Ali Bakes: Banana Cheesecake

 Everyone messes up in the kitchen.  I don't care who you are, it happens to all of us--myself included.  Below is the tale of a time when I messed up while BAKING of all times.  And I had the best intentions, baking for my dad for his promised Christmas present:  A freshly-made cheesecake.  Ah well, one thing that I can say is that I tried.  I can also say that the mess-up did not really affect the taste, just the texture.  AND I added a few adjustments in the below recipe in hopes that it will help others who want to attempt the below cheesecake feat.

I should have known that things would be a little off when I had to translate the recipe from...Russian?  But it was a BANANA cheesecake that Dad wanted, and the banana cheesecake recipe I have is....not in English.  I didn't think it would be a huge deal, except I didn't consider that baking conversions and then translations would alter the understanding from baker to baker.

My cheesecake turned out...lumpy.  It is grainy, meaning that each bit of cream cheese incorporated into the dish is now a tiny ball sprinkled throughout the cheesecake.  Again, it's still cream cheese making the cheesecake creamy...but those who are weird about textures might not enjoy this dessert all that much.

I haven't yet had the final verdict from Pops on whether he enjoyed it (It was his late-night snack last night, and he left for work early this morning.), but I like to think it's the thought that counts.

Maybe 2015 will result in more successful cheesecake-making.  Regardless, life is about learning from your mistakes, and I'm an advocate of that!

Happy New Year!  :)

Banana Cheesecake

*adapted from http://rustykalnakuchnia.blogspot.com

Ingredients: 14 Oreo cookies, crushed
4 Tbs melted butter

2 packages cream cheese
2 mashed bananas
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs flour

Instructions:

Mix the cookies and melted butter.  Press the mixture in the bottom of a well-greased springform pan.

In a bowl add all remaining cheesecake ingredients listed above--recommended to use an electric mixer to mix each ingredient before adding additional ingredients.  Also ensure that all ingredients are at room temperature.  Now pour the mixture into the springform pan, smoothing it out on top of the cookie crust and tapping it gently on the sides to get rid of air bubbles.  Put in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 300 degrees.  Set a heatproof bowl of water on an oven rack below the cheesecake to  help keep the smooth top.

When the cheesecake is cooked, leave it in the closed oven until completely cool.  Then allow the cheesecake to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Now:  Check out my newest creation:  A blog slideshow!