I have adapted my favorite cheesecake recipe using Mexican ingredients.
3 hours Yield: Makes about 12 servings
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups (475 ml) of Graham cracker crumbs (from a little less than 2 packages Graham crackers
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- Pinch salt
- 5 Tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit the pinch of salt), melted
Filling
- 2 pounds cream cheese (900 g), room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar (270 g)
- Pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup crema (160 ml)
- 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (160 ml)
Toppings
- 2 cups crema (475 ml)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar (35 g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 12 ounces (340 g) fresh strawberries
Special Equipment Required
- 9-inch, 2 3/4-inch high springform pan
- Mixer, blender or food processor
- Heavy-duty, 18-inch wide aluminum foil
- A large, high-sided roasting pan
InstructionsThe Crust
- Make your springform pan leakproof. Can’t say it enough. Even if the pan claims to be leakproof. Cut 3 large pieces of tin foil to completely cover your pan. Lay each piece of foil flat on a table and put the springform pan in the center. On the outside of the pan, gently fold up the tinfoil to cover the sides. Gently. No holes. Leakproof.
- Oven to 350°F, with rack in lower third of oven.
- Crush graham crackers with a masher, blender or processor until finely ground. Stir in the salt sugar and butter. Put the mixture in the pan and press down firmly and evenly on the bottom of the pan.
- Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes – remove and cool while you make the filling. (Also turn down the oven to 325°F.)
The Filling
- Cream the creamcheese. This is easiest to do if the cheese is room temperature. Use a blender, food processor or mixer. Do this for at least 4 minutes or until smooth. Scrape and mix.
- One at a time add the sugar, salt and vanilla, beating 4 minutes between ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with each ingredient. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating one minute after each addition.
- Add the crema and the whipping cream. Scrape!Pour the batter into the pan.
- Put the foil-lined springform pan into the roaster pan and fill the roaster pan with boiling water. It should reach 1/2 way up the springform pan’s outside height.
- Bake for 1 1/2 hour.Turn the oven off and wedge open the oven door with a utensil so the oven cools down slowly and prevents the cheesecake from cracking.Leave the cake in the pan and cover the to with foil. Refrigerate for 4 hours or better yet, overnight
The Topping
- For the topping, mix the crema powdered sugar and vanilla, until smooth.Add the topping and decorate with strawberries or other creation!
To view in a larger format, click on any photograph
This celebration became part of the 14th century lent celebration in Europe. The shape of the piñata was originally shaped like a pineapple. ‘Piñata Sunday’ is the first Sunday in lent and in Spain there was a fiesta known as the ‘Dance of the Piñata’.
In Mexico a similar tradition took place for both the Aztec and Mayan cultures. The Aztec priests placed a decorated clay pot on a pole to celebrate the birthday of the God “Huitilopochtli” – God of war, sun, and human sacrifice. The pot was broken with a club or stick and the stuffing was and offering to the God. Similarly the Mayans made a game of this and suspended the pot and hit it while blindfolded.
The missionaries untied these customs to convert the native populations to Christianity and promoted piñatas at parties and fiestas. The 7 points on the traditional piñata represent the seven deadly sins – greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, envy, wrath and lust and taught the virtues of the catechism.
The blindfolded represents faith which must be blind. Often the crowd will spin the participant who is the leading force against evil, around thirty three times to represent the life of Christ. Other biblical symbols and lessons include: Looking to the heavens for the prize. virtue over evil, just rewards, charity and shared divine blessing, justification of faith.
The religious connotation of the piñata is largely lost and only the game of fun has survived.
Hit, hit, hit. Don’t lose your aim, Because if you lose, you lose the road. This piñata is much manna, only contains oranges and sugar cane.”
Today Piñatas can be found in every market. While traditional ball with the seven sins points still exist, popular piñatas include a cast of cartoon characters. Marvel Comics recently complained about copy write infringement with piñatas based on their characters and many market piñata sellers were closed in Mexico City. However, Batman, Spiderman, Snow white still sell strong throughout the country as do political and sexually oriented piñatas.
