Chocolate + Banana Cheesecake

Guys, I think this is the best cheesecake Dan and I made together, so far. It's so delicious, I could quite well eat the whole thing like the little boy, Bruce, in Matilda who scarfed the whole chocolate cake down with his hands (a tad unladylike maybe?). Granted, it's not the best looking cheesecake around, but you know, we're working on that :) 

This is the recipe we used, we didn't have oranges and we used Dark Chocolate Hobnobs for the base instead of vanilla wafer cookie crumbs. It still tasted pretty amazing. Chocolatey banana-y heaven!

It's a baked cheesecake - and when it's baking in the oven the kitchen fills with this rich banana and cakey smell that is just divine. 

Chocolate. Gooooood.

We didn't have any parchment paper, so we had to use foil instead... Not quite as pretty, but does the job :) 

YEAH! 

You should definitely try the recipe out, it's quite straightforward, and just takes a little bit of prep.

Lovely York

York is a pretty special place. 

People always go on about old world charm, and with York, it's true. Nothing quite like wandering around cobbled streets and narrow alleyways, feeling like maybe this is what it's like to live in the fourteenth century. York is a very walkable city, and if you get tired there is no shortage of food stops. I brought my polaroid the day that we went, the pictures turned out pretty well - maybe I will post them in a future update :) 

The Shambles are enchanting - little shops all lined on a higgledy-piggledy street full of knick-knacks, sweets and chocolate wonderlands. There's always something mysterious about the old.

BIG LUNCH at Oscar's, we got a nice seat by a big french window with the sun shining through :) I ordered their Oscar's Special Burger (an onslaught of beef, bacon, mushrooms and cheese) and Dan got their Mexican Bean Burger. The food was quite good, although I felt that Dan's bean burger was a bit tastier than mine. Both were massive and impossible to finish, and that's coming from me, with my empty pit of a stomach that wants to devour the contents of the universe. 

We got a 99 with TWO flakes! WOO! Highlight of my day. 

Handmade chocolate! What more can I say. A little bit pricey, but worth every penny.

Another usual stop we make is at The Old White Swan. It's just a nice pub, especially in the winter because it's pretty cosy indoors. We sat outside that day though, with some ale and a pork pie with apple sauce. Just a nice place for a chilled out meal, I think.

York train station is also really nice. However, this is not a picture of the nice bit haha. Imagine a big, old fashioned steel clock and steel arches that go across the roof of the station. Think: what England looks like if you opened an old photo album, except with newer trains. Just lovely.

Easter

It's Easter Break here, which means three weeks off uni but definitely still eyeballs deep in work. Still, Pris and I thought it'd be nice to have a small dinner and also kind of use up the giant stock of herbs and spices we brought from home thinking we couldn't get any of them in England. 

SO! We decided to introduce our local friends to Bak Kut Teh (it's basically a pork ribs herbal broth) and for our Malaysian/Singaporean friends a taste of home. Needless to say we all stuffed our faces haha. Thankfully, everyone liked the food and I think that's the best part about cooking - I know it's such a cheesy cliche but it's true - food is best when you share it :) 

This is the soup version of bak kut teh - you can't see the pork ribs but they're in there somewhere!

Stir-fried long beans.

Okay, the soup version is pretty straight forward. The herbs come out of a packet and you follow instructions. But the 'dry' version is a whole different thing and Pris did a great job cooking it. It was SO TASTY!

Our buffet table...

We all sat down after dinner and watched Grease -  which a few of us loved as a kid but watching it now, it was just all too cringy :/ I also got an Easter Bunny from Dan's sister that Rob sang a song about. Something about the bunny meeting its fate...

Before.

After :(

Dan

Izzy and Jack

Mathew

Karthik

It was just a nice chilled out evening with seriously good dry bak kut teh thanks to Pris. Anyway, hope you're having a good Easter holiday wherever you are!