The Worst Of Sainsbury's Entertaining

This time around, I decided to try a recipe from a slightly older book.  The book I chose is called "The Best of Sainsbury's Entertaining" which I thought sounded perfect considering how recently we have been studying how food is used in certain texts to demonstrate a sense of status and can be used to entertain guests.  When flicking through the book initially, I noticed that each chapter had an introduction suggesting which occassions the food in the section could be used for and also includes tips on how to make your event its best.  The recipe I picked was for a chocolate orange cheesecake which to me sounded fantastic! And my dad, being quite a fan of terry's chocolate orange's, was rather keen on the idea as well.

 

The buffet party introduction seemed incredibly well linked to the course which I am currently studying.  Not only have we looked at food as a form of entertainment but also how and who is to prepare the food, particularly considering post war, a time when servants began to disappear and women had to manage on their own. It specifically states that;

"Buffet parties are the entertaining occasions favoured by

 busy people who have little help.  They are infinitely popular

with those who dislike formality."

This to me stated that the recipe's I would find here would be simple and quick to do.  The overall format of the recipe was well laid out and easy to follow...to an extent.  One problem I did find is that the ingredients listed weren't seperated into base and cheese mix so I guessed (and doubled checked with mum) and once that was sorted of I went!

Ingredients

50g Butter

125g Digestive Biscuits

25g Demerera Sugar

454g Curd Cheese

50g Caster Sugar

Grated Rind of Two Oranges

250ml Single Cream

15g Gelatine, soaked in 3 tablespoons cold water

50g Plain Chocolate, melted

Whipped Cream to Decorate.

Method:

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar.  Spread the mixture over the base of a 20cm tin and press down.  Leave in the refrigerator until firm.
Place the cheese in a bowl with the sugar and orange rind and beat until smooth.  Strain the orange juice and add to the mixture, then gradually stir in the cream.
Heat the gelatine gently until dissolved, then stir into the cheese mixture.  Pour over the crumb base.  Pour the cooled, melted chocolate over the top, swirling with a fork to give a marbled effect.  Chill in the refrigerator until set.  Remove from the fridge and pipe cream around the edge to serve.

I came across a problem with this recipe almost instantly.  Once I had made the biscuit base mix, and put it into the tin that they suggested, it was immediately clear...there wasn't nearly enough.  I had to double the mixture in order to cover the tin!  But once I'd done that, I thought well that's the worst of it!  Turns out that wasn't exactly true.

The cheese mix itself was quite simple and the method clear, but I did begin to worry about how watery it was.  The Banoffee cheesecake I made previously was also quite watery but it was baked so I wasn't worried about that one setting.  This one however is one to be put in the fridge to set.  So because it was so runny, I thought the best thing to do would be to leave it overnight.  

When I came downstairs the next day I checked on the cake, and it was still quite wobbly.  It had set on top but wobbled a lot.  So I left it until the afternoon.  With mum's assistance, of course, we removed the outer casing of the tin.  And the cheesecake stayed upright....for a while.  Once the first slice had been cut, it started to slip.  Not completely but it didn't hold it's shape as it should have done.  This cheesecake was the most appealing visually so far, the chocolate decoration looked wonderful, but when it came to tasting it, I wouldn't say the same.  The flavour's of the cheesecake were wonderful!  The orange was tangy but sweet and the chocolate on top added even more flavour.  But the texture definitely wasn't right which confused me as I followed the recipe exactly.  I have boiled it down to a few things which I would change about the recipe.  Firstly, I would definitely double the quantities of the biscuit base as it needed much more than stated.  Secondly, I would suggest a certain amount of orange juice to use and I feel there may have been too much and that is one cause for the cake not setting properly.  And finally, I would change the single cream to double or extra thick cream.  All this aspects put together I personally think would have made a much firmer, set cheesecake.  But at least it tasted good!  Mum even used it for a dinner party she was having with her friends.  One of which happens to be the head chef of Acton Scott Farming Museum and she was kind enough to write a short review for me of what she thought:

"Base : Tasted good but needed more biscuits.

Cheesecake : Tasted very nice but was too loose.  Next time use more gelatine or less liquid.  I the the recipe was at fault here and should have used double cream also.

Chocolate : Looked beautiful, but due to the very cold temperature used in order to set the cheesecake it was too hard to cut.  If the consistency of the cheesecake had been firmer and served at room temperature the swirling pattern would have been perfect."

So it would appear that she agrees with me completely in the recipe being at fault here.  If I was to attempt this cheesecake again I would combine both mine and her alterations to try and rectify the problems.