Hi friend,
We are now deep in November
which means days have become incredibly short
and mind has developed a habit
of losing itself in a daydream.
I went for a walk in the woods on a rainy day,
thick foliage sheltering me from the damp and cold.
I remember walking through these woods in November last year
when trees stood bare, chilled wind passing through easily.
Autumn seems to be running late this time.
I used to believe that a warm autumn is a sign of a snowy winter.
Do you think we finally have a chance of seeing a white Christmas?
Harsh wind blows and tangles my ever so unruly hair.
I let it down and embrace the season as it comes with all imperfections.
I’m slowly learning to let go of this desire to be perfect.
A perfect life, perfect season, perfect timing.
Perfection lost its meaning,
what I thought was perfect doesn’t seem that anymore.
Falling in love with every moment instead,
growing slowly but constantly,
seeing change in every season.
Perfection is so limited.
Change is everlasting.
A little over a week ago I stumbled upon a tree
full of sweet chestnuts.
I showed you hot to cook them in my previous video,
but today I want to share a recipe.
I prepared chestnuts the exact same way as before,
but instead of roasting, I boiled them for 30 minutes.
I’m making a pumpkin cheesecake with chestnut caramel.
Blend chestnuts with cream and water
Melt brown sugar with a splash of water
Add cream, salt and blended chestnut puree.
Detailed recipe in the description :)
Canned pumpkins are difficult to find in my area,
so for the pumpkin cheesecake I had to roast a whole pumpkin.
Which I don’t mind, because leftovers ended up in a cream soup :)
Cut 1 small pumpkin into wedges and roast for 20 mins until soft.
While pumpkin is in the oven...
Please tell me how you like to spend your autumn days.
Do you go outside and embrace the chilly season?
Or do you stay cozy indoors instead?
Desire to capture the ever fleeting seasonal beauty
forces me to leave the warmth of my home almost daily.
Though last week seasonal apathy got to me too,
and I stayed indoors for a few days in a row.
Doesn’t autumn sometimes feel like an emotional rollercoaster?
This cheesecake recipe is my favourite one to make
as it’s a perfect base for experiments.
You can skip pumpkin and caramel and simply make the plain one,
but pumpkin and chestnut caramel make a perfect seasonal treat.
I used wholewheat digestives biscuits as a base, mixed with butter.
One thing to note though, is that I don’t like overly sweet things,
so all of my recipes call for less sugar than usual.
I like to use a mix of ricotta cheese and regular cream cheese.
Whisk cream cheese and sugar until smooth,
Gradually add 3 eggs, then add pumpkin puree and spices.
And lemon is a must in any cheesecake in my opinion.
Cream goes in last.
The batter looks slightly lumpy because of pumpkin,
but it will absolutely melt in your mouth when cooked.
A water bath is a must when baking,
Bake for 1 hour and do not (!) open the oven once it’s done until cool.
Pour chestnut caramel on top.
Please let me know if you end up trying this recipe!