Mini Tofu Cheesecake and Tofu Cheesecake Square birthday cake 迷你豆腐芝士蛋糕 /豆腐芝士生日蛋糕

I had done this Tofu Cheesecake many times. And it is always a big hit since it is so refresh, less sweet and easy to make no-bake type of cheesecake. I use this recipe and make a 6 inch Square birthday cake as well as a dozen of mini cheesecakes. Our regular weekend dinner gathering is on Sunday and my colleague's birthday is on Tuesday. Therefore, this dessert is perfect and it can be store in fridge for a few days. For the birthday cake decorations, I sprinkled matcha powder on the cake service topped with with strawberries and banana (brush some lemon juice on banana to prevent from browning). I peeled some white chocolate flakes and sprinkle some on top to finish the garnish.

And for the mini version, I sprinkled matcha powder and cocoa powder on top for garnishing. 

Recipe:

Ingredients : (Make one 8" square cake or one 6" square cakes with a dozen of mini cakes)

Tofu Cheesecake Filling

360g silken tofu

200g cream cheese (room temperature)

70g sugar

240g whipping cream

16g gelatin powder

96ml soy milk

Biscuit Base

200g digestive biscuits

80g melted unsalted butter

matcha powder 

cocoa powder (mini version)

strawberries and banana (Cake version)

Directions:

1. Line a removable base baking pan (8" square size) with baking paper and spray with non-stick cooking oil.
2. Crush the digestive biscuits into fine crumbs and combine with melted butter(pic 1).
3. Press tightly into cake pan with the back of a spoon. Leave baking pan in the freezer until required later(pic 2).
4. Dissolve and stir gelatin powder in soy milk. Microwave 30 sec until gelain dissolved. Set aside for use later.
5. Place tofu on sieve and drain out all excess water(pic 3).
6. Add tofu, cream cheese and sugar into an electric mixer, and mix until well combined(pic 4). If you still see lumps, you can try to mix it over hot water (not touching the water) until cream cheese and sugar melt and become smooth. Let it cool. Whisk whipping cream into soft peak form. Mix cheesecake filling ingredients and whipped cream together(pic 5). Add the dissolved gelatin at the end, stirring thoroughly.
7. Remove baking pan from the freezer. Pour your tofu cheesecake mixture into the pan(pic 6).
8. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or until firm to the touch, when it doesn't wobble too much when you shake the pan.
9. Sprinkle the top generously with matcha powder and pistachios. 

You can visit my blog posted in 2014 for another Tofu Cheesecake version: 

Tofu Cheesecake with Pistachios and Matcha 抹茶開心果豆腐芝士蛋糕

Pumpkin Parfait

It's Fall and it is Canada's Thanksgiving. It's time to dig out some pumpkin recipes again. In tradition, I will make dessert using Pumpkin for our Thanksgiving party. This year, I chose to make this Pumpkin Parfait. We had near 40 guests in our Thanksgiving dinner party this year. Therefore, I use 2 oz shooter cup for each serving. So for the amount indicated in this recipe, I can make around 24+ cups. And of course, this is not the only dessert I made. I also prepared Chocolate Ganache Tart and Fruit Bouquet served with Chocolate Fondue. And these are more than enough serving and varieties for our guests. Happy Thanksgiving! I can feel God's blessings all over me day by day, year after year!

Ingredients overview

Ingredients

3 cups whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix (not plain pumpkin)

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

8 plastic cups (6 oz)

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (I grind it into cookie powder)

I grind instead of crush the cookies

Directions

1. In medium bowl, beat whipping cream and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form (thick, but cream still falls onto itself). Refrigerate.
2. In large bowl, beat pumpkin pie mix and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Add powdered sugar; beat until well combined. Taste for sweetness and if necessary, add more powdered sugar.
3. Gently fold half of the whipped cream into pumpkin mixture.
4. To assemble parfaits in plastic cups, layer crushed cookies, pumpkin mixture and plain whipped cream. I will like to put the pumpkin mixture and plain whipped cream in piping bags (See pic A) to pipe the layers into the cups. It will be faster and more even on each layers. To garnish, top each with whipped cream and half piece of cookie. Store in refrigerator.

Pic A

Recipe adapted from: Betty Crocker Website

Fruit bouquet 生果盆栽

This fruit bouquet is what I made for this year's thanksgiving dinner party. This year, I will need to bake a 16lbs turkey, to prepare Japanese style soft boiled egg as appetizer, a smoked salmon avocado salad and desserts. I make pumpkin parfait one day in advance. But I still running out of time to make another dessert. Therefore, I decided to make this fruit bouquet served with chocolate fondue. I use cookie cutter to cut out the heart and flower shape of the pineapple slices. And I also have strawberries, cantaloupe and golden honeydew for the bouquet. I also included chocolate dipped marshmallow as we have almost 17 kids in our party this time. They will love it very much. You can also include grape to make it more colourful. This fruit bouquet finally turned out to be a great success. All finished within a sec.