Blackberry Cheesecake

This summer the berries were the juiciest and sweetest I have had! Late onset of summer had some benefits I guess. The shops were full of fresh blackberries and I could not resist using them for a cheesecake. I was packing a goodie box for my brother who always complains he never gets to eat any of my baked stuff,not my fault- he lives in a different country.  Considering I have been baking (or for that matter cooking) for the last few years only and that my brother and I have been on different continents for most of our adult lives now, there have been very few opportunities for me to indulge his sweet tooth. Every time we are home- which usually is with our parents, we spend all our time trying to annoy each other rather than trying to show our newly acquired culinary skills! Plus I get to take a break from even entering the kitchen and am pampered by my mom’s cooking. So, as I was saying, I was preparing a goodie box for my now grown up little brother , I would have loved to send him some of this cheesecake except I think it would not survive a trans-Atlantic courier so I had settled to send more sturdy items like brownies and cookies instead.

This is a fantastic cheesecake recipe, it is not overly sweet, has a tang of the blackberries, it sets really well and looks great too- ideal for a party or a big dinner.

For the base: 1/2 cup of plain digestive biscuits and ½ cup of gingernut biscuits which have been whizzed in a food processor to crumbs. Alternatively, put the biscuits in a strong freezer bag or a tea towel and beat the hell out of it with a rolling pin. Add to it a pinch of salt, 2 tbsp of granulated sugar (optional) and 2 tbsp of melted unsalted butter. Mix all the ingredients together. Line a 10” x 8” rectangular baking tin (or any shape you want but of similar capacity) with foil, keeping a bit of an overhang on two sides so that it is easy to take out the cheesecake once baked.  Grease the foil lightly with butter. I usually us a round cake tin with removable base which I would cover with foil on the outside to stop the water from penetrating the cake tin when I bake my cheesecake in a water bath. I always use a water bath to bake cheesecakes, they bake much more evenly, there is less chance of cracking, and the texture is very smooth and moist. Press down the biscuit mixture in the baking tin (I use a ramekin bottom to press it down; you can use the same or a spatula). Bake the base for 10 minutes at 160˚C. Then leave it outside to cool while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:

450 g of full fat cream cheese (the kind of cheese you use makes a huge difference in the texture and taste of your cheesecake. I always try and use Philadelphia full fat cheese.
170 g granulated sugar
¼ cup sour cream at room temperature
3 medium size eggs at room temperate
1 ½ tsp vanilla paste (or you can use vanilla extract instead)
2 tbsp plain flour

For the blackberry sauce:

About a punnet and half of fresh blackberries which is approximately 200 g. Keep a handful aside to put them in cheesecake. Put the rest of the blackberries in a saucepan along with 2 tablespoons of granulated white sugar. On medium heat, stir the blackberries, squishing them and stewing them till a thick sauce is formed. Puree in a blender and pass through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. The sauce should be thick and smooth but not lumpy. It should not be too runny either or it will sink in the cheesecake filling when you try to create the swirls. I squeeze couple of teaspoons of lemon juice to the blackberry sauce as I like it really sharp so this is optional.

To make the cheesecake:

1. Beat the cheese and sugar with a hand mixer or using a spatula till the mixture is smooth and light. This takes 3-5 minutes.
2. Add sour cream and mix till smooth.
3. Add in the vanilla paste and mix. Add the eggs one at a time and mix. Do not overbeat the eggs.
4. Now stir in the flour and mix till it is incorporated.
5. Pour the batter onto the prepared base. You can cut the remaining blackberries in half and push them into the filling.
6. Now put drops of the blackberry sauce all over the cheesecake filling. You will use only a few teaspoon worth of the sauce and keep the rest to serve alongside the cheesecake.
7. Run a skewer across the drops of blackberry sauce to create the swirls.
8. Preheat the oven. Place a baking tray with raised edges in the middle of the oven and place the baking tin containing cheesecake batter on the tray. Now pour hot water on the tray. Bake for 30-40 minutes till the middle of the cheesecake is slightly wobbly. Top up the water in baking tray during the baking. The reason for baking the cheesecake in a water bath is so that the cheesecake is evenly baked, it lowers the baking temperature so the cheesecake remains moist and creamy and the top of the cheesecake stops from cracking. Mid way through baking check if the top of the cheesecake is getting too brown, if so , then lightly cover with a piece of foil taking care that it does not touch the top of the cheesecake.
9. Once baked, cool the cheesecake on a wire rack. After about half an hour or so, run a knife around the edges and then leave to cool completely before keeping it in the fridge to let rest for 3-4 hours or best overnight.
10. To cut the cheesecake with clean edges, dip the knife in hot water, wipe and cut.

Serve with blackberry sauce.

I would love to hear from you so please leave comments below!

Mascerpone Cheesecake with Mixed Berry Compote

Hellooo hello!!

I have just come back from a quick wonderful trip to Heidelberg and I sincerely am missing the good food I had there. Germany is famous for great sausages and schnitzels;what was a complete revelation  was a very Heidelberg specific speciality, Heidelberger Kurfürstenkugel – a sponge ball filled with nougat cream and covered in chocolate!!Ohhh so good!! It was also wonderful to meet a couple of friends after so many years. A night of beers , a very interesting speciality of white asparagus was completed by absolutely stunning cocktails at Cocktail Cafe Regie.

Right back to the recipe on hand, a friend was visiting a while back and I decided to make a cheesecake. I wanted something light, not super sweet like my favourite white chocolate cheesecake, something a little different so I decided to make this mascarpone cheesecake. The recipe is adapted from gracessweetlife.com. Very light and creamy, this is a perfect summer cheesecake. The topping can be inventive but I like a mix of berries to go with the lightness of the cheesecake. I make all my cheesecakes in bain-marie, and the steps are similar to this recipe.

