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My sister in-law has mentioned making this cake over the summer and since then something has been nagging at me to give it a try. It is the Christmas season now, time for family gatherings and meetings with friends and a pleasant opportunity to enjoy attempting new recipes.

I remember her vaguely mentioning the Baileys cheese cake recipe ingredients and using my imagination and experience in making other similar cakes has resulted in this stunning looking example. And what a taste! Soft and creamy cheesecake beautifully flavoured with Baileys liquor, delicate crunchiness of milk chocolate and a biscuit bite, contrasted with the sweet freshness of the berry fruits – an exquisite dessert for any occasion.

Ingredients

• 150g digestive biscuits
• 50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 200g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
• 500g Mascarpone
• 200ml double cream
• 100g icing sugar
• 100ml Baileys cream liqueur
• 3 gelatine leaves
• 100g forest fruits for decoration

Method

1. Put the biscuits in a plastic bag, then crush with a rolling pin. Melt the butter and the 200g chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water (don’t allow the water to touch the bowl). Once the chocolate has melted, take half of it in a separate bowl. Stir in the crushed biscuits in the remaining melted chocolate and mix until well combined.

2. Grease the base of a 23cm spring-form cake tin, with the side ring unclasped. Line the base with baking paper, allowing the paper to hang outside the edge of the base. Fasten the clasp of the tin so that the paper hangs outside the clipped base (you will need this for leverage later on) and grease the sides liberally. Press the chocolate biscuit crumbs into the base and chill until needed.

3. Put the Mascarpone in a bowl and beat with a spatula. In a clean bowl, lightly whip the cream with the icing sugar, then add to the softened Mascarpone, beating until smooth.

4. Place three gelatine leaves in cold water and let them soften for 5 minutes. Place the Baileys in a small pan over a medium heat and let it gently start to simmer. Take the gelatine leaves out of the water and squeeze out any extra liquid. Place the gelatine into the lightly simmering baileys liquid and stir until fully dissolved. Take the liquid off the fire and let it cool completely. Once cooled add to the cheese cake mixture and fold in gently.

5. Remove the base from the fridge. Dollop the cheesecake mixture on top and smooth with a palette knife. Drizzle over the remaining melted chocolate, swirling it with a skewer.

6. Chill for at least 2 hours. To serve, release the cheesecake by running a hot knife around the inside of the tin before unclipping, then use the paper to lift the cake out of the tin and slide onto a serving plate. Peel off the paper and decorate with forest fruits.

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However anxious we may be with the end-year school result no good champion could be victorious without a proper rest and healthy nourishment. We give a helping hand with the study material, but good food and weekend relaxing family time seem to come first. Keeping the spirits high, I am offering a real treat to my loved ones by making a delicious cheesecake with fresh raspberries.

This is my first attempt at a baked cheesecake. Until now I have always preferred recipes that let the cheesecake firm in the fridge, just for ease, taste and convenience. But not quite today, as my family is striving to do their best at the academic field, I am doing my best in the kitchen for them by giving myself a challenge. And what a triumph! This cheesecake has come out as perfect as if bought from a Parisian pastry shop and equally delicious. The sweet aroma is bringing anxious visitors to the kitchen and we all marvel at the end result with an awe. Are we eager for a piece?  Absolutely! Are we ready for the final push at school and the long awaited fun and cheer of the summer holidays? Without a doubt. Secretly crossing fingers we wish our little scientist success and we let her have a good night rest before the big day tomorrow.

Ingredients

For the crust pastry

• 250g flour
• 75g butter
• 90g sugar
• 1 Vanilla essence sugar package (Dr. Oetker)
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch of salt

For the cheesecake filling

• 200g fresh raspberries
• 500g cottage cheese (creme fraiche)
• 200g sugar
• 2 Vanilla sugars (Dr. Oetker)
• 4 eggs
• 2dl milk
• Powder sugar
• 80g flour

Method

Make the crust pastry:

1. Add the soft butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together and whisk with a mixer until the texture becomes soft, pale and fluffy. Add the egg and continue mixing for a few additional minutes. Add the flour and mix until all comes together in a ball. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until the mixture comes together. Wrap the crust pastry mixture in a cling film and leave in the fridge for one hour to become firm.

2. Prepare the cake form by laying a cylinder shaped baking paper at the base of the form. Take the crust pastry out of the fridge and on a lightly floured surface roll the pastry into a thin disk. Cut a round disk just broad enough to cover the base of the cake form. Place the crust pastry into the form by pressing gently to the bottom and the sides of the form. Roll the remaining pastry into thin ribbons and place on the side of the cake form, pressing gently on the side, making sure that there are no wholes in the dough. Place the form with the crust pastry into the fridge to chill.

Make the cheesecake filling:

1. Separate the egg yolks and the egg whites. In a large bowl whisk together for 5 minutes the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar and the caster sugar until pale and soft.

2. Add the milk and mix some more. Gradually add the flour while gently mixing. With a wooden spoon in round movements add the soft cheese mixing gently until it has been smoothly absorbed in the mixture.

3. Whisk the egg whites. Once firm, add them to the cheesecake mixture, mixing them gently in round motion until the filling is creamy and smooth.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 175C. Take the cake form with the crust pastry out of the fridge.Poor inside the cheesecake mixture. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 50 minutes until golden brown.

