TVAROH DORT!

For those of you who have lived in another country, you know how hard it is to find cream cheese. They have Philadelphia Cream Cheese EVERYWHERE in the world, but it doesn't taste the same. I don't know how to describe it, but its as though there is less fat in it here. So, although I can find the ingredients, it still does not turn out properly.

However, today, I was able to make something that tastes almost exactly like American Cheese Cake! Tomorrow, I will feed it to my English Club. I hope they like it.

You might be wondering... well, how on earth can you make Cheese Cake without cream cheese. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients

the crust

2 tablespoons of Máslo (butter)

25-30 Piskoty (Vanilla wafers)

the filling

250g of Tvaroh Melko (milky)

250g of Tvaroh Tučny (fatty)

120g of Zakysaná Smetana (sour cream)

Mouka (flour)

3 Vejce (eggs)

150g of Vanilkový Cukr (vanilla sugar)

150g of Cukr (sugar)

1 teaspoon of Skořice (cinnamon)

1 teaspoon of Sůl(salt) 

Instructions

the crust

 crush the piskoty until fine and mix with the máslo. use this mixture to line the bottom of a 8x8 inch pan. bake the crust for 5 to 10 minutes at 150C.

the filling   

mix the two types of tvaroh and zakysaná smetana together with a wisk. once completely mixed and smooth, add the vejce. mix again with the whisk, until creamy (it will have a watery consistency, this is how it should be!). add the vanilkový cukr, cukr, skořice and sůl and whisk until all the sugar has dissolved (about 3-5 minutes). at this point, the mixture will be less "watery." to thicken it, add the flour a little bit at a time (use the whisk to mix it). stop, when the consistency should is something in between sour cream and a thick jelly. 

pour the mixture on top of the crust. place it in the oven at 150C for 30mins. make sure you check on the cake every 10 minutes, because there will be air bubbles and you need to physically slide your knife around the edges to get rid of them. after 30 mins., the center will still not be cooked. so raise the temperature to 200C and bake until the cake is golden. remove the cake, let it cool for 2 hours and add your desired topping (I used jam).

This cake tastes very similar to the traditional cheese cake and I have not had issues with it falling apart or tasting too much like a weird truffle. (The issue with recipes online is that they have this truffle-like flavor instead of that creamy sweet, but cheesy taste.)

Dobrou Chut!

Its been 7 weeks now and finally my computer is back in my hands!!! It works and I am so so so happy to use it. Really, life can become quite boring without one. Also, when you do not have a computer, it is difficult to create lesson plans for your students.

I suppose you are wondering what I did for the past two weeks? 

Well....I went to the Pilsner Fest (its like the Ocktoberfest, but in Pilsn), I had another meeting for my English Club and finally went to a horse race. 

I would like to point out that the Czech Republic is a "Beer Nation" and the most famous beer is Pilner Urquell. It is served cold and typically has foam. At the Pilsner Fest, I learned that foam is an important part of beer, because it indicates how "fresh" it is (also the more foam, the better).

The Pilsner Fest was really interesting, because I also saw a Bar Tending competition. There were actually judges judging how well bar tenders could pour the perfect glass of beer. It was very funny! Here are some photos from that weekend:

The first and last photo are from the Pilsner Fest and the middle one is of me tasting some Czech Cheese Cake (not the same as American Cheese Cake, but still pretty good!).

Another thing I have learned since being here is that the Czech like racing. They like racing cars, they like racing horses, they like running in races.....well I think you get the point. If its a race, then you should expect it to happen in the Czech Republic. 

So this weekend, I went to Paradubice for a horse race.

 

 Above are some pictures from it. The first one is of the crowd (and a funny building that might be falling apart) and the second are of the horse before the race. Sadly, I lost all of my bets, but it was fun watching!

LOOK, it's a picture from my Balcony (be jealous!!!!) :) The view is rather breath taking!

 Good Bye for now!