cheesecake update

last sunday (March 6th, that is), i made a cheesecake. i experienced some mild cheeecake-related crises and have been asked to report on the end results.

i made the ganache but i think the overboiling ruined the milk and that, dare i say it, the chocolate was possibly too dark. the thought of slathering it over the cheesecaked seemed to be too intense. plus, after a day of sitting in the fridge, all the fat had come up to the top. i scraped it off, warmed up the ganache, to pour over the cake, changed my mind, put it back in the fridge (not without eating a few heaping spoonfuls of straight ganache which was terribly satisfying, though a bit gritty) and the next day, a new layer of fat had emerged. it also lacked the texture i was looking for, though i can only describe the desired texture as having something of a sheen. so, now the ganache and separated fat are sitting in my freezer. it will be good, i'm sure, as an ice cream topping or inside a chocolate muffin. the latter sounds most appealing and more sensible than the cheesecake frosting option.

as for the cheesecake, i most certainly took it out of the oven too soon, which i knew when i was doing it but maybe it was late at night and i was wanting to be done with the whole mess. but i, being in possession of some level of intelligence, covered the thing and put it in the freezer after it had reached room temperature (and still jiggled when knocked lightly). i went to bed, feeling defeated, yet not hopeless.

the day of the potluck, for which i'd made the damn cheesecake, i realized i had an evening work shift. how sad. all that work, and i couldn't even go to the party. so the cheesecake remained untouched (although i did check on it nightly), doing its freezing thing. on thursday, i invited my neighbor over and we each had a single slice. okay, i had two slices and she had one. i noted that my slice began to sag at the tip almost immediately upon separation from the cake. undercooked. plus the thinmint crust, while quite tasty, flaked in an unsatisfying manner, probably due to the ganache-like frosting in which they wrap the wafer. too much funky butter, milk, etc. getting in the way and doing weird things to my crust.

come the weekly gathering, my cheesecake still sat in the freezer, minus three slices, so i took it along and offered it up. it was a success. people liked it! love it, in fact! i ate two slices. it really tastes fantastic...the texture just needs some help.

in the meantime, there are no more thinmints but i accidentally bought about 18 oz. too much of chocolate chips. maybe i can go round two and use chocolate wafers with a bit of peppermint extract instead.