Why bacon does not belong in cheesecakes

"No Rachel, you were not supposed to put beef in the trifle. It did not taste good."

Such were the wise words of Judy Geller, aka Ross and Rachels 'mom' in friends, which came to mind around about my fourth spoonful of bacon and maple syrup cheesecake.

The first couple of bites actually tasted okay. Syrup-drizzled crispy smoked bacon and cream cheese laced with maple syrup? Good. Syruppy cream cheese with regular cheesecake base? Good. 

All three mixed together? Not good! 

The whole thing was just too salty, and as it began to churn in my stomach I had to wash it down with a spoonful of Nutella to get rid of the taste.

At least it looked pretty...

Given that it was The Husband who asked for this horror to be constructed, it was somewhat ironic that that the same day I made this he came down with a post-festival stomach bug so couldn't eat any. He might have liked it, but the ship has sailed.

Big thanks to the reader who posted an alternative and apparently delicious recipe below, but it's going to be a while before I brave another meaty pudding. 

Faith and Cheesecake

A blog about faith and cheesecake? An odd combination some might say.

Well, not if you know me. I love all food and and have a passion for  feeding friends with towering slabs of blueberry studded, creamy-like-a-Milkybar cheesecake, and am currently trialling a dizzying array of new flavours (Lemon and Gingernut anyone?) 

As I write this post my freshly whipped Madagascan Vanilla & Oreo cheesecake is chilling in the fridge, really to furnish the counter of one of South London's finest coffee emporium tomorrow morning. Only thing is that the first - and only - time that I made it before, the bugger didn't actually set. The flavour was amazing but you could have drunk it through a straw. I'm praying this one goes better.

Praying! What a seamless transition to Another Thing I Get Really Excited About : Faith. Not just my own, but other people's. Spirituality, religion, belief systems, stuff about God and ways of looking at the world. I've spent the last decade working in interfaith relations, a.k.a. encouraging people of different religions to understand, rather than kill/ bitch about, each other. I figure it's time I started putting some of my ponderings down on paper (of sorts), along with food-related titbits, so my little collection of brain cells have more room to dash around my noggin thinking up new recipes and ways to bring about world peace.