Delicious Berry Cheesecake

I think one thing we can all agree on, whether we live in the country or the city, is what a hot and dry summer we have had this year!

And although Im looking forward to some cooler weather, the downside is, I will miss being able to buy berries in the supermarket at a reasonable price.

The recipe below I have been baking for several years now. It's a Tessa Kiros recipe from her gorgeous cookbook Falling Cloudberries. This cheesecake is a firm family favourite and one that has been whipped up for all occasions many, many times- dinner parties, birthdays, and I think we even had it for one of the children's christenings too (I know I should remember these things, but the last few years have been a bit of a blur!).  

This is a perfect dessert for any summertime entertaining, but when the prices of berries start going up, frozen ones will work equally well. Which also means….a great dessert for the cooler months too. 

Berry Cheesecake

250g Granita (or Digestive) Biscuits, coarsely crushed

125g Unsalted butter, melted

750g Cream Cheese, best at room temperature

250g Caster Sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 teaspoon Cornflour

400g Fresh or Frozen Berries

1 teaspoon Lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 180 deg celcius. Grease a 24cm springform tin ( I also dust with a little flour too). Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted butter. Using the back of a spoon or your palms, press the biscuit mix into the tin so that it covers the base and up the side. Place in freezer whilst making the cream cheese mix- I find this helps the base 'set' before you had the mixture, and not crumbly. 

Whisk the cream cheese in a bowl with 200g of the sugar- the other 50g is needed for the berry mix so be careful not to pour it all in. Beat in the eggs one by one and then the vanilla until you have a smooth thick cream. Pour over the base and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and wobbles only a little when you shake the tin.

Cool completely, then chill in fridge for a few hours.

To make the berry topping- mix the cornflour with a couple of tablespoons of cold water until it is smooth. Pour into a saucepan to heat up, then add the berries, lemon zest and the remaining sugar- the amount of sugar may depend on the sweetness of the berries. Cook for a couple of minutes, addend more water if it gets too thick. Combine and then remove from heat before berries collapse. Set aside to cool completely.

Spoon berry mix onto of cheesecake. Remove ring from tin. Serve with Ice cream, cream….or both!

This post is dedicated to the lovely Yvette from The Stylist Splash who recently asked me to be a guest blogger on her beautiful blog. It was my first guest post so I was incredibly excited to be working with Yvette and also so very chuffed. 

For those who missed my post last week about Yvette, you can read more here. Make sure you pop over and visit  The Stylist Splash for a daily dose of lovely lifestyle topics. 

I would also like to welcome all the new readers to my blog…. A very big Thank You for popping by. Its always nice to know that someone is reading my blog and all comments are so greatly appreciative too!!! 

Have a lovely day…..

Celebrating Happy Valentines Day- Peach Berry Tart

Ive never been one to get caught up in the whirlwind of Valentine's Day. Im not a "twelve long stemmed  red roses" kind of girl (boring) and Im happy to wait until my birthday or Christmas for a special piece of jewellery (yes, silly I know). You probably all think Im rather weird!

My idea of the perfect Valentine's day is spending it with my number one Valentine- my wonderful husband- and also our three little Valentines. I love the idea of the children helping me to bake a cake (a surprise for Daddy), then sitting together around the table enjoying it (them taking a mess naturally) and teaching them what the day symbolises to us as a family. That is, a day where we really appreciate how lucky we are to have each other and our loved ones close by. They are still very young, so Im sure their excitement is purely over who gets to lick the spoon and bowl- but, as they get older Im sure they will understand.

This year we are in for a treat. We are having a date night- woohoo! We have tickets to the Riverboat Music Festival here in Echuca. Down by the river, picnic blanket, some dinner and wine, and an evening of live music. Cant wait! I originally had big plans of packing a delicious hamper, but have since heard that there will be some great food down there available. So, Im giving myself the night off!

But I can't not have something special on the bench for later, so here is a Peach Berry Tart we made yesterday with a Valentines Twist (i.e. the heart shaped tin!). I love the rustic golden look of the pastry and the sweet flavours of the fruit. Definitely worth trying this weekend- and don't worry if you don't have Peaches or berries, it can easily be adapted to suit most other fruits.

Peach Berry Tart

Pastry-
225g Plain Flour
1 Tablespoon Caster sugar
110g chilled butter, cut into small squares
icy water to mix

Fruit Filling-
90g caster sugar
2 heaped Tablespoons cornflour
700g sliced and peeled peaches
100g fresh blueberries
100g fresh strawberries

extra sugar for sprinkling

Make the pastry by sifting the flour and sugar together into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add water slowly until mixture comes together. Put mix onto a floured bench and knead together. Form a disc and then wrap in cling wrap and put in fridge for 20 minutes.

Lightly butter and flour a 23cm round tart or cake tin. I used my heart shaped cake tin so feel free to experiment. Roll out pastry onto a lightly floured surface to a size that is larger than the size of your tin- allow plenty for overhang! Place pastry into tin. Don't trim excess- just leave it hang. Place in fridge for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 230 deg celcius. Mix the sugar and cornflour together and sprinkle over the peaches. toss through- careful not to overwork- the peaches might lose shape. Allow to sit for 5 minutes (no longer) then toss through berries gently. Place fruit mix into the pastry tin and fold excess pastry back over the fruit filling. Brush the outer pastry with some water and sprinkle over the extra sugar.

Place in oven and bake for 15-20 mins- keep an eye on it! Then turn down temperature to 180 deg celcius and bake for another 30-40 mins.

Serve warm or cold with custard, cream, or ice cream.

Enjoy your Valentines Day…..
Hope you have something fun planned xxx