Vanillicious.com – Easy Desserts

In Israel we have a holiday that is being traditionally celebrated by serving dairy foods. I call it the Cheesecake holiday,whereas the official name is Shavuot. I’m really not into religious at all, so I’ll spare you the story behind this holiday. If you really want to know what it’s about, you can always waste your time reading the wikipedia article. I’m more into the foods, and if there’s a cheesecake holiday, then hey, I’m in! Even if the explanation for it is too religious. Also, being able to say “In Israel we have a cheese cake holiday” sounds pretty cool for a middle eastern country.

I’ve been wanting to make this cake for a while now, but never really got to it. Now that Shavuot is approaching, I figured it’s time!  It literally takes a few minutes to prepare the base and crumbs (plus 15 minutes baking), and a couple more to assemble the filling ingredients and whip the cream. So don’t feel intimidated by the relatively lengthy looking instructions.

Some tips before you start:

• The most efficient way to line the dough in the tin: I suggest you line the tin in baking paper, plce the dough on top of it, cover with another baking paper and roll into the tin shape using a rolling pin
• Full fat cream cheese should have 20-30% fats; Low fat cream cheese should have up to 6% fats.
• Using icing sugar while whipping the cream will thicken the whipped cream even more. I would highly recommend not to substitute it with a normal sugar.
• Before spreading the filling, attach stripe(s) of baking paper to the rim of the tin, so the mixture won’t attach to the it. This might destroy the perfect edges of your cake, though I guarantee it will taste the same. The hight of the stripe(s) should be the hight of the tin rim, and in order to attach it to the rim, just wet your hand, move them over the inside of the rim. The the baking paper will then stick to the rim with the help of the water.
• The cake has to stabilize overnight in your fridge. You could also freeze it, but you will have to transfer it to the fridge 3-4 hours before serving. Alternatively, you could leave it on the kitchen counter for 2 hours if the weather allows. It is not recommended for summer days, though.
• Once the crumble has cooled completely, it is advised to keep it in an airtight container and scatter it right before serving. That way the crumble won’t become moisty from the fridge. However, having the leftovers in my fridge for 2 more night didn’t seem to have a negative effect on its freshness.

Happy Cheesecake Holiday!

You’ll need:

• 23cm springform tin

For the base and crumble:

• 200g flour
• 120g butter, chilled and diced
• 90g icing sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp rum

For the filling:

• 375g full fat cream cheese
• 200g low fat cream cheese
• 200g sour cream
• 500ml whipping cream
• 150g icing sugar
• 80g custard powder
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp rum
• lemon zest from 1 lemon

How to:

The base and crumble:

(1) Preheat the oven to 175c

(2) Place the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs

(3) Add the egg and rum and process until a ball is formed

(4) Roll the pastry dough out and divide in two (one part for the base, the other for the crumbs)

(5) Line one of the dough on the tin, then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes

(6) Shape a disc of the second dough and chill until ready to bake

(7) Bake the base for 15 minutes until golden brown

(7) Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool

(8) Bake the second dough for 15 minutes or until golden brown

(9) Allow the second dough to cool for 5-10 minutes, then crumble it using a fork

The Filling:

(1) In a bowl, mix the cheeses, sour cream, lemon zest and rum

(2) In a separate bowl whip the cream together with the custard powder, icing sugar and vanilla

(3) Gently fold the cheese mix into the cream

Assemble the cake:

(1) Spread the cheese-cream mixture evenly over the base once it has cooled

(2) Chill the cake overnight

(3) Before serving – scatter the crumble over the cake

Tags: cheesecake, cream cheese

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