Raspberry cheesecake

The sun is out and spring is in full swing in Brussels. Now is the perfect time to start practising those summer desserts, and what is more appropriate for summer than fresh fruit on a light creamy cheesecake? 

I got this recipe from a Mary Berry recipe book. The cheesecake is so quick and easy to make, then just needs to be left in the fridge overnight to set.

Being in Belgium meant I had to play around with certain ingredients from Mary Berry's original recipe ... 

• Instead of using digestive biscuits and demerara sugar in the base, I used speculoos biscuits and brown sugar.

• Double cream by UK standards should apparently have a minimum milk fat percentage of 48%. The highest percentage I could find in my Brussels supermarket was 34% so the cream I used was not as thick as that which Mary Berry suggests.

• For the topping, Mary Berry suggested brushing 4 tbsp of redcurrant jelly (heated in a small saucepan until it has melted) over the fresh raspberries. Instead of this, I just blended a few of the raspberries and spooned this purée on top.

Below are the ingredients and method that I used.

 

Ingredients

For the base

175g speculoos biscuits

75g butter

40g brown sugar

For the cheesecake

225g soft cheese

25g caster sugar

150ml double cream

150ml Greek yoghurt

juice of 1½ lemons

For the topping

175g fresh raspberries

Instructions

Put the biscuits into a plastic bag and crush finely with a rolling pin.

Crushed speculoos biscuits

Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan. Once melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs and brown sugar. Press this mixture into the base of an 8 inch loose-based cake tin and then leave to set.

Cheesecake base

To make the cheesecake filling, measure the soft cheese and caster sugar into a large bowl (or food processor) and mix well to blend thoroughly. (I used my hand held whisk.) Add the cream and yoghurt and mix again. Gradually add the lemon juice little by little, whisking all the time. Turn the mixture into the tin over the biscuit base, level the surface and then place in the fridge overnight to chill.

Ready for the fridge!

When the cheesecake has had time to set in the fridge, run a knife around the edge (all the way down to the biscuit base) to loosen the cheesecake from the tin. Then push up the base or remove the sides of the tin and slide the cheesecake onto a serving plate.

Arrange the raspberries on top of the cheesecake. If you want to dress the raspberries up a bit, you can blend a few of the raspberries and then spoon this purée on top. I finished by dusting it with icing sugar.

Once decorated, leave to set. Serve chilled. Enjoy!

Decorated with raspberries

Spiced apple cake

In a previous post, “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the ceremony known as afternoon tea”, I said I would publish the spiced apple cake recipe as it was such a hit with both friends and colleagues.

So here goes ...

Ingredients:

For the topping:

• 3 apples (I used Granny Smith apples)
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice (or if you're in Belgium, the speculoos spice is a great alternative)

For the cake:

• 225g butter, softened
• 225g caster sugar
• 225g self-raising flour
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 4 eggs
• 60ml whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice / speculoos spice

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease a 10 inch (26cm) cake tin and line it with greaseproof paper.

For the topping:

Peel the apples and cut them into wedges. Put the apples and 2 teaspoons spice (whether mixed spice or speculoos) in a saucepan over a low heat for a few minutes to soften a little. 

Place the apple wedges in the base of the cake tin in whatever design you like. If you want a thicker layer of apple, you can do 2 layers of apple on top of each other.

For the cake:

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Add a tablespoon of the flour mix to the butter mix along with one egg. Mix until combined. Repeat the process until all the flour and eggs have been used. Stir in the milk, vanilla and mixed spice. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into the greased cake tin on top of the apples and gently smooth with a spatula. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Once out of the oven, leave in the tin for 5-10 minutes, then remove from tin and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.


I drizzled some caramel on top of mine which was delicious, but it's also tasty 'au naturel' or with some vanilla or cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. It is a great seasonal cake with the apples and mixed spice flavours ... autumn in a mouthful.

If you have any leftovers, you can always heat it up and have it as a warm dessert with some vanilla ice cream!