Monday 11 May 2015

Yogurt Jelly Strawberry Cheesecake


I'm a sucker for pretty pictures in cookbooks. I can stare at the photo for hours and then after a cursory glance at the recipe, I decide that it's too much work. But it was different this time. Auntie get's down to making Yogurt Jelly Strawberry Cheesecake!

This Strawberry Cheesecake looks gorgeous, don't you think so? But I was sorely disappointed when I took a bite. No fault of the recipe of course. This pretty cheesecake was spoiled due to two factors.


1. The jelly topping. It had a very strong chemical smell. Did not smell like strawberries to me. And the texture was very viscous. The directions said to mix the jelly crystals with 400ml of water but I reckon 500ml or more could be better. But I will not be buying this brand again.

2. The gelatin. Totally my fault. This is the first time I am working with gelatin and I reckon there must be a difference between gelatin powder and gelatin granules. The strength is different, I think. The recipe uses gelatin powder but I used gelatin granules. So two tablespoons of gelatin powder and 2 tablespoons or gelatin granules will give you different results. 


I did not like the springy sproingy texture of the cheesecake at all. It was like eating hard jelly. I prefer the creamy mouth feel of baked cheesecakes. I reckon, I should have used only one tablespoon of gelatin granules and maybe, just maybe the texture would have been better. But having said that, the gelatin did a very good job of holding the cheesecake filling together. I was quite amazed because the filling was initially on the watery side.


Lesson learnt. When making a cheesecake that requires a jelly topping, be sure to use a brand that has a good flavour. I bought this particular brand because the other one which I usually use was not available. 


What I ended up with was a cheesecake that not only had a weird chemical smell, but also had a really weird taste. I am guessing that part of the smell was contributed by the excessive gelatin. I did take a sniff before I combined it with the cheesecake filling. Never mind. Always learn from mistakes, right?


So before I said goodbye to this cake, I picked up all the strawberries and then tossed the cake into the bin. What a heartache. Here's the recipe and I am sure someone among you will make it brilliant!









Yogurt Jelly Strawberry Cheesecake
Recipe source : Alan Bakes Really Good Cheesecakes (page 90)

Ingredients :


Digestive Biscuit Base
- 180g Digestive Biscuits, finely crushed
- 125g unsalted butter, melted

Filling

- 2tbsp gelatine powder
- 1tbsp water
- 3 tbsp hot water
- 150ml orange juice
- 5 tbsp castor sugar
- 300b cream cheese, at room temperature
- 60g plain yogurt
- 2tsp vanilla extract
- 150g strawberry puree (I used good strawberry jam)

Topping

- 250ml water
- 90g jelly crystals
- 250ml cold water
Note : I used packaged strawberry jelly and followed the packet instructions.

Garnishing
- Whole strawberries as needed, halved
- Icing sugar, as needed

Method :

1. Grease a 23cm round springform pan
2. Prepare base. In a mixing bowl, combine digestive biscuits and melted butter. Mix well. Press mixture into the base of prepared springform pan, then freeze until ready to use.
3. Prepare filling. In a small bowl, mix gelatine powder with 1 tbsp water and set aside for 5 minutes. Add 3 tbsp hot water and stir until gelatine is completely dissolved. Set aside.
4. Place orange juice and sugar in a heavy based saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in gelatine mixture. Set aside to cool.
5. Using an electric mixture with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and yogurt at medium speed until smooth. Add orange-gelatine mixture and beat to combine. Add vanilla extract and strawberry puree. Mix well.
6. Pour filling over prepared base and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.
7. Prepare topping. In a heavy-based saucepan, bring 250ml water to the boil over medium heat. Add jelly crystals and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and add 250ml cold water. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
8. Spoon cooled topping onto the chilled cake and refrigerate overnight.
9. To unmould the cake, run a small knife around the side of the pan. Release clip and lift cake out of ring. Insert a palette knife under the base and lift cake onto a serving plate.
10. Garnish with strawberries and dust with icing sugar. Serve chilled.


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 Cheryl of Baking Taitai.



This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #23 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.


This post is also linked to Bake-Along event hosted by JoyceLena and Zoe.


I am submitting this post to the Best Recipes for Everyone May 2015 Event (There : My Favourite Desserts) organised by Fion of XuanHom's Mom and co-hosted by Aunty Young.

