A weird turn in the weather over the weekend left us pretty reluctant to leave the house. Despite this, we did actually manage to make it out into the city on Saturday evening (a rarity, for us), to see the Jim Henson Company’s Puppet Up! as part of the Comedy Festival. Dinner beforehand was at Wagamama in the Galleries Victoria (because we didn’t have time to stand in line at Ichiban-Boshi, one floor above); a rather forgettable eating experience. Later we braved the rain and traipsed down to Darling Harbour for some chocolate ice-cream at the Lindt Cafe. The 70% dark chocolate or hazelnut ice-cream would have been my pick. Deterred by lack of service, but not by strong wind and rain, we ended up at Passionflower instead, and had two uninspiring scoops of lychee and rose ice-cream and green apple sorbet.

Apart from having a muppetastic Saturday evening (eight sausages at a Mothballholics Anonymous meeting, anyone?), we spent most of the rest of the weekend drinking cups of tea from a T2 sampler pack C got me, watching movies (the excellent Das Leben der Anderen, and Colour Me Kubrick, which although was intriguing because it was based on an actual person, ended up being a bit tedious because it didn’t seem to progress anywhere) and I did some baking.

Flavoured with ground ginger and cinnamon, with hats of lemon and ginger flavoured fudge icing, these gingerbread muffins brought spice and warmth to our quiet little weekend.

Thanks to a friend, I’m currently obsessed with listening to Go! Team. Who ever thought recorders could actually sound so cool? Maybe like me, you were forced to play the recorder while at primary school. That horrible strained and strangled whine I elicited from it left me wondering why the recorder even existed as a musical instrument. I mean, let’s face it.. attending a primary school recorder recital? Hell on earth. It didn’t however deter my parents from signing my sister and I up for violin lessons. Two years of tortured versions of twinkle twinkle little star, followed several years later by my younger brother’s attempts at the violin (well, the instrument was still there after we abandoned it, so it might as well be used!)

Anyway, Go! Team makes for excellent baking music. Thanks to my new job (having temporarily left restaurant life), I’m even more obsessed with baking muffins and cakes of all descriptions. Got a recipe you think I might like? Fling it my way. I’m slowly building up a repertoire of favourite muffin recipes (and padding myself up for the winter, it would seem). This particular one, an adaptation of a Sue Lawrence recipe, just came out of the oven and is damp and as comfortingly lemony as a spoonful of lemon curd. The dried cranberries strewn over the top add a nice chewy contrast. Armed with a cup of tea and a warm muffin now, I wonder if I still have my old recorder around…. (Did you know that they are also known as fipple flutes? So whimsical!)

[Jay is helping Sam get back into the dating scene]
Sam Baldwin: What is “tiramisu”?
Jay: You’ll find out.
Sam Baldwin: Well, what is it?
Jay: You’ll see!
Sam Baldwin: Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I’m not gonna know what it is!

Tom Hanks’ character in Sleepless in Seattle feels about tiramisu the same way I do about cheesecake. What is cheesecake? Some sort of mysterious entity that seduces women (do we ever see men in Sara Lee commercials?), and dates back as far as ancient grecian times where it was served to athletes at the olympic games. From my past experience, cheesecake has usually translated as a heavy, rich and extremely filling affair. With a soggy biscuit base.

Despite this, every now and again a cheesecake comes along that makes me eat it, and my words. Lorraine Godsmark of Yellow Bistro makes the most divine New York style cheesecake, that I could eat any day. This one, by Kate Zuckerman from her fantastic book The Sweet Life is another contender : Goat Cheesecake enrobed in Hazelnut Brittle (my variation being the substitution of macadamia nuts for hazelnuts) is not only just as is described; tangy and light, but the mere words “enrobed” and “brittle” also had me hooked from the start.

Once the cheesecake is unmolded, the crunchy brittle is patted or pressed against the top and sides. You can serve this with a sauce or compote, but I like it on its own, as a silky, luxurious treat.

Goat Cheesecakes :

1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
300g fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
140g creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 150’C. Butter or oil individual ramekins or molds.

Combine the eggs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the goat cheese until smooth. Add the creme fraiche and whisk for 1 minute. Do not overmix or the cheesecake will have a grainy texture.

Spread the batter in the prepared molds. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking process, until the cheesecakes are set in the center or a thermometer in the center of the cheesecake reads between 65’C and 76’C. If the cheesecakes start to rise, remove them from the oven immediately.

Remove the cheesecakes from the oven and allow to cool. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes before removing from molds.

(For more cheesecake creations, check out Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.)