One of my favorite combinations is chocolate and orange. Mix these two ingredients into a cheesecake and you have perfection. The secret to the creamiest cheesecake ever is to use organics. They make the biggest difference in this kind of textured dessert. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 50 minutes Chilling Time: 3 hours Calories Per Serving: 460 to 555 Chocolate Crust 1 1/3 cups crushed chocolate wafers 1/3 cup melted butter (or look for a pre-made chocolate crust in places like Whole Foods - you may end up with left-over filling if using a pre-made one) Filling 1 pound softened cream cheese (try using a lower fat organic option) 2/3 cup sour cream 1/2 cup sugar 1 tbsp orange juice concentrate 2 tbsp orange liqueur 6 oz semisweet chocolate 1 oz bitter chocolate 2 large eggs Topping 1 cup whipping cream 1 tsp valilla (the recipe calls for 2 tbsp icing sugar, but I omit it) 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. To prepare crust, combine crushed wafers and melted butter and press into a 9-inch spring-form pan. 3. Bake five minutes and cool. 4. To make filling, combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, orange juice concentrate and orange liqueur in a bowl and beat until smooth. 5. Melt semi-sweet and bitter chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over hot water. Add to cheese mixture, beating until smooth. 6. Add eggs and beat five minutes. 7. Pour mixture into crust and bake 35 to 40 minutes. 8. Allow cake to cool to room temperature, then chill about two hours. 9. To make topping, beat whipping cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread or pipe over chilled cake. 10. Chill one hour before serving. Serves 10 to 12 (or in my case 1!) |
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Welcome to the first installment of A Chick on Flicks. Some of you may have noticed besides being a chocolate addict, I'm also a cinemaniac. The number of movies I see in a week, let alone annually, is almost unimaginable, so reviews will be restricted to movies that make a notable impact on me. But, you can follow me on Twitter for comments on all the movies I see. Every few years a film comes along that within moments of its start you know in every part of your body and spirit that you are about to see something truly exceptional. Whether it's the images, the narration or dialogue, the music, or all three, there's a magic that is transmitted from screen to audience in a nanosecond. A few years ago, one film that hit me this way was the French-Canadian film, Incendies, directed by the astonishing Denis Villeneuve, which garnered an Oscar nod. The opening sequence back-dropped with a haunting tune by Radiohead had me at "hello." And I experienced the same sensation upon seeing and hearing the first few frames and first few lines of voice over in Beasts of the Southern Wild. What was this before me? Was it a fable? Was this story set in some future post-apocalyptic wasteland? Just what was this? As it turned out, it was something just plain extraordinary, thanks to talented director Benh Zeitlin and his team. The story is set in a land set apart from the rest of the world - that of a Bayou community severed from "civilization" by a daunting levee. One of the residents, a quixotic six-year old girl by the name of Hushpuppy has a simple, yet huge dream - to find her mother, or at the very least be taken care of by her other parent. But her challenges are overwhelming - extreme poverty, a father drinking himself to death, and a coming storm threatening the fine balance upon which her universe teeters and perhaps its existence as she knows and loves. The poetic narration by Hushpuppy lifts this film to a place next to heaven and the remarkable performances, particularly of Quvenzhane Wallis as Hushpuppy, transports the audience to another realm. Wear your gravity boots or you might never make it back. The ending scenes had me sobbing, and I feared I would be turfed from the theater. But my reaction was more the consequence of some personal events in my own life that have left me feeling fragile. Despite what might sound like a morose plot line, this is a glorious, life-affirming film. And although based on a play, the setting is portrayed with such imagined brilliance you cannot help but gasp. Although an independent film, I would hope this mythic work and its performances will not be ignored by the Academy come Oscar time. But this Sundance prize-winner deserves a massive audience. I am a changed person at having seen it.
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AuthorLuba Lesychyn (le-si-shin), author of Theft By Chocolate, considers herself one of the world's greatest chocolate and film lovers. Archives
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