Triangle Fridge Cake

There are days when things don't work out exactly as planned. That's normal. Even experienced chefs have failures in the kitchen. That's what builds experience. I've had major failures and felt that I wouldn't bake anything again..... but that feeling of euphoria when you try that recipe again (sometimes for the 3rd or 4th time)and it's 'perfect' is priceless!!!

Mandi:  my attempt to make the original recipe of the triangle fridge tart was, as my kids would say, an epic fail.  Being the A type personality that I am I tend to follow recipes to the letter, line upon line so I am still not sure what went wrong.  So in our endeavours to be transparent in our blog and prove that kitchen failures happen to everyone we decided to post the result anyway.  I consulted the technical guru, Deidré on this one and the following WhatsApp messages ensued:

Mandi: Good morning Sis, I have made the recipe to the dot according to the instructions but the texture is like thick pancake dough, what am I doing wrong?  Its the same icing you can say that you pour over that pumpkin cake of yours.
Deidre: It might just be too warm. Put it in the fridge to chill for a bit...
Mandi: I am going to town. Will leave in fridge till I get back.  Do you think I should get another tub of cottage cheese if the fridge didn't work?
Deidre1: Yes try that too. Are you getting smooth cottage cheese? Try Lancewood
Mandi: Yes and yes I got lancewood :)
Mandi: OK I will buy the cottage cheese in case, will let you know
Mandi: <Media omitted>. (Added beneath blog)
Deidre: I'll try on the weekend and see. Just put it in the deepfreeze like that. Its awesome no matter what it looks like!!
Deidre: Do your write up in any case. There might be people who also try it and it ends up like yours
Deidre: Just a point of interest.... did you add the 2nd tub to your 1st mixture?
Mandi: Yes I did
Deidre: Then whatever was wrong in the 1st mixture would have contaminated the 2nd tub......
Deidre: I meant for you to try again from the start.... sorry :(
Mandi: I've used my weekly budget and now I don't have more to make more.  I will write up the blog and forward to you.

The bottom line: whatever was wrong in the 1st mixture would have contaminated the 2nd tub...... I thought if I add the second tub to the first mixture it would thicken.  So we had our lines crossed. 

My mom made this tart frequently with much success as well as Deidre so there must have been a glitch in my first attempt at this recipe.

Recipe:

125g margarine
200g castor sugar
250 g cottage cheese (smooth)
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
24 Tennis biscuits (for those In distant countries they are very thin, square coconut biscuits) 
Glazed cherries

Cream the margarine and castor sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and cottage cheese.  (Apparently this consistency must be like thick cream or soft butter...)

On a sheet of tin foil, pack your tennis biscuits making sure to leave enough space on either side of the biscuits for when you pull up the foil to form the triangle.  Pack your biscuits in a rectangle form 3 across and 4 down.  Spread some of the filling over the biscuits and add another layer of biscuits over the filling.  Spread the filling over the second layer of biscuits and place the cherries down the centre.  Use the sides of the tin foil to lift the sides of the biscuits to the center to form a triangle.  Wrap the top of the tin foil tightly and tuck the sides in on the top and bottom.  Place in the freezer overnight.  Melt the chocolate and unwrap the tin foil carefully.  Pour chocolate over the top of the triangle and fold the tin foil again.  Place back in the freezer until you are ready to serve.  Serve directly from the freezer.   It should look like the photo below.

Deidre: I love the original triangle fridge cake.  I've even made the filling on its own and eaten it as ice cream. That's why I told Mandi to freeze her flop no matter what it looks like. It tastes awesome!!!! When Mandi and I were communicating earlier last week, there were a few crossed lines.  Not only were we trying to figure out the recipe, we were misreading each other as well.

I had an idea to make a deconstructed fridge cake in a glass... but then Dennis asked me why I didn't make a savoury fridge cake instead.  My first reaction was 'that won't work..you need to eat it frozen'.  But then I thought why not?  It gets extremely hot here in South Africa. What's nicer than a cold starter? Then the  creative juices started to flow and Dennis and I discussed various  options - what could work and what not.  So here is our savoury version of the triangle fridge cake.

Dennis's Savoury Fridge Cake:

125g butter
1 egg
250 g flavoured cream cheese (I used sundried tomato and basil)
50 ml fresh chopped Parsley
50 ml chopped pepperdews
1 pkt cream crackers
Salt and pepper to taste

Cream the butter
Add the egg and the cream cheese
Add the Parsley and pepper dews
Season to taste

Lay out your crackers 3 x 4 on the foil
Place spoonfuls of filling on the crackers.  Use a knife to spread the filling.  Hold the crackers in place with your fingers.  The crackers tend to stick together once you spread the filling over them.
Add the next layer of filling.  Spoon the rest of the filling onto the crackers.
Taking the foil on the 4 cracker side, lift the foil up, shaping the crackers into a triangle. (I needed Dennis's help here)

Push the crackers into a triangle shape and fold the foil over tightly. Fold and wrap the sides of the triangle.
Place in deep freeze overnight.

I bought Woolworths Lime and Coriander mayonnaise to serve with the cake.

Hints and Challenges:
1. I use ingredients at room temperature. I believe this is the difference between success and failure
2. Use all the filling otherwise your triangle will have a hole running through the middle.
3. I used cream crackers instead of Tuc biscuits (my favourite) as I was worried the Tuc biscuits would dissolve once the filling was spread over them.
4. When buying your flavoured cream cheese, make sure your other ingredient compliment the flavour.
5. The only challenge I experienced was the folding of the foil - but with Dennis's help, this also turned out well.
6. I found that the cake tasted better once I had defrosted a piece. It's easier to cut whilst frozen, but maybe cut all the slices and then leave them to defrost before serving.

Of course the men in my house demanded that I make the original as well.....

I used Bakers choc mint tennis biscuits and melted mint chocolate over the top.I don't like cherries so I didn't add any to my tart.... Mandi suggested strawberries.... mmmmm next time.