Classic cheesecake

Classic cheesecake with Strawberry Creme Anglaise

It's one of those recipes that you pop out for your loved one or somebody special.  But I say you should just make it for yourself because you deserve it.  Working hard, juggling jobs, parenting, relationships and the list goes on.  

I had a chance to watch Disney's Brave with my almost seven year old son.  I was thrilled to see that the princess finally did not need true love to find happiness.  There's something that she said at the end of the movie that resonated with me.  Princess Merida: "There are those who say fate is something beyond our command. That destiny is not our own, but I know better. Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it."  So what is fate and why do people believe in it.  Is it really as simple as Merida tells us?  Does fate live within us?  And how does psychotherapy fit into it?

Theraputic topic for the week: fate and destiny.

Destiny is different than fate. Destiny, as psychiatrist Alexander Lowen (1980) notes, "is related to the word destination. It refers to what . . . [we become], whereas fate describes what one is." (p. 49) Destiny is what we do with fate, how we play the hand we're each dealt by fate. Destiny is determined not solely by fate, but by how we choose to respond to fate. We are responsible for those choices. Part of each person's fate includes a personal destiny. But whether that destiny is fulfilled or not depends in part on the person and whether he or she is willing to accept responsibility for and courageously pursue that destiny. Finding and fulfilling our destiny is a principal goal of existential depth psychology.

Excerpt from Psychology Today in an article called Essential Secrets of Psychotherapy : Fate, Destiny and Responsibility written by Stephen Diamond.

Classic Cheesecake Recipe

Adapted from The Williams Sonoma Baking Book

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:
2 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. water
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

To serve: Strawberry Creme Anglaise

2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature

1 cup strawberries

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F.

To make the crust, in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and lemon zest, and process to mix well. Add the butter and process until the crumbs begin to stick together. Drape your hand with plastic wrap to form a glove, and press the crumbs evenly and firmly over the bottom and 2 inches up the side of a 9-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan. Bake the crust 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

To make the filling, in a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and granulated sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until well blended. Beat in 1/2 cup of the cream and the vanilla until incorporated.

Place the water in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let soften for 5 minutes. Place the saucepan over low heat and stir until the gelatin is dissolved, then gradually whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup cream. Add the gelatin mixture to the cream cheese mixture and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Spoon the filling into the cooled crust. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. 

For the strawberry creme anglaise: Set a large fine strainer over a medium bowl and set the bowl in a shallow pan of cold water. In a large saucepan, combine the half-and-half and vanilla bean and cook over moderately low heat just until small bubbles appear around the rim, about 5 minutes.
In another medium bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks just until combined. Whisk in half of the hot half-and-half in a thin stream. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sauce has thickened slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Immediately strain the sauce into the bowl in the cold water bath to stop the cooking. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the sauce. Refrigerate until chilled.  Hull strawberries and add blender with the creme anglaise. Blend thoroughly. 

To serve, run a knife around the pan sides to loosen the cake. Release the pan sides and place the cake on a plate. Cut the cake into individual slices and spoon strawberry creme anglaise over each slice.