One of William's favorite series of books at the moment is Geronimo Stilton. He has been reading them for awhile now and loves that at the end of each book there is some type of activity or recipe. He discovered this one for chocolate covered cheesecake and begged me to make it.
I have never made a cheesecake before but thought why not give it a try. I had a spring foam pan from my mother, brand new just waiting to be used. This is where my lessons began. What I remember isn't always true. I did at one time have a brand new spring foam pan but in my midst of simplifying I got rid of it. My reasoning was that I had it for over a year and never needed it. Well now I did.
So lesson one- make do with what you have. All I had was a round cake pan. I figured we just wouldn't take the cake out of the pan, instead just taking it out like a pie.
Lesson two- more than two ways to solve a problem. The recipe called for chocolate wafer cookies. I searched our local grocery stores but they were nowhere to be found. I used chocolate graham crackers instead. It should all taste very similar.
All was going well. Everything was coming together. Then I put the mixture into the pan and it was overflowing. I suppose the spring foam pan is a bit deeper. But I just put a cookie sheet underneath to catch any drippings.
The cake baked well. However, as I was watching it, it started to look a bit weird.
This is the biggest lesson we learned from the cheesecake that day.
Appearances aren't what they seem.
Looks rather unappetizing doesn't it?
William was a bit upset. He thought I ruined the cake. That is wasn't what he thought it was going to look like. I should have used the proper cookies for the crust and why didn't I have a pan. I could have gotten angry for such a sassy boy, but I kept my cool.
I explained how it was still the same ingredients(minus the chocolate cookies, but chocolate graham crackers are yummy just the same). I told him he certainly did not have to have any. Daddy, Landon and I could eat it all. I told him how he hurt my feelings for saying such things. After all this was the first time I ever made one. And that we all make mistakes sometimes. Mine not being having the proper pan.
He chilled out and gave it a try. Was it good! They all begged for more. It was difficult to get out of the pan but the taste was all that mattered.
While eating the cake we had such a wonderful discussion about how not to judge something or someone just by the way they look. We also talked about how not to dismiss something until you try it. Truly life lessons that they will remember.
You know the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover."
Next time though I think I will use the proper pan. Probably will make it a whole lot easier.
