Cakes & Bakes: Lemon & blueberry cheesecake

Right, it’s official, cheesecake is H is for Home’s favourite cake!

It’s by far, the most baked Cakes & Bakes entry.

This week, lemon & blueberry cheesecake joins the ranks.

I’ve used Hobnobs instead of the usual digestive biscuits for the base. Frozen blueberries are available in the supermarket all year round and at a fraction of the price of fresh.

Home-made cheesecake isn’t difficult. The secret is cooking it long & low. Wrapping the tin with foil and placing it in a water bath (bain-marie) makes sure it cooks properly all the way through without burning. You want the slightest browning of the top.

It feels like a very indulgent cake… but I know the blueberries count as one of your 5-a-day. It leaves just one question, do the lemons make it two?

If you’d like to save this recipe, you can pin it from here.

Lemon & blueberry cheesecake

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Cook Time 1 15

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

for the base

200 g/7oz Hobnobs
75 g/3oz butter melted

for the filling

500 g/17½oz cream cheese
350 g/12oz blueberries fresh or frozen
3 lemons zest & juice
200 g/7oz caster sugar
3 eggs
150 ml/5fl oz sour cream

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF/Gas mark 2
Grease the sides of a 20cm/8-inch spring-form cake tin
In a small saucepan, melt the butter
In a food processor, add the Hobnobs and grind to a fine crumb
Add the ground biscuits to the butter and combine
Empty the mixture into the base of the tin and smooth the surface evenly using the back of a tablespoon
Bake the base for about 15 minutes then set aside to cool while you make the cake mixture
Zest & juice the lemons. Set aside
In the food processor you used to crumb the biscuit, add half the blueberries and lemon juice and purée
In a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl if doing it by hand) add the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar and mix thoroughly
Gently whisk the eggs in a measuring jug before adding them to the cheese mixture in 3 stages, mixing well after each addition
Add the puréed blueberry & lemon juice mixture followed by the lemon zest, making sure it's well incorporated
Boil a kettleful of water
Before pouring the cheesecake mixture into the tin, wrap the tin in foil to make it water tight
Put the tin into an oven tray (at least 5cm/1-inch deep)
Pour the cheesecake mixture into the tin and put the oven tray & cake into the preheated oven
Fill the oven tray to about ½cm/¼-inch below the rim with the boiled water
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes
When cooked, turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven, with the door ajar
When completely cool, top with the other half of the blueberries and put in the fridge

Lemon & blueberry cheesecake ingredients

Keyword baked cheesecake, blueberries, blueberry, cheesecake, lemon

Cakes & Bakes: Italian cheesecake with almond crumb base

Lidl had a ‘Taste of Italy‘ special this week so I stocked up on a few Mediterranean bits & bobs when I popped in. I bought a couple of tubs of ricotta, not quite knowing what I was going to do with them. Of course… Italian cheesecake!

I fancied making it with a crunchy base using amaretti biscuits but I couldn’t find any in the shops. No need to panic, I improvised and made my own almond crumb base.

I’ve made a fair few different cheesecakes in the past. I think this is almost up there with the all-time favourite Gordon Ramsey version.

It’s best served cold, straight from the fridge, perhaps with an after-dinner espresso.

Fancy giving it a try? Pin the recipe for later!

Italian Cheesecake with almond crumb base

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Cook Time 1

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

For the base

40 g/1½oz butter
150 g/5oz ground almonds
30 g/1oz caster sugar
pinch of salt

For the cake

500 g/1lb 2oz ricotta cheese
150 g/5oz caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
juice from ½ lemon
25 g/1oz plain flour
15 g/½oz flaked almonds toasted (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF
Grease an 18cm/7-inch loose-bottomed cake tin
In a medium saucepan, add the butter and put over a low heat until melted
Remove from the heat add the almonds and sugar and combine well
Tip the mix out into the cake tin and press uniformly into the base using the back of a spoon
Bake the base for 10 minutes, set aside and allow to cool
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ricotta and caster sugar until smooth
Gently beat the eggs in a measuring jug before adding gradually to the cheese & sugar mix. Stir well after each addition
Mix in the vanilla extract and then the lemon juice
Sift the flour into the mix and combine well
Pour the mixture on to the almond crumb base and bake for a hour
After the hour, turn the oven off and leave the door ajar allowing the cake to cool in the oven
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the toasted flaked almonds over the top
Allow to cool in the tin completely before removing

Keyword almond, cheesecake

Cakes & Bakes: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

I consider myself something of a greedy chocoholic (who edges the cake knife round a few millimetres when no one’s looking to get a bigger piece). But faced with this triple chocolate cheesecake, a small slice was sufficient… even for greedy old me!

It is the richest, most decadent chocolate fantasy I’ve ever made or eaten. A quick tally of all the ingredients brings it in over 2 kilos!

There’s a base made from crushed Oreo cookies…

…a thick, intense dark chocolate middle layer…

…and a sweet, white chocolate ganache topping (with dark chocolate flakes to decorate, of course!).

It was a real winner with everyone who tried it… and there’s now a note in my recipe file for ‘must make again!’.

