Junior’s Cheesecake Cookbook Review!

I love cheesecakes, always have, always will. There’s endless combinations of flavours and they are often easy and quick to whip up. So I was very excited when I received a copy of Junior’s Cheesecake Cookbook to review from GMC Publications

The book features 50 cheesecake recipes that are served in Junior’s restaurant in New York. Now I’ve never been to New York so I should probably start by saying that I can’t comment on how close these recipes are in taste to their commercially available cousins. So the only option left was to try out a recipe.

It was my birthday recently so I rather enthusiastically set my husband to work on a White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake. He’s no stranger to a cheesecake and has baked many a delicious and quickly devoured pudding. But he failed when it came to Junior’s. The recipe was followed to the letter and much time and effort put into the making, but still the cheesecake sank in the centre and was dreadfully cracked on top. But I should mention that these cheesecakes are somewhat different from normal, having a sponge base apart from anything else. So we initially put the failure down to inexperience with this book and moved on.

A few days later we set about the second attempt, we studied the pages giving you tips on what to do if your cheesecake goes wrong. We read and read again but while the base was more successful, once again the cheesecake did not behave as expected.

I will point out though, that while both cheesecakes might not have been the prettiest, once cooled they did taste very nice. So nice in fact that we have not been completely deterred from trying another recipe from this book in the hope that we will conquer these cheesecakes in the end.

Here is a slice of our most successful attempt so far.

Would I recommend this book?

Hmm… that’s a tough one. I really want to love this book. The flavour combinations are heavenly and I’m sure many people have been successful. But when you start with 3 pages of what to do when it goes wrong it doesn’t inspire me with confidence. So instead I’ll say if you’re a perfectionist then I wouldn’t recommend this book unless your prepared to make several attempts. But if flavour is more important than presentation, then yes you’d probably enjoy having a try at these delicious recipes.

Could it be improved in anyway?

In my opinion yes. Several of the recipes have no pictures to accompany them which is disappointing, it’s helpful to know what the end result ‘should’ look like. I’m also not terribly keen on the layout, having to flip back and forwards for the bases and then tops, but it’s not a huge annoyance. The cheesecakes are also rather large, so perhaps a table to reduce quantities for anyone wishing to test out with a smaller cake would be nice. Other than that it is a very nicely presented and attractive book.

Book Details

Title: Junior’s Cheesecake Cookbook

Author: Alan Rosen & Beth Allen

ISBN: 9781561588800

RRP: £14.99

Publisher: Taunton

Publication Date: Dec 2007.

Suffolk Puff Brooch Tutorial

Suffolk Puffs seem to be turning up everywhere these days and they are such a simple and fun thing to make. Of course there are many many ways in which you can use them, you can embellish some clothing or add to a bag, but today I thought I’d show you how to make our Suffolk Puff Brooch. We have used dark fabric but of course the type and colour of fabric would dramatically vary the final look of your badge.

You Will Need

2 Pieces of Fabric

Needle

Thread

Ribbon

Felt or non fraying wool fabric

Trimmings (thinner ribbon, ric rac etc)

 

Step 1

First we need to cut two circles out of your chosen fabrics. Our circles measured approx 10cm and 8.5cm across. To make the puff shape place your fabric down with the wrong side facing up. Then turn over a small hem and stitch a long running stitch through your hem all the way round. When you reach the beginning gently pull your stitches to gather them.  Repeat with your other piece of fabric.

 

Step 2

Now lay your smaller puff on top of the larger and sew through the middle to attach together.  Now cut a piece of felt approx 4cm across. Sew your two puffs to the felt circle, again sewing through the middle.

 

Step 3

Next we used a blanket stitch to firm up the edges of the felt, but this is not absolutely necessary. To the middle of our puffs we attached a lovely old vintage button from Prague.

 

Step 4

Now cut a piece of ribbon approx 16cm long, cutting diagonally along the edges.  Then fold your ribbon in half and attach any trimmings you might like, sewing across at the top to keep in place.

Step 5

Stitch the felt circle to the ribbon and then sew a badge back or safety pin to the back.

 

Ta-Da you have made a beautiful Suffolk Puff Brooch!

Sewing For Pleasure, Fashion Embroidery & Stitch & Hobbycrafts!

Yesterday Anne and myself attended Sewing For Pleasure, Fashion Embroidery & Stitch & Hobbycrafts at the NEC in Birmingham. You may remember that we gave away tickets to the show several weeks ago. We had an absolutely wonderful time and thought we’d share our favourite bits with you all. We began by taking a look at Sewing For Pleasure, we then took in a catwalk show followed by Fashion Embroidery & Stitch and then finally Hobbycrafts. I’ll begin by telling you what we bought:

The Nimble ThimbleOne of the first stalls we visited was The Nimble Thimble on stand A11 in Sewing For Pleasure. For any collector this stand was a dream, the makers have taken a relatively ordinary object and turned them into art. I loved the Wind in The Willows Thimbles, but ultimately became smitten with this teeny tiny replica of a Victorian child’s thimble from 1860. It has raised letters around the edge that read ‘For A Good Girl’.

As you might expect we were seduced by many of the fabrics available, but for sheer variety and wonderful customer service we have to mention The Eternal Maker on stand D01 & Fabrics Galore on stand F12 in Sewing For Pleasure. Both these stores amazed us with the amount of choice they had managed to bring.

The Eternal Maker is definitely the stall to stop by if you love Japanese Fabrics, it would be easy to become mesmerized at the wonderful prints and colours. In the end we settled for some fat quarters and Lego style Fabric.

Fabrics Galore on the other hand are a wealth of knowledge on everything fabric related. In a previous blog post we taught you how to make a peg bag using wonderful London Map fabric. Since then many people have asked me where you can buy this, well Fabrics Galore is your place. While their internet site doesn’t currently offer mail order, if you phone them they’ll be more than happy to help. The elusive London Fabric will be coming back in stock in the next couple of weeks. I kept coming back to this stall throughout the day as I just couldn’t resist the wonderful retro prints. They also stocked the fabric I’d made my dress for the day out of.

Who We Spoke To:

Aside from the places mentioned above, we had some wonderful conversations with various exhibitors. We met the lovely Jenna from SewHip Magazine on stand ZF07 in Sewing For Pleasure who has only just joined the company. She told us all about the exciting new ventures coming from KalMedia this year, including a new magazine launch that sounds very exciting called ‘Handmade Living’.

We then made a beeline for Clothkits on stand G04 in Sewing For Pleasure and drooled over the Rob Ryan style skirt kits and Liberty Bias Binding. Here you can see me getting rather excited about the wonderful items on offer.

We then had a well earned sit and watched a Catwalk Show. These showcased the new ranges from Pattern companies such as Simplicity & Butterick and also many students work from around the country. The shows were understandably packed throughout the day, but worth the wait.

We also admired many more people, most notably the up and coming students such as Sarah Charmain Brockbank on stand ZJ08 in Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch whose wonderful textile creations left us very impressed.

Another must see was the amazing creations of Michael Powell on stand G01 in Sewing For Pleasure, while there were plenty of traditional cross stitch stalls, Michael’s kit designs stood out as they were so fresh and unique, I loved his wobbly beachhuts.

There’s also plenty of workshops for the crafty inclined, whether sewing, embroidery or cards are your specialty.

You can also watch a Gok Wan style Fashion Challenge where two teams compete to customize outfits.

Not forgetting the incredibly awe inspiring charity exhibitions and Costume showcases, which I’ll write about in the next few days. If you find yourself at a loose end do visit the show, it’s still running until the 27th March and tickets can be purchased on the door.