Can you spell cacophony?

Here’s a nice recipe, minimally converted from a Tim Tam Cheesecake recipe to use Violet Crumble instead and to add some thermomix directions. It was a big hit with children and wife. Mum too, but she made me put more Violet Crumble in it the second time I made it (quantity below is this higher amount).

I love the way the honecomb “melts” if you leave this in the fridge for a while. I’ve never really been a big cheesecake fan myself (this was made primarily for my darling Linda, and then for Mum when she requested a re-do), but I could manage to eat lots of this I think.

Please excuse the copy-and-paste image. I’ll update the post with a photo taken of the real thing once I get the camera emptied onto the computer.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams plain chocolate biscuits
• 80 grams butter melted
• 375 grams cream cheese cubed and softened
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 cup thickened cream
• 3 teaspoons powdered gelatin dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water
• 200 grams white chocolate melted and cooled
• 150 grams Violet Crumble chocolate (3 regular bars)

Method:

1. Place biscuits in a blender and process into fine crumbs (10 seconds in thermomix on speed 7)
2. Add the butter and process to combine (5 seconds in thermomix on speed 5). Press the mixture into spring-form baking pan and refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth.
4. Beat in cream.
5. Melt chocolate (in microwave, give 1 minute at 50% power, repeat until soft). Beat into mixture.
6. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water and beat into mixture.
7. Chop the Violet Crumble and stir into the cream cheese mixture then pour over the biscuit base.
8. Cover and refrigerate until set.

Here’s a recipe I’ve converted for use in our Thermomix. I hope to make these sorts of posts ongoing, but we’ll see how I go

Original Source: Super Food Ideas May 2009

Ingredients:

• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 10 whole cloves
• 10 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 teaspoons black loose-leaf tea
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1250mL water
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1 cup skim milk powder
• ground nutmeg to serve

Method:

1. Place peppercorns, cloves and cardamom pods into thermomix bowl. Grind for a few seconds on speed 10.
2. Add tea, vanilla, cinnamon and water. Cook at 100C for 10 minutes.
3. Strain mixture into a separate container. Rinse TM bowl then put tea back in. Add milk powder and sugar.
4. Cook for 3 minutes at 70C on speed 4 or until frothy.
5. Pour into mugs or Irish coffee glasses. Sprinkle with nutmeg, serve.

Number 2 son especially liked this. He fancies himself as a bit of a tea drinker. It was a bit too sweet for me, but as I understand it, Masala Chai is supposed to be sickly sweet. But you could easily halve the sugar without any problems.

And just a note: I highly recommend the Super Food Ideas magazine. It’s quite inexpensive and there’s always good looking recipes in it.