For the base: 150 digestive biscuits + 75 g ginger nut biscuits (you can use all digestive biscuits, I just love adding some ginger nut biscuits to give it a crunch)+ 100g melted butter.

For the cheesecake filling:

600 g soft full-fat cheese
250 g mascarpone cheese
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
zest of one lemon
4 tbsp plain flour
175 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

For mixed berry compote, I think this can be very variable depending on how much berries you want to use, how sweet you like it and can be customised by changing the amount of sugar or berries added. For this cheesecake, I used about 1 ½ to 2 cups of berries-a mix of raspberries and blueberries, 3/4^th cup of sugar, 2 tbsp butter , 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp cornstarch.

To make the berry compote- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 4 minutes. Cool the compote and store it covered in the fridge. This can be stored for 3 days.

1. Pre heat the fan oven to 160 ˚C.
2.  I always make baked cheesecake in the water-bath so to do that I cover the outside of the spring form tin with a double layer of foil. Make sure there are no holes otherwise the water will seep in and the cheesecake will have a soggy bottom.
3. Crush the biscuits for the base in the food processor and take out into a bowl. Add the sugar and melted butter. Mix well and press this mixture into the base of a spring form tin spreading it along to 2/3 way up the sides as well.
4. Bake the biscuit base in the preheated oven for 10 minutes and then leave it out to cool.
5. Meanwhile make the filling. I used a hand mixer but you can do this by hand whisk as well. Beat the cream cheese for about 3 minutes till it is light and fluffy. Add the mascarpone cheese and flour and beat again for another minute.
6. Add the sugar and mix till incorporated evenly.
7. Add the egg and yolks one by one and mix it till the eggs are incorporated but do not over beat.
8. Add in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest.
9. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin which has already been lined with foil on the outside.
10. Using a deep roasting tray or a baking tray with a high edges, pull out the oven shelf, set the cheesecake tin and then pour boiling water in the roasting tin such that it comes up just half way up the cheesecake tin. Make sure it does not go over the foil lining –that is the whole point of the foil lining-to prevent water entering the spring form tin.
11. I also cover my cheesecake very lightly with a foil sheet to prevent the cheesecake from browning too much. Bake the cheesecake for 45-60 mins till the middle of the cheesecake still wobbles slightly. Take out the cheesecake and leave it to cool in its tin at room temperature. Once cooled, leave it to set in the fridge overnight.
12. Next day, run a knife along the side of the cheesecake and open the spring form tin and take the cheesecake out. Top it with the berry compote.

 

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

Ahh the weekends!! its baking time 🙂

Let me start by saying, I looove cheesecakes! and I love white chocolate..so there you go you know what I am making, the white chocolate cheesecake (with raspberry swirls). I have made this twice now and both times it has worked grand. It tastes amazing. You get the white chocolate through and the sharpness of raspberries goes really well with the chocolate.

Happy Birthday Cheesecake! This is one with heart swirls. the one I made below I did random swirls. Both designs look great.

What you need is:

to make the base
1/2 cup of crushed digestive biscuits+ 1/2 cup of ginger nut biscuits
2 tablespoon of melted butter
2 tablespoon of granulated sugar

Mix them together and press it down in an 8 inch springform tin. Use the back of spoon or a ramekin to press down. Bake it in a pre-warmed oven at 175°C fan oven for about 10 minutes. Cool it over a wire rack.

For the raspberry puree
1 1/2 cups of fresh raspberries. I think frozen ones would work fine as well though I used fresh ones.
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Puree the raspberries in a food processor and pass it through the sieve to get rid of the seeds. Then add it to a pan with the sugar and cook on a medium heat till it starts to bubble. Keep it simmering for another 2 minutes till it is quite thickened and then leave it to cool.

Now for the cheesecake filling
540 gm cream cheese
3/4th cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
115 gm good quality white chocolate
2 1/2 eggs or 3 small eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

To start with, cover the springform tin with foil up to the top of the sides so that it can go into a water bath without water seeping into it else your base will get absolutely ruined. Pre-heat the oven at 160°C. Now chop the white chocolate into small pieces. Pour the heavy cream or double cream in a sauce pan and heat till it starts simmering. Add this to the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 30 seconds and then gently mix with a spoon to melt the chocolate till it’s all a smooth ganache. Set aside and let it cool.

Use good quality full fat cream cheese otherwise you risk your mixture being too runny. Beat the cream cheese with hand mixer or a paddle mixer. And you of course beat it by hand as well. I used a hand mixer and beat it at medium speed for about 3 minutes till the cream cheese feels light. Now add the granulated sugar in a stream while beating. Beat for another minute till all the sugar is incorporated. Add the cooled chocolate mixture. Then add the eggs one at a time. Take care not to over beat it else your cheesecake will puff up. Add the salt and vanilla essence. Pour the cheesecake mixture onto the prepared base.

Now for the fun part 🙂 To make the raspberry swirl, gently spoon drops of the prepared cooled raspberry puree scattered over the cheesecake. Using a skewer, just run though the dots. It’s really fun!! You want to note that if your cheesecake mixture is runny the raspberry puree would sink. Similarly if your puree is too runny, it will spread.

So this is what it should look like

Pour boiling water in a roasting tray and set your tin in the water bath. I have tried keeping a tray of water separately but it is not the same and causes the cheesecake to crack. Bake till about 45 minutes till it is slightly browned on the edges and it still wobbly in the middle. Cool completely on a wire rack. Run a knife along the edge and release the cheesecake from the tin. Leave it to set properly in the fridge for couple of hours or over night. Serve with the raspberry puree.

Right, so I have some more of this waiting for me in the kitchen. Bye now!!

*updated May 2013*