Super Hmmmmmmmm...... Mocha Marble Cheesecakelets ~ By My Guest Ria

This is my celebrations for reaching 200 blog posts.... A lot of you will wonder, why am I not making something fancy to celebrate it. Getting to the 200th post has been a journey full of wonderful people who walked with me in life and some joined me thru the blog world.

So I thought of having an event called 'Celebrations' where I would open out my blog to some of my friends who would share some parts of their journey with me as Guest Posts......

My guest today Ria of Ria's Collections. She is a certified cake decorator, freelance food writer, stylist and a photographer. Having followed her blog for a while... am testimony to all of these. Add to all this.... She is C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E, dedicated and hardworking. She's recently got married to Jobin. She stitched [since her hobbies are hand embroidery,sketching, tatting n crocheting] flowers for her wedding saree and veil and not to mention a 3 tier wedding cake all on her own...... bow down.. really admire you girlie...

Her kitchen is to die for, drop dead gorgeous[not more than her though].... and a hubby who bakes her a chocolate cake and she's featured on a cooking show too.... talk about talent... :)

She's someone who truly enjoys cooking.... it's so obvious from the variety of heads she's got under her belt... u name it... she git it covered... Appetizers, Drinks, Breads, Salads, Cakes, Brownies & Gateaux, East Meets West, Indian goodies, Curries, Pickles, Sauces, Dips, Chutneys, Desserts and Traditional Sweets, Cookies and More. You can find her recipie index here

Her Lavender Infused Stone Fruit Tartelettes had me in fits of delight as did her story on Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

I had loved her Tiramisu cake with Homemade Mascarpone Cheese, and wait till you see what she's made for me.....

A small something for the Indian readers of Ria.... She will select 1 lucky commenter to win complimentary vouchers of Javagreen, South Extention, New Delhi. It's chain of gourmet coffee shops. So be sure to leave a note at the end of this post with your location. Readers in other countries can share the same with anyone in proximity of the restaurant.

Ria Writes.....

Hello foodies,
I am Ria Mathew,author of Ria's Collections, a true product of India blogging from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nachiketa and I have been associated through our food blogs and I shouldn't forget to mention, Facebook :-) I love her enthusiasm to bake and share the goodies with her loved ones! I do the same here. Bake and share!

So, when I received an email from N asking if I could do a guest post, I willingly accepted. I had to make something which we both haven't made before, and of course, it had to be a dessert!That evening I went to our library and went through the whole section of dessert books and finally picked up one. Then it was a task to choose from it. I know Nachiketa & myself has a soft spot for cheesecakes & coffee,especially Tiramisu Cheesecake, so cheesecake it was!

MOCHA MARBLE CHEESECAKELETS
Recipe adapted from A Year in Chocolate by Alice Medrich

Ingredients:
Crust:
Chocolate wafer crumbs/Oreo cookie crumbs-1 1/2 c ( I used Parle-G + 2 tbsp of cocoa powder)
Butter-6 tbsp, melted
Sugar-1/4 c
Coffee powder-1 1/2 tsp

Filling:
Milk chocolate-40 g
Coffee powder-3/4 tsp
Boiling water-1 1/2 tbsp
Cream cheese-650 g
Sugar-1/2 c
Vanilla extract-1 1/2 tsp
Eggs-2, at room temperature

Method:
Crust:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F.
2. Powder the cookies into the fine powder and mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Press the mixture evenly over the bottom and half way up the sides of the pan.
4. Bake for 10 mins. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
1. Lower the oven temperature to 160 C/325 F.
2. Place the chocolate in a bowl with coffee powder. Pour the boiling water over it and stir until smooth. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, beat cream cheese till smooth, about 30 secs. Scrape the bowl and beaters.
4. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth, 1-2 mins.
5. Add 1 egg and beat until just incorporated.Scrape bowl and beaters.
6. Beat in the 2nd egg. Stir 1 cup of the batter into the chocolate mixture.


Assembly:
1. Pour the white colour batter over the prepared crust.
2. Put dollops of the milk chocolate batter over the white colour batter.
3. Swirl and create a marbled effect using a butter knife making sure that you don't scrape the crust.
4. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
5. Bake until the edges of the cake are puffed and center looks moist and jiggles when tapped, 35-45 mins.
6. Remove from the oven and run a paring knife around the edges of the filling (this is to release the filling, if it is sticking to the tin).DO NOT remove it from the tin.
7. Place the cake on a cooling rack and invert a bowl/pot over it so that it cools down slowly.
8. Cover and refrigerate the cake for atleast 5 hours before serving.

I hope you all enjoyed the cheesecakelets! They were a big hit with us!

Nachiketa, I wish you all the best and may you have many many more! To another 200!