habaneras in havaianas

i just finished the preparation for my baking, which is going to take place in five hours' time. well, the refrigerator has been repaired, and so i can finally get on with my cheesecake and scones.

but before that, i just had a dinner with the army guys. and it feels like it's been a long time since i stepped out of the house for a good dinner and nice window shopping. anyways, we ate at fish & co, and they were shopping for flip flops at new urban male, which has an offensive logo =( i also happened to see cheesing, but i didn't think she would recognise me, so i didn't get her attention. and then the night ended with some late night lazing around at starbucks, where i had a not so fantastic cinnamon crown roll. i can bet you my norwegian cinnamon buns were nicer.

ok, now photos for the mise en place.

strawberry-topped cheesecake:

this nigella recipe was supposed to be cherry. in fact, it can be adapted to any fruit that you can find in jam-form, because the only fruit element in this cheesecake comes from the jam topping used. since i couldn't find cherry jam, i settled with strawberry.
this is the very professionally done biscuit base. i used the method taught in the american book: use a flat-bottomed glass to compact the biscuit crumbs to form a uniform base. however, in her video, nigella uses her hands to press and make a very rugged-looking base; i don't suppose it really matters, because eventually the cream cheese filling covers it.
this is the cream cheese beaten with icing sugar and vanilla. you do need the cream cheese to be at room temperature, otherwise you won't get it smooth enough for mixing.
this is the before-and-after shot of the whipping cream. i feel so proud that i managed to whip the cream up manually! this was much easier than whipping egg whites; i managed to get peaks within two minutes of whipping. in fact, i think i might have whipped the cream too close to stiff peaks.
folding the whipped cream into the cream cheese. this should be done carefully so as not to let the air escape from the whipped cream. you want the lightness. i thought that the cream cheese mixture in the end resembled a sabayon, or zabaglione, as the italians would call it.
and the tin filled with the cream cheese mixture. i've left it in the refrigerator to chill overnight, before topping it with the strawberry jam.

cream scones:

the recipe for this is from the american book. i made a few terrible mistakes though, and i cut my finger when a sharp can lid slid on it.
this is the flour mixture with orange zest and dried cranberries. omg sonya it's cranberries, and scones at that!
when the dough didn't seem to come together with the cream already added, i made a very miscalculated move by adding water. it created a very sticky dough; gluten formation began. i hope the scones are going to turn out fine, although i think it could be a little bready because of the gluten. and even if i was going to add water, i should have added bit by bit until sufficient =( not thinking at midnight!
the dough divided and then wrapped in clingfilm. i've placed them in the freezer to freeze overnight. the american book says this gives the scones a very light texture, so i do what i'm told. please turn out perfect.