Week 9: Cheesecake

So when it comes to pastry, I don't think there is much room to argue that the French kick ass; in fact, I'll be generous enough to extend that to the entire culinary field. While I have previously questioned their use of marzipan, I'll let it slide because even I have enjoyed some of the end results.

However, one topic where I firmly stand my ground is when it comes to cheesecakes. For some reason, most of our recipes use a classic pie dough (pate brisee or pate sucree) in lieu of a graham cracker crust. Call it 'classic' or 'classy' I call it plain wrong. Despite a class-wide revolt on the use of pie crust (very French of us, no?), we were still forced to 'master' this 'classic' method. 6 strong wasn't strong enough.

Perhaps, at an unconscious level, this is why we all royally screwed up our cheesecakes (note to class, water bath does NOT mean fill your cheesecake pan with water...). Nothing some caramelized apples and chocolate dipped strawberries can't fix. Regardless, enjoy the photos!

First up, I got stuck making the Raisin Cheesecake. The top didn't turn out too well so we just covered the top with caramelized apples:

The big hit at work was the Strawberry Sundae Cheesecake:

Allsace Cheesecake with a Raspberry topping:

Yummy Coconut Chocolate Rum Cheesecake:

And, finally, my favorite of the night was the Caramel Pecan Cheesecake:

Lady fingers for the bottom