DIY: Making Your Own Chilled Cheesecake

It was just recently that there have been quite a number of guests and friends wanting to make their own cheesecake. So here is a simple, straight-forward, yet somewhat delightful recipe that nearly everyone is be able to prepare with some basic equipment and access to the nearby supermarket.

There's no secret to the recipes I have used for my cheesecakes since several years back, it lies within the selection and the combinations of the flavours used to make something simple, exotic. Getting to the point, here is the recipe breakdown (For a 1kg recipe):

Ingredients:
300g cream cheese (Any brand will do, though its up to your preference)
300g whipping cream (You can use non-dairy topping too, they are somewhat similar)
2 tbsp of gelatine powder
1/2 cup of water
a little vanilla extract to taste
a little sugar to taste
and other flavourings of choice (e.g.juice of a lemon, chocolate powder, milo, you name it) to taste

100g of broken biscuit crumbs (any biscuit of choice - chunkier bits will be a little crispier)
75g of melted butter (I generally discourage using margarine as its taste is inferior and also probably unhealthy)

Equipment:
2 mixing bowls
1 Mixer
1 Baking Tray with a removable base (looks like pic below)

Refrigerator
Stove
Basic utensils

Method:
1. Whip the cream cheese with solid or powdered ingredients until they form a smooth paste.
2. Dissolve gelatine powder with water over very low heat until the mixture is smooth.
2a. Prepare the biscuit base by melting butter over low heat and mixing in the biscuit crumbs. Press firmly with a spoon. If the base is too brittle, add in more melted butter.
3. Whip in the gelatine mixture with the cheesemix.
4. Beat the whipping cream in a separate bowl until firm tops are formed, then fold in (Mix manually) the whipping cream with the cheesemix till smooth.
5. Pour everything into the baking tray, then add any toppings of choice.
6. Chill for four hours to set.

And that's it! The basics are really quite simple, but from there there is so much that you can do to give add a variety of new ingredients and add-ons to make a truly exquisite dessert. Here was a little something I did for a friend sometime back (Nothing spectacular, but it will still great fun):

The best part of doing it yourself? The whole thing will cost you only around RM25!