SLIDER

ricotta cheesecake

30 Oct 2017



A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to make a ricotta cheesecake, you know the kind where the filling is encased in pastry. I hunted around for a recipe and in the end I came up with this one. The filling is adapted from the ricotta cheesecake recipe in Ostro by Julia Busuttil Nishimura.



The filling is made from ricotta cheese mixed with cream cheese and lightened with cream. Originally I'd planned to top the cake with whipped cream and some oven roasted rhubarb I'd made earlier but I wasn't feeling well and didn't have the brain power to work out how to make the rhubarb look pretty, so instead I went with summer berries. 



The cake is pretty simple to put together. I made my usual shortbread base and once that had cooled poured over the filling. The cheesecake once baked rests overnight in the fridge before decorating.



Here's the recipe for you which makes an 18cm cake. I've included the recipe for the oven baked rhubarb because I still think it would make the perfect accompaniment, maybe on the side. If you'd like to make a 23 cm cheesecake, just double all the ingredients. The cooking time stays the same. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60 gram eggs. My oven is a regular gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20ºC.



Ricotta Cheesecake - makes an 18 cm cake.

For the base
55 g unsalted butter
25 g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup plain flour

Filling
250g well drained ricotta cheese
125g cream cheese
¼ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste of half a vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped
20g plain flour
2 eggs
¼ cup cream

Oven roasted rhubarb
1 bunch rhubarb, washed, trimmed of tough strands and cut into 2-3 cm chunks
4 tbs caster sugar
Thinly peeled rind and juice of ½ orange
1 cinnamon quill

To serve
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, berries or roasted rhubarb.

Method
Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease a 18 cm spring form tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and add to the mixture to form a soft dough. Press the dough into the base of the 18 cm spring-form tin. Bake until the edge of the crust is lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. Set to one side to cool.

Reduce oven temperature to 170°C. In the bowl of a food processor process the cheeses with the sugar, vanilla and flour until smooth. Add the egg, the cream and process again until the mixture is thoroughly blended. Pour the filling into the prepared tin then place on the middle shelf in the oven. Bake cheesecake until filling is set about 50 minutes. Turn off oven and leave the door ajar and let the cheesecake stand in the cooling oven for an 1 hour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and cool cheesecake completely on rack before covering and refrigerating overnight.

Oven roasted rhubarb
Preheat oven to 200°C. Arrange rhubarb snugly in a baking dish, scatter sugar and orange peel over, drizzle with juice and add cinnamon quill. Cover with foil and roast until rhubarb is just tender (15-20 minutes but I start checking at 10 minutes). Set aside to cool, still covered. Taste for sweetness before using and adjust to taste, as sometimes the rhubarb can be very tart. The rhubarb compote is delicious and if there are any leftovers, I use it to top my muesli served with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.



Serve the cheesecake with whipped cream and berries or some oven roasted rhubarb. Decorate just before serving.



When I made this cake I couldn't taste a thing but my workmates tell me the cheesecake tasted delicious.


I'll be back again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

See you all again soon.  

Bye for now,

Jillian

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ratatouille tart

23 Oct 2017



I don't just bake sweet things you know. Saturday night is pizza night in my house and I've made the pizza dough so often that I know the Marcella Hazan recipe off by heart. I'm trying to eat a little less meat these days so last weekend I decided to make a vegetable tart adapted from a recipe I found in The Popina Book of Baking.



I've had the recipe book for a few years now but have mainly baked sweet treats from the book. Looking through the book it probably has more savoury then sweet recipes and this tart which uses a pizza dough base instead of a shortcrust pastry base intrigued me. 



The original recipe used oven roasted zucchini and fennel for the vegetable filling but I decided to use oven roasted ratatouille flavoured with fresh basil leaves. As I don't tolerate cream very well, the yoghurt based filling also appealled to me.



The dough was really easy to make and the filling tasted lovely as well. The tart turned out so well I'm keen to try a few other filling combinations soon. I think I can feel mushrooms calling my name.




Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 servings. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon. I use 60g eggs and unsalted butter in all my recipes. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if you're oven is fan forced, you may need to lower the temperature by 20ºC.

Ratatouille tart

You'll need a 10 X 33 cm rectangular tart tin for this recipe.

