I'd been dying for weeks now to make swirls on my cheesecakes. I made several attempts and I failed over and over. On those attempts, I had cakes that started from a cake that had been an earthquake epicenter, to another which seemed to have Chinese writings (or Manny called it the "olympic cheesecake"). And I'm not exaggerating!
This time around is a huge improvement from the previous hideous cakes that I made a few weeks back. Sarah told me to mix a little cheesecake batter on the strawberry jam because the jam is too heavy for the batter that it sinks, so I'm left with very thin pink lines at the top. I did as she told me and here it is, my swirly cheesecake. There's still a lot of improving to do with the swirls though, I did not get the deep pink/red color that I'd like it to be. I also think I incorporated air to the batter when I made the swirls so there were some popped bubbles on surface. For now however, I'm happy with the fact that I managed to do it!
The bottom of this cake is the Cream Cheese Pound Cake which I baked and cooled, and then I topped it with the cheesecake batter. I baked it again in a waterbath and once it's done, I took it out, cooled it at room temperature for 2 hours before chilling it for 24 hours.
To decorate the cake, I made some ladyfingers which I put on the sides. Then I piped some Raspberry Buttercream on the corner of the cake and the ladyfingers. Lastly, I tied the whole cake with a ribbon. It was so difficult finding a ribbon here in Haifa! I was so happy to find a store that sells one, but they won't sell me per yard. I had to buy the whole roll! Imagine buying a thick roll for an 8-inch ribbon? Oh well forget it, I ended up buying a pre-made ribbon at a giftshop that I had to break down to get a length that I can tie around the cake.
I brought my cake to office the next day and everyone loved it. I myself am surprised at how delicious the combination of the Cream Cheese Pound Cake and the Strawberry Cheesecake tasted like.