Banana Trees
Views from My Tropical Garden – Banana Trees
By Tara A. Spears
Warm climate gardening tips
A favorite warm climate native, the banana tree, adds a festive touch to any home by providing beautiful large leaves that provide a soothing rustling sound in the ocean breezes as well as bearing delicious fruit. It can be grown in a container –dressing up a balcony or patio- or planted directly in the ground. Wild forms of the banana plant come originally from the Indo-Malaysian area but are now cultivated all over the tropical and sub-tropical continents, including Mexico. The attractive banana plants can grow up to 45 feet (15 m) tall but most varieties vary from 9 to 25 feet (3 to 9 m) high. The blue-ish green, graceful large leaves can grow to 12 feet (3 m) long, making it a great source of shade in a sunny yard. This rapid growing plant can reach full size in just a few weeks, making it a desirable addition for obtaining a tropical look around a pool or patio areas.
The banana is a herbaceous plant that consists of an underground corm and a trunk (pseudostem) that is comprised of concentric layers of leaf sheaths. At about 10 to 15 months after the emergence of a new plant, its true stem will rapidly grow up through the center of the leaves and emerge as a terminal inflorescence that bears fruit. The flowers appear in group (hands) along the stem and are covered by a purplish bract which roll back and shed as the fruit stem develops. The first hands to appear contain female flowers which will develop into bananas, usually seedless in the edible varieties. The number of female flowers varies from a few to more than ten rows, after which numerous hands of sterile flowers appear and shed in succession, followed by numerous hands of male flowers that will also shed. Generally, the bract will roll up and shed to expose a new hand of flowers almost daily.
Like all true tropical plants, the banana requires constant warm and sunny growing conditions. Frost will kill the leaves and temperatures in the high 20s F (-10s C) will kill the foliage to the ground. This plant will grow in a wide variety of soils as long as the soil is deep and has good surface and internal drainage. Poorly draining soil can be partly overcome by planting in raised beds, as the plant does not tolerate poor drainage or flooding. Banana plants will die if kept in saturated soil more than 48 hours. Conversely, lack of water at anytime will negatively affect the overall health of the plant and reduce the number and size of the fruit yield. Symptoms of drought stress include folding of the leaves, pale green to yellow color development and premature leaf death.
I neglected my watering routine this dry season and my previously gorgeous trees are showing these symptoms. (Note photo) The banana tree will flourish in up to 50% shade, but will not bear fruit without eight hours of full sun.
Local plant nurseries offer different varieties of banana plants already potted for sale, but the common propagation method is to get ‘suckers’- pieces of rhizome that sprout from a mature stalk- from a friend or neighbor that has banana plants in their yard. One simply uses a spade to separate the baby plant with roots from its neighbors. The plantlet should have many healthy roots and be nodule and nematode free for best results. Trim off most of the leaves and stick it a large pre-dug hole that has been prepared by mixing native soil with composted organic matter or a prepared sand-peat moss mixture. Immediately water thoroughly, and water daily for a week, especially during the dry season. In a full sun location, it’s a good idea to put a heavy layer of mulch to help keep the soil moist while the plant is acclimating to the new location. Important: Wear old clothes before cutting any part of the banana plant because the sap causes black patches that stain.
One of the most popular fruits due to its moderate cost, high nutritional value, and versatility, the banana is conveniently packaged as it comes in its very own biodegradable container- its skin. Not only are bananas superb fresh, eaten by hand, but they can be broiled, fried, baked, sautéed, grilled or pureed-besides making wonderful chilled beverages. Overripe bananas make yummy cakes, muffins, cookies, quick breads; luscious pies, desserts, sauces, custards, and curries. To delay ripening, bananas may be refrigerated: the flesh will stay firm but the skin will darken. Ripe bananas (skin is yellow) can be frozen for up to three months. Bananas are always picked green and need to be kept at room temperature to ripen, hence all the cute banana racks one finds in kitchen stores.
Whether you grow a banana plant for its fruit or just to enjoy its leaves-as I do- it is a must have for any tropical gardener. Easy to grow, low maintenance, excellent as a specimen plant or in a cluster, the banana plant whispers of exotic places-right in your yard!
Easy Banana Nut Muffins
Ingredients:
2 large eggs.
2 large ripe bananas, mashed.
1 stick of butter, softened.
2 cups of all-purpose flour.
1 cup of granulated sugar.
1 cup of buttermilk.
½ cup of chopped pecans.
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of baking powder.
½ teaspoon of baking soda.
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease 12 standard size muffin-pan cups.
Beat together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
One at a time, add the eggs, beating thoroughly after each is added.
Beat in the bananas until the mixture is smooth.
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Alternately stir the flour mixture and the buttermilk into egg mixture until the dry ingredients are just moistened.
Stir in the chopped pecans and vanilla extract.
Spoon the batter into the greased muffin pans, filling about two-thirds.
Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden brown.
