The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
Colin and I are trying to make knives by material removal from plate stock of pre-hardened steel that I managed to source from a super nice, highly enthusiastic Franco-Swiss metallurgist and knifemaker. I spent a couple of hours last night with an angle grinder and it was fun (but hella noisy!)
I’m working on a tanto, Colin is making a santoku. Watch this space.
115g Oreo biscuit crumbs
60g butter
1150g cream cheese
115g butter
230g sour cream
350g sugar
5 eggs + 2 yolks
1 tsp vanilla paste
Preheat oven to 375F / 190C / 170C Fan degrees with rack in lower third of oven.
Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Line sides of pan with 4-inch-high strips of parchment and butter parchment.
In a food processor, pulse biscuit to a fine crumb. Add butter and pulse until fully incorporated. Press evenly into bottom of prepared springform pan and bake until crust is set, 15 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool 10 minutes.
In a large stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, butter, and sour cream with sugar until light and smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Beat in remaining egg yolks and vanilla extract.
Crisscross two long pieces of foil and place a piece of parchment on top. Place springform in center of foil and wrap foil tightly around bottom and sides of pan. Transfer to a roasting pan, pour filling into springform pan, and smooth the top.
Pour boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan and carefully transfer to oven. Bake for 1-1.5h hour until top of cheesecake is golden brown, edges are set, and center jiggles slightly. Turn oven off and let cool in the oven. Lift cheesecake from water bath, remove foil and parchment from outside of springform, and chill cheesecake in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
(for the picture above, I went off-piste and split my mix into 1/3 – 2/3 and mixed in some cocoa powder into the smaller portion to create a swirly pattern)
