Lemon curd and chocolate cheesecake pie

I’m currently living on a building site. It’s been thus for about a month now and is likely to remain thus for at least another month. There’s dust and dirt everywhere, the heating has cut out three times (so far); the electricity, even more. Everything has been boxed up and is therefore infuriatingly impossible to find when you need it, oh and it’s all squashed into one room, which also happens to be the same room we’re living out of. As you may gather, my patience is being tested.

Most significantly, we have no kitchen. This means food intake is restricted pretty much to microwave meals and take-away, dishes are washed up in a bucket in the bath tub upstairs, and worst of all, I cannot bake anything! Woe is me, dear reader, woe is me.

The only upside to all the chaos – apart from of course the fact that everything will be all shiny and new once the work is complete – is that one of the builders is quite possibly the most beautiful being I have ever laid eyes on. If you’re picturing this ad playing out in my house on a daily basis, well, you would not be too far wrong. It almost makes me happy for the chaos to continue indefinitely! But if that happened, my blog posts would soon dry up and I couldn’t do that to you now could I? You see the sacrifice I am making for y’all?!

In the meantime, in anticipation of being denied the ability to bake awhile, I whipped up this little beauty before the old kitchen was so ruthlessly ripped out (may it rest in peace). As you know, I love the combination of lemon and chocolate so whilst this was originally supposed to be just a lemon curd cheesecake pie, when I lit on the idea of a chocolate ganache top, I couldn't resist. Combined with a lightly-baked biscuit base, it's a fool proof, quick to make and yumma dessert!

Ingredients

Biscuit base:

• 400g oaty biscuits
• 120g unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake filling:

• 300g full-fat cream cheese
• 250g mascarpone
• 75g caster sugar
• 250-300g lemon curd

Ganache:

• 80ml double cream
• 80g plain chocolate (40% cocoa)

You'll also need an 8" springform tin.

Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan).

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor and then add in the melted butter, blitzing again until you have a lovely buttery rubble. Alternatively, place the biscuits in a sandwich bag and give them a good bashing with a rolling pin before tipping them into a large bowl and adding the melted butter, stirring well to combine.

Tip the biscuit mixture into an 8” springform tin and press it down firmly with you fingers to cover the base of the tin. Bring some of the biscuit mix up around the side of the tin to create a rim that is about 2cm high all around and 5mm in thickness.

Bake the pie crust in the oven for about 7 minutes, then remove and allow to set and cool completely. You could do this in advance and place the cooled crust (still in the tin) in the refrigerator until needed.

To make the cheesecake filling, place the cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon.

Once combined, add about three-quarters of the lemon curd and beat in thoroughly to combine. Pour the lemony cheese mixture into your pie crust and use a spatula to spread it evenly throughout the pie.  Don’t worry if there’s too much filling for the crust and it rises up over the rim of the pie, just spread it out to the edges of your tin – it will set in the fridge.

Next, take your remaining lemon curd and dollop generous spoonfuls randomly over the cheesecake.  Take a palette knife and gently swirl the blobs of curd into the cheese mix to create a pretty pattern.  Place in the fridge to set for at least an hour before covering with the ganache.

For the ganache, break the chocolate into pieces in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it begins to just simmer (but don’t allow it to boil). Once the cream is almost simmering, take it off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Allow the cream to melt the chocolate for 30 seconds before beating the two together with a spatula or spoon until you have a shiny, glossy ganache. 

Let the ganache cool for five minutes before pouring over the top of the cheesecake.  If you need to, gently spread the ganache with a spatula to cover the whole of the surface of the cheesecake.  Place in the fridge for four to five hours to set, or ideally overnight.

Lime and ginger cheesecake (no-bake)

Big brothers, they're a pain right? They think they know better than you purely because they're a couple of years older (they sooo don't); they get ridiculously overprotective when they see you talking to pretty much anyone from the male of the species; they reckon they know how to make a better cup of tea than you (I don't think so); and then they pretend that they don't read your blog but subsequently tell you that you post too many chocolate based recipes on it. Too many chocolate based recipes??? Pfft, right, like that's even possible!

And I'm not finished there. The litany of complaints continues: despite untold damage to their street cred, they literally hold your hand pretty much every day of your first year at school because you're too shy to talk to anyone and keep blubbering like a baby; they wake up at stupid times of the night to pick you up from the airport after your holidays so that you don't have to make your own way home with your oversized suitcase crammed with beauty lotions and potions and half your wardrobe; they buy you ridiculously expensive chocolates for no reason other than they know how much you love those teeny-weeny salted caramel truffles that cost a small fortune; and to cap things off, they give you darn good hugs and a shoulder to cry on when some loserface breaks your heart.

So you see, it's like I said, they're a pain. Furthermore, let it be clear that the non-chocolate based blog recipe below is purely to prove a point (this is in fact my second chocolate-free post in a row); in no way is it an attempt to please brother dearest. Hmph.

