Day 15 - Berry Cheesecake Brownies & Carrot Cupcakes

23 July 2010

Week three has just gone by, and I'm still exhausted!! I still haven't had the chance to sit down and plan menus and ingredients properly. I have been dropping by Woolies after work everyday... often deciding what to bake on the way there. So for the people who keeps asking me "what's on the menu for tomorrow", I really don't know until I get home! 


But the exciting thing is I think I've already reached half way mark in the last three weeks! 


On Friday, I finally managed to deposit the $1000+ cash donations I've been carrying around with me EVERYDAY in fear of the intruder breaking into the house again... unfortunately, I feel my own home is no longer a safe haven :(

Pretty layers

Thursday night I made these Berry cheesecake Brownies and Healthy versions of Carrot Cupcakes. These two items I have made before so I was less stressed about it on the night although I was still up until the wee hours of the morning finishing off Sipen's cake order for Graeme...


These Cheesecake brownies were pretty popular when I made it for the office a couple of years back. It's also a frequently requested item amongst my friends. So these disappeared pretty fast on Friday and colleagues were asking for the recipe again... how much should I charge for my recipes?!! (recipe below coz I'm nice).


Meanwhile, I was really happy with the creaming process, I finally got the creamed butter + sugar to mix with the eggs properly!! *ecstatic* so I'm going to remake the almond pear cake with my new skills - it's really to follow the instructions about adding the eggs one at a time lol...

Healthy Carrot Cupcakes with cream cheese

These healthy carrot cupcakes are one of my favourite recipes as well that I've tweaked to my own liking. It's not as dense or sugary as a standard carrot cake - two bananas were hurt in the process, which means reduced fat and sugar quantities. 


It was obvious people have this bond with cheesecake and brownies, and when combined into one thing they can be irresistible. Also, we have loyal fans of the carrot cake, so Friday's menu was a success!! Thanks to all. 


On a less happier note, I was a bit upset about people taking cakes without paying. SERIOUSLY, whoever you are, stop stealing from the less fortunate and ME!!!!! *ROAR!*
If I was being covered for ingredient costs then I wouldn't be as furious but as I'm so sleep deprived and donating baking expenses to build this well, I'm PISSED OFF at the lack of integrity these colleagues have. That being said I can't be more thankful for all the support from the majority of the staff, and I've been pushing on with this because I have been receiving heaps of encouragement and experiencing "random acts of kindness" from most in support of this campaign. But it's still disappointing to know there's selfish and dishonest people in the office!!!!!!!!!!!! (I guess that's what happened with the chocolate boxes)... I don't want to be anal about this, so I do hope the honesty system would prolong. You don't have to eat the cakes just because they are sitting there, take one only if you'd like to help make a difference!


I had to get it out of my system, because it's not just one or two pieces we're talking about, my estimated returns for each day is often falling short by $10-$20. I rather give the left-overs to friends or the local birds (or eating it for breakfast and dinner myself lol...) I also understand there are people paying in advance on days when I do get extra donations and I'm okay with that. Also, if you need change I am trusting people to do it themselves from the donation box (I also have change if you need it). People should be doing the right thing, it really kills my enthusiasm when I find people taking advantage of my efforts.


Okay, end rant......

Double Chocolate Cake with Choc Ganache

Back to happier things, I finally made Sipen's cake order for Graeme on Friday as well. Sipen was one of the first person to order a whole cake from me when she read my email to everyone. As she can't have cake herself, she requested one to give to Graeme and his wife. Graeme obviously liked the first "extra chocolatey chocolate cake" I made on the first Friday of the campaign and wanted one of those. So I'm getting to make multiple orders of same type of cake now, hopefully they get better each time with the extra practice!


I wanted to go buy some cake boxes but there was a bit of a drama getting them on time. I tried my luck at a local bakery in the morning, unfortunately they only had 8inch boxes which were too small for this cake. Nevertheless, Graeme was happy with my cake caddie although a little bulky, and I heard Sipen say he had to reframe himself from cutting a slice to eat at work (you cannot present a half eaten cake to your wife!). Sipen donated $50 for the cake and $50 extra for ingredient sponsorship!!! which at the moment I'm putting it all towards the well. Thank you :)


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BERRY CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, melted

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 400g caster sugar
• 5 eggs
• 110g plain flour, sifted
• 400g cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120g fresh raspberries
• 
  

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm pan. (I used a 25x25 square pan)
2. Melt chocolate (double boiler or if lazy like me just microwave on short intervals, stirring in between). Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Cream the butter and 250g of the caster sugar until pale, then add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
4. Stir in the melted chocolate, then fold in the flour. Spread three-quarters of the mixture into the lined pan.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, remaining sugar and eggs and the vanilla extract until smooth, then spread over the chocolate base.
6. Dollop the remaining chocolate mixture over the cream cheese layer and use a fork to swirl the chocolate. 
7. Poke the raspberries/blueberries/whatever you fancy into the top and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
8. Set aside to cool, then cut into squares and serve.