Monday, March 22, 2010

Belated Post - Birthdays & Dinning Out

I know, I know....I have been totally ignoring my blog for the past weeks...which has never happened before. I am really up to my neck right now with the things that I need to attend to and a little breathing space is all I get. :( FACT 1: Relocation is A LOT of work. FACT 2: Moving into and renovating a new house is no doubt also ALOT of work. FACT 3: So when you combine these 2 things together plus taking care of the kids and running your usual routine...it's ...it's...hair-pulling, blood pressure rising and sleepless situations. :( Not good I know...but I figured just a couple more months and all these will smooth out and I can get my usual, not so "crazy" routine back. :) I actually left my 2 girls in Spore with my SIL for the past week while my husband and I went back to California to settle some urgent matters. We were real glad we managed to get that 101 things done as planned and came back just before the school starts. *sigh* Much thanks to my SIL for taking good care of my girls...can't imagine anything would be done as efficient if my little ones are there! :P

Enough grumbling...bet you all can't make much sense out of most of the things I'm talking above, hahaha...*sorry*Let's get to our usual topic...food! :) To be frank, this post is really long overdue...8 days to be exact. Enough jabbering! Here it is: Just before we left for California, the whole family had a dinner gathering to celebrate my FIL and my eldest niece's birthday. Their birthdays are just a few days apart, so figured it's best to do it together. We went to Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant at One Fullerton that Saturday. We were nicely seated at the outdoor deck and the weather was nice and cooling. Although the Marina Bay Sands has yet completed their hotel, the view was still pleasant. The dinner was nice, some dishes are pretty outstanding while the rest are just pretty normal. Will show you all a few shots of the dishes we ordered.
Looks pretty normal but this Slivered fish fried rice was a big hit, my girls each ate 2 bowls each! These "drunken" prawns tasted really fresh and sweet, and the soup it's swimming in was delicious! Supposedly the highlight of the night, chili crab. However I find the crabs were not that fresh and the chili sauce wasn't that good either.
We cleaned off dinner and headed back home for desert...which is the birthday cake I managed to make with the small pockets of time I had. Not much but it still taste pretty good. ;) It's just a No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake. ;) It's funny when I saw Pei-Lin post it the week before I was pissed with myself...why am I so slow, hahaha! (nothing against you Pei-lin!) ;D So here it is ...finally!I did not have any extra time to put up nice decorations for the cake. So I just melted some semisweet and piped it over. The overall taste of this cake was pretty good. If you are a Oreo lover, this is an absolute treat for you. :) Since I knew my niece likes Oreo, making this was clear choice. :) Good thing my FIL is not very particular on his choice of birthday cake...*phew*! I got this lovely and easy recipe from Kraft Philly's Kitchen.

Ingredients for an 8" OREO Cheesecake
135g crushed OREO cookies (no cream)
65g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, room temperature
160g caster sugar plus the cream removed from the cookies used for the cake base
2.5 tsp of gelatin powder, melted in 4 tbsp of boiling water
2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
200ml dairy whipping cream, whipped
125g of OREO cookies, roughly chopped

Method:
  • Grease and line with parchment and plastic wrap an 8" spring form pan.
  • In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with the crushed OREO cookies and mix well. Then press the mixture on to the base of the 8" spring form cake pan. Place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
  • Beat the cream cheese and sugar till mixture is nice and smooth.
  • Add the gelatin mixture and lemon juice mix well. Then gently fold in the whipping cream, follow by the OREO cookie chunks.
  • Gently pour the cream cheese mixture into the cake pan and let chill for at least another hour before serve.
Do try out this cake when you have the time and craving for OREO and cheesecake. Leave it in the freezer and it will taste like OREO ice cream! ;) Enjoy!

Since I will be writing up my next post soon, I shall not make this any longer then it needs to be. Do stay tune and have a pleasant day all!


26 comments:

DG said...

Oreo is my boys' favourite too. Your oreo cheesecake looks delicious and I will put this on my "DO" list :).
Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi Bee,
Hope everything is going smooth with you after all. The slice of oreo cheesecake looks very tasty. Very admire your passion for making a birthday cake although there are still many things to do. Have a good day ahead! ... and take a deep breath man!!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Bee Bee, glad to see your new post. Ya, relocating is not fun, I hope you have settled down by now. I will try this cake in one day..