Triple chocolate cheesecake

Oh My God Chocolate Desserts

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Ingredients

For the biscuit base

2 x 154g packets Oreo cookies
60 g/2oz unsalted butter

For the cheesecake filling

3 x 280g tubs cream cheese at room temperature
165 g/6oz icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 eggs
300 g/10oz dark chocolate

For the ganache topping

180 ml/6 fl oz double cream
175 g/6oz white chocolate
Extra dark chocolate for garnishing

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
Put the Oreo cookies into a food processor and pulse until they have turned to fine crumbs
Put the butter into a microwave for 10-15 seconds to soften
Combine the butter with the Oreo cookie crumbs and spoon the mixture into the base of a 28cm/11inch spring-form cake tin pressing it firmly & evenly with the back of the spoon
Bake for 10 minutes then set aside to cool
Break the dark chocolate into pieces, putting them into a glass or pottery bowl
Put the bowl into a saucepan of water (just enough so that the bottom of the bowl doesn't come into contact with the water) and heat on a low flame until the chocolate has melted
While waiting for the chocolate to melt, put the cream cheese, icing sugar and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and combine well
Break the eggs into a measuring jug, whisk lightly until just combined before adding little by little into the cheese/sugar/cocoa mixture, stirring after each addition
Add the melted dark chocolate to the mixture and combine well
Pour the mixture on to the biscuit base and bake in the oven for 60 minutes
Switch off the oven, leave the oven door slightly ajar and allow the cake to cool for half an hour
Put the cake on a wire rack until it has cooled completely
Break the white chocolate into pieces, putting them into a glass or pottery bowl with the double cream
Put the bowl into a saucepan of water (just enough so that the bottom of the bowl doesn't come into contact with the water) and heat on a low flame
When the chocolate has begun to melt, stir the mixture well and allow to cool until it has thickened but still pourable
Pour evenly over the top of the cake allowing some to drip down the edge
Serve at room temperature or refrigerated
Keep refrigerated and consume within 3 days

Keyword baked cheesecake, cheesecake, chocolate

Cakes & Bakes: Japanese cheesecake

Last week we shared a Taiwanese bread recipe; this week we’re staying in that general geographical location with this Japanese cheesecake.

This cake is also known as a soufflé cheesecake – it gets this airy texture from the separated eggs.

A stiff meringue is made from the whipped egg whites and sugar, and is then folded into the mixture at the end.

To finish the cheesecake, the recipe calls for an apricot glaze. We have all manner of home made jams & jellies in the cupboard, so I decided to make a plain version of the cake – then experiment with the different flavours of jam for each slice.

Apricot might indeed be perfect, but you never know…

…it could be blackcurrant, wild raspberry, strawberry, gooseberry or quince!

Japanese cheesecake

Just One Cookbook

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Cook Time 1 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 8

Ingredients

For the cheesecake

400 g/14oz cream cheese
60 g/2oz caster sugar
60 g/2oz butter cubed
6 egg yolks
200 ml double cream
10 ml/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp dark rum
80 g/3oz plain flour
3 tbsp apricot jam + 1tsp water to glaze

For the meringue

6 egg whites refrigerated
100 g/3½oz granulated sugar

Instructions

Before you start, bring all your ingredients to room temperature
Separate the eggs, putting the whites into the fridge
Grease & line the bottom and side of a 25cm/10inch diameter spring form cake tin with parchment paper
Cover the base & up the side of the tin with tin foil, making it water-tight
Place the tin in an oven proof dish large enough that it can sit flat & level
Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF/gas mark 3
Put the cream cheese and caster sugar into the bowl of an electric food mixer
Using the K-beater attachment, mix on a medium speed for about a minute until there are no lumps
Add the softened butter and mix, again on a medium speed, until there are no lumps
Add the egg yolks a little at a time before adding all the double cream. Combine
Add the lemon juice and rum. Combine
Sift the flour before adding to the mixture. Combine
Put the mixture into a large bowl, before thoroughly washing and drying the food mixer bowl
Put the cold egg whites into the mixer bowl and, using the whisk attachment on a high speed, whip them into stiff peaks
Slow the speed to medium and (while still moving) add the granulated sugar a little at a time to the egg white
Boil half a kettle-full of water
Carefully fold the meringue, half at a time, into the batter using a large metal spoon
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and level the top with the back of the spoon
Carefully pour the boiling water into the large oven-proof dish containing the cake tin before putting it into the oven
Bake for an hour at 160ºC/320ºF/gas mark 3 before lowering the temperature to 150ºC/300ºC/gas mark 2 and cooking for another 30 minutes
Turn off the oven, leave the oven door ajar, leaving the cake in the oven for 20 minutes
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely in its tin on a wire rack

Keyword baked cheesecake, cheesecake, cream cheese

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: cheesecake

Cakes & Bakes: Lemon & blueberry cheesecake

Lemon & blueberry cheesecake

Ingredients

for the base

for the filling

Instructions

Cakes & Bakes: Italian cheesecake with almond crumb base

Italian Cheesecake with almond crumb base

Ingredients

For the base

For the cake

Instructions

Cakes & Bakes: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Triple chocolate cheesecake

Ingredients

For the biscuit base

For the cheesecake filling

For the ganache topping

Instructions

Cakes & Bakes: Japanese cheesecake

Japanese cheesecake

Ingredients

For the cheesecake

For the meringue

Instructions