5. Once baked, take the cake out of the oven and let it cook completely. Take it out of the baking form and place on a serving plate. Dust generously with powder sugar and decorate with fresh raspberries on top. Serves 4 people.

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The perfect execution, following line by line all the instructions? The delicious end result? The lingering reminder of something tasty and good making us go back and cook the dish once more? Or shall I stretch the comparison even further, suggesting falling in love with a recipe?

Yes, this Toffee fudge cheese cake is so good, that I have completely fallen in love with it when I have made it for a first time. Since then, it has been engraved in my kitchen repertoire just waiting for the right occasion to be made once more. The beauty of falling in love with a recipe is that once made, it doesn’t belong to the cook book any more. I have tried it, I have tasted it, I have made it my own and now I can apply all the imagination I could master to build upon it, adding a new layer and transforming the base into something spectacular and new. Like this pomegranate jelly toffee cheesecake. The base of the cake follows the original recipe from the Delicious Magazine, but as strawberries and summer fruits fit so well with the sweet richness of the toffee fudge, I have decided to add a pomegranate juice jelly topping and decorate with summer fruit. What a perfect combination and a stunning and delicious end result!

Ingredients

For the cheesecake

• 75g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
• 250g HobNobs biscuits
• 250g vanilla fudge
• 300g mascarpone
• 400ml double cream, softly whipped

For the topping

• 1 pomegranate
• 50ml water
• 3 gelatine leaves
• 2tbsp of Golden Syrup
• Handfull of strawberries
• 100g blackberries & red cassis

Method

1. Lightly butter a 23cm springform cake tin. Pulse the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined and clumped together. Tip into the base of the tin and press down evenly. Chill.

2. Meanwhile, put 200g of the fudge in a large bowl and melt in a microwave for 1 minute on High, until it forms a soft paste (or alternatively melt in a pan over a very low heat). Cool slightly. Beat the mascarpone in a bowl with a wooden spoon until soft, add to the melted fudge and mix until combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream.

3. Chop the remaining fudge into small chunks and stir into the filling. Spoon over the chilled biscuit base, smoothing the top. Cover and chill for 6 hours or overnight – the fudge will set the cheesecake.

4. Once the cheesecake has set prepare the toping. Seed one pomegranate and squeeze out its juice. Set the juice and the water together with the Golden Syrup in a deep pan and mix over medium heat until the syrup has completely dissolved. In the meantime, fill in a deep soup plate with cold water and set in the gelatine leaves, leaving them to soak for 10 minutes. Once the pomegranate juice has started gently to boil put inside the gelatine leaves, one by one and mix until dissolved. Set the juice aside and let it cool completely. Once it has cooled, pour over the cheesecake and let it stay in the fridge for at least two hours until the jelly has set.

4. When ready to serve, run a knife all around to loosen and remove the springform collar and slide onto a plate. Decorate with fresh fruits and serve.

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Ingredients

For the crust

• 300g digestive biscuit crumbs
• 70g melted butter

For the filling

• 225g mascarpone
• 100g sugar
• 2 eggs (split)
• 2 vanilla packages (Dr. Oetker)
• 3 gelatine leaves

For the topping

• 120g cream
• 75g butter
• 1 vanilla packages (Dr. Oetker)
• 2 table spoons of Golden Syrup
• 1 banana
• 50g roasted almonds, thinly sliced
• Pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Melt the butter and mix it together with the biscuit crumbs. Line the base of a cake form with baking paper. Spread the biscuit and the butter mixture over the base of the cake form, making a smooth base for the cake. Set in the fridge to cool while preparing in the meantime the cheese cake cream.

2. Let the gelatine leaves soften for 5 min in some cold water. Bring 3 table spoons to a boil in a deep pan and add the gelatine leaves. Mix constantly for 2 minutes until the gelatine has melted and has been completely absorbed. Take off the heat and let the mixture cool slightly.

3. In a deep bowl add together the mascarpone, vanilla, the sugar, the water and gelatine mixture and the two egg yolks. Mix well with a mixer.

4. In a separate bowl, add the egg whites and mix well to form a meringue. When the mixture start so stiffen add two table spoons of sugar. Mix a few minuets more until stiff peaks form.

5. Fold in gently the egg white meringue into the mascarpone mixture.

6. In a separate bowl, beat the cream with some sure until it has stiffen. Fold it gently the beaten cream into the mascarpone mixture.

7. Take the cake base out of the fridge. Pour over the cheese cream and smooth the top gently with spatula to form the top of the cake. Set in the fridge overnight.

8. To prepare the caramel toffee toping: Set in a pan the cream, the butter, the vanilla and the Golden Syrup and bring to a light simmer over a medium heat. Mix gently at the start letting all ingredients come together then let the mixture gently simmer for 10-15 minutes until the caramel thickens and changes colour into golden brown. Take off the fire, sprinkle over the sea salt and let it cool completely.

9. Roast a handful of thin slices of almonds and let the cool.

10. Cut a banana in thin slices and scatter them over the top of the cheese cake. Pour over the cooled caramel sauce and sprinkle over the almond slices.

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