I can't take the credit for this recipe. It comes from a lovely colleague of mine, John, who not only was kind enough to make this amazing cheesecake for me, he then let me have the recipe and agreed to let me share it with you on my blog. So John, we salute you!

As it's a no-bake cheesecake, this is a pretty easy recipe to follow, yet it tastes incredible; I love the ginger and lime combination. Because I always feel short changed on the biscuit part of cheesecakes, I usually increase the amount of the base, but in this instance, instead I sprinkled extra crushed biscuit on top - almost like a crumble topping - so that you get delicious buttery ginger biscuit either side of the creamy hint-of-lime cheese. I also upped my mascarpone to cream cheese ratio because I love the rich smoothness of mascarpone. Served in individual ramekins, it makes an impressive-looking dessert...even if there's no chocolate in it!

Adapted from my friend John's recipe!

Serves 15-18 (you will need 15-18 ramekins. Alternatively make in one large, shallow dish)

• 400g ginger nuts
• 120g unsalted butter, melted
• 300g cream cheese (I used full-fat Philadelphia)
• 250g mascarpone
• 100g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 1 lime

Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Alternatively, place them in a plastic sandwich bag and bash with a rolling pin until they are crushed then place them in a bowl. Add the melted butter to the biscuits and mix thoroughly to combine.

Set aside about a quarter of the crushed butter-biscuit mix in a small bowl, saving it for the topping. Layer the remaining three quarters in the base of your large serving dish or into your ramekins (I made individual desserts and had enough to layer 17 ramekins, filling each one with about three teaspoons of the mix). Press the crumbs down firmly with the back of a spoon or your fingers to even it out and so that it is approximately one centimetre in depth.

Chill in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour.

Tip the two cheeses, sugar, lime zest and juice into a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until well mixed.

Remove the chilled biscuit layer from the fridge and spoon the cheese mix over the base, spreading it evenly so that it is about a centimetre thick.

Sprinkle the remaining biscuit crumbs that you had set aside over the cheese layer for decoration.

Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate again for at least two hours to allow to set.

The cheesecake should keep fine (covered to prevent it from drying out) in the fridge for three to four days.

Raspberry Ripple and Lemon Cheesecake Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I have the memory of a goldfish.  Honestly, I remember and retain next to nothing, whether it’s the plots of books I’ve read or what I did on the weekend or what’s going on in current affairs.  The worst is when it comes to holidays.  Ask me for recommendations on where to stay, places to eat, the best ways to get around any of the places I’ve been to in my life and I will prove about as useful as a chocolate teapot.  I just never remember.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally senile - at least, not yet - but what I do recall is the useless stuff - things that are of no help whatsoever to anyone.  For instance, years ago I went on a family holiday to Istanbul.  I remember nothing of the Blue Mosque or Hagia Sophia, nothing of the hotel I stayed at or restaurants I dined in.  No, the single memory I have of this trip is of a local man randomly jumping out in front of my family and me on the street and shouting "Yes, I am here!" in a thick Turkish accent, at which point we all collapsed into giggles.  Now I’ll admit, I take delight in continuing the stranger’s legacy by occasionally jumping out in front of my siblings announcing, “Yes, I am here!” (I know, I’m not normal, but we established this long ago I’m sure), but other than it providing me with immense juvenile amusement, I think we can all agree that this memory is not going to be of any use to anyone in any way, shape or form.  Ever.

Last month I was on holiday in Puerto Rico, and like Istanbul, my memories of it are already fading fast.  The things that will stay with me are (yes, you guessed it) the weird, of-no-help-to-anyone things, for example, a surreal conversation with a random stranger who told me he’d seen the face of God and that I had the same face (apparently it’s the eyes and nose.  Err, right), and eating rice and beans flavour ice cream (an acquired taste)!

The other thing that made a lasting impression on me in Puerto Rico was the extent to which American culture and influence seems to have permeated the whole place.  Perhaps not surprising given the island is a US territory.  See, not a particularly useful memory, and yet it has served at least one good purpose: when I came home, I decided my next cake would be an ode to American influence, something super-sized, over-the-top, yet addictive and irresistible.  Thus was my raspberry ripple and lemon cheesecake cake born.

