The Middle Class Girl who loves Cheesecakes

Hi.. One of those days when in-spite of all the piled up work your mind still tends to wander to the childhood days again and again..

I was born in Delhi to an Engineer Dad (and a Government Employee) and a Homemaker Mom..and like most others Me n A(my elder sister) had a memorable and enjoyable childhood..My father was the only earning member in the family so obviously ours was a very  'middle-class' life with No huge expensive toys or branded clothes or family trips abroad..But what attracted us the most were the warm gestures and bonding we all shared..
Dining out at fancy restaurants was not even a luxury, it was an outrageous extravagance..I remember our monthly 'eating out' used to be mostly at Nirula's (Connaught Place) n this was the most fancy things we did when it came to food..And otherwise it was the regular 'Chhole Bhature, Chaat and Gol Gappe which Maa used to treat us to when we went shopping with her to the Shankar Market or Karol Bagh..
But there was this Annual ritual Baba(dad) used to always do on Christmas and that was get us a boxful of Chocolate Pastries and Lemon tarts from Nirula's or Wengers while coming back from office... I still remember the excitement on A's(sis) and my faces when Baba used to enter the house..
Well from that early age I had realised my obsession with sweet things..Well lets fast forward my life straight to college..On one of my friends birthday treats I visited this new place in town 'The Big Chill Cafe'...And that is where for the first time in my life of 18 years I tasted a 'Cheesecake'.. What can I say.. My taste-buds and my mind exploded with that magical taste and flavour.. With the kind of pocket money that we had during our college days to be able to afford a 'cheesecake slice' frequently was next to impossible..so the only option was to save cash or wait for someone to throw another birthday party...
Its been more than a decade since that day but my love for Cheesecakes just kept growing..Never imagined though that someday I might just making one myself.. But well as they say :
"Itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai
ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki koshish ki hai....
kehte hai agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho
toh poori kaynath tumhein usse milane ki koshish mein  lag jaati hai" ..

Well maybe this was meant for bigger things but in my case this refers to my love for Cheesecakes...

Well after going through many recipes I chose a 'No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake' as my first ever Cheesecake that I made myself.. And as you can see this was quite an emotional moment for me..hahahaha!! Here goes the recipe (not mine ofcourse), I borrowed it from another blogger :http://www.fullscoops.net/2014/08/eggless-no-bake-chocolate-chilli.html .. I excluded the Chilli part of it.. I ll fill in the recipe again for help:

NO BAKE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE (EGGLESS)

Note: This recipe needs at least 6hrs of setting time in the refrigerator or preferably overnight- I did overnight
 

Makes: One 8-9 inch Diameter Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the base

    Biscuits - 35-40  sunfeast/Gooday chocolate biscuits  (or any chocolate  biscuit)
    Butter - Regular Salted Butter will do -  80 gms

For the cheesecake layer

    Paneer (Cottage Cheese) - 200 gms
    Condensed milk - 1 tin (400 ml) I used milkmaid
    Fresh cream - 200 ml (I used Amul fresh cream)
    Chocolate chips - 300 gms (or chopped chocolate)
    Instant Coffee powder - 1/2 tsp (or more if you prefer)
    Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
    Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
    Gelatin - 2 tbsp
    Water - 1/2 cup
    Salt - 1/4 tsp

For Topping

Chocolate Chips/ Chocolate Vermicelli - 50gms

Procedure:


Preparation
1. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 inch springform pan.
2. If you don't have a springform pan, use your normal cake pan or a tart pan. Line the regular cake pan with a clingfilm or aluminium foil. Line the bottom and sides together without cutting the clingfilm so that you can easily lift the cheesecake out when it's set.
3. Add the coffee powder to the chocolate chips and melt it using a double boiler or in the microwave and set aside to cool. Please remember not to over heat the chocolate. Keep stirring in intervals and once 3/4th of the chocolate has melted you can remove from the heat and stir for the rest to melt.
4. Add the gelatin to half cup of water and mix. Set aside for 5 minutes to bloom. Microwave for 30 seconds or heat it in a saucepan for 30 seconds and let it cool. it will become a clear(translucent) solution. Let it cool.

For the Base
1. Take the largest jar of your blender and add crumbled biscuits in it and process to a fine powder and transfer to a bowl. 
2. Melt the butter and add it to the biscuit powder and mix well.
3. Transfer this biscuit mixture to the base of the pan and press well. Refrigerate it until we finish the next step.

For The Cheesecake
1. Grate or chop the paneer and add it to a blender. Add the condensed milk and fresh cream and blend till smooth.
2. Now add the vanilla extract, cinnamon powder and salt. Blend again.
3. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and blend again till it's smooth and creamy.
4. Transfer to a bowl. Add the cooled gelatin and mix well.
5. Bring the springform pan from the refrigerator and pour the chocolate mixture over the biscuit base layer.
6. Tap once to remove the air bubbles. Cover and refrigerate until set. (preferably overnight)
7. Remove the springform pan slowly and decorate with chocolate chips or chocolate vermicelli on top.
 Bon Appétit ..


Pik:

Chocolate Cheesecake

I would have preferred smoother edges..Well as they say There is always a next time!!


Note: You an use Cream Cheese instead of Paneer but in India, Cream Cheese is too darn expensive and trust me once the cheesecake is done you can hardly spot any difference (After all in some ways I still remain the 'middle-class' girl worrying about her pocket money)!!

Eat Well!! Ciao! Thanks for reading!