Without much planning, I headed for the supermarket to purchase the ingredients needed - lemons and digestive biscuit. All ingredients were ready and I eagerly proceeded to weigh them. While unwrapping my second block of cream cheese, something was amiss. The texture was crumbly and kind of powdery instead of creamy. That was not the case for the other block. I checked through the expiry date and it was 2 months before the date was up. These two blocks of cream cheese were bought while on sale sometime back.
I struggled for a moment before deciding that I would not let this mishap mar the ideal texture of my beloved cheesecake. Dragging my heavy feet along, I hurriedly made a second trip to the supermart to get a fresh new block of cream cheese. Lesson learnt. Never stock up on cream cheese again. It is just not worth the cost savings. In the end I suffered a lost instead. Argh! How unfortunate....
Aside from the little misadventure, everything else went fine. It was a breeze getting the Mcvities to fine crumbs using my food processor, which serves it purpose mainly for my baking escapades. I tweaked the recipe a little and omitted the flour. To me, the ideal cheesecake should be dense yet creamy and flourless. With that being said, I baked the cheesecake even longer this time round for two solid hours, making sure that the cheesecake would be dense to my liking.
Even after baking for 2 hours, the cheesecake was only moderately dense. Perhaps I would increase my baking temp to 160 degrees C next time and decrease the amount of cream used. Nevertheless, I am glad I omitted the flour. Cheers to no flour!
Blueberry Cheesecake (recipe adapted from Cheesecake Seduction by Catherine Lau)
Serving size: 10 to 12 slices
Serving size: 10 to 12 slices
Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
2) 9 inch round springform tin
3) Baking tray large enough to contain springfrom tin
4) Food processor or rolling pin
5) Grater with fine holes
6) Measuring spoon set
7) Spatula
8) Mixing bowl
9) Wire rack
10) Aluminium foil
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
2) 9 inch round springform tin
3) Baking tray large enough to contain springfrom tin
4) Food processor or rolling pin
5) Grater with fine holes
6) Measuring spoon set
7) Spatula
8) Mixing bowl
9) Wire rack
10) Aluminium foil
Biscuit Base:
200g digestive biscuits
2 1/2 tbs brown sugar
90g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, preferably philadelphia cream cheese
140g sugar
40g butter, softened
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 tbs lemon juice, (about 1 1/2 lemons)
250ml whipping cream, chilled
4 eggs, beaten ( at room temperature, 60g each)
200g blueberry pie filling
Blueberry Topping:
200g blueberry pie filling
Method:
1) Prepare biscuit base as mentioned in Preparing a Cheesecake Tin. Freeze prepared base for 10 minutes or until ready for use.
2) Preheat oven to 150 degrees C
3) Beat cream cheese,sugar and butter on medium speed until creamy.
4) Add in zest and lemon juice continue beating until smooth.
5) Add whipping cream to cream cheese mixture on low speed. Beat until smooth and incorporated. Do not overbeat else the cream may separate (due to excessive beating), resulting in a grainy batter.
6) Lastly, add the eggs and beat until combined on low speed.
7) Pour filling onto biscuit base. Spoon the blueberry filling randomly over the filling.
8) Wrap top and sides of spring form tin with aluminium foil as mentioned in Preparing a Cheesecake Tin. Bake at 150 degrees C for 2 hours in a water bath.
9) When baked, allow cheesecake to cool in the oven with oven door ajar for 30 minutes.
10) Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
11) Place cooled cheesecake tin in the refrigerator and chill for 4-6 hours.
12) Once chilled, dislodge cheesecake from springform tin and discard the aluminum foil lining the base. Spread 200g blueberry topping evenly onto cheesecake and serve chilled.
Note:
1) To slice cheesecake nicely, wipe the knife after each slice with kitchen towel/s.
2) To smooth the sides of the cheesecake, dip a knife in hot water. Wipe the knife dry and run it around the perimeter of the cheesecake. Repeat the step if necessary.
2) Preheat oven to 150 degrees C
3) Beat cream cheese,sugar and butter on medium speed until creamy.
4) Add in zest and lemon juice continue beating until smooth.
5) Add whipping cream to cream cheese mixture on low speed. Beat until smooth and incorporated. Do not overbeat else the cream may separate (due to excessive beating), resulting in a grainy batter.