This cake has got me seriously excited.  It’s different (how often do you see cheesecake and cake combined?), it’s delicious, and the possibilities for adaptation are endless.  Next up chocolate cheesecake cake, carrot cheesecake cake, red velvet cheesecake cake.  Who knows, maybe one day I’ll even try a rice and beans cheesecake cake…

Serves 20

For the baked raspberry cheesecake (cheesecake adapted from BBC GoodFood):

• 600g full fat cream cheese
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 175g golden caster sugar
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, plus the yolk of one large egg
• 150ml soured cream
• 225g raspberries (frozen or fresh)

For the lemon sponge cake:

• 225g butter or Stork, at room temperature (I used Stork)
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten in a bowl
• 225g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Grated zest of 2 lemons
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 85g golden caster sugar

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 250g butter or Stork (I used Stork)
• 400g full fat cream cheese, drained of any liquid
• 300g icing sugar
• 2tsp vanilla extract
• 200g white chocolate
• 150g fresh raspberries mixed with 1 tbsp icing sugar and lightly crushed (don’t use frozen, they will release too much water, making your frosting too runny)

To make the cheesecake

Ideally you need to make the cheesecake layer one day ahead and then stick it in the freezer overnight, but if you can’t, just make sure you make it before you start on the sponge and frosting and then freeze it for 4-5 hours before assembling the whole cake.

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease the sides and base of a deep 8” round tin.  Then line the base of the tin with greaseproof paper and place the tin onto a baking sheet.

Place the cream cheese in a bowl and beat on a medium-low speed, preferably with a paddle attachment/K-beater, for a few minutes until smooth.

Add the flour and sugar and continue to beat on medium-low for a couple of minutes, stopping twice in between to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the vanilla, eggs and yolk, and the soured cream and beat together until you have a smooth, light mixture.  Again, stop to scrape down the sides once or twice between beating.

Stir in the raspberries (straight from the freezer if using frozen) and then pour the batter into your tin.

Place the tin (on the baking sheet) on the middle shelf in your oven and bake for 40 minutes.  If you have a fan oven, bake the cheesecake at 180C for the first 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 160C for the remaining 30 minutes.  If it's not a fan oven, leave the temperature at 180C throughout.

After the 40 minutes (the cheesecake will still have a wobble but do not over-bake it!), turn the oven off and open the door slightly but leave the cheesecake inside for 2 hours or until it’s completely cold.  This will allow the cheesecake to set and to become even creamier.

Once the cheesecake is set and cooled, place it in the freezer overnight (or a minimum of 4-5 hours), until you are ready to assemble the whole cake.

To make the lemon sponge cake

Pre-heat oven to 180C (or 160C for a fan oven), grease the sides and bases of two 8” round sandwich tins and line the bases with greaseproof paper.

In a deep bowl, vigorously beat together the butter/Stork and sugar until pale and creamy (use a K-beater if using a freestanding mixer), then add the lightly beaten eggs, slowly mixing through.

Sift the flour and baking powder together three times, before adding a third to the batter.  Once incorporated, add another third, slowly beat in again and then add the remaining third.

Once all the flour is incorporated, add the lemon zest and mix until well combined before spooning the mixture evenly into your two tins.

Place the tins on the middle shelf of the oven (this helps the cakes to rise evenly rather than with a domed top) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a thin skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

While the cakes are baking, mix together the lemon juice and sugar to make a drizzle.

As soon as the cakes are out of the oven, prick them all over with a skewer or sharp knife, then pour the drizzle equally over both cakes, leaving to cool and for the juice to sink in.

To make the frosting

In a bowl, beat the butter/Stork for 4-5 minutes on a medium-high speed (use a K-beater if using a freestanding mixer).

Add the cream cheese and beat for another 2 minutes.

Sift the icing sugar into the butter and cheese mixture, add the vanilla extract and then beat again for 2 minutes.

Break the white chocolate into pieces into a bowl and melt gently, either over a bain marie (set the bowl of chocolate over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not come into contact with the water.  Stir the chocolate slowly.  Remove from the heat once it has melted) or in the microwave, then pour it into the cream cheese frosting and give one final quick beat to incorporate.

Refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the cake.

The raspberries mixed with the icing sugar will be used once the cake has been assembled and frosted.

To assemble and frost the cake

Place one of the lemon sponge cake layers onto your cake plate and use a palette knife or spatula to spread a thin layer of the cream cheese frosting over the top.

Next, remove the cheesecake layer from the freezer and gently place it on top of the iced sponge layer.

Spread a thin layer of the frosting over the surface of the cheesecake before placing the final lemon sponge layer on top of the cheesecake layer.

At this point you need to crumb coat the cake.  This simply means spreading a thin layer of the cream cheese frosting first over the top of the cake and then all around the sides, using a palette knife or spatula.  Once you’ve done this crumb coat, refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to an hour, allowing the frosting to set and any loose crumbs on the cake to set within it.

Remove the cake from the fridge once the crumb coat has set and ice with the remaining frosting, starting with the top of the cake and then working all the way around the edge.  Don't worry about it being neat and smooth, a swirly pattern is what you'll be aiming for at the end anyway.

Finally, dot the gently crushed raspberries around the top and side of the cake and using your palette knife, swirl them into the frosting to create a pretty pattern.

Once assembled, store the cake in the fridge overnight – the cheesecake will be even creamier and the sponge even more moist the next day!