Berries Cheesecake
Sometimes it seems like my blog is all about the wonderful creations can be done with berries. Yes, I love berries almost as much as I love vanilla based desserts. I think I still have to make it up for the all the years blueberries were only in the movies, raspberry was only a kind of artificial juice and a name of a famous bunny, starring in a children’s book that used to be very famous somewhere in the Mediterranean. Other berries, by the way, simply didn’t exist. Well, were never known (not to mention grown) in that tiny Mediterranean state. We did have strawberries, though, during our very short wintertime.
I hope this explains all about my berries obsession. There’s another reason the only fruits I bake are berries – hubby. He’s very high-maintenance when it comes to baked fruits, and berries are probably the only acceptable
Today’s dessert is my favourite cake, cheesecake, of course, with an obsessed twist – the berries.
I usually just love the cookies crust. However, when baking this cake I used sweet shortcrust pastry instead, just because I ran out of cookies… And I say, do whatever you can to have the best possible crust! Oh, and you can add a little bit of melted white chocolate to the crust mixture. Makes thins even more interesting. Can you imagine?!
You’ll need:
23cm springform tin
For the crust:
- 300g shortbread cookies (or digestive biscuits)
- 60g unsalted, melted butter
For the filling:
- 500g cream cheese
- 180g caster sugar
- finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 3 eggs
- 150ml double cream
- 150g ricotta cheese
- 150g berries of your choice (such as: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants)
For the topping:
- 200g creme fraiche
- 30g icing sugar
How to:
The crust:
(1) Crush the shortbread cookies into small crumbs
(2) Mix the cookies crumbs with the melted butter
(3) Press down the biscuit mixture into the base of the tin
The filling:
(1) Preheat oven to 150c
(2) In a bowl, mix the cheese, sugar, lemon juice and zest until smooth (can use a hand mixer as well)
(3) Gradually add the eggs and mix well
(4) Pour in the cream and keep mixing
(5) Finally, add the ricotta cheese and mix until all ingredients are well combined.
(6) Place the mixture in the tin
(7) Scatter the berries on top, and dip them into the mixture, in order to prevent them from burning
(8) Place the tin in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes. The cake should still wobble then
(9) Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Leave the oven on
The topping:
(1) Prepare the topping: mix creme fraiche with icing sugar until well combined
(2) Spread evenly on top of the cake
(3) Place the tin back in the oven and bake for further 5 minutes
(4) Romove from the oven and allow to cool
(5) Before serving, let the cake stabilize by letting it chill for the night (or at least 12 hours) in the fridge
Tags: berries, cheesecake