Chocolate Lemongrass Cheesecake

I would like to start by coming upfront to say that I was not happy with this cheesecake. When I saw the recipe, the thought of mixing chocolate with lemongrass sounded really weird (and proven to be so, to me at least) . I could not accept the idea but a search on Google proved to me that there is such a thing as Chocolate and Lemongrass Mousse, Lemongrass Infused Chocolate Truffles and Lemongrass Dark Chocolate. Even with the existence of such recipes/products, I was still unconvinced but I was prepared to take a risk. This coming from someone who doesn't even like chocolate with mint. At stake was 625g of cream cheese and 12 stalks of lemongrass. What was I thinking?

The cheesecakes are baked in 250ml bottles and I thank my hoarding habit of stashing away empty bottles. In my cupboard I found 6 empty Lee Kum Kee sauce bottles (there were at least another 4 or 5 in there) that had been thoroughly cleaned with labels removed. I washed them again with detergent and put them away to dry. I admit that I was attracted to the photos in the cookbook. 

The water supply came back at about 9:30am and the first order of the day was to clean the house and get the laundry done. Before that, I cleaned and trimmed the lemongrass and took out the cream cheese for it to come to room temperature. It wasn't until 1pm that I could start making the cheesecake. The first step was to boil 4 coarsely chopped lemongrass in 200ml of milk. Then the other 8 stalks (12 in the recipe) are to be pounded and squeezed to obtain 2 teaspoons of lemongrass extract. I was too pooped out from vacuuming and mopping the floor to do that. That's when I dragged my Alpha Juicer out from hibernation. This juicer is really awesome (I haven't used it for at least 100 years) because you could literally squeeze blood out of stone with it. I managed to get about 3 teaspoons of extract from the 8 stalks of lemongrass.

I had lost steam in the midst of my household chores and was in two minds whether to head into unchartered territory. But the cream cheese was already out and I couldn't give up halfway. After preparing the batter, one portion is mixed with the lemongrass infused milk and lemongrass extract. At that point, the smell was quite pleasant. There was only a subtle hint of lemongrass which mingled with the vanilla extract. Not bad, I thought. The other portion of the batter is mixed with cocoa paste. After that, the batters are spooned into the bottles alternately. I found that quite messy and poured the batters into two measuring cups and it was much easier to pour the batter into the bottles. But still, I made a mess. 

One look and you know you are not in Ann Low's kitchen.

The cheesecakes are baked in a water bath and I had an accident. The water bath leaked before I could even place it into the oven. Hah...hah....what a day! Anyway, I corrected the situation and started cleaning up while the cheesecakes were baking.

Behind the scenes. For one or two pretty photos is a tornado of a mess in the kitchen.

The recipe said to bake for 1 hour and as we all know from experience, we have to monitor the oven. After 40 minutes, my cheesecakes were already overbaked. The top was hard and some were bulging. They smelt of chocolate. OK, everything seems fine. I left them to cool and chilled them overnight in the fridge.

The next morning I was quite eager to have a taste. I took one bottle out to stand at room temperature. Before that, I opened the cap and took a whiff. The lemongrass smell was very strong. Oh dear. After 20 minutes, I took a spoonful. If you want to know my reaction, it was so well captured by this cheesecake :

This cheesecake echoed my sentiments exactly. Urrghhhh......boh ho chiak...

The smell of milk and lemongrass was overpowering and the texture of the cheesecake was hard (due to overbaking). I was very disappointed. I am not saying that the recipe doesn't work but rather, this flavor combination is just not for me. Or maybe if I reduced the ratio of lemongrass, it might be more suited to my own tastes. Whatever it is, this experience has given me ideas on making other flavor combinations. I have also learnt how to bake in glass containers and in future I will be careful not to overbake the cakes. 

This recipe is a matter of taste. For instance, some people find lavender very pleasing in bakes but I don't like it. Same thing with mint chocolate. I can't accept the taste. But I love chocolate and orange (something which I didn't like previously). So it is up to you to decide if this flavor combination works for you.

Chocolate Lemongrass Cheesecake
Recipe source : Allan Bakes Really Good Cheesecakes (page 58)
A word to the wise : Proceed with caution

Ingredients :
Digestive Biscuit Base :
- 180g Digestive biscuits, finely crushed
- 125g melted butter

Filling :
- 200ml milk (I would just use 100ml milk without lemongrass)
- 16 stalks lemongrass, 4 coarsely chopped, 12 pounded and squeezed to obtain 2 tsp lemongrass extract (I recommend only 1 teaspoon of extract, ergo less lemongrass)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp chocolate emulco (I omitted because I don't have this)
- 3 tbsp warm water
- 675g cream cheese at room temperature
- 125ml sour cream 
- 200g light brown sugar (I reduced to 150g)
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornflour

Method :
1. Prepare 6 250ml wide mouth jars. Have ready a deep roasting pan large enough to hold jars.
2. To prepare base, combine crushed digestive biscuits with melted butter. Press 2-3 tbsp mixture int base of each jar, then freeze until ready to use.
3. Preheat oven to 160C (I used 140C)
4. In a heavy based saucepan, heat milk and chopped lemongrass over medium heat, stirring until milk starts to bubble. Remove from heat and strain milk. Measure about 100ml milk and leave to cool. (I recommend to skip this)
5. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, chocolate emulco and warm water into a paste. Set aside.
6. Using an electric mixture with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, orange juice and vanilla extract at medium speed  until well mixed.
Reduce mixer speed and add eggs and egg yolks, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Add cornflour and mix well.
7. Divide mixture into 2 portions. Add lemongrass milk (if using, if not, add 100ml milk) and lemongrass extract to one portion and mix well. Add cocoa mixture to the other portion  and mix well.
Place tablespoonfuls of each filling alternately into prepared jar until filling is used up.
8. Place jars in roasting pan and fill roasting pan with hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of jars.
Bake for 1 hour. (Check at 25-30 minutes to see if cake has set, if not continue and keep checking)
9. Turn oven off and leave cakes to cool in oven with oven door ajar. When cool, remove jars from water bath and refrigerate overnight.
10. Garnish as desired and serve chilled. (Can garnish with grated chocolate)

This post is linked to Cook-Your-Books #10 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.