Peach and Cream Cheese Cake

It had been a sort of unproductive day. Resorting to my favourite way to unwind, I decided to do a bit of impromptu baking. My normally well-stocked fridges (Yep! I am having 3 big fridges!!) and pantry had not been restocked after the Chinese New Year.

I moosed around and tried to create a dessert /cake with the bits and pieces I have.

The finished result was  quite good. And it was such a simple cake to make.

PEACH AND CREAM CHEESE CAKE

Shortbread Base
250 gm self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup almond nibs (coarsely chopped almonds)
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
 125 gm butter - melted and cooled slightly before using
1 x 454 gm peach slices in light syrup - drained well
250 gm cream cheese
100 gm sour cream
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tablsp caster sugar

Method
1) Line a 9'" square baking tin with baking parchment, allowing the paper to extend above the tin. Preheat oven at 170*C.

2)In a big bowl, stir the vanilla essence into the butter and add in the self-raising flour ( which has been sieved with the baking powder and salt) 1/3 cup sugar, almond nibs and dessicated coconut. Mix well and spoon the mixture into the lined baking tin. Use the back of a big spoon to press the mixture onto the base of the tin and level it. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 - 20 mins till slightly golden. Remove from oven  to cool slightly before using.

3) Arrange the drained peach slices on top of the slightly cooled biscuit base.

4) To make the topping,  cream the cheese, sour cream, egg yolks and 1 1/2 tablsp sugar till smooth.
 Spoon on top of the peaches and smooth the surface. Drop the cake on to the table a couple of times       from a height of about 8-10" to  remove any air-bubbles between the peach slices. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool before putting into the fridge to chill. Cut into thick fingers and serve with extra peach slices and whipped cream.

This recipe will serve 8-10 not-so-big-eaters but based on the response from my family, I think people will  come back for seconds!!!

The almonds give the cake a bit of bite which compliment the smooth peach and the creamy topping.

Do try this recipe and let me know what you think.











5
    Spoon over the

A WEDDING CAKE AFTER A MAJOR MAKEOVER

During Wei and Jean's wedding, after the wedding cake had been cut, I had quietly kept the top tier and hidden it in the freezer while the other 2 tiers were cut and served to the guests  It was just waiting for a happy occasion like  their wedding anniversary or something to make another appearance.

After  checking with Jean and Wei, I decided that the grand-babies'  Full Moon Party would be a good time to bring out this bit of the wedding cake.

The frozen iced cake still looked good  but I know it would have to be re-iced with fresh marzipan and fondant. It would need a major make-over!!!!

The fondant and marzipan was scrapped of and the cake now looked like this.......

I had used girlie colours. The blanket was made to look like the one that Kiew Kha ( Peng Sam's sister in Sydney) had made for the babies. It was a very pretty blanket and my replica didn't do any justice to the real thing!!!

Stuff For Babies

Hi, it's been more than a while since I last posted anything.

I have been baking though not as much as I would had love to. The frozen shoulder on the left got better and the next thing I knew was that the right side got frozen too!!! 

I still managed to do a little baking everything now and then, but I miss my  baking marathons.

One of my resolutions this year, is to write more regularly. and to do that, I'll have to bake more!!

Jean, my daughter-in-law  gave birth to a pair of baby girls towards the end of 2012. I've always loved doing girly things and now with two grand-daughters, I don't need an excuse to decorate my cakes with sweet colours and pretty stuff.

Working with fondant is a very fun and addictive.

I use them to make some cutesy things which I am sure my grand-daughters would love. Pity that they are too young to tell me how much they like the stuffed bunny and Mr Bean's bear!