Baked Lemon Cheesecake

I always wanted to make a baked cheesecake, so when we invited some guests the last time the time was right. As the dinner was quite heavy, I wanted something light and delicate. Well it isn't the lightest dessert, but it tasted divine (also it is quite easy to make). I found a recipe on the BBC Goodfood website, but I slightly had to modify it to my taste.

 

Baked Lemon Cheesecake

 

Ingredients

260g digestive biscuit

120g melted butter

 

600g light soft cheese/cream cheese

250g mascarpone

2eggs

2egg yolks

zest of 4 lemons

juice of 2.5 lemons

4 tbsp flour

150g caster sugar

 

few spoonful of cream fresh/soured cream

few spoonful of lemon curd

handful of blueberries

 

 

Heat the oven to 180C and line the bottom of a 23cm spring form tin with baking paper. Crush the biscuits to crumbs and work it together with the melted butter. Press the biscuit paste into the bottom of the pan and place it to the fridge while you prepare the filling.



 

 

Whisk all the other ingredients in a large bowl until completely combined, pour into the tin, then bake for 35-40 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cake inside until cool.

 

 

 When it is completely cooled remove from the tin and top with cream fresh, lemon curd and blueberries if you like. You can keep the cake in the fridge if you want a cold dessert summer time.

Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes

It was my 1 year' anniversary at my workplace and I made some cupcakes to celebrate this. I made some banoffee cupcakes and raspberry and lemon cupcakes from my new book from Peggy Porschen. I have to say I struggled to get 12 cupcakes from the amount she described so I increased the measurements slightly. I also found the icing ever so slightly sweet, so I added less icing sugar. BUT even with the sweet frosting it was more than delicious.

Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes

 For the decoration

12 raspberries

For the frosting
120 g full-fat cream cheese
100 g unsalted butter, softened
220 g icing sugar, shifted
finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

For the sponge

120 g unsalted butter

120 g caster sugar

pinch of salt

finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

2 large eggs

120 g self-raising flour

2-3 raspberries per cupcake so 24-36 in total

For the sugar syrup

70 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

70 g caster sugar

To make the frosting

Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl  and beat until smooth and creamy. Place the butter and icing sugar and lemon zest in a separate bowl. Cream together until very pale and fluffy.

Add the cream cheese, a little at the time, to the butter mixture and mix at medium-high speed until the frosting is combined. Add the banana purée and chill until set.

To make the cupcakes

Place the butter, salt and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy.

Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl and add slowly to the butter mixture while whisking quickly. If the mixture starts to separate or curdle, stop adding the egg and beat in  2-3 tablespoons of flour. This will rebind the butter.

Once all the egg has been incorporated into the butter mixture, shift in the remaining flour and stir until the batter is just combined. This will ensure the sponges stay light and fluffy. 

 Using a piping bag or a tablespoon, carefully place the batter into the cupcake cases until two-thirds full only. Drop 2 or 3 raspberries into each cupcake. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the inserted wooden skewer comes out clean.

To make the sugar syrup

While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the sugar syrup for soaking. Place the lemon juice and sugar into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until all the sugar dissolved then set aside to cool down slightly. 

Once the cupcakes are baked, let them rest for about 10 minutes outside the oven. Using a pastry brush, soak the tops of the cupcakes with sugar syrup while they are still warm: this allows the syrup to be absorbed faster. Leave to cool on a wire cooling rack.

Fill the chilled frosting in a plastic piping bag fitted with a large pain round nozzle and pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake.

To finish, place a raspberry on top of the frosting for each cupcake. 

Lemon, Almond and Poppy Seed Cake

 In the meantime of waiting for my new delivery from Lakeland:) I made myself useful:) I baked something that my husband loves the most: poppy seeded ....well anything that contains poppy seed. I used Peggy Porschen's new book I bought last week and the result was delicious.

Lemon, Almond and Poppy Seed Cake

For the sponge

200 g unsalted butter, softened

200 g caster sugar

4 medium eggs

200 g self-raising flour

100 g ground almond

30 g ground poppy seed (plus I put in 10g as a whole as well)

finely grated zest of 2 lemons

For the lemon syrup

100 ml -the juice of two lemons

100 g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 175C and prepare the bundt cake tin.

For the sponge:Place the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and cream until pale and fluffy.

Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl and slowly add the butter mixture while whisking quickly. If the mixture starts to separate or curdle, stop adding the egg and beat in 2-3 tablespoons of the flour. This will rebind the batter. Once all the egg has been added and combined with the butter mixture, shift in the flour and add the ground almonds and poppy seeds. Stir until the batter is just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, using a rubber spatula to help fill the tin. Before baking,  tap the filled cake tin on your work surface a few times to make sure the batter has reached all the cavities at the bottom of the tin.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven.The sponge is cooked when the sides are beginning to shrink away from the edges of the tin and the top is golden brown and springs back to the touch. 

While the sponge is baking, prepare a lemon syrup for soaking. Place the lemon juice and caster sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until all the sugar crystals have dissolved. Set aside to cool down slightly.

Once the sponge is baked, immediately brush the sponge with half the lemon syrup: this allows the syrup to be absorbed faster.

Allow to cool for about 30 minutes outside of the oven. Once just warm, turn the cake out of the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire cooling rack. Brush the other side of the sponge with the remaining syrup.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Apple Pie

We spent the weekend with our friends in Basingstoke and I promised to make some dessert. I would have been easy but I forgot my promise, up to the day before when I realised I need to bake something after work, that is suitable for a car drive there. This apple pie is easy to make and the dough doesn't need resting which means you can prepare the whole pie in 30-40 minutes. Perfect as an afternoon quick fix bake:)

Apple Pie

For the pastry:

500g plain flour

250g butter(at room temperature)

200g sugar

1tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1-3 tbsp soured cream

For the filling

1kg apple (pealed, grated)

3 tbsp semolina

150g walnut(grated or roughly chopped)

150g sugar

1/2 lemon

1tbsp cinnamon

egg wash for the top

icing sugar to serve

Place the flour and baking powder in a big bowl and rub in the soft butter. Add the sugar and eggs and work together to get a dough. The amount of soured cream you put in depends on the size of your eggs, temperature so on...so add as much soured cream as you need, to get a very soft, but not sticky dough. Kneed it for 2-3minutes then cover it and put it in the fridge until you prepare your filling.

Peel the apples and great them into a bowl. Pour off most of excess liquid you have after grating, because we don't want the soggy bottoms(you don't have to squeeze the apple to get rid off all moisture, just pour off the excess). Add the juice of the half lemon, semolina, sugar and the cinnamon. Taste the filling. if you think it isn't cinnamony enough then add some more. 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line your baking tray with baking paper.

Divide the dough into two parts and on a floured surface roll it to 3-4 mm thickness. Lay the dough into the prepared tin and prick the surface with a fork. 

Sprinkle on the walnut to the dough(it has two function: it tastes really nice with the apple, and protects the dough from the juice of the apple, therefore making sure the bottom will be soft, but not under baked). Now lay your apple filling on top of the walnut layer then level it with your spoon. 

Cover it with the other half of the dough (roll it to the same thickness) and prick with a fork.

Cover the dough with egg wash and bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

When it is ready slice it and serve it hot with some vanilla ice cream or at room temperature with some icing sugar on top.

Lemon Magic

This is a really quick and refreshing dessert almost allays served at warm summer days when you need something light and not too sweet.

For 6 individual portions:
5dl soured cream 
3 lemons
2 tbs icing sugar
1 vanilla
10-15 pieces of lady fingers
3dl double cream

In one bowl mix the soured cream with the icing sugar and 2.5 lemon zest and its juice.
In the other bowl whip the double cream until stiff peaks then mix the contents of the two bowls.
Layer the cream and the lady fingers and put it into the fridge for at least 24 hours. 
Serve chilled with the sliced, half lemon for decoration.

Hints and tips
-if you don't have time for the 24 hours chilling, dip the lady fingers into some milk just before layering. It really should be a quick dip for 4-5 second to start the softening process. If you leave the lady finger in the milk for too long, it will fell apart and it will release milk later on when your desserts already assembled....and you don't want that.
If you use the "milking" method, 3-4 hours resting in the refrigerator will be sufficient.
-As usual please taste the cream, as somebody like sour desserts more than others, if this is the case add another lemon to the cream...
  

Mini Lemon Curd Sponge Cake

Again a recipe with a twist: cake with real vanilla and a cream which is not butter cream.

Not that the butter cream isn’t nice..but all that butter and sugar....now you have a healthier option!

Mini Lemon Curd Sponge Cake

for the Sponge
175 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature
175 gr caster sugar
175 gr eggs (roughly 3 large eggs), beaten
1 vanilla pod*more on this topic in the Tricks and Recommendations
175 gr self-raising flour

For the cream
 200 ml double cream
 300 gr quark or “curd cheese” (I buy them in polish shops, write it down and ask  for: Twarog Tlusty)*more on this topic in the Tricks and Recommendations 
    1 vanilla pod

  For the filling
  12 tsp lemon curd (recipe from www.kabiskitchen.com)
4 eggs
4 egg yolk
160gr caster sugar
5 big lemons
140gr unsalted butter
2tsp honey

 optional
 some icing sugar for dusting


Cakes


1.    Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
2.    Cream the butter and caster sugar together until the mixture is pale and light. 
3.    Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Add the vanilla and mix again.
4.    Sift the flour into the bowl and fold in using a rubber spatula until the mixture is glossy and smooth
5.    Divide the mixture between the 12 holes of the Lakeland Mini Sandwich Pan and level with a teaspoon.
6.    Bake on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for about 15 minutes until golden, well risen and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
7.    Leave the cakes to rest in the tin for 2 minutes and then carefully ease out onto a wire cooling rack until cold.


Cream


Whip the double cream to stiff peaks, then add the vanilla and the quark and mix it together until it is well incorporated


Lemon Curd


“Whisk the eggs and yolks in a heatproof bowl with sugar, lemon zest and juice. Set the bowl over simmering water, and add the butter and honey. Stir it continuously. It takes roughly 12-15 minute to thicken. It should reach the consistency of custard. Turn off the heat, and pour the custard into sterilised jars. It will thicken further in the jar. Do not close it until it’s cooled down.
Keep it in the fridge. It will last for weeks.”
This amount will make 2-3 jars, but believe me the excess won’t last long.
Assemble


Cut each of the cakes in half and spread the bottom layer with the cream. Top with a teaspoon of lemon curd and sandwich with the top cake layer. Lightly dust with icing sugar to serve.


Hints and Tips
-I don't add any sugar to the cream as the cake itself quite sweet and the lemon curd as well. I would suggest to try half spoon of cream and half spoon of lemon curd together and if it is sweet enough, than no need to sweeten it. If you still need a little bit of sweetness, add some icing sugar.
-Although I used the Lakeland's tin to make mini individual cakes(which has straight sides, unlike muffin tins), you can use two separate sandwich tin to make one big cake. I would suggest to bake it in two separate tin, as baking as one big one tend to be a problem with this batter mix