[mezzaluna]

CHEF TALK GAZETTE NEWS FLASH: Neophyte pastry cook succeeds in spite of herself!

Mezzaluna's tortured cheesecake was the hit of the friendly gathering at which it was served today. Threatened by a near-bruleed top, she whipped up a first rate chocolate ganache and applied it to the mahogany surface of the cake. At service, she crossed her fingers and cut into the cake with a well-heated knife. It served out beautifully, with a creamy, perfectly moist interior. Two guests didn't believe it was a homemade creation, swearing Mezzaluna had cheated and purchased it at Sam's Club. [HAH!- Ed.] They ate huge slices, licked their lips, and invited her to try out her next creation on them any time."

Seriously, thanks for all the delicious and helpful advice, everyone! For my next adventure, Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust! And thanks to Greg for a wonderful recipe to try.

 

[cape chef]

Bravo Mezzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!

 

[m brown]

Cheers!

 

[momoreg]

Woohoo!

 

[isa]

Bravo Mezzaluna!


Goes to show, you can never be wrong with chocolate.

 

[momoreg]

Just curious, Mezz., did you use your bitter choc. for the ganache?

 

[mezzaluna]

Actually, no. I was so worried it would end up being chucked in the trash that I used some Hershey's unsweetened I had in the cupboard. I added cream, sugar, vanilla and a bit of corn syrup (why, I'm not sure, but it had a nice fudgy texture on the cake). I only have unsweetened chocolate because usually I don't use sugar for myself; otherwise I'd have used bittersweet, I think. I'm going to experiment with a cheesecake made with Splenda, a brand of sucralose that, unlike Equal, holds up under heat. I have a number of recipes for Splenda-sweetened cheesecakes from the low carb boards.

 

[momoreg]

I used Splenda for the 1st time a couple of weeks ago. My boss is on the Atkins diet, so she's always giving me recipes. The Splenda worked really well, and tastes more like Equal than Sweet n low. To me, it tasted artificial, but she loved it.