The first week in France has gone well. I am adjusting to the time difference, enjoy being with James and starting to take in my new surroundings in a different way. In many ways France feels similar to home but in so many little ways, things are very different too. An example to help illustrate this is trying to make a cheesecake.
James really enjoyed cheesecake when he was in the States and during that time made a point to say that he hopes I can make cheesecake for him in France. So I got a recipe from a friend, which is suppose to be "to die for cheesecake." While visiting a friend the other day they invited us to dinner for Saturday evening and James declared, "we will bring cheesecake for dessert."
So I scrambled to make sure I have the recipe and yesterday we set out to get things we will need to make it. As we may or may not have pointed out in the past, James doesn't have a lot of kitchen supplies! A spring form pan is definitely not something that he had. We went to 3 different stores and could not find a springform pan to buy! James asked "do we really NEED this type of pan or can we make it in a pan that is similar but the sides don't come off?" I guess he really wants some cheesecake. Now I know how to bake but in no way is cheesecake something I have made more than once; I mean who needs to go to such trouble with the Cheesecake Factory not far away. With some hesitation I agree that we will try to make it with the other pan.
The next item on the shopping list is to find a handmixer. Stores 1 and 2 did not have them but we scored at the 3rd store. So now onto finding the ingredients. I had talked to James the other day about cream cheese (prior to the cheesecake making came about) and he and his brother insist that there is cream cheese in France; they know what Philadelphia cream cheese is and claim that it exists here.
During yesterday's shopping extravaganza Philadelphia cream cheese was not to be found. Some other items on the list proved to be pretty basic: eggs, sugar, and vanilla. However in addition to the cream cheese 2 other items were causing me some concern, graham crackers and sour cream. James was confident about what sour cream was and we purchased a container of it. The cream cheese that we bought was the brand he saw a picture online this morning while researching what a spring form pan was. Now for all of you cream cheese loving fans, this is where it gets REAL questionable. The cream cheese that we purchased came in a container like cottage cheese or yogurt would, not our standard 8 oz block format that all of us Americans are used to. Graham crackers were not found so we purchased something that looked close and is probably some sort of biscuit cookie. I figured that this could turn out ok since there are cheesecakes that have oreo crusts and such.
We left the store with all of our supplies and started in on the process of making this cheesecake. The crust process went fine, just labor intensive with the crushing of the biscuits. The cream cheese filling...let's just say that if this is in fact cream cheese, it does not have the same consistency as the cream cheese we are used to and sits in a little liquid with a built in strainer. Throwing a little caution to the wind, I proceeded to mix things and dump them into the pan. I baked it in the oven and after cooling it on the counter it has been in the fridge since last night.
It should be quite an experience this evening when we bring this cheesecake to his friend's house. Not only do I have no idea if the ingredients are comparable, but the conversions of measurements and the oven temperature also play a role. Thankfully the company we will be with this evening are good sports and if this is a total flop they will be able to have a good laugh with us. James is confident and said that if this is the best cheesecake I have ever had then he is going to tell them that he made it :)
Stay tuned to find out the results, fingers crossed that it is at least edible!!
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