Kusina Maria

Blueberry New York Cheese Cake

To finish off our Sunday Lunch we decided to make some Blueberry New York Cheesecake. We decided on this since one of our cousins is allergic to chocolates and I was also trying to avoid chocolates. According to the Joy of Baking New York Cheesecakes as distinct from Italian Cheesecakes because they use cream cheese as opposed to the traditional Italians that use ricotta.

While some people contend themselves with no-bake cheesecakes with the use of gelatin, my gastronomic adventures at Lachi’s has led me to believe that baked cheesecake is the richest, creamiest, best kind of cheesecake. I was initially intimidated when we learned this in school.

But I have already made it more than a dozen of times and I have not faltered once. Yes, I have botched a few crusts, but never the cheesecake itself.

So while I busied myself with cooking the beef stew and the puttanesca, my aunts and cousin focused on the New York Cheesecake. Like me, they had a slight mishap with the crust as they overbaked it. No biggie.

Fortunately, everything else went well. Almost. We had baked it too late, and it baked just as about we were about to eat lunch. We cooled it a bit and chilled it for about 1 hour before serving.

Cheesecake, as Chef Rhea had told us has to be prepared early and chilled for at least a day so it would develop a nice rich texture and a deep cheese flavor.

My cousins and aunts couldn’t wait for a day so we served it after it had chilled in the fridge for a while. We topped it with some blueberry preserves and decorated with some whipped cream which Doc Joanna insisted we buy and use. LOL!

My aunts loved the not too sweet taste, and not so compact and not so heavy texture on the cheesecake. My cousins loved it. Period.

But I bet everybody would have loved it more had we prepared it early and chilled it overnight.

And oh, a bonus…

Prawns Baked with Brie Cheese

Ninang Ivy prepared some super yummy prawns, topped with brie cheese and garlic and baked to perfection. YUMMY!

It was a stressful morning of cooking as it was the first time I cooked for lunch and also the first time for me to be cooking with so many other cooks: my aunts. But I had fun. And glad that my relatives, all foodies who won’t mince words when criticizing food, loved everything we prepared.

Up for next week’s dinner: Asparagus and Mushroom Carbonara, Oven-Roasted Chicken, and an unknown dessert. Any suggestions?