Monday 30 March 2015

Banana Cheesecake


Yesterday I went to Aeon. Gawd! It was like Chinese New Year all over again. People came in throngs, rushing in from both entrances. "All the GST gila babi are here", my partner announced.

It looks like people are coming out to stock up on their necessities before the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax on 1st April 2015. At the check out counter, I had a peek at what they bought. Majority had stacks of toilet rolls in their trolleys. LOL! But seriously how much can you stock and how much can you really save? I know for high value items, the savings is significant but toilet paper?

Anyway, let's talk cheesecake. I love banana cake but when I saw the recipe for Banana Cheesecake, I wasn't so sure. I don't know, somehow banana and cheese just didn't seem to gel for me.


But I had some ripe bananas and one half of the chocolate sponge cake that I used to make Peanut Butter Banana Cake. With that, I decided to go ahead in spite of my reservations. I also decided to make salted caramel because I thought that it might go well with the cheesecake. Yeah, I needed an excuse to make salted caramel.



The sponge cake, though baked in an 8" tin, shrank a little bit. As such, it could not cover the entire bottom of the removable cake pan. I could not leave it like that because the cheesecake filing would spill over the sides and to the bottom. To solve that problem, I used one packet of Oreo biscuits to make the base.



The sponge cake went over the Oreo base and the filling was poured over the sponge. It worked quite well because even though the filling poured down the sides of the sponge cake, at least it did not leak onto the bottom of the pan.



Quite honestly when I ate my first slice, I was not impressed with the taste. And I poured some salted caramel on the cake to make it taste better and it did. But surprisingly, the next day, the banana flavour came through and it tasted very good even without the salted caramel.



Though I enjoyed the Banana Cheesecake, quite honestly, I doubt if I would bake another one again. 












Banana Cheesecake
Recipe source : Loosely adapted from Alan Bakes Really Good Cheesecake (page 52)

Cheesecake base :
- 1 packet (137g) Oreo biscuits
- 60 melted butter
- One 8" chocolate sponge cake with 2 cm height

Cheesecake Filling :
- 250g cream cheese
- 135 ml Greek yogurt
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 3 ripe medium sized bananas, mashed (I used pisang berangan)
- 3 eggs

Method :

For the base :
1. Grease an 8" cake pan with removable base. Wrap the outside of the cake pan in 2 layers of aluminum foil.
2. Finely crush the oreo biscuits together with filling.
3. Add melted butter and mixed until well incorporated.
4. Pour the crushed biscuits into the pan and press evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Set aside the pan in the fridge.

For the filling :
1. Beat the cream cheese with caster sugar until well blended.
2. Add Greek yogurt and beat well.
3. Add vanilla essence and beat in eggs one at a time.
4. Add mashed bananas and mixe well.

To assemble :
1. Take the cake pan out of the fridge and place sponge cake in the middle of the pan.
2. Pour cheesecake filling into the pan and tap gently on work surface to remove air bubble.
3. Bake in a water bath at 140C for 45-50 minutes or until the outer ring of the cake is set but the center is still wobbly.
4. Remove cake from the oven and leave to cool completely.
5. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for a few hours or overnight.




Photobucket

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Faeez of BitterSweetSpicy.


This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #21 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

49 comments:

  1. I just watched Nigella Bites on Saturday, she baked a cheesecake, and today, I see your banana cheesecake, oh my, now I WANT to have cheesecakes for breakfast - the baked ones.. You know what I gonna say - I can finish your whole cake with just a spoon !!
    By the way, I went to Aeon on Saturday, not to sapu stuffs, but just for normal grocery shopping, habisttttt !!! I wanted a TOPS detergent, habisssttt !! Not even one bottle, only got small ones left.. Floor detergents - gone too! Sigh..

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    1. Louiz, a few days ago I had cheesecake for breakfast LOL! This is not a good thing though it felt so good :) Yeah, people were shopping like mad lah. I see them buying detergent, toilet cleaner and lots of toilet paper!

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  2. Banana cheesecake to me is rare.... as usually people will bake it with berries instead. I can see that you done good on your cheesecake. Must be delicious.

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    1. Mel, agree that it is rare perhaps because it does not really go so well together. But it was actually good when I had it the next day.

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  3. Very creative. I've banana cake in my post today too. What a coincidence!

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    1. Oh yes, the famous Payung banana cake! It looks very dense and full of banana goodness :)

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  4. it's GST (great time shopping) before GST (goods and services tax)!! haha.. I think it was rather crowded with ahoppers at malls over the weekend, errr, I actually was one of them!! but no lah, I didn't borong anything, just bought two pairs of pants for work.. and TWO pairs you rolled your eyes?? because buy one get one free mah, so it was two, haha!! Uncle never buy things at regular price now, all must be discounted before I consider.. xD

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    1. SK, that's a good deal, buy one free one! If I see that sort of offer, I would go for it too.

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  5. now PH tell me frankly, three posts in a roll of banana ice-cream, banana smoothies and banana cake!! have you been borong-ing lots of them and keeping them in your fridge like you did to your pumpkins?? hahahaha.. or you are actually experimenting the tricks you learned about keeping bananas fresh in the fridge/freezer?? LOL~~

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    1. hah..hah... actually this banana thing is to take part in the Little Thumbs Up event. This months theme is bananas, so I go bananas lor....

