The Beginning....

I was 11 when I baked my first cake with mum's help. Dad had bought me an OTG as a birthday gift, knowing little that baking would become my passion. By the time i was 17 and ready to leave school for graduation, I wanted to become a chef, but destiny had other plans. I studied to become an advertising professional and today run an ad agency with my father. However cooking remains my first love. And its all the more worth its while if you are surrounded by foodies who not only love to eat but also let me experiment my new dishes on them.

KJ(a lot of you know him as Kartick), my husband, my best critic and my biggest motivator has always encouraged me to explore the unexplored territories of the world of cooking. For those of you who don't know KJ, he's a real foodie in the true sense of the word. He has this innate ability to sniff-n-tell the finer nuances of a secret recipe. He's as curious as a child and peers into my oven waiting for it to bring out a new surprise every other day.
One would often hear him say "you have to learn how to make this at home", every time we are out for dinner and he likes a particular dish.

Today as I enter the creative world of food bloggers, I must acknowledge the final 'Push' i got from Shuchi my cousin (who could even eat my burnt cake and smile:p)and Nachiketa a friend and a food blogger as well. Shuchi has been constantly supportive and encouraging with my baking and Nachiketa would never miss a chance to tell me how I must start my own blog.

To celebrate the beginning of my blog I'm sharing my favourite Blueberry Cheesecake recipe here:

Blueberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Base
20 Digestive Biscuits
4 tbsp Melted Butter
8-9” Diameter loose bottom cake tin

Cheesecake
500g Cream (I use Amul cream)
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
6 tbsp of Cream Cheese (Homemade, which is essentially hung curd)
5 tsp Gelatine soaked in about ½ cup water
Juice of I fresh lemon
1tsp Vanilla Extract


Topping
½ bottle or about 5-6 tbsp of blueberry jam
2 tbsp of cornflour


Procedure
1. Grind the digestive biscuits to a coarse powder.
2. Add the butter and mix well. Spread this mixture on the base of the loose bottom cake tin. Press well with the back of a spoon or a katori. Keep in the fridge to set for an hour.
3. Soak gelatin in ½ cup water and heat it till it dissolves completely. Make sure the gelatin DOES NOT come to a boil. Keep aside.
4. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. To it add the lemon juice and vanilla extract. One the mixture becomes nice and creamy, add the amul cream and beat well with a hand mixer. Now add the gelatin and mix well again, till the gelatin blends in completely.
5. Pour over the biscuit base and keep in the fridge for 3-4 hours to set.
6. Topping: Mix cornflour with ¼ cup water. Keep aside.
In a pan heat the blueberry jam, add the cornflour and mix well. Keep the flame low and keep mixing till the jam thickens slightly.
Pour this mix over the already set cheesecake. Spread it evenly and let it set for another 3 hours.