Guest post: Nicole from the PicNic blog

GUEST POST

NICOLE FROM PICNIC

http://picnicnz.blogspot.co.nz

Today we are sharing a guest blog from our foodie friend, Nicole Neverman. Nicole comes from the beautiful land of New Zealand - Dunedin, to be specific. :) She grew up in Northern New Zealand and moved to Dunedin 7 years ago to attend university where she studied for her degree in Biochemistry and Neuroscience. She then went on to do a PhD within the biochemistry department looking at the pathological features of a childhood neurodegenerative disease, Batten disease. Pretty impressive, huh? And what a lovely country! Foodie sister Becky has had the privilege of visiting New Zealand on a trip to see our niece in Queensland, Australia.

Nicole learned to cook from her Mom and Nana and she has since taught herself a lot through trial and error. She started by blog in September 2013, so it is still quite new and she still trying to build up a reader base and loving every moment of it. Please stop over to see her blog and give her a like on Facebook.

Her favorite things to cook are sweet treats. She said she is definitely a desserts person. Cheesecakes are a favorite of hers and she loves coming up with new flavor combinations and the cheesecake section of her blog is ever growing! Take a peek at this lovely creation of hers! She was also kind enough to convert the recipe for us Americans. :)

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Serves 8 - 10

250 g ( 9 oz) plain vanilla biscuits
100 g (3.5 oz) butter, melted
500 g (18 oz) cream cheese
1 Tbsp Strawberry dessert topping
1 tsp vanilla essence 
300 mL (1 1/4 Cup) cream, whipped
1 Cup strawberries (I used frozen)
1/4 Cup caster sugar
3/4 Cup chocolate chips

1. Place the biscuits in a food processor and process to a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and process until well combined. Press the biscuit mixture into the base and up the sides of a greased 20 cm spring form cake tin. Place in the refrigerator to set while making the filling.

2. Place the strawberries and sugar in a saucepan over a low/medium heat. The berries will start to "melt", use a masher to mash the berries until near smooth. 

3. Beat the cream cheese together with the strawberry dessert topping and vanilla essence until smooth and no lumps of cream cheese remain. Mix in the mashed strawberries, followed by the chocolate chips. 

4. Fold in the whipped cream and pour the mixture over the base. Smooth the top. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until set (an hour or two).