Chocolate and ginger cheesecake

We had some friends for a few days and it was G's birthday, so I wanted to make a nice dessert instead of a cake. He loves ginger, and I had a large jar of ginger confit bought on our last French trip. This could give the cheesecake a good ginger flavour, and be the decoration on the top. I read somewhere recently that ricotta makes a good cheesecake, so decided to use half ricotta and half my usual Philly. I used digestive biscuits, but could have used something with chocolate in them.

180g biscuits

250g ricotta

250g Philadelphia cheese

200g dark chocolate

2 eggs and 1 yolk

80g caster sugar

80g candied ginger and 50g for the decoration

60g butter

Icing sugar for top

Preheat oven 150C/gas2

You need a 23cm springform tin.

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor or bash them with a rolling pin.

Melt the butter and mix with the biscuits crumbs.

Use your fingers to press it into the base of the tin, then put in the fridge.

Melt the broken up chocolate in a microwave or over simmering water.

In a bowl beat together the ricotta, Philly, sugar, eggs and yolk. Add the melted chocolate and the chopped candied ginger and stir together.

Pour into the tin and bake for about an hour.

Let the cheesecake cool, then put it in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours.

Sprinkle some icing sugar over the top then decorate with the rest of the ginger, left in pieces this time and not chopped.

It had a really good ginger flavour, and I liked the mixture of the ricotta and Philly. Maybe another time I'll try half ricotta and half fromage frais.  The cheesecake had a nice smooth texture, and then the bit of crunchy ginger. I'll make the cheesecake recipe again without the ginger, and maybe use something else which is slightly crunchy, as I really liked the added texture to the smooth filling.

Honey and Cinnamon Cheesecake

We're going to have a quiet Easter this year, just the 2 of us on Easter Sunday, but we had friends coming on Good Friday. I'd made  Hot Cross Buns, but wanted to make a nice dessert to have after the fish pie.
I fancied a cheesecake, but a baked one, and looked in my books and online for inspiration.
I found this recipe, and as we love honey and I adore cinnamon, it was just the thing.
It was on an Australian blog, in cups, so I've changed the measures and adapted the recipe to suit our tastes. It uses cottage cheese and cream cheese and I wasn't sure about this, but it tasted delicious. It's an unusual cheesecake in that it has a pastry base - so is it a cheesecake? Well, seeing how much cheese is in it, I think so!

pastry:
225g plain flour
125g cold butter, chopped up
55g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbspn finely grated lemon rind
about 3 tspns cold water

Filling:
250g cottage cheese
250g cream cheese
265g honey
110g caster sugar
2 tspns cinnamon [or more!]
4 eggs

grease a 22cm springform tin.

preheat oven to 200C/gas6

Rub butter into flour; add egg yolk, sugar, rind and enough water to make a dough.
Wrap in clingfilm and put in fridge for 1/2 hour.
I rolled the pastry out between 2 sheets of clingfilm, as I find this easier. Lift the pastry into the tin, and again put in fridge for 1/2 hour.
Cover pastry with foil or baking parchment and beans and bake for about 10 mins, then take beans and paper out and bake for further 10 mins or till it's light brown. Take out and leave on the side.
Turn oven down to 160C/gas 3
Filling - beat the cheeses, honey, sugar and cinnamon with electric mixer till nearly smooth, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one.
Pour into pastry case and bake for about 11/2 hours or till filling is firm. Leave to cool, then put in fridge overnight.
When you're ready to serve, drizzle with a little honey.

Everyone enjoyed this. Nice contrast between the pastry and the soft filling, and the flavours of the honey and cinnamon together was delicious. It's very rich, but not too sweet for our taste.An unusual cheesecake, but one I'd certainly make again.