Dual Layer Cheesecake

Happy New Year All! Sorry for not posting up anything interesting lately. :-P I have been busy sorting out things and trying to settle down in the new environment. Not to mention getting my girls ready for their new schools. However we are happy that we have finally come to this decision even though coming to this point was a long and tedious process. Friends that are close to us would understand what I meant. We are really grateful for all the help that our friends and family that has been so helpful to us along the way which makes things much easier to handle. I am just hoping that everything will eventually fall in the right place and we will never look back with regrets.

Today, I would like to post up yet another one of those bakes that I did not get to put up last month; Dual Layer Cheesecake. Part of the reason why I decided to bake cheesecake at that time was because I had a whole chunk of cream cheese in the fridge and I need to finish it up before we move. I actually did this recipe base on whatever I have left in my fridge, remaining eggs, remaining butter, remaining sugar & enough flour, hahaha! Good thing it still taste good enough to me. ;)Ingredients

For the cookie crust below:
6 pieces graham crackers, crushed
80g butter, melted

For the Cheese later:
420g cream cheese, room temperature
125ml fresh milk
65g cake flour
40g cornflour
4 eggs yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
75ml heavy cream
50g Valrhona Chocolate (66% cocoa), chopped
40g unsweetened coca powder

150g caster sugar
4 egg whites

Method:

• Melt the butter and mix together to the crushed graham crackers. Press the mixture into the 9" cake pan base which has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Set aside till needed.
• In a saucepan, heat up the cream cheese and milk till the cheese melted. Stir in both flours using whisk till no lumps. Stir in the egg yolks one at a time till well combined. Last stir in the vanilla extract and mix well.
• Using the mixer, beat the egg whites and caster sugar at high speed till stiff peaks. Gently fold in the whites into the yolk mixture till everything is combined.
  
• Using double boiler method, heat up the heavy cream and chopped chocolate together till all the chocolate is melted. Sift in the cocoa powder till well combined and no lumps.
• Preheat oven to 160°C. Pour some water to the base of the baking tray to create a water-bath. Wrap the base of the cake pan with aluminum foil to protect the water from sipping in.
• Divide the vanilla cheese mixture into 2 portions. Then stir in the chocolate mixture into the one half of the vanilla cheese portion.
  
• Pour the chocolate cheese mixture onto graham cracker base. Then pour the other half of the vanilla cheese mixture over the chocolate cheese mixture. Be care not to pour too fast so that the vanilla portion won't sink all the way to the base.
• Bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes till just baked. Over baked cheesecake will taste dry. A way to test is using a toothpick which it will come out with some moist crumbs, not wet or clean.
• Let the cake cool on the rack completely before removing the from the pan. Preferably chill the cheesecake before serving it.
  

Again I apologies for the poor quality of my photos. There seems to be something wrong with my 4 year+ camera after a drop recently. :-P Somehow the flash would not work when needed. :-P I had to take like 8 to 10 shots for one angle to get a decent one. ;-P Somehow the cake just looks dull...*sigh*

Good thing the cheesecake still taste smooth and moist. :) The vanilla and chocolate cheese layers compliment each others' taste well. Perhaps next time I would add some real vanilla bean seeds into the vanilla layer to accentuate the taste. :) You might have noticed that the vanilla cheese layer was not evenly layered over the chocolate one. It was my mistake for pouring the vanilla mixture too "hastily" over...so it's not as neat as I hope it would be. ;-P Call it abstract or rustic...it's sure looks homey to me! ;)
I was really glad that the cheesecake was a success and my friends and family still manage to taste my last bake before we moved. ;) When we finished the last slice of this cheesecake...I was asking myself when will I bake another one again? :( No worries, good things comes to those who are patient and waits. :) So lately I have been looking around for steam recipes, to "replace" my baking "urge". Hahaha, sound like some addict! Anyway, hopefully soon, I will be able to bake / steam up something good enough to post up. :) If you all have any good ideas, do drop me a note. :) Have a great day!