No Bake Cheesecake

Did my first no bake cheesecake and twittered about it.  Man was I excited when I first tried it on Mon evening.  Yup.  It was a weekday no doubt but I simply had the craving to do it!  It is really simple I discovered and super relaxed as the cake is done in 2 stages.  One thing I realised is the cake doubled as a ice cream when you freeze it overnight.  Try it! Your family and friends will love you for it. 

For this recipe, I adapted it from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food. 

Recipe

130g SCS unsalted butter, softened at room temperature and cut into cubes

200g digestive biscuits

100g museli with oats
1 tsp vanilla essence
600g Philadelphia cream cheese, softened at room temperature and cut into cubes
120g caster sugar
1 lemon (separately zested and juiced)
1 orange (zested)
300ml whipping cream

Topping
Store bought raspberry & pomergranate jam

Stage 1 - Cake Base
1.  Grease 23cm springform cake tin with butter. 

2.  Crumble digestive biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin till fine bits.  Food processor can be used
too.

3.  Toast museli over low heat in a non-stick pan till it is slightly darker in colour and you can detect the fragrance. 

4.  Toss the digestive biscuits and cubed butter into the pan and fold till thoroughly mixed.  Off the heat and smooth the mixture over the cake tin base.  Spread over evenly using a spatula and refrigerate for about an hour.  Do lower the refrigerator's setting if you need to quicken this step.

Stage 2 - Cake
1.  Mix cubed cream cheese with vanilla essence, lemon zest, lemon jucie, orange zest and sugar till they are nice and smooth. 

2.  In another bowl, whisk the whipping cream till 'soft' peaks are obtained.  The peaks should hold their shapes when you stop whipping.

3.  Add half of the whipping cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold in gently till well blended.  Repeat with the other half of the whipping cream.

4.  Remove the cake tin from the refrigerator and pour the cake mixture over it.

5.  Refrigerate or freeze overnight. 

6.  The following morning, run a knife around the sides of the cake, release the catch of the springform and spread the jam over the top.  Cut and enjoy!

Super Hydrating Toner

The thing about maintaining ties with your gal frens is that whenever

we meet we get to exhange tips about life when we are in a

philosophical mood or fashion and skincare tips otherwise. My friend,

L had totally peaches and cream complexion and remarked that the

hydrating toner she uses twice a day from Hada Loda really works. What

are the bunch of us to do when faced with such affirmative

declaration? Succumb to it of course! And the timing is just perfect

as this product had just been launched here. L bought hers in Hong

Kong so she is way ahead of us! *smile*

The brand is sold exclusively at Watsons so kudos to them. It is a
drugstore item back in Japan and apparently it is super popular. In
every 4 seconds, 1 bottle is sold. I bought mine during Vesak Day and
had tried out for 3 days. So far, my skin had stayed matt longer and
does not shine as frequently. I will try it out for the rest of this
week to see how it holds up to airconditoned environment.

It is Sat and my verdict is, *drum roll* please, it really works! My skin is softer and does not become oily so frequently.  Needless to say, I was blessed like heaven!

Here is the pic.  Check it out people!