Every year during mooncake festivals, my house will be stocked with boxes and boxes of mooncakes sent by our friends and suppliers. We couldn't be more grateful as it always filled our kitchen with happiness and excitement. Every this time of the year, our chinese tea pot and mini cups would also come out of retirement and my mum would prepare lovely chinese tea to go along with all these beautiful mooncakes. What's even better is to light some lanterns by the beach at night and enjoy the mooncakes and chinese tea with your love ones.

I went North Border Bar & Grill twice for dinner with my family and I always ended up with a super bloated stomach because the food there are always so delicious especially their desserts. This particular dessert will definitely make your body all curled up because it may be the best lava cake you ever had in Singapore!

I have been trying to find a lava cake that can top this but until today; this is still on the top of my list. First of all, the outer layer of the lava cake might looks rough but that makes the cake crispy on the outside and soft on the inside (let's not even mention how the chocolate will flow out the moment you cut it. Yum!). You know how some lava cake is super sweet and if you eat too much it might make you sick, this one here, not the case. Not too sweet and not too bitter. It's really spot-on. The ice cream, soft and not too crazy with the sugar level as well. The cherry sauce, bring the whole dish to a whole new level. It might look super intense but seriously, the whole dish is well balanced and it will not make you feel awful if you eat too much so it's a total thumbs up for me! 

When ordering, remember to order them together with your meals. Do not wait until you are done with your main dishes because sometimes it might just go out of stock within a snap of a finger so let me warn you, order less side and main dishes because you don't want to miss this fabulous lava cake. It's called the Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Torte. Trust me on this one.

North Border Bar & Grill

2 Rochester Dr, Singapore 139213

Tel: 6777 6618

Website: http://www.northborder.com.sg/

Look at how big my sister-in-law's mug as compared to mine. Mine was beginner's mug.

It's my first experience going to Comex I.T Show and apparently it's not really what I thought it would be. Firstly, the crowds were insane! I expected it to be packed with people so I'm mentally prepared for it but still, it's like insane! Secondly, Sony only showcased their games section and accessories throughout this show. No cameras no nothing. I was planning to get the Sony Camera RX100M3 so I was pretty disappointed. I mean I have to literally get knocked by hundreds and hundreds of shoulders just to locate the Sony booth where they sells their camera but then, it turns out there wasn't any. The only thing I find it fun was to disturb my little brother who was working under Challenger HP Printer section and that's about it. Super empty handed! Lucky elder brother of mine managed to get the laptop he wanted. I think if you are looking for like laptops, printers, gaming console, TV and computers accessories, Comex will be the best place for you. Nikon, Fujifilm and Canon cameras too. Poor Sony doesn't have a booth to showcase their cameras. Too bad then. I still managed to get my cameras at the Sony Center in Marina Square so I'm happy.

That night, my family and I went to Paulaner at Millennium Walk for some drinks and small bites. I'm not into bars and drinking but I would definitely come back to this place. The food was great. The sausages are the best! Apparently their beers are good too! I finally drank beer after so long and I wasn't even planning to at the first place. My elder brother was like "You come to this fabulous place with awesome beer and you are going to order Earl Grey Tea? No, you are going to drink some beer tonight". Yup, I have pretty awesome family who always encourage me to drink since I literally dislike drinking alcohols. Overall, we had a pretty good night at Paulaner and the live bands were good. Let’s just say with good food and good beers, nothing will go wrong!

Cheesecake with blueberry topping

Recipe adapted from +ByronTalbott 

Servings

2-3pax

*I'm using a mini springform pan so double up the ingredients if you are making a bigger portion.

Ingredients

[Crust]

1/2 cup Digestive Biscuit

55g unsalted butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 pinch of salt

[Cheesecake Filings]

115g cream cheese

55g sour cream 

1/2 cup sugar (You can put a little lesser if you don't want it to be too sweet)

1 whole eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract/ vanilla essence/ vanilla bean paste

1 tsp lemon zest (grated)

[Toppings] - Optional

Frozen Blueberries

Tools

Mini Springform Pan

Whisk

Mixing Bowl

Small Rectangular Pan 

Aluminium foil

Food processor

Weighing Scale

Directions

[Crust]

1. Put the digestive biscuit into a food processor to form the crust. 

2. In a mixing bowl, put the digestive biscuit, butter, salt and brown sugar, and mixed it all well. Once the texture looks like wet sand, it's ready to go into the springform cake pan. 

*I would recommend you guys to get a springform pan as it can save you from all lots of trouble.

3. Brush the springform pan with some butter to make sure it won't stick on the bottom or sides.

4. Start lining your pan with the digestive biscuits and press them well against the pan. 

*You can just put the crust on the bottom its fine. I love the crust so I have added them along the side as well. It really depends on how you like them.

5. Put them in the fridge for 10mins for it to set.

[Cheesecake Filings]

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

2. In a mixing bowl, put the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla extract and the grated lemon zest; whisk it well until the sugar dissolve.

3. Crack 1 egg into the mixture and continue whisking for another 2-3mins.

4. Take the crust out from the fridge and pour the cheesecake mixture into the pan.

5. Place the springform pan onto a small rectangular pan, pour boiling water into the rectangular pan and cover it with aluminium foil so there will not be any coloration on the cheesecake.

6. Place them into the oven to bake for an hour.

7. Once it's ready, remove the aluminium foil and rectangular pan, let the cheesecake rest in it's springform pan for about 45mins, and put it into the fridge for another 1-2hours.

 8. When it's ready, remove the cheesecake from the springform pan. Top the cheesecake with some delicious frozen blueberries (or another other fruits you like) and it's ready to serve.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do and do feel free to leave a comment below to share your baking experience. If you have any question, you can reach me at ask.fm/iammarinelek or just leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Til next time!