Katie LOVES anything grasshopper flavoured, or in layman's terms is anything flavoured mint/peppermint. The first thing I thought of of course was the obvious and that was Grasshopper pie, but quickly changed my mind when I thought of CHEESE CAKE. How delicious would mint cheese cake be covered in a rich, dark chocolate ganache? Done and Done.
First, I would like to say that any time you plan on making a cheese cake, be prepared. I honestly believe I over thought the method and that's when things began to stress me out. The cheese cake method that I chose was to whip your egg whites to a soft peak and than fold them into the egg yolk/cheese mixture. That's fine and dandy, but when I finished pouring the batter into the pan, it was completely level with the 3" sided cake pan. "Oh well" I figured, "I will worry about it later." It was exactly not until later that I decided to check on the cake (about 1/2 hour or so into the cooking process) when I saw that the whole entire cake has rose at LEAST 3-4" above the entire cake pan. It look like a massive marshmallow sitting atop waiting for the next best thing. I panicked! I took the cake out of the oven and with out any thought, I sliced the whole entire top off of the cake. Now, there is marshmallow fluff (or cheesecake top) all over my counter, and not to mention that it is coloured green because of the "mint" flavour. So, I have green, marshmallow fluff all over my counter, a wiggly jiggly cake under cooked and only 1 hour until dinner. (Yes, I know, I like my cakes to be FRESH, ha ha ha). To say the least, I stay calm and put the cake back into the oven and hope to hell that it cooperates with me and continues the cooking process, but this time without growing massively large.
I leave the oven trying not to stress myself out and continue to work on the ganache. I don't worry about making ganache anymore. Ganache and I used to be terrible friends, mostly ganache always being unreliable. I worked on that relationship (figured out the appropriate ratio) and now we are the two best friends that we ever had. At this point, I take the daring step to look over at the oven and open to see what is inside. A perfect, well cooked, light brown in colour cheese cake, sitting ready for me to take out and ice. THANK YOU!
I left the cake out on a cooling rack to cool enough for me to pour the ganache over top twice (that is 2 cups of rich dark chocolate ganache, yum!).
I was so excited that everything had turned out how I had planned! I packaged the cake and went off to enjoy one of my last dinner's with Katie (until we meet again).
The cake was delicious! Soft, creamy, minty, chocolatey and rich, very very rich. Most of us could hardly finished the last two bites, but since I was using the cake as a cheat meal, I devoured my entire piece with out thinking for even a second.
I have included the link to the recipe for you right here: http://www.zimbio.com/Recipes/articles/U92Swo0obr7/Grasshopper+Cheesecake
At the end of this weekend, I had to say my final "See ya laters" to Katie. It was really hard to do since Katie has become of my closest friends; she was there for me my entire pregnancy with my daughter right through until the birthing room and holding her in her arms after she was born. Katie has been a fantastic listener, adviser and most of all been there for me when I needed her most. We have definitely created some amazing memories together and although we won't be together for the next little while, I will take her advice when she says, "we have Skype!"
Have a fantastic trip, Katie and all the best, and all my love to you! You are going to do amazing! :)
xo
J
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