Due to the nutritional nature of this particular baked good, cheesecake is not something I make very often. They were always quite good, though not flawless. However, a few days ago, I decided to trek the journey for perfect cheesecake. This was probably reinforced by Keith having bought me a gorgeous new spring-form pan. Made in Germany, no less. hu hu hu.


Having conducted endless researching, and cursing myself for not paying attention to the concerning chapter while studying Baking With Julia over a year ago, I have comprised a recipe with extensive instructions, which proved very successful from the "trial" administered just the day before, as shown in the above photos.


Long since have I appreciated the nature of cheesecake as being essentially a custard, and should thus be treated with utmost care and patience. In addition to the water bath method which I already knew of prior, I also learned the benefits of an extra "steam" bath placed on the floor of the oven. Also acquired a myriad of tricks to eliminate cracking of the cheesecake's surface, as well as to preserve the cake's moisture during the entire process of baking and cooling. I pride myself for having finally thought of placing the spring-form pan in a double lining of large oven bags to prevent seepage from the water bath, which no amount of foil wrapping around the pan could eliminate.


The strawberry sauce depicted is a concoction of Keith's, a simple mixture of a box of ripe, hulled strawberries, sugar, starch, water and a pinch of salt. Heating on low heat for an hour or so and pressing through a sieve yields this delicious, rich sauce.


This is for the connoisseur and novice of the kitchen alike, who enjoy the genuine, delicious goodness of high quality baked goods:

• Recipe for Perfect Cheesecake


• Recipe for Whipped Cream Frosting

FAMOUS FELLA CONTEST!

_{Celebrating deviantART's 9th birthday!}

The contest has come to a close as of yesterday, thank you all for participating! Click to view the news article, and please congratulate the following winners!

1st place ~4u64ica




2nd place winner =anda0105       3rd place winner ~Colocho-geek



Special Mention: ~Praw
For sheer humour factor ;>

After a whole year of tweaking and experimenting, I have finally achieved the perfect apple pie. For those of you who have attempted my apple pie recipe and were happy with the results... well, it gets better <3


Having made peach pie a few days ago, which requires cooking the peaches in heavy sugar water, Keith suggested that the apples in my apple pie ought be cooked prior to baking as well, so as to acquire a more delectable, tender bite.


Granny Smith Apples are peeled, sliced, basted in honey-lemon water and marinated as usual in a concoction of sugars, vinegar, lemon juice and spices. This is all placed in a large saucepan and then heated on the cooker at the lowest setting, requiring frequent stirring and very gradual increase of temperature, for about 20-30 minutes until the apples are tender. The apples are then strained and arranged in a prepared pie shell, a few tablespoons of the juice in the saucepan is drizzled over, some butter slices to top, and the whole thing is covered with a top crust and baked, as usual.


There are also a few minor alterations to the Flaky Pie Dough recipe, change to the proportion of ingredients, which results in a slightly thicker crust, though still as chewy and flaky as ever.


And here they are, for the maestro and novice of baking, and all who love pie:

• Revised Recipe for Flaky Pie Dough


• Revised Recipe for Apple Pie Filling

Yes, it's here again! Those of you eager to receive critique on your Traditional work, or simply wish to watch and learn a few things about giving constructive critique, the next Critique Night session is coming up!


Information as follows:

• Date: 10th of October, 2009


• Time: 6 p.m. EST (GMT -4)


• Main Critique Chatroom: #dATrad


• Conversation Chatroom: #Traditional


• Note: Main room will be muted

Should you wish to apply for a spot on the Critique Panel:

• Please send a note to Aida ^oilsoaked prior to the event with the subject line "Panel".


• Please include in the body of the note a few examples of critique.


• There will be no additions to the panel on the day of the session.


• Constructive Critique only.

The portrait above, inspired by a tiny postage-stamp-size of a black and white photo, is of Jaycee Lee Dugard, and was painted a mere few days after she was reported as missing in 1991. After 18 years' abduction, just this very week, she was safely recovered.


She is one of the first portraits of missing children attempted by our very own =johnpaulthornton. This portrait was exhibited on the National Mall, at the White House, and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, along with all the hundreds of portraits of missing children, all painted by John Paul as one of the most valiant and elaborate ventures the Art World has known.


For more information please view:

• John Paul's dA News Article


• The television interview with John Paul on CBS news


• John Paul's web site

These lovely ornaments created by Nadia `bleedsopretty are an attestation to her expert craftsmanship and boundless creativity, and are only a small portion that showcase her capabilities in this profession. Many more can be found in her gallery and Etsy Shop, and are all available for purchase. Each item is utterly unique and can be custom tailored to personal preference.


For more information, feel free to:

• Browse Nadia's gallery


• Browse Nadia's Etsy Shop


• Contact Nadia via notes

This is how many photos Keith remembered to take during our trip from where we live in Vegas to deviantART's HQ in Los Angeles yesterday. Good times pushed all thoughts of photo-documentation to the way back-end of our minds. That's me on the car prior to driving out in the morning, and me on one of their iMacs that $chris very kindly set up for us. Yes that's `Rubius' page... please offer your congratulations to her for receiving seniority!


After being on the site for almost 8 years, it's wonderful to finally be able to meet the people who make this place what it is, all of them genuine and full of passion. Keith and I were given the grand tour by Matt $eStunt, whom I've known since 2004. Really sweet guy. The place is so much larger than I imagined... and full of interesting knick-knacks and gorgeous Fine Art Prints hanging everywhere.


Keith and I are very honoured to spend over an hour of quality time with Angelo $spyed, where he so fervidly showed and described to us all the new developments for deviantART... suffice to say that all the hype concerning Groups as well as site functionality is definitely not over-exaggerated, and warrant much anticipation. Thank you for that mind-blowing and rather unexpected symposium, Angelo... and for the amazing lattes.


There are many online communities to choose from nowadays, however there's always this certain something about deviantART that doesn't exist anywhere else... it might as well be recognised as a heart. The opportunity to connect with so many people who share a powerful love for art is an amazing thing. What's even more remarkable, is how many lives are positively affected on a very large scale just by being a part of this community... if it weren't for dA, I would never have met all my closest friends, let alone my husband, and I certainly wouldn't have broken out of my shy teenage phase and re-realise that I was born with a purpose, to express myself by working with my hands to create art... and I might not be living out my childhood dream, to do what I love most as a profession.


"Thank you" seems never to really cut it... however that's all I can come up with... from the bottom of my heart .


Some of you have probably seen/heard of the little webcam session on dAmn... yes, that was a fantastic sandwich $jeanpat made for me. Mine had prosciutto, brie, mozzarella, mustard, and this absolutely delicious fig paste. And yes, =JaninaZ is gorgeous in person. I do apologise for missing some of you... chatrooms move too fast for my brain sometimes.

And look what `jmonzani was kind enough to have done and forwarded to me this morning... a screenshot from when Angelo was about to show the little gift we brought, the original Panda Plush Tiem


4 hours went by just like that before we realised we had to hit the road to avoid the nightmare Friday traffic where everyone from LA makes a rush for Vegas... god knows why. We had all the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks to keep us company, so the trips didn't feel that long at all


Hope everyone at HQ enjoyed the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and the Panda painting. Thank you again for everything. And here's to dA's 9th birthday, and many more to come!

 

Look what came in the mail for me all the way from Switzerland... a lovely present from Keith. 84 colour water-soluble crayons from Caran d'Ache, complete with gorgeous walnut wooden case. I'm so fortunate to have such an amazing husband who supports me in every possible way