Biscoff Nutella Cheesecake

First a word on photography.... I love photography. I love to photograph skies, zebras, the African plain, children in the slums, my family  on vacation. I do not love to photograph food or remodeling projects, when by "photograph" we mean, basically, a still life. My good camera, perfect lighting and focus, and all that. There are bloggers who do that, and do it beautifully (like Ree, the Pioneer Woman). So I am going to start a new blogging food photograph genre...

Like this... this is fun... Especially since I was in Africa, not at a zoo...

THE IPHONE PHOTO FOOD BLOG

It's fast. It's easy. I email it to myself and I'm done. Seriously, how can you beat that? Who has time in mid-cooking (besides Ree) to figure out all that technical stuff? I'm always in too much of a hurry for that (because of my patience issues...). So that's it. If you have a problem with my pictures, please direct your inquiries to Apple. The End.

NOW, for the recipe for this fabulously delicious cheesecake I invented last week. Illustrated by my fabulous iPhone. (This is not a paid endorsement, although if they wanted to give me free Apple products for life, who am I to complain...)

BISCOFF NUTELLA CHEESECAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 package Biscoff cookies, processed in a food processor to crumbs

1 stick of butter, melted

3 blocks lite cream cheese, at room temperature

1 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c flour

2 lg egg yolks

1 whole lg egg

1/2 c 1% milk

13 oz Nutella 

Mix the Biscoff and butter, and press into the bottom of a springform pan. You can use the bottom of a glass to press it, and it can go up the sides some if needed. Bake for 10 minutes.

In a mixer bowl (preferably one with a flat paddle) blend the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and flour until just combined. Add the egg and blend until just combined. Add the milk and Nutella and beat on medium until completely combined. This can take a good long while!

Pour into the springform pan. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake 1 1/2 hours or until the center doesn't jiggle when you shake the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

And when you eat it (bottom right of my very strangely arranged photos here...), it is absolutely AMAZING. Sinful. Crazy. Wonderful. All those words that describe yummy deliciousness.

You can use a nicer plate, though... My paper plate doesn't do it justice, but with our pantry remodel going on, I was avoiding more dishes.

Do I need a place to ramble??

This blog started out as an art blog, and I am still painting and taking photos, so that will be part of it. But I also feel the need to ramble... Maybe it's my advanced age (46), or just the need to pontificate every once in awhile, but I am going to try to get a personal blog going once again. (Please visit my non-profit's blog at )

So... photography first. We were on safari a couple of weeks ago at Lake Mburo in Uganda. My second safari there, and my favorite is still the zebras. I'm not sure why, but I find them endlessly fascinating!

My husband blessed me 2 years ago with a 500mm lens, when we were going to Uganda the first time. It's very heavy, but wow, can it take great pictures! Of course, it takes bad pictures too... (It's the lens not the photographer obviously!) Seriously, with that much zoom, the slightest jiggle makes a big mess. And since the drivers always seem to know the second before you are going to shoot and decide to move the van... well, let's just say that my dad's estimate of 1 great photo for every 100 taken isn't too far off. Thank goodness for digital!