Caramelised white chocolate cheesecake.

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I already knew from the moment I tasted the Whittakers west coast caramelised buttermilk white chocolate that if I ever saw it on sale I was going to grab a few blocks and melt it down in a cheesecake filling. Then when Kit Kat came out with their limited edition caramelised white chocolate blocks called Gold? No question about it. This cheesecake was happening.

My local Coles fortunately had a little percentage off Whittakers so I picked up four blocks (SHH MUM, I CAN STICK TO A GROCERY BUDGET… When I feel like it..)

Deliberated for a while whether this creation was to be a chilled or baked cheesecake and in the end I decided it had to be baked.

Ingredients:

  • 2 blocks of caramelised white chocolate
  • 250g of plain biscuits
  • 750g of cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup of melted butter
  • 1/2 cup of sugar (caster sugar is better but I didn’t have it this time)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 block of Gold Kit Kat for decoration
  • Gold crystallised sprinkles for decoration (optional)

Method:

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.
  2. Crush the plain biscuits til you have a fine, sand-like texture. Melt the butter and and mix in a bowl with the biscuit crumbs. Press down into a lined springform pan. You can stick this in the warming oven to bake and set  if you’d like but you don’t need to. It will get baked with the filling later on.
  3. For the filling mix all the cream cheese, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl.
  4. Break up the chocolate bars in another smaller bowl and microwave in small increments of about 15-10 seconds and push it around during each gap with a spoon. After it becomes runny let the residual heat melt the rest of the chocolate. Do not let the chocolate burn!
  5. Beat the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture until evenly combined.
  6. Pour on top of biscuit base and make sure to scrape the sides of the cream cheese bowl! Can’t waste any of this delicious filling. Tap the cake tin on your bench top to help release any air pockets a few times. Pop into the oven for about 1 hour.
  7. At the 50 minute mark check on the cake and tap the centre of it. If it feels firm you can turn off the oven heat but leave the cake in for longer to ensure the filling has really set.
  8. For decoration I used nearly an entire block of Kit Kat Gold (minus 4 short bars) and a sprinkle of goldish sugar crystals.

Notes:

  • My chocolate didn’t melt into a runny texture so I put a bit of melted butter from my base prep. (I melted more butter than I needed.) I’m not sure if it was because my chocolate blocks had been in the fridge or so perhaps the texture wasn’t as easily melted or if this is just a thing that happens with all caramelised white chocolate varieties.

Fanfiction: immersion in existing works from readers and writers

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Hi all, this is one of the first articles I submitted in my undergrad to the student newspaper (named Cruwsible at the time) about FanFiction. This piece won me first prize in the publication’s first ever writing competition. I remember writing a lot more at the time, but reducing it to fit the submission guidelines. I wanted to share it here as well. It can also be read on the publication site -> here. I remember sending it to the editor with the title “Literachore” thinking I was making a hilarious joke about worldbuilding. I love a good pun, and even a bad one.

I accidentally and luckily discovered fanfiction back in 2006. Fanfiction is, as its name indicates, fictional writings by fans. Fanfiction can be based upon television shows, novels, video games, graphic novels, plays, films, and even historical figures and celebrities. The stories can utilise the pre-existing characters, situations, and settings of fictional worlds in a variety of ways. The stories can have a great deal or very little in common with the canon of their chosen fandom (fanatic domain). Continue reading “Fanfiction: immersion in existing works from readers and writers” →

Online Gaming – an investigation

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Online gaming has been around for decades and has transformed a lot in that time. These games can be partially or entirely played on the internet with the aid of a computing device or other console devices that allows the user to connect to a server. The transformation of online gaming mirrors the way computing itself has changed over the years as technology was improved. This paper (yes another piece of homework from me) will aim to clarify the historical and artistic context of online gaming, business, as well as what impacts the medium of gaming has had with other digital and interactive media. Continue reading “Online Gaming – an investigation” →

Mise-en-scene in Lagaan (2001).

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Disclaimer: I do not own the above image.

Also stylised with tagline as “Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India”

Mise-en-scene is elemental to consider when examining a film’s style. It makes up all the details that deliver the story to the audience, and whether overt or subtle it serves to enhance what we receive. Director Ashutosh Gowariker’s 2001 film Lagaan is a blend of the genres of sports drama, Bollywood, period, and epic with a running time that exceeds three and a half hours. It received a very high level of international critical acclaim. “Lagaan” is Hindi for ‘taxation’ and the film follows a small West Indian village’s plight to erase their tax commitment to the British settlement. This paper will aim to clarify how the film Lagaan uses mise-en-scene to achieve a more vivid and rich production.

The acting style is dramatic and typical of South Asian cinema. In the film, a British captain named Andrew Russell (played by Paul Blackthorne) on a whim first doubles the tax of the provinces he oversees, and then reverses it based on the outcome of a cricket match against one village. His younger sister Elizabeth (played by Rachel Shelley) secretly helps the Indians to train for the match. Bhuvan (portrayed by Amir Khan) is the leading protagonist and delivers many heartfelt lines that represent his values. His good character is reinforced by his Continue reading “Mise-en-scene in Lagaan (2001).” →

Baked ricotta cheesecake.

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I’ve made this cake five times in the last three weeks. I did a lot of research before settling on this recipe, which sort of picks and chooses ingredients and amounts from countless others. A few months ago I made a very thin baked cheesecake without ricotta, and with Arnott’s shortbread creams for the base. It turned out really tasty but I had my heart set on trying out a ricotta cheesecake. I wanted to top the cake with raspberries but the frozen ones I had were… ugly. I decided to smoothie those, and get some other picture pretty berries out for this one.

Continue reading “Baked ricotta cheesecake.” →

Saturn Devouring His Son

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Francisco_de_Goya,_Saturno_devorando_a_su_hijo_(1819-1823)

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This is one of my favourite paintings. It’s unofficially called ‘Saturn Devouring His Son’ by Francisco de Goya, part of a series now referred to as ‘the Black Paintings’, never given official names by Goya. A few years ago I was reading about cannibalism having re-watched Silence of the Lambs and read Hannibal Rising. This artwork came to my attention then, reading about the history of human cannibalism. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. I felt so mesmerised by the horrific depiction. It was so cold and brutal. Saturn’s wide eyes chilled me to my core, and the way his infant is limbless, beheaded and bleeding certainly enhances the terror of the scene. Continue reading “Saturn Devouring His Son” →

White chocolate panna cotta.

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This is the first time I’ve ever made panna cotta and I was honestly so happy with the results. I could have made a plain, traditional vanilla flavoured dessert but I decided I would wait til I hate vanilla bean paste to use instead of just vanilla extract. I like the look of creamy white panna cotta, but for a vanilla flavoured one I would like to see little speckles of vanilla bean in it. Continue reading “White chocolate panna cotta.” →

Malaysian street-style mee goreng.

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I haven’t made hokkien at home since my birthday party in November. I made this dish for iftar on Tuesday night. It was supposed to be for my friend Ishrat, alongside a smoked salmon pasta, but she was incapacitated unfortunately. 😦

For months since I got back from Bangladesh I would watch mee goreng recipe videos on YouTube late at night. I kept planning to try combining some recipes to get a flavour I’d prefer, but just never got around to it until now. Continue reading “Malaysian street-style mee goreng.” →