I am a big coffee and tea drinker. I don't drink too much soda or juice but give me coffee or tea and I'm a happy camper. I used to drink coffee all day long but I'm trying to be good so I've switched to drinking more tea during the day. I have my morning cup of coffee (well maybe a couple of cups) then switch to green tea the rest of the day. This is what I do at work where green tea is plentiful and free. At home though, the story changes a bit.

At home, I have a husband who is also a coffee addict and does love his home brewed, self ground coffee. I do believe if he could roast coffee himself, he would do that too! But what he does instead is buy good quality beans, stores them in the freezer and grinds a fresh batch every time he brews a pot. This is a treat we relish every morning when we wake up. During the warmer months, we normally take our morning coffee out in the garden and commune with the early breezes and early morning sounds. Nothing could be more perfect!

Simplicity is something that I adhere to in most things in life and we take our coffee in the purest and simplest way possible. Freshly brewed, strong, and black. No adornments required. No sweeteners and definitely no creamers. Although when the girls and I are out and about at the mall I do submit to an occasional cappuccino coffee from those overpriced coffee retailers. You know which ones I'm talking about, the ones who will even make pretty designs on your foam. It's a good treat once in a while, but I always revert to my usual cup of java for my daily indulgence.

How about you, how do you like your coffee?

Cheesecake was the Daring Baker challenge for April and I opted to make the Cafe' Au Lait version. We actually wanted to try and duplicate our favorite Cheesecake Factory flavor, raspberry and white chocolate, but we couldn't find good fresh raspberries. They had strawberries and blue berries, but no luck on raspberries. Since I still had some instant espresso powder left, I decided to go with that instead. I also chose to top my coffee cheesecake with a dark caramel sauce instead of the usual blond caramel one. The combination was delicious!

For next time though, I will omit the lemon juice called for in the recipe. I don't think it added much to the overall flavor of the cheesecake and it sort of gave it a sour creamy taste.

This recipe is one of the best cheesecake recipe we've tried. It's not the dense type, but rather it is light and airy and very creamy. We all liked it and from visiting all the other Daring Bakers, I got a few more ideas on how to mix it up for next time.

Now on to the cheesecake recipe...

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