62 comments:

  1. Good morning PH,
    Totally agree with you ,me too, did not like the springy texture cheesecake. It was like eating hard jelly. I prefer the creamy mouth feel of baked cheesecakes too.
    Regarding the jelly topping, may be next time you can try to blend some fresh strawberry and mix with melted gelatine,then you might get more natural flavor.

    Indeed your cheesecake looks very nice !
    If you don't mind, please link this post to BREE, let us learnt from mistake together,thank you .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Aunty Young! Thank you for inviting me to link. I wanted to initially but very paiseh because this cheesecake was a failure. I am sure you and many of our baking kakis can do an excellent job with this cheesecake!

      Delete
  2. I see jelly, I see strawberry, I see cheesecake.. Wah I must read this before I start my work.. The first thing I think about is the jelly heart/square shaped cheesecake.. It went viral in FB and blogspots few years ago.. Make the cheesecake first, then pour jelly on top, cut into squares.. Very cute and nice, but like you said, too much work.. Your jelly strawberry cheesecake looks so so good, so refreshing with the jelly added, nice leh !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Louiz! Too bad this cheesecake did not turn out as expected. But seriously, I still prefer baked cheesecake.

      Delete
  3. I have sweet tooths, i will loves it, hehe...

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  4. Strawberry seasons again.

    cheese cake tarak ngum me but both boys love it/ Yours very lovely leh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, but look only lovely, taste tarak sedap.

      Delete
  5. Now that looks so good! Honestly, I have this suspicion that you're in this home-based cake baking business...and making tons of money like the guy here. Saw him driving a Mercedes Benz SUV the other day - so kaya-raya...from his cake business!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no, no, no! I am not into this professionally hah..hah... Just a hobby, if it becomes a job, it will stress me out.

      Delete
  6. Your cheesecake looks beautiful like a page from the cookbooks! I was counting the cost of your strawberries on top as this fruit is like eating gold in Malaysia. Any cheesecake is my favourite.



    Get my *hints*??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TM, thank you for your compliments! By the way, you are dropping hints like bombs hah..hah..hah....

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  7. Hi Phong Hong, your yogurt jelly strawberry cheesecake looks pretty but what a pity it has to be thrown into the bin, I have my fair share of failures too, there are days when I failed in my experiment and had to throw the whole cake away too as the taste was awful. It's alright, we all learn from our mistakes and we improve and do better the next time! Thanks for linking to LTU.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cheryl! Your words are so comforting to me, thank you! I hope that my next no-bake cheesecake turns out better than this one :)

      Delete
  8. It may not taste good but it sure looks good! If there wasn't any gelatine in your cheese cake, you could just scrape the jelly off. It must have been very painful to have to throw the whole cake away :'(

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    Replies
    1. Kris, cream cheese is so expensive but since it was inedible, I had to throw the cake away with a heavy heart. Sigh.... At least I could save the strawberries.

      Delete
  9. Hi Phong Hong,
    Thanks for sharing your experience in making this
    Yogurt Jelly Strawberry Cheesecake. Yeah it looked so beautiful. Of course it's quite heartache to throw the cake away though ... like you've said ... lesson learnt and we all are learning too ^-^!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karen! Yes, such a pity. But will do better next time!

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  10. Replies
    1. hee..hee...selalu meleleh air liur :D

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  11. Look so good, pity about the outcome.

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  12. Tsk... this one, if people see photos only without reading, then will go: "Wah, this cake looks so nice! I bet it is super nice too! Yum yum!!" ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! So far so good, they read the post hah..hah...

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  13. Hi Phong Hong, if you didn't share your story, the cheesecake looks perfectly nice with the fresh strawberries. The topping colour is quite 'scary' but the cheese and biscuit show be okay. Never mind, no venture no gain and thanks for sharing your encounter so that whoever is making this will take note of the negative possibilities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kimmy, the jelly topping was bad. Hard and the worst part is the smell. I will attempt another one if I have the time.

      Delete
  14. Hi Phong Hong, your cheesecake looks so pretty and it is really sad that all goes to waste. I think the problem with the cheesecake is the lack of whipping cream and too much gelatine. Usually no-bake cheesecakes will have whipping cream folded in to help set the cheesecake and to give it a creamy texture. The huge amount of gelatine (2 tablespoons!!) is also a problem because it's simply too much, maybe that's why it's so jelly-like instead of cream like. Somehow I wonder if Alan can really bake good cheesecakes...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jasline! I should have adjusted the amount of gelatine because Alan used powder while mine was granules. I should really make another one to redeem myself!