Quinn said...

Bee Bee, glad you're back. Hope everything and all the nightmare will end very soon for you! Have fun baking more!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks DG! Glad you like it, and yes, do try it out for your boys, I bet they will love it too. :)

Hi Grace! Yes, I guess there's always ups and downs. I too wish that all these will pass soon. :) Hmmmm.....ahhhhhh (there...I took that BIG breath! Hahahaha...)

Hi Sonia, thanks for the encouragement. Will make the best of what is going on around me...but it is still far from over...I predict it will be another 2 to 3 months. :P Hope you get to try this cake soon...it's great.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Quinn for dropping by and your concerns. :) Yeah...I do hope I can bake more in the coming weeks. ;P

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi HBS,
I'm glad to see your post again. Happy that you managed to settle whatever you need to, and come back here with a peace of mind. Hope to see more of your baking/cooking soon!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Jane. Going through so much is just hoping I can ultimately have a place, a home I can call my own again. Everyone needs one doesn't it. :) I too hope I can enjoy more baking in my new kitchen soon. ;)

ann low said...

Glad that you're back. The oreo cheesecakes looks yummy.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Anncoo, your encouragement means alot! ;)

ReeseKitchen said...

Hooray! You are back! Glad to know that almost all your things are done..:)
Another cheese cake...aiyo, too bad I can't try..:(
Btw, can I stay at your house for my next SG visit? hee hee...:)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Reese,
Thanks! Ai ya, not so soon larr, far from done I think. The shipment will arrive in a months time and will be busy unpacking again. *sigh* ;P

Of course you can stay at my place when you come visit the next time...no need to ask. :) Why can't try the cheesecake? Don't tell me you on diet again...:P

Big Boys Oven said...

Are you back in KL? if so email me your contact no. asap, I think I had misplace yours! Sidney

Big Boys Oven said...

oh! you left KL already :(

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi BigBoysOven,
You know I always see you online in Gmail chat! Remember I contacted you or one of your friend to buy the bamboo charcoal powder from you last year Sept? Anyways...will email you my email address again later. ;) Think I wont be back in KL until late April. Thanks for missing me, lol. ;D

Big Boys Oven said...

hmm... I wanted to invite you to go with me on a cooking mexican class on this saturday. hmmmm......

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi BigBoysOven / Sidney,
Wow thanks, I'm honored! Would really love to go but I won't be in KL this Saturday. How about I take a rain cheque on that...? ;)

Xiao Yen Recipes said...

I've never heard of oreo cheesecake. My kids will love it since they're such a fan of oreo cookies. Thanks for the recipe!

Good luck settling down and hope all will go well with your :)

Pei-Lin said...

Eh, your cake looks better than mine! I love how it looks when sliced!

Hope all is well with you and family! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,
Pei-Lin

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Welcome to my blog Xiao Ren. :) Glad that you like the Oreo Cheesecake. It's really quite easy to make, so do try it out. :)

Hi Pei-Lin,
You are really humble my friend...those squiggling on my cake looks like my 4 yrs old's writing!lol! Love how you place the oreos on the side on your cake. ;)

Unknown said...

Hi Honey Bee, i came across your blog yesterday, nice blog there! I'm a beginner in baking, would love to try on your oreo cheesecake. May I know what's the proper way of melting the semisweet please? I came across you all mentioning "chill in the fridge", err..should this mean to chill in upper part of the fridge please,the freezer? ;)

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Welcome Phoebe! Actually, it is just chilling the oreo cheesecake in the fridge section, not the freezer section. Although the latter might just yield an ice cream like texture, yum! Good luck and keep me posted of your baking! ;)

♥芬芬♥ said...

Hi love your oreo cheese cake and i try it is super yummy specially after frozen it as what you said..thanks for the recipes..i added your link on my blog:)

Unknown said...

i read this recipe from other's blog, and she wrote in her blog it's shared from ur page..anyway~~
it's very nice until my family and friends says it's nice and i made three times of this cake!!~
thanks for sharing this superb recipe!!~

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Glad that you like this recipe FeNfEn and Ryeon-Ryeon amu. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi...i make Oreo cheese cake without gelatin n I put the cake at the lower refrigerator..y the cake like ice cream bt nt like a cake? It melt although over night..