On the evening of the 8th May we’ll be having our Annual General Meeting. This will be your opportunity to vote for Committee Members, hear a summary of our finances and what we’ve been up to this year and join the Committee yourself. In the next few days we’ll be putting up some information about what being a Committee Member involves, and if you think you’re up for it let us know. But remember, even if you’re not part of the Committee you can still be part of one of our working groups. We’ll be putting more info on this on our website over the next few days and we hope to see you our AGM in a few weeks time.

The following recipe is for a 9” cake, serving 12-16 people. (print or download as a pdf)

Ingredients

For the brownie base

1 Cup of sugar
2 eggs
½ Cup of plain flour (we use a gluten free blend!)
½ Cup of cocoa powder
½ Cup of melted butter

For the cheesecake

3 eggs (separated)
500g of cream cheese
100g of plain flour (gluten free again)
300ml of double cream (whipped)
100g of dark chocolate (melted)
100g of white chocolate (melted)
1 Cup of sugar

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Butter the hell out of your 9” springform tin – especially the sides!
• Cut a 10.5” diameter circle of greaseproof paper and affix it to the base of your tin so it rides up the sides of the tin evenly – bung it in the fridge so the butter hardens.

For the base

• Using a hand whisk, mix the eggs and sugar till light and foamy
• Add the flour, cocoa, and butter and mix until smooth
• Spread evenly in the grease proofed tin and put in the oven for around 20 mins – until it’s just about firm on top – you don’t want to bake it fully, after all, it’s going to be baked for an hour more later!
• Take it out and put it back in the fridge, reduce the oven to 140C

For the cheesecake

• You’re going to want to half the first 4 ingredients (not the egg whites) and follow the next few steps twice – with a separate bowl for each – once for dark chocolate, once for the white chocolate (to achieve the marbled effect)
• Beat the egg yolks (for a good minute), beat in the cheese until it’s all smooth with no lumps (wipe down the sides with a spatula and scrape it off on the whisk as needed)
• Add the flour (we Bamber Brothers like a more ‘cakey’ cheesecake as opposed to the cheesy mush you otherwise find – the flour helps to achieve this) and whipped cream and mix again until smooth, with no lumps of flour!
• Add the melted dark chocolate to one bowl and the white chocolate to the other – whisk quickly because you don’t want the chocolate to cool before it’s mixed properly!
• Make meringue with the 3 egg whites, adding the sugar (gradually) after you’ve whisked it a bit first.
• Fold half the meringue (vigorously!) into each of the cheese mixtures.
• Take the tin out of the fridge, butter the sides again just to make sure!
• Scoop portions of the mixtures alternately, 1 dark, 1 white, 1 dark etc onto the brownie evenly and smooth the top flat – give it a one short swirl in a figure-of-eight to mix the dark and white just a little bit and bake in the oven for about an hour until the cheesecake is baked throughout – you can check it by seeing if a skewer comes out dry when placed in the centre of the cake. Turn off the oven and leave it to cool with the door open for a good hour, then take it out the oven and put it in the fridge overnight. Don’t take out of the tin until the next day!

For our tips on how to slice the cheesecake when you’re ready to eat it, see http://www.bamberbrothers.com/cheesecake#howtovideo

We’d love to see pictures of how your cheesecake turns out – tweet them to @BamberBrothers or email to pat@bamberbrothers.com. But if you can’t be bothered with all of that, we’ll be selling them at the market on Easter Sunday, or you can order one from http://order.bamberbrothers.com/

Join us on Easter Sunday for a special market. We’ll have face painting on the CRTRA stall and an Easter egg hunt between 12 and 3pm with prizes! Your favourite stalls will be trading so stock up on meats and/or veg for dinner and take home cake and drinks from the shops or make sure you secure the final chance to get a Bamber Brother cheesecake from the market.

We’ll also be relaunching our membership scheme. For the princely sum of £1 you can feel part of the neighourhood and access special membership offers on Chatsworth Road. Sign up at the CRTRA stall.

Download the poster (by Laura Quick) and spread the word that Chatsworth Road will be the place to be this Sunday.

(Check out other drawings by Laura Quick on her blog thedailythink.wordpress.com)

(Check out other drawings by Laura Quick on her blog thedailythink.wordpress.com)

(Check out other drawings by Laura Quick on her blog thedailythink.wordpress.com)

(Check out other drawings by Laura Quick on her blog thedailythink.wordpress.com)

The first in the series of observations by Laura Quick – expect another one next monday. (Check out her blog thedailythink.wordpress.com)

Two new exciting opportunities to work at Chats Palace.

Administrator
Part time (21 hours)
Salary: £17,980 pro rata

Youth Music Project Manager
Part time (16 hours per week)
Temporary
Salary: £20,800 pro rata

Apply with CV and covering letter by email or post to: jobs@chatspalace.com or by post to Chats Palace, 42 – 44 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DF

Deadline for applications: Friday 8th February at 5pm

For more information see: http://www.chatspalace.co.uk/volunteers/