Chocolate Crazy in Chennai!

Made it to the new branch of a little (but very pricey, upmarket) chocolate dessert cafe called Sandy's last weekend. Wrote a review about it on burrp.com. Here it is:

"
First off, finding this place is not difficult if you know where to look. Just opposite Taj Coromandel there's a road going in. Follow the road and you'll find Sandy's on the left side opposite "Timber".

Small place, would probably seat around 10 people. But well kept and neat. The main course items (of course, not important) are written on a board and you can order them.

We had Bassa Fish with Pistachio, Carribean Chicken with Salad and Waffle Cake Toast. All 3 tasted very good, though the last one was a bit lacking when it came to quantity.

Moved on to the real deal, the actual main course. Was unable to order the "Ultimate Sin" , cos they didn't have it today. Gave the "Pick me up" dish a try. You may or may not like it depending on your taste for alcohol. But it was alright. Sampled the "Everything But" and "Funky Monkey". Both concoctions of chocolate that will satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth ten times over, and give you a heart attack with all the whipped cream on it. It is pretty much the next taste of heaven I'm having after my time visiting every Swensen's parlour I could find in Thailand. Both came with a shot of chocolate sauce and a choco-chip cookie.



I sincerely ask that you give "Everything But" a shot. Whipped cream, dark truffle, fresh chocolate cake, vanilla bean icecream.... my god the list of stuff in it is endless.

Overall the food's really good. Quantity might be a bit on the lower side for certain items under the "Feel Good Potions" part of the menu considering the price, but the high pricing is expected considering the locality.


I actually went to Sandy's since I heard about this branch opening on Burrp. Will definitely return another day.

The only reason I'm giving this 4 stars on 5 is because they should have one staff member always in the dining area. We felt there was no one to take orders the minute we wanted to order sometimes. And no one was there to hold the door open or say thank you when we got up to leave.




I've uploaded a picture of the seating and "Everything But". Do take a look and stare in awe at this marvellous mug of chocolate goodness.

As for parking, I suppose you could put 2 cars inside the building's parking area comfortably.

"

You can read the review at it's source here - Burrp Chennai

Cheesecake capers

I've always had a sweet tooth, and whenever I go to a buffet, the space for my entree (North American usage strictly) is usually reserved for the dessert section. Of late, I've been trying my hand at cooking a little bit, with my mum's help and under her supervision of course. She's really really good at cooking, and tries out whatever they show on television. Feeling the need to excel at least at making what I love to gulp down, I decided to focus upon the sweet stuff.

Among my adventures (the initial attempt at chocolate mousse was of course a misadventure - a tad too much butter) are various types of chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, the aforementioned mousse (though made properly later), white sauce (I know this one ain't sweet but it did taste damn good).

The latest one, a few days back, was a three layer cheesecake. This was based on a recipe I'd seen on a TV channel. The top layer in their version was a jelly-like layer which made use of egg-whites for added flavour. I swapped this layer out for another one. Read on for details.

Ingredients:

• Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
• Two Eggs
• Sugar
• Gelatin (No, I don't mean the stuff you use to blow things up)
• Butter
• Condensed milk (I used MilkMaid)
  
• A big pack or two of Marie biscuits
• Custard powder and Caramel
  

A springform pan would be of very good use in this venture as well as for a number of other desserts. It'll help cakes come out with smooth and proper edges. Of course you could improvise without one too (I did). Anyway, on to the main event.


The base
Break and powder a large number of marie biscuits using a mixer. This is then heated in a pan with 4 tablespoons of butter. Smear some butter on d bottom of the vessel (read: springform pan) you'll be using to .... let's say "assemble" the cheesecake. After mixing the butter and biscuit powder well (while heating), it is made into a layer on the base of this vessel. Press this powder down gently but firmly till it becomes thick and you can be sure that the next layer won't drip down through it. Put the springform pan in the freezer for 15-20min to let it set.

The Madness in the middle
The middle layer has to be the thickest - its gonna be real cheesy, and in a good way mind you.

First take some gelatin powder(not the usual jelly powder). Melt around 2 tablespoons of it by double boiling in water in a pan and let the resulting liquid cool.
Break 2 eggs and keep the egg yellow aside. Some of you pure vegetarians might be doing it without the eggs, If you do, please do tell me how it goes.
400g of sugar is powdered using the mixer.

Again 400g of paneer is taken. Use a mixer to crush/cut this up into smaller pieces. To the paneer in the mixer, 400g of condensed milk is added.
Add the powdered sugar in its entirety. Add the egg yellow too. Pour in the liquid gelatin. Now mix this gradually but well in the mixer till it becomes a sort of paste.

Take the pan you had earlier put in the freezer out and pour this cheesy paste onto the set layer of biscuit. Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm.... Put this back in the freezer for around half an hour.
Remember, until now, the pan you're using must be able to hold everything layer by layer, the height must be sufficient.

You can stop at this itself if you want just a cheesecake and you're not really interested in what goes above it. But having another layer on top gives it a more complex look.

On top of what you have (which should have been set by now):

• Option 1 (as in the original recipe on TV): Consider this - Take orange juice or mango juice mixed with the white of egg (which was set aside earlier). Then add gelatin to it. Mix well. Now pour it onto the middle layer and let it set again in the freezer.

• Option 2: You can innovate/improvise the way you wish. How about adding a layer of thick chocolate pudding and let it set (yeah, use a wee bit of gelatin to help it along) . Or you could prepare some caramel custard n use that for a top layer (like I did).

I'll say this again, its very handy to have a springform pan in which to set the entire thing layer by layer, since you can just remove the sides of the pan once you're done setting the layers. Not absolutely necessary though.

After the thing is relatively stable, shift it out of the freezer and into the fridge. Let it stay there for a few hours before you cut it and taste the goodness. Feedback on how the recipe tasted is welcome, but I know I won't be getting any as always. Below is a picture of my creation, you can clearly see the layers. This of course, was the last remaining piece. So i took a picture of it before feasting upon this cheesy delight.



Still if someone manages to make it and taste it (apart from me), I'll be pleased. Though some might be averse to the slightly powdery biscuit layer, I just loved the whole cheesecake!!!

Further adventures beckon me, albeit the delay I ascribe to the scarcity of whipped cream or heavy whipping cream in our beloved India. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE YOU COULD GET IT!!!???!?