However, as I had the cream cheese sitting in the back of my fridge, and still very much in date, I had a moment of cheesecake inspiration and decided to see if I could work in any ingredients I had at home and just step up to the challenge!
So - with the lemons, mint, digestive biscuits and vanilla essence I had in - my culinary juices started flowing and I stumbled on a very basic cheesecake - Lemon zest!! So, I searched the web for a basic cheesecake recipe - and found one in the shape of James Martin on the BBC Good Food website
Ingredients:
Base:
10 Digestive Biscuits - crushed
75g Butter, melted (using a little on the base of the tin)
1 tbsp Honey
Filling:
700g/1 1/2 lb Mascarpone Cheese*
2 Lemons - juice and zest
200g/7oz Caster Sugar
4 tbsp Icing Sugar
Mint to garnish
Notes:
- I used Full Fat Cream Cheese as opposed to mascarpone cheese as that's what I had in
- I used 2 1/2 lemons - juice and zest
- I ommitted the Icing Sugar - as I needed to replenish my stock - so I added 1 tsp of vanilla essence instead
Method:
First of all, I measured a circular piece of baking parchment out to fit comfortably in the base of the tin (23cm tin), then I measured out all my ingredients, and got to work on the base.
Whilst the butter was melting in the pan on a low heat, I put the digestive biscuits in a sandwich bag, and covered with a tea towel, and used a rolling pin to crush the biscuits into the desired specification - crumbs!
Once the butter had melted, I used a pastry brush to lightly coat the base of the tin, and placed the baking parchment on top.
Now with the melted butter, I added the digestive biscuit crumbs and the honey, and combine together. Once all fully combined, I poured the base mixture into the prelined tin (the recipe recommends a spring form tin, which I have lent out, so I had to use a basic tin - although I'd highly recommend a spring form tin!!) and smoothed out to the edges. Once complete, I popped it in the fridge to chill.
Whilst the base is chilling, I got to work on the filling - combining the cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla essence and caster sugar together. The recipe recommends not over mixing, so I ensured I mixed the ingredients together in a slow manner. Once all combined I poured the mixture over the chilled base and spread it out evenly using the back of a tablespoon and pallette knife. I placed it in the fridge to chill.
The recipe recommends at lea\st 2 hours - I let it chill overnight.
Now for the removal of the cheesecake from the tin! This is where the spring form tin would have come in useful! I used a hot cloth as recommended to loosen the edges - which it did, but as the tin I was using was a loose base, I had to push the base up - yes you can imagine the trauma!!
I managed to remove it in one swoop, however it did cause a little loss of 'edging' - which as you can see from the image below - made it appear a very rustic looking cheesecake.
I added a sprig of mint to garnish, and the cheesecake is complete.
Taste test.. as not an avid fan of cheesecakes, I passed the tasting mantel to my colleagues at work - and the 2 regulars are in fact great cheesecake fans (pressure is on).
Result:
The general consensus was very pleasing! 9 and 10's out of 10 - with feedback such as - just the right amount of lemon, and not too overpowering, as lemon can be somewhat bitter in some cases. The ommition of the icing sugar also seemed to make a difference, with one of the tasters saying it wasn't as 'sugary and overly sweet' as lot of cheesecakes can be.
The only critique was that the base could be thicker. I did think that when the recipe stated 10 digestive biscuits, that it was quite little, so if i was to ammend this recipe, I'd double the quanitity of biscuits because the cheesecake topping is so thick.
For saying it was a last minute step up to the plate and embrace the cheesecake challenge with a very rushed search for a recipe based on the ingredients at home, i'm very pleased with the results.
The general consensus was very pleasing! 9 and 10's out of 10 - with feedback such as - just the right amount of lemon, and not too overpowering, as lemon can be somewhat bitter in some cases. The ommition of the icing sugar also seemed to make a difference, with one of the tasters saying it wasn't as 'sugary and overly sweet' as lot of cheesecakes can be.
The only critique was that the base could be thicker. I did think that when the recipe stated 10 digestive biscuits, that it was quite little, so if i was to ammend this recipe, I'd double the quanitity of biscuits because the cheesecake topping is so thick.
For saying it was a last minute step up to the plate and embrace the cheesecake challenge with a very rushed search for a recipe based on the ingredients at home, i'm very pleased with the results.
