Baked Chocolate Cheesecake

Preheat the oven to 160 °C.

CRUST
Finely crush the biscuits and the pecan nuts in a food processor.
Add the melted butter and stir until mixed.
Flatten the biscuit crumbs onto the base of a springform pan with a diameter of 22 cm.

FILLING
Use an electric mixer and beat the eggs and the castor sugar until light yellow in colour.
Melt the chocolate in a double cooker on the stove. Let the chocolate cool down for 5 minutes, and stir the melted chocolate into the egg mixture.
Sift the cocoa and cake flour in a mixing bowl. Add it to the chocolate and egg mixture and mix well.
Stir in the cottage cheese and the cream cheese and mix well.
Add the vanilla mixture, and then spoon onto the prepared crust.
Bake for 60 minutes. Switch the oven off, open the oven door halfway, and let it cool down for 30 minutes.
Leave the cheesecake in the pan until it has cooled completely. Open the catch of the springform pan, and remove the cheesecake carefully.
Put the cheesecake in the fridge.

CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM LAYER
Melt the chocolate and the sour cream in a double cooker until smooth. Leave the chocolate to cool completely.
Stir the chocolate well and spoon over the cheesecake.
Cut in thin slices and serve. Store in the fridge.

Granadilla Cake

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Heat the milk and stir in the oil and the granadilla pulp. Set aside.
Use an electric mixer and beat the eggs until light yellow in colour. Add the castor sugar bit by bit. Beat until puffy and light yellow in colour – about 10 minutes.
Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together.
Stir the flour mixture and the milk mixture into the egg mixture alternately, and stir until a batter forms.
Stir in the vanilla essence.
Grease two round cake tins with a diameter of 20 cm with butter, and line with baking paper.
Divide the batter as evenly as possible between the cake tins.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the testing skewer emerges clean.
Let the cakes cool inside the cake tins, and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.

BUTTER ICING
Use an electric mixer and cream the butter until light yellow in colour.
Add the icing sugar little by little while stirring constantly.
If the icing sugar stiffens too much, add a bit of granadilla pulp.
Also add vanilla essence. Keep on stirring until the icing sugar is creamy.
Place the one cake layer on a suitable cake plate. Spread half of the butter icing on it.
Place the other cake on top and spread the remaining icing over it.
Serve sliced.

Prof. Elain’s Fruit Cake

This is a very large recipe. You can make 10 cakes of 1 kg each from this batter.
Place the currants, sultanas, raisins, dates, lemon peel, glazed fruit, cherries and 1 litre Wellington brandy in a large bowl. Cover it and leave it overnight.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, almonds and pecan nuts together.
Cream the butter and sugar until light yellow in colour. Add the eggs and beat until well mixed.
Mix the baking soda and the vinegar well. Add it to the butter mixture.
Add the apricot jam to the butter mixture, and stir until everything is well mixed.
Line 10 cake tins with a diameter of 18 cm with double layers of baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 140 °C.
Mix the fruit mixture, flour mixture, ginger pieces with syrup into the butter mixture,nand stir well.
Divide the batter between the cake tins. Even the batter out on top.
Bake the fruit cakes at 140 °C for 1 hour. Lower the temperature to 120 °C and bake the cakes for another 6 to 7 hours or until a testing skewer emerges clean from the middle of the fruit cake.

TOPPING
Pour 100 ml Wellington brandy over each fruit cake as it comes out of the oven.
That is 100 ml per 100 g fruit cake.

Sweet Potato, Pineapple and Marshmallow Dish

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them in slices, and put them in a saucepan.
Pour a bit of water into the saucepan so that the sweet potatoes can stew.
Cover the saucepan with the lid.
When the sweet potatoes are soft, drain any excess water.
Stir the sugar and the butter into the sweet potatoes. The sweet potato mixture will have a fine texture.
Allow it to boil with the lid off until all the water has evaporated.
Let the fine sweet potato cool down.
Place the pineapple rings on a cooling rack to drain any excess liquid.
Line a baking tray with foil and grease it well with butter.
Place the pineapple rings on top of the foil.
Spoon the sweet potatoes generously in heaps onto the pineapple rings.
Place a large marshmallow on top of each little heap.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the marshmallows begin to melt.
Serve immediately.

Waffles

Melt the butter and set aside until needed.
Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and castor sugar in a mixing bowl, and make a dent in the middle.
Separate the eggs.
Whisk the egg yokes and the Amasi together, and mix in the melted butter.
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until mixed.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks start forming and fold it into the mixture until it is well mixed.
Add a little milk if the batter is not runny enough.
Heat the waffle pan.
Fill the waffle pan only two-thirds full with batter, otherwise the batter will overflow.
Bake for 2 to 3 minutes or until light golden brown.

SERVING SUGGESTION
Whisk the cream until stiff. Serve the waffles with cream and honey or golden syrup