6) Lastly, add the eggs and beat until combined on low speed.
7) Pour filling onto biscuit base. Spoon the blueberry filling randomly over the filling.
8) Wrap top and sides of spring form tin with aluminium foil as mentioned in Preparing a Cheesecake Tin. Bake at 150 degrees C for 2 hours in a water bath.
9) When baked, allow cheesecake to cool in the oven with oven door ajar for 30 minutes.
10) Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
11) Place cooled cheesecake tin in the refrigerator and chill for 4-6 hours.
12) Once chilled, dislodge cheesecake from springform tin and discard the aluminum foil lining the base. Spread 200g blueberry topping evenly onto cheesecake and serve chilled.
Note:
1) To slice cheesecake nicely, wipe the knife after each slice with kitchen towel/s.
2) To smooth the sides of the cheesecake, dip a knife in hot water. Wipe the knife dry and run it around the perimeter of the cheesecake. Repeat the step if necessary.
aiyah, u made my fave cake ... can I have a slice? hehe
ReplyDeleteMe too, I like the dense type of cheesecake. I thought those were non-baked, didn't know got to bake the cheese and the crust. Yours look like those sold in bakeries ^_^
You've reminded me so much of my days in the States, when my American mom, sis and I would go grab blocks of cream cheese to stock them up! The cheese is on sale during Thanksgiving and Christmastime. For them though, the cheese normally lasts them through the year! When I think of cream cheese, usually it'd just be cheesecake and nothing else. Haha!
ReplyDeleteAs to that crumbly, "powdery" texture you described, that happened to my cream cheese stock, too. But, I went ahead and used them in my bakes anyway. I guess you just have to pass it through a fine sieve to "smooth" the bits out. Worked for me. Did you discard that crumbly one though?
I love blueberry cheesecake, both baked and non-baked ones. Have you noticed fresh blueberries are on sale over these few days (weeks!?) For me though, I find ready-made blueberry pie filling a tad too sweet to my liking. Have you thought of making some coulis with fresh or frozen berries instead? Taste-wise, way better! But I dunno lah ... It's a matter of personal preference I guess ...
Good idea of getting a perfect-looking, slick cheesecake! But I'm too lazy to smooth out the sides with a hot knife lah ... Haha! Kudos to you!
Btw, just thought I'd send you this in another separate comment ... Under the "Note:" part, I think you meant "kitchen towel?"
ReplyDeleteHi Bakertan, the cheesecake looks rich and creamy, yum yum.
ReplyDeleteHi Wiffy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment. I can save a slice for you. where do you stay? I reside in woodlands btw. haha.
I prefer my cheesecakes to be baked. Non-baked ones taste more gelatinous and are like firm mousse. baking the crust is optional, its just help the crust obtain a better crunch.
Hi Pei-Lin,
cream cheese only reminds me of cheesecakes, nothing else. I seldom use it for frosting. I chucked aside my crumbly cheese and will be using it for pound cakes instead. I thought it might be less noticeable in crumb cakes.
ya blueberries are on sale these few months in fact. I haven tried buying any blueberries. they are still expensive to me. a meagre 125g costs SGD2.50. a can of blueberry pie topping (590g)only costs me SGD6.50, with less hassle. maybe i will try blueberry coulis next time. sounds fresher. actually, the cheesecake filling is not sweet and it lents most of the sweetness from the blueberry pie topping. I realised most cheesecakes contain much less sugar compared to other cakes. chocolate cakes are the worst sugar culprit
I learnt the trick of slicing cheesecakes and smoothing the sides with a hot knife from other blogs. it works wonder.
thanks for the reminder. Despite proof reading/s, there are still blatant mistakes left out there.
Hi Jess,
Thanks for dropping by and the kind compliments.
cheers and happy baking =]
I stay in the far east ... sigh, too far to "redeem" my free slice ... Just kidding lah hehe :p
ReplyDeleteHey!! Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment on my "Mini Cheesecakes". The first thing I saw on your blog was this cheesecake! Looks great!! I've become a follower of your blog too. Hope you do the same with mine!
ReplyDeleteLooks rich and creamy good!
ReplyDelete