socials

Old Friends, New Friends (Musing)

Ho Sim Lang

Old Friends, New Friends (Musing)

My wife and I have a lot of friends, and between the both of us, our friend-lists combined could populate a small island. The only thing that has remained constant is time, and we found that as it goes by, it was harder to stay connected with friends that we got to know years ago. Our time now is spent with new friends, and old friends have taken their place in the archives of our phone-books, tucked away in the corner of the store room (read: HDB Bomb Shelter). So Facebook is really a good thing albeit all the privacy and security issues.

So instead of calling up these old friends and throwing a huge bash (think: wedding reception), the softer alternative would be to secretly invite some friends to come over for dinner. We do that because I love cooking (and she loves washing up!), and nothing beats dining in a home environment with wholesome home-cooked foods and heavy duty after-dinner desserts and drinks. There is no need to leave early because the restaurant is closing, or order more food because there would be more than enough to stuff our faces and drinks are free-flowing like the Singapore River.

The world has gotten bigger by the day, or should I say, our world. We have added more and more new friends into our listing as we stuff more and more old friends into the bomb shelter. Staying connected with everyone is a challenge, and if you’re our friend and you’re reading this, don’t be dishearten, we will get round to inviting you one day, once we clear our store room.

For those that we invited, come just as you are, no need to bring anything (although it would be nice if you did!). Come with an open heart for great conversations, an empty stomach for a happy meal (not that happy meal) and enough space in your brains for one more memory. See you.

Peach De’lite Cheesecake (Non-Baked)

Ho Sim Lang p2 p3

 

Peach De’lite Cheesecake (Non-Baked)

Here’s a really delicious cheesecake (non-baked) that I would like to recommend to all. It’s undoubtedly the best non-baked cheesecake recipe in the whole wide world (think fairytale).
Tastes great served chilled with a cup of unsweetened earl grey tea or simply on its own. Serves 8-10 slices and it’s excellent for small group socials or office parties.
Light and creamy like gelato, yet maintaining a fresh fruity zesty flavour on a mildly salted crumbly digestive biscuit base. 
Ingredients:
Biscuit Base:
120 grams Plain Digestive Biscuits
70 grams Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
Method:
1. Pulse Digestive Biscuits in the food processor until coarse grains. Remember not to blend it till it is too fine. If you don’t own a food processor, get one. You won’t regret it. Otherwise, you may opt to crush the biscuits into crumbly bits in a ziplock bag and hammering it with a rolling pin.
2. Add the already softened butter into the biscuit and combine. Pulse the mixture again until butter combines into biscuit crumbs evenly. Try not to short-cut the process by melting the butter in the microwave as many are tempted to do. You won’t want to cook your butter. I always use Pure Creamery as the type of butter you use makes a big difference. Never substitute it with low-fat margarine! That’s sacrilegious.
3. Pour the biscuit mixture into a grease-paper lined 20 inch Spring-Form Pan and tamper down the crumbs to compact it. After which, you can put the pan into the freezer to let the biscuit base set for about 30 minutes.
Cream Cheese Filling:
227 grams Philadelphia Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)
1 can of Sliced Peaches
200 ml Heavy Cream
3 tbsp Castor Sugar
3 tsp Gelatin
2 tsp Lemon Juice
rind of half a Lemon
Method:
1. With a wooden spoon break the cream cheese and mix it with the castor sugar. I like to use Philadelphia Cream Cheese especially the ones from USA and that’s why it’s 227 grams, however, these days Philadelphia makes its product in Australia, and it comes in a 250 grams pack. I found the Australian product to not be as smooth.
2. Do not over mix the cheese and the sugars. You just want it to be slightly creamy in texture and not stiff peaks.
3. Pulse the sliced peaches into smaller pieces but at the same time you want to take care you don’t end up turning it into a puree. I like using Sliced Peaches from Hosen because the textures of the peaches are firmer and it has a nicer bite and taste when it is chilled. I have used other brands, but they all cannot make it. Some peaches from other brands tend to become mushy and watery after you pulse it a little. Not nice.
4. Pour the peaches into the creamed cheese mixture along with the lemon juice & rind and combine the peaches with the cream cheese, using a wooden spoon. Again take care not to break the peaches into smaller pieces.
5. Double boil the gelatin in a bowl with half a cup of water and let it dissolve. Once the gelatin is sufficiently dissolved, pour it into the cream cheese filling. Using a metal whisk, gently whisk the mixture while pouring the heavy cream into the mixing bowl.
6. Ensure that there is an even consistency as you combine the ingredients.
7. Pour your cream cheese filling into the chilled Spring-Form Pan and again tamper it down at the bottom of the pan so that the filling sits evenly on the biscuit base.
8. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 8 hours so that the gelatin will hold the cake together.
Decoration ideas:
Fresh Strawberries
Sliced Peaches
Dark Coverture Chocolate Droplets
Walnuts
Raisins
Kiwifruit
Hope you have fun with the recipe!
Bon Appetit.