The current situation that we live in has put a stop practically to our original birthday plans.
We purchased our house back in December 2017, and since then we have been working very hard on refurbishing this over 110 years old Victorian property from room to room.
Signing up for a big project like this has been keeping us busy not realising that we haven't had an actual vacation since. So we discussed that we will start living the life we always talk about and put the house on hold.
While we were sitting in our dining room sipping that delicious sweet wine from Hungary that my parents sent us over, we agreed on a plan.
"2020 will be our super adventures year ".
It's safe to say that you all know how that idea worked out so far.
My biggest adventure of 2020 so far is making it through those long queues in front of the stores without catching anything.
Lockdown happened just a few weeks before my birthday, so I was one of those unfortunates who marked their birthdays in the middle of the lockdown.
While we were planning to celebrate my 26th birthday in Venice, that idea was out of the question due to the situations. Even though we're in lockdown, luckily I had Carl, Happy and my brother Dominik here with me to celebrate.
They did a fantastic job.
They managed to brighten my mood with all those unique things they did for me.
I can honestly say that despite all the terrible things going on at the moment, I had a fantastic 26th birthday.
Carl's birthday is not long after mine, and the situation was unknown regarding the ease of the lockdown, so I wanted to go for sure without any risk, so I planned something at home to be on the safe side.
I created for his birthday another home birthday party, just the four of us.
As I mentioned in one of my previous posts too, we suppose to travel the world in 2020, which meant spending our birthdays abroad also.
For Carl's birthday, I wanted to take him somewhere super warm with a beachside so he can swim all day long in the sea while I work on my tan.
This just turned out to be a dream this year.
Many of you might disagree with me when I say that it's still okay for us to celebrate while we are waiting for the world to get back to 'normal'.
Being in lockdown for a birthday or any other special occasions doesn't have to stop the fun.
It just means you need to get more creative.
We need to celebrate every little thing to create happy memories, brighten our mood so we can all remain as positive as possible.
This is why I did everything I could to make his birthday just as special as the past years together before these strange times.
I know that there is one thing for sure that will brighten anybody's mood is some delicious food and baked goodies.
If you follow me on Instagram, you definitely heard me saying that I cannot cook.
While I know that no one is born inherently with the ability to cook for some reason some people still have a slightly better palette, more dexterous fingers or whatever else is their secret of being a better cook than others.
I'm not good at cooking, and I accepted that.
However, Carl is one of these talented, lucky cooks who put the rest of us like me in difficult situations like cooking for him.
It's hopeless.
While he does all this in the nicest way is possible he always thinks there is something I could have done differently and he will make a suggestion for next time which is great and I take on all his tips and advice, but it still feels like there is no light at the end of this tunnel.
So he cooked his birthday meals as this way we both knew it would be a happy ending.
Surprisingly Carl complimented my baking many times without criticising that I felt enough courage for the first time last year to bake him a birthday cake.
Click here if you missed it.
He liked it that much that he asked me to make his birthday cake this year again.
He asked for a mango and passion fruit cheesecake.
Yes, I was just as shocked as you are reading this.
I started searching for cheesecake recipes online, but he had another idea for me.
Nothing is simple when it comes to food and living with a professional chef.
He asked me to bring a paper and a pen, so I did.
He started mumbling some random ingredients out without measurements, and I was just writing them down thinking this is a shopping list.
Once he finished, he said: "That's the cheesecake recipe, can't wait to try it ". I laughed, and I said yeah me too!
Following his recipe and instructions from the other side of the kitchen island, I managed to make a cheesecake that I couldn't be more proud of.
So here it is, I'm sharing this recipe with you.
Believe me when I say it If I could do it you can do it too!
Ingredients:
Base
400g digestive biscuits
200g unsalted butter
Filling
600ml double cream
100g icing sugar
500g mascarpone
400g cream cheese
5ml vanilla essence
Topping
250ml mango n passion fruit pure
3 gelatine leaves
3 passion fruits
Method:
Make the crust
1. In a food processor, process the biscuits then pour it into a medium bowl.
2. Melt the butter in the microwave once it's melted combine the butter with the biscuit together until they are fine crumbs.
3. Make a cartouche out of a baking paper and place it in the baking tray.
This way you will easily able to transfer your cake onto a cake stand later on.
Click here to learn how to make a cartouche.
4. Pour the base into the baking tin and press the mixture firmly down with your fingers then use any flat base to even it out. I used the back of a cake server.
5. Place the base into the fridge while making the middle layer.
Make the filling:
1. For this part, you can either use a stand mixer or a hand mixer whichever you prefer.
I like to use my kitchen aid when I bake so I made the entire filling in this one bowl.
Pour the double cream into the bowl and start whisking slowly.
2. Add the icing sugar and keep whisking on a low speed.
3. Add the mascarpone, the cream cheese and the vanilla exact and process until it's completely smooth.
Be careful not to over whisk or the cream will split.
4. Time to grab the base from the fridge and pour the mixture over the top of the biscuit crumb base.
5. The trick for the perfect cheesecake is to make sure there are no cracks on either of the base or the filling side of it. So to flat the top of the cake out completely I submerged the same cake server that I used before to create a flat base in a jug filled with boiling water. After the steel heats up, take it out and wipe it down with a cloth and start wiping the top of the cake with it. This way, you will able to reach a really smooth and super flat top.
6. Place the half-done cake back to the fridge for a couple of hours.
Once you think the cake it set you can start making the topping.
Make the Topping:
1. Pour cold water in a bowl or pan. Soak the gelatine leaves in the bowl. Make sure that the sheets are entirely covered with water.
2. Place the mango and passion fruit pure and spoon the passion fruit in the same saucepan. Place the saucepan overheat and bring it to boil. Once you reached the boiling point set aside.
3. Now back to the gelatine sheets. If they are soft and stuck altogether, they are ready to be used.
Take the leaves out of the water strain the excess water out and place it into the hot pure. Keep stirring until the gelatines are entirely dissolved. Set aside again and let it cool. Keep your eye on the topping and keep stirring it every so often to make sure it doesn't set.
4. Once it's completely cooled, get the cake out the fridge and pour the passion fruit topping on it. Keep moving the baking tray in a round circle to make sure the entire white topping part is covered with the pure.
5. Place the cake back to the fridge and leave it to set overnight.
Removing the cake from the tin:
1. Place a kitchen towel into the sink. Pour steaming water over it until its completely soaked.
Wring out the water so that the kitchen towel is damp, but not dripping.
2. Drape the towel around the cake pan. Let it sit for about 10-15 min.
In the meantime, the warm pan and moisture from the kitchen towel will create steam, which will help to remove your cake from the tin.
3. Use a rubber spatula or plastic knife to release the cake from the sides.
I hope you will enjoy this cake just as much as we did.
Don't forget to tag me @delilapipoly if you ever make this cake, would love to see your creations!x
