rather cool!

    HeleneRomantic? Well if you say so. Actually on second reading it is kinda cute. BTW Thank You ;-)

    Freya Then I know who to get in touch with the next time we need help ;-))

    Sara I am going to go on a mini trip and see how I can minimize other desserts.

    Joey Thank you!

    Jyothsna Glad you liked the story and the cakelettes were really great.

    Susan Thank you, I'll pass it on to Tom.

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  18. Congrats to Tom on the lecture. NIce idea to make mini cheesecakes. Thanks for joining HHDD Meeta.

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  19. Meeta,

    Beautiful cake, I am experincing a sugar rush. I tried my hand at cheesecake before but for some reason I still retain egg smell, which I cannot stand.Is their any special trick to avoid this, would love to know.
    Good luck on your move and your husband's thesis

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  20. these look awesome - I think I will be making them very soon.

    Looking forward to my first daring bakers challenge too!

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Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta