Oaty Raspberry Cheesecake

This is another cheesecake from the cake tasting that didn’t make the cut for the wedding. It is however very tasty and quite simple to make and HUGE!

I will definitely be making this again for friends. Please do use real vanilla pods if you can it makes such a difference to the taste.
I love that the base included oats as well as biscuits which gave it a different flavour and made the base really crumbly. Also the zest in the cheese part of the cake is amazing, makes it taste so fresh!

ingredients;
150g butter, plus more for greasing
200g digestive biscuits
100g rolled oats
1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp essence)
600g cream cheese (full fat)
1 lemon
1 orange
300ml double cream
to top:
100g caster sugar
500g raspberries

1 23cm springform tin

1. Grease the tin with some butter and line the bottom with greaseproof paper

2. Blend your biscuits until they are fine crumbs (or smash them with a rolling-pin in a bowl)

3. Toast the oats in a pan until they are golden brown, cube the butter and add to the pan with the digestive crumbs, stir until combined and then add to the tin smoothing out with a metal spoon, then pop it in the fridge to set (at least 1 hour)

4. Put all the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl , add the vanilla seeds (cut the pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds) or essence, then add the caster sugar, the zest from the orange and lemon zest plus the juice from the lemon. Blend until smooth.

5. In another bowl whisk the double cream until you have soft peaks then add to the cream cheese mixture in 2 halves folding in gently. Then add to your base and chill in the fridge for at least another hour.

To serve; mix the raspberries and sugar in a bowl, scrunching them together until well mixed.
Ease the cheesecake out of the tin and on to a serving plate and pour the raspberries over the top.

Do not try to work out the calorie content, it’s probably better not to know!

Chocolate Mousse Cake

This cake is great for people who can’t eat gluten as it has no flour, this also makes it super light (although it is very rich) serve with raspberries and creme fraiche (or cream if you’re feeling naughty!)

This recipe is from Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, and requires a little effort through a water bath to cook the cake but it is so worth it!

Ingredients:
11 oz. dark chocolate
2 oz. good quality milk chocolate
¾ cup unsalted butter
8 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
A pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and put a kettle on to boil. Line the inside of a 9 inch springform tin with silver foil, make sure that the foil is pressed well to the sides to form a smooth surface.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together and allow to cool. In another bowl, beat the eggs yolks and sugar until very thick and pale, they should form ribbons when lifted with the whisk. Stir in the vanilla and salt and then the cooled chocolate mix. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they form soft peaks, lighten the chocolate mix with a beaten in dollop of the whites before folding in the rest of them.

3. Pour the cake batter into the foiled cake tin and place the whole thing into a larger roasting dish. Add hot water from the boiled kettle into the roasting tin until it comes about 1 inch up the side of tin. Cook for about 50 minutes – 1 hour.

4. When the cake has cooled, slowly peel off the foil. The outside of the cake will be cooked and dry and the inside will be soft and moussy.

Oreo Cookie and Mixed Berries Cheesecake

This cheesecake is a lot of effort, but is worth it. I got the recipe from another blog The Kitchy Kitchen which is one I have only just found but love!

I made the cheesecake for some friends one afternoon, I am making a wedding ‘cake’ for a friend’s wedding and this was test day… we ate a lot of cake. I will show more recipes soon but you will have to wait until October to see which cake won as I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

This one didn’t make the cut purely because it needs a lots of ingredients, it’s quite fiddly in places and its takes a good few hours to make!

You need A LOT of fruit…

You also need quite a few Oreos!

Mixed Berry Cheesecake

For the Crust:

2 cups of chocolate cookie crumbs, such as the cookie part of Oreos (process whole cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cake:
32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat-free cream cheese)
1 cup white sugar, plus 1/4 cup for the berry syrup
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rose-water (optional, though I think it adds a lovely floral note)
1 tablespoon Chambord
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 pint blackberries
1 pint raspberries
1 pint strawberries

separating the cookies is very fiddly, and the worst thing is the cookie cream is no good without the biscuits, if anyone has a use for the middle of Oreos let me know, it felt very wrong to throw them out!

Directions:

Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350 F with rack in the center of the oven.

For Crust:
In a medium-sized bowl combine the chocolate cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For the Cake:
Combine all of the berries, Chambord, 1/4 cup of sugar, and lemon juice in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir for 10 minutes, until the mixture has become extremely liquid and reduced a little. Strain the mixture, reserving both the syrup and the cooked berries.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, place the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, and incorporate after each addition. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract, rose-water, and 3/4 cup of the berry syrup. Beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F and continue to bake for about another 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wobbly. Remover the cake from the oven and drag a knife around the edge (circumference) of the cake to loosen it from the spring form (this also prevents cracking). The cake will be a little brown on top with a mauve-y purple-pink hue underneath.

Let it cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night to let the cake set and flavors deepen.

The next day, take the remaining berries and syrup and pile it on top of the cake. Using a small spatula, cover the sides in the syrup and cooked berries as well.

Do try it, it’s sooo worth the effort!