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  6. banana cheesecake!! I have not heard or seen one of these before, at least not in mainstream bakeries and cafe, no idea about artisan cafes though.. but I guess anything is possible right?? we are bound to experiment in the kitchen, and that's the fun of cookinh and baking.. banana cheesecake actually sounds okay to me, if they can have durian cheesecake, then I am sure bananas can make it too!! LOL~~

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    1. LOL...bet you are drooling at this banana cheese cake.

      Durian cheese cake tak main la...mau ori durian

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    2. SK : I haven't seen banana cheesecake either and that is probably because banana and cheese not so ngam. I mean, I did not really like it at first but second day it tasted good pulak.

      Meow : I have the recipe for durian cheesecake and waiting for durian season to try it LOL!

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  7. okay woh your banana cheesecake, somemore with salted caramel.. so it has to be set for a night in the fridge to taste even better?? haha, macam marinate meat pulak.. hey, I recall your frozen berries lah, not going to give it a second chance for some banana berries cheesecake?? who knows you'd love it!! hahaha.. :p

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wah, today somebody so free to make so many comments :) Yeah, the cake was chilled overnight but the next morning it did not taste that great. It was only the following day (day 2) that the flavours came out nice. Don't know, maybe it's just me.

      Banana and berries cheesecake? No lah, I am going to reserve the frozen berries for other things.

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  8. Ever consider opening a shop since you're good in cooking and baking...

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    Replies
    1. No lah, Sharon. It is too stressful.

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  9. Nia s*ng, no wonder it was bloody crowded when I went grocery shopping on the weekend! I totally forgot about the GST thing!

    Banana + Cheese... if my mom is reading, "No mom, I won't try to bake this!"

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    1. RG, it should be back to normal next weekend. I did not expect the crowd and was quite taken aback. And to see them stock up on toilet paper, alamak............

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  10. Somethings are best left separated, I guess, like banana and cheese? I'm not a big fan of cheesecakes, so I'm no authority on its taste but I think it needs a fruit that is tart (like blueberries or strawberries) to cut thru the richness of the cheese. But, presentation-wise, your banana cheesecake looks lovely!

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    1. Kris, I have to agree. It smelt funny when I made the filling in spite of the vanilla. The recipe called for banana essence but I don't like that. But surprisingly it did taste good after all on day 2.

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,

    Interesting that this banana cheesecake need another extra day to bring out the flavours of the banana.

    It looks really delightfully delicious and I'm very surprised that you won't bake it again.

    Zoe

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    1. Zoe, though it eventually tasted good, I am not really excited about it. Perhaps the addition of chocolate would have helped as the original recipe was with chocolate chips.

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  12. Your banana cheese cake looks great! Especially when you decorated it with cut banana and salted caramel.

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    1. Thanks, Nancy! I did enjoy it but not really crazy about this flavour.

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  13. for me with or without the carmel it looked very good and the taste must have been also delicious, at last why not cheese and bananas?:)

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    1. Ola, I guess if I have added some chocolate into the filling, it would have been better.

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  14. Hi Kak Phong Hong, your banana cheesecake look perfect + delicious + beautiful!!!! I want many many slice please,hehe!

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    1. Esther, you can have as many slices as you like!

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  15. Hi Phong Hong,
    I'm admiring every slice of your beautiful and neatly sliced banana cheesecake ^-^! Sorry not reading the recipe now as your lovely pics distracted me... Looks so tempting especially drizzled with salted caramel ... add-on freshly cut banana. ... "mo dak ding" Thumbs up !

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    1. Thanks, Karen! The salted caramel went well with the cheesecake. There goes my diet hah..hah...

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  16. Hi Phong Hong, Your banana cheesecake looks pretty and delicious! Please share a slice with me.

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    1. Ann, I am more than happy to share a slice with you!

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  17. I think I ate a lot of cakes lately... hmmm... maybe thanks to your blog... hahaha

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    1. Chris, you can afford the calories because you workout a lot!

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  18. This cake should taste nice when chilled. Good thinking on your part to use the oreo biscuits as base.

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    1. Mun, it was good but not my favourite cheesecake.

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  19. OMG!!! I want! I want!

    I love your delicious presentation and it made me drool & go Bananas instead! Muahahaha

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    1. hah..hah.. This cheesecake is not bad but not in my top 5 favourites.

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  20. Used to bake cheese cake since it's one of my favorite cake~!
    Yours sure look mouth watering!

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    Replies
    1. Hayley, cheesecake I think is the easiest cake to bake!

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  21. Hi Phong Hong, you are really great with cheesecakes. So many of them that I'm at a lost now. Best is I can just grab a piece from you whenever you make cheesecakes. My nephews would love to have you as their Auntie not me cos' I very very seldom make one for them, hehehe!

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    1. Hi Kimmy! Ah, but you have your specialties like traditional cakes, muffins, souffle cakes and delicious dishes! Actually cheesecake is very easy to bake compared to other cakes as it won't sink hah..hah... but not the Japanese type :(

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  22. Your photos of the cheesecake make it so tempting and yummy-looking

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    1. Thanks, Libby! I wish you could taste :)

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  23. Hi Phong Hong
    Wow, your cheesecake looks really divine!
    I guess this is one of those cakes with the flavours improve overnight.
    The caramel sounds good!
    Thanks for linking!

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    1. Joyce, never say never. I've just had my bananas replenished - two combs hah..hah... So maybe there will be another banana cheesecake after all hah..hah...

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  24. Okay, this is the most gorgeous thing I have seen all day! You have now been promoted to the pumpkin AND the cheesecake queen. I need to take note.

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