Baking Recipes,  Cheesecakes

For a moment I was out of my orbit again

This might be the longest that I’ve ever gone without posting on the blog, and I’ve got a perfectly good reason. I’m sure you know what it’s like to have something happen yo you that completely whoops your spirit down on its ass; something so disheartening that you begin to question the point of all the things you have been doing when it all could be gone in just an instant.

Mine came in the form of five words in a computer prompt: Memory card cannot be read.

It’s one of those horrifying things that could ever happen to a photographer and a food blogger, especially someone like myself who takes step by step photos religiously. This will be one of two recipes I managed to rephotograph but will not have any procedure photos because after my nth try with a data recovery application (my laptop’s Trash can testify to that) it became clear that this might be a hopeless case. Although I am yet to consult a professional I am not holding out much hope.

Now that I’m pretty much recovered from the incident I am beginning to think that my reaction at the time was quite an exaggerated one. I felt like giving up blogging for goodness sake! Two weeks worth of kitchen slavery– gone in a snap! I was blaming myself for accidentally brushing against the card reader, which for some odd reason loosened itself from the USB port. Clumsy fool! After a bad night’s sleep I decided I would just photograph the recipes that still have leftovers. It’s much better than nothing. I’ll just have to repeat the other recipes some time in the future.

See the thing that guts me is the wasted effort– two Sundays worth of it. So many of my friends ask me how I manage to do all this despite a Monday to Saturday full-day work week and the truth is there’s no secret to it. I simply cook and bake like a maniac on Sundays, making at least four recipes a day. Honestly, it’s exhausting, but also it’s nice when I get a glorious finished product and a great set of photos to boot. It kind of makes up for the fact that I use up a good deal of my only rest day to keep “working”. Who the hell knows what motivates me. I just like it is all, even when I wake up at 6AM on a Sunday just so I can finish in time for some sort of afternoon appointment. That always seems enough of an explanation for me, though not the most logical I suppose.

Shit happens, deal with it. That’s the point of this tirade. After giving myself some time to calm down I feel much better. I feel okay. So I thought it was about time to break the quiet around here, and share one of my “lost” recipes from that darned corrupted CF card.

Avocado Lime Cheesecake. Kind of indulgent. Extra delicious. No baking required. All you need is a blender or food processor, and a freezer. If you don’t have those then I’m sorry but you will be missing out.

At a glance I’m sure people are going to point out that this whole avocado and lime business sure sounds a lot like guacamole. I assure you that’s not the case. Lest it be forgotten, this is a cheesecake. Therefore it has that characteristic tang and lovely lovely texture of one, only it requires a bit of patience.

I recommend taking the cheesecake out of the freezer in the middle of a meal. Allow about 20 minutes for it to turn as soft as a regular cheesecake, otherwise it will be impossible to cut into though I imagine you can throw it at someone you hate and it will hurt. It should be a lot softer than frozen but still be able to hold its form. Any longer out at room temp then it will turn into goop.

I’ve never made a frozen cheesecake before so I wondered about whether the freezing will affect the texture and make it watery, or maybe popsicle-like with some watery ice crystals inside. There was no such problem in this case. The avocado flavour combines well with the lime combines well with the cream cheese…

Seriously, this is pretty darn good for something so simple, and I’m pretty darn happy to have come across this recipe by accident. Guess there are some good accidents in the world after all.

Avocado and Lime Cheesecake

This rich and tangy avocado-flavoured cheesecake is a no-bake wonder! Whether or not you're an avocado lover, the play of flavours in this cheesecake will have you taking bite after bite after bite!

Makes one 8- or 9-inch cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 1 1/2 cups finely crushed grahams
  • cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

For the filling

  • 1 ½ cups cream, heavy or all-purpose is fine
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 ½ ripe avocados, pitted
  • 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

Make the crust

  • 1. Combine the graham crumbs, sugar, and softened butter until well mixed.
  • 2. Press graham cracker crumb mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate and set aside.

Make the filling

  • 3. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until warmed, but not boiling. Add sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  • 4. In a food processor, add the avocados and cream cheese. Pulse to combine. Add the fresh lime juice and a pinch of salt, then pulse until smooth.
  • 5. Add the cooled cream mixture and pulse just until smooth and combined.
  • 6. Pour the avocado-cream cheese mixture into the prepared pie crust and smooth the top. Place in freezer for several hours or overnight.
  • 7. When ready to eat, remove from freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges, then garnish with lime zest if desired.

Notes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.