MINI VANILLA CHEESECAKE WITH MANDARIN TOPPING

Its been weeks since I had the urge to eat cheesecake but the 'procrastination fairy' (more like pure laziness) has prevented me from doing so time and again.

I know I could have just gone to a bakery to get a small slice but I didn't even get around to doing that because my new office building is now slightly away from Queen Street Mall. I couldn't be arsed to walk down to the mall during lunchtime as it would mean wasting 20 over minutes just to walk to and fro.

So this morning, when I woke up from my slumber, I told myself that I simply HAVE to make some today. I clearly need a good dessert fix before going back to work tomorrow.

As I didn't want to spend too much time labouring in the kitchen, I decided to make this simple Mini Vanilla Cheesecake with Mandarin Topping, using the recipe that I copied from my mum's old baking notes.

It started off with the bare essentials of cheesecake of course. Philadelphia Cream Cheese (for the filling) and McVities Digestive biscuits (for the crust).

In a food processor, I combined the digestive biscuits, melted butter, sugar and orange essence. 

Pulse until well blended and all dry ingredients are moistened and look like wet sand.

Then, place cupcake paper liners in a 12-hole muffin pan. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Bake for about 6 to 8 minutes (Oven temperature: 180 deg celsius) and transfer to a cooling rack.



In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla essence.

Beat on high speed with an electric mixer just until smooth. Add 2 eggs (that have been left at room temperature) and mix well.

Then, spoon 2 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes (Oven temperature: 150 degree celsius).

Once they are out of the oven, individually transfer each cup onto a cooling rack and let them cool to room temperature. Then, place in the fridge and chill for 3 to 4 hours.

Before serving, decorate with a slice of mandarin.

I must say that this cheesecake is so damn easy to make. I was in and out of the kitchen within half an hour to prepare all the above (plus all the washing up).

The only thing is you need to be patient because it takes time to chill the cheesecake. I must admit that I was too impatient and I ate one after just chilling it for only 10 mins.....Haha!

LOVE LOVE......TAKE THAT

I'm back, people!!! Yup, I survived the 2-day conference on the Gold Coast. At the moment, I'm still trying to recover from it. For some reason, I felt so exhausted when I got back to Brissie yesterday. The brain was more tired than the body though. But I'll talk more about it sometime tomorrow when my brain starts functioning properly.

Today, I just feel like talking about TAKE THAT. Yes, my all-time favourite boyband (or manband considering their age now!). You have no idea how crazy I am about these lads. Despite being three decades old, I still squeal like a teenager at the sight of them. They look so good despite their age.....swoon!!

This 'love' story began in 1993 when I discovered their song 'Pray'. Being a poor student back then, I even begged my parents to get me a Take That cassette (yes, you heard me right). I could listen to them day in and day out.......without getting bored. I even wasted alot of my pocket money to buy posters and Top of The Pops magazines (that were hella expensive) that featured these lads.

And of course, sometime in 1995, I heard that they were having a concert in Singapore and I was so ecstatic about it. The news itself was like a dream come true to me. It was all I wanted for my 15th birthday and I was so close to fulfilling my wish of seeing them face to face.I was ultra-determined to watch it...even to the point of persuading my parents to let me go for the concert.

But then, came the nightmare! I got my Sec 3 exam timetable....sigh! The day after the Take That concert was my History exam....Wat the!!!! Why can't it be a Malay exam or English exam....which don't require much studying?? Why does it have to be a History exam for god's sake??

It was coming close to the time of purchasing the concert tickets and I had to think long and hard whether I should really go for the concert or concentrate on studying for my History exam. And of course, being the 'rational' me, I chose my exam over Take That. History wasn't one of my favourite subjects and I knew I had to spend alot of time on it. I kept telling myself that Take That will do another concert again....sometime in the future.

Fast forward 4 months later, I got the news that Take That was disbanding. You have no idea how dissapointed and upset I was. Although I passed my History exam, I simply lost the chance of watching Take That's last ever concert in Singapore. Man, I still regretted it to this day.......

But...but...but...fast forward another 10 years, news broke out that the lads are reforming as a 4-piece band (minus Robbie). You have no idea how exhilirated I was. I was 26 years old and almost on the verge of getting married but yet, I was behaving like a die-hard fanatic. I was a mess!! When I heard 'Patience' on the radio for the first time, I simply cried (yes, a bit melodramatic) because deep down, there is still this small glimmer of hope that I could watch them in concert again......someday (not sure when!). But the hope is still there whatever the case. Thank you boys for doing this!!

And 5 years on (after reforming the band), these boys are still going on strong especially with Robbie rejoining the band....in fact, even bigger and better than the 'old' Take That. And today, i heard their new single 'Love, Love' which is a soundtrack from the upcoming X Men movie. And what can I say....it is just awesome (biased comment of course!). Way to go Boys!!!

Hopefully some day, they'll decide to do a big concert here in Australia or Asia. The UK is a bit of a distance at the moment.....but if need be, I'll save up and fly to the UK someday just to watch them. Even the husband has promised to come with me when the time comes. He sure knows how crazy I am about Take That!!

Here's their performance of 'Love, Love'...................

NEW BEGINNING....

I really don't have much time to write today but I would like to give a really short update.

Tomorrow marks a new beginning for me (well, for the next four months at least). I will be on secondment in a different area of the bank, together with a few other colleagues to work on a transition project. Definitely will be alot of challenges ahead (including long & sleepless nights) but I am ready to counter these obstacles head on. Wish me luck!!

And to ensure that all those in the project are working towards the same goal, we'll be having a 2-day conference in the Gold Coast. Awesome!! Some place nice for a change. We'll be staying at the Royal Pines Resort (http://www.royalpinesresort.com.au/). I've heard good things about this resort in the past, so I am kinda excited to see what the place is like.

The other good thing about this is....................2 days away from babysitting the husband. The best gift any wife could ever get.

I think that's all of my ramblings today. I need to start packing my overnight bag for the trip. I have been lazy and left it to the very last minute....So, see ya in a couple of days.