Black & White Cheesecake

 

 

     The creamy filling, rich crumbly chocolate crust, and fresh flavor of the strawberry coulis is what makes this black and white cheesecake absolutely delectable. Firstly, we created the chocolate crust for the base of the cake. We combined melted butter and chocolate cookie crumbs together then pressed the mixture into the bottom of a spring form pan. I couldn't resist eating the excess crumbs off the spoon...it was delicious. Next, we created the filling. I have very limited experience when it comes to making cheesecake. This lab was only my second time making it and it was a lot easier than expected. When we were baking the cake, the top of the cake cracked which had me quite worried. I wonder what could've been done to prevent the cracks from happening?

 

     Looking at this cheesecake, your eye may be drawn to the delicate chocolate leaf laying on the cake. This chocolate leaf was the most difficult piece of food art to create. First of all, we sent our talented food artist, Natalie, to pick out the best leaves. Secondly, we tempered some chocolate and, using a food safe paintbrush, painted the backs of the leaves. After that was completed, we placed the leaves in the fridge.

     The most difficult part about the production of these chocolate leaves was the peeling. At first, I attempted peeling the leaf off of the chocolate the way you'd peel a sticker off it's backing paper. However, the chocolate was a little thin and it started cracking. In the end, I handed it over to Natalie to peel the leaves off.

     The bottom of my leaf was very cracked so I simply grabbed a chefs knife and trimmed the edges off. For the plate design, I think that the tip of the squeeze bottle is too wide and that I can't do detailed designs. I tried drawing flowers with the strawberry coulis but the lines were so thick that it just looked like a messy puddle.



     The cake itself was good. I couldn't finish the whole slice but I liked how it wasn't too sweet. The strawberry coulis was the only component of the dish that was more sweet and it made the cake taste so much better. The leaf also added a subtle chocolate flavour which gave the cake more depth.