I think like most people i love a little liquor in my bloodstream on any day. Being a chef we are taught at school how to drink and drink well. So drinking is a big and important part of my job/ from understanding wine pairings with food and also the flavour profiles of wines and spirits and what the add to dishes.
My great passion in life is the relationship between alcohol and desserts, i maybe be exaggerating but nothing works quiet as well as desserts and booze. It's the ultimate in decadence, adding a slosh of booze into desserts has a multitude of impacts and affects mainly flavour.
I have fond memories of getting wasted on jelly shots with custard, whipped cream and tinned fruit cocktail, or those weekends in tertiary where we would pour a whole of vodka into whole watermelon and served it with ice-cream.
Traditionalist believe that a small amount of alcohol must be added into desserts and it must be cooked to cooked away the alcohol and only keep the flavour. Me,I'm a purist, i like to taste the liquor in my desserts, i don't want to cook it away, i want it raw and lots of it, which is why i like adding alcohol into frozen desserts. You get it as it is. Now i say if i'm cooking for myself or my friends i could add up to 80ml of alcohol, which is more then a single shot, but if you're cooking for others go easy on them. Too much alcohol can ruin a dish, there has to be a balance, the play on sugar, spice, chocolate, fruit and booze is what i love the most, you must be able to taste all the other ingredients in order to get the full experience.
There's really quiet something into eating and getting drunk. It's so classy.
Which is why i created this recipe, a year ago i started drinking cognac and not only did i love it but i was happy to find out that cognac has notes of marshmallow, vanilla and orange. It's the perfect flavour profile for dessert especially chocolate, which is why i had the idea to combine it with cheesecake. And my Chocolate Chip and Cognac Cheesecake was born.
If you try this recipe, You're welcome in advance!
Base
250g chocolate biscuits finely crushed
150g butter, melted
Filling
3 teaspoons gelatin
1 ½ table spoons boiling water
500g cottage cheese
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
300ml whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
30ml cognac
80ml semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped
Topping
200g dark chocolate, broken up
45ml unsalted butter, softened
60ml chocolate chips chopped
Combine the biscuits and butter and press into a greased round cake tin. Place into the fridge to chill.
Sprinkle gelatin over boiling water and whisk with a fork until dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Beat the cottage cheese, sugar and vanilla paste until light and fluffy. Add in the cognac. Slowly whisk in the gelatin.
Fold in the chocolate chips and then fold in the whipped cream.
Pour into the case, level out and place in the fridge to set.
In a small pot, melt the broken up chocolate with butter, mix until smooth and shiny. Pour over the set cheesecake and use the back of a metal spoon to spread it over the top of the cheesecake, sprinkle over the chopped chocolate chips. Place in the fridge to set up, release from the cake pan and serve.
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