      Delete
  15. Phong Hong, I want to say that your strawberry cheesecake looks perfectly perfect! Its a pity it doesn't taste good.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy! Yes, such a pity. Expensive ingredients too :(

      Delete
  16. frankly, by just looking at the photo, it looks so professional and so perfectly done, like those on cookbook!! if you have not be frank to tell us how you find it a failure, we would have consider this another masterpiece from you, hahaha!! I mean, look at the cake, the jelly and the strawberries on top, it is really looking sexy!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is a beautiful cake, eh? But tasted horrible!

      Delete
  17. okay, you know me lah, tahu makan only.. so all those things you mention, I tarak paham also leh, I always know this PH bakes so well and she never failed to wow me with beautiful cakes!! maybe just not to your own taste that you find this a failure lah.. give it to other people, probably they would think this is the best cake in the world!! especially those who love drinking strawberry soda like Meereendah and Funtah!! oh, strawberry addicts too~~ :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really, the taste was off. The smell was also off. Haiz....

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  18. urgh, I understand how it feels throwing your cake into the bin.. well maybe strawberry didn't work out, next time you can try other fruits, I think orange and mango should be safe huh?? strawberry and cherries and almonds always come with that chemical taste, yucks!! hope you are not demotivated but instead more motivated to bake another one, revenge huh?? hehe~~ :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yalor, and also where possible to use natural flavours. The jelly had a very chemical smell and taste. Blearks!!

      Delete
  19. Oh NO!!.. What a beautiful cake and the gelatin spoils it all? So sayang... the strawberries.. the texture.. all look so good!! I was going to slurp but when I read the last bit, I was like.. oh not nice? Anyway, hope good of you to post it up so that other food bloggers will be alerted about that... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sobs! Sobs! Must try again to make it better!

      Delete
  20. Phong Hong, Your cake looks beautiful. Why not make some strawberry jam and cook with some corn starch. then spread it on top of the cake :D

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  21. Yes I agree that it looks gorgeous. Too bad the jelly does not taste nice. Do again next time with a better jelly brand. Keep at it until you succeed.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I understand the disappointment well. I made a no-bake cheesecake last night with only whipped cream and cream cheese for hubby's birthday. It was so soft and the texture was actually quite yucky. Big upset.

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    Replies
    1. My commiserations. You'll need some gelatin to hold it together. But frankly, I prefer baked cheesecake.

      Delete
  23. smells like early summer:) Lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi Phong Hong,
    Your cheesecake looks very, very pretty. Too bad that you had to discard it! Reminds me of one mint cheesecake I made years ago, tasted like medicine, and that goes into the bin for me too!
    There's one local brand that I keep away from, their essence are so yucky that I do not trust their other products.
    Thanks for baking along with us!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! I haven't been having much luck with baking lately :( But I will bounce back!

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  25. so sorry to hear about the cheesecake...the cake is really very pretty..i can understand the heartache..luckily can still eat the strawberries...hehehe...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lena! Yeah lah, at least the strawberries could be saved.

      Delete
  26. Its ok ... it still looks verygood. I am sure my daughter will ask me to buy her a slice of strawberry cake when she saw this!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I remember she like strawberry shortcake :)

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  27. Wow wow, this is like so professionally made!! Good job!

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  28. So sometimes looks do decieve huh! If you had sang lyricals over this cake, no one would be any the wiser and imagined what a delicious cake you had baked! Good sport on your part:D
    Oh, I never did like no bake cheesecakes so no matter how enticing it is, I still would not be making this.

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    Replies
    1. Jeannie, I also don't like no bake cheesecake :( The baked ones taste a lot better.

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  29. What a pretty looking cake! I love your honesty when writing up this post too. I'm never a big fan of no-bake cheesecake either, something about the texture that doesn't appeal to me. And I agree with you, the baked ones taste so so much better! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sharon! My next cheesecake will be a baked one for sure :)

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  30. Hi Phong Hong,

    When I enter to read your post, my first impression tells me that wow... PH made a very pretty cake... then as I read your post, I saw that you don't like this cake, I was like "huh"...

    I see what you meant when you spooned a part of it... It is the jelly kind of cake. Nevermind lah... Now we know that this is not your kind of cheesecake.

    Zoe

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    Replies
    1. Hi Zoe! Yup, not a fan of no bake cheesecakes that use gelatine. Am baking some this weekend. How to diet? hee..hee...

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  31. This cheesecake is too pretty to eat...haha

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    Replies
    1. Actually, it was not nice to eat sobs!

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