Filling

350 g eggplant cut into 1cm cubes
100g zucchini cut into ½ cm slices
100g red capsicum, cut into 1cm cubes
1 red onion halved then sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, sliced thinly
40 mls olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
10 basil leaves
100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
150g Greek yoghurt
6 cherry tomatoes halved
1 quantity pizza dough
extra basil leaves

Filling
Preheat oven to 200ºC. Put the eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, onion, garlic, oil, salt and pepper into a baking tray and toss to coat. Cover the tin with foil and roast for 30 minutes. Uncover the tin and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the vegetables have softened and coloured a little. Cover the tray and cool for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 190ºC and while the vegetables are cooling make the pizza dough.

Pizza dough
220g plain flour
1 tsp dried yeast
½ tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
1 egg
80 mls warm water

Method
Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil, egg and water. Mix together to form a soft dough. Cover the dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes before gently kneading on a lightly oiled surface. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Put to one side.

To make the tart, drain any excess liquid from the vegetables, then mix in 60g of the cheese. Grease the tin then line it with the pizza dough but don’t trim the edges yet. Place the basil leaves on the base of the tart. Mix the yoghurt with the remaining cheese and pour into the tart shell. Scatter the roasted vegetables over the top spreading them evenly before topping with the halved tomatoes. Trim the edges of the tart. 



Bake the tart at 190ºC for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before serving. Top each slice with a few basil leaves.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian
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walnut halva cake

16 Oct 2017

Although I have a copy of Ottolenghi and Helen Goh's new book Sweet, I've been so busy I haven't had time to bake anything from it as yet. I'm still working my way through Plenty More, where I found this recipe for Walnut and Halva Cake



I made it recently and whilst I loved the halva and walnut filling and topping, I found the cake itself quite bland. As well, the halva completely disintegrated during the cooking process leaving the cake looking a bit like Swiss cheese.



The second time I made the cake, I tweaked the cake recipe; I used pecans because I'd run out of walnuts; I increased the amount of halva in the centre and used a different brand; I also added a bit more sugar to the nuts and tried again.



The second cake was much better but try as I could, I could do nothing to stop the halva from melting into the cake mixture. It doesn't affect the flavour at all; it just makes for a holey cake.




Here's the recipe for you, which makes a small loaf cake. If you'd like to make a large loaf cake or a 23 cm cake, try the original Ottolenghi recipe or you can double all the ingredients and keep the baking time the same. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C.



Walnut and Halva Cake – inspired by Ottolenghi
Topping
45g unsalted butter
90g walnuts, roughly chopped
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
30g brown sugar
125g plain or vanilla sesame halva, cut into 2 cm pieces

Cake Ingredients
100g unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
100g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium eggs, lightly whisked
¾ cup self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1-2 tbs milk, yoghurt or sour cream

Topping
Put the butter in a small saucepan on a low to medium heat. Leave to melt, then let it cook for a few minutes until it's light brown and smells slightly nutty. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, stir in the walnuts, the cinnamon and the brown sugar.

Cake
Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease a small loaf tin with a little butter, and line the base and sides with baking paper.

In a stand mixer, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla on a medium speed until light and fluffy, then add the eggs. Sift together the flour with a pinch of salt and add this in thirds alternately with the milk to make a smooth batter. Make sure not to over-mix.

Spread half the batter on the base of the cake tin and evenly scatter over half the nut mix. Dot the halva on top, and spread the remaining batter over this. Finally, sprinkle the remaining nuts on top.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when tested. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then gently remove the cake from the tin by lifting the paper. Take off the paper and leave the cake to cool on a wire rack before cutting. The cake will keep for a day or two, stored in an airtight container.



The cake is good enough for a third try. Maybe next time I'll use some walnut meal in the mix and try yet another brand of halva???

Anyway it's time for me to go so until the next time.

Bye for now,

Jillian
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cinnamon knots

9 Oct 2017



I had no idea October 4 was cinnamon bun day when I whipped up a batch of these last Sunday. Every Saturday, as a special treat, I have one of these cinnamon knots for breakfast with a nice cup of tea. It's my way of celebrating the start of the weekend.



My Dad has been making these cinnamon buns all my life. This is his recipe, which I've halved and very slightly adapted. Dad doesn't like sweet things so I've slightly increased the quantity of sugar in the recipe, though it's still low compared to most recipes. The dough is lovely, soft and buttery and easy to work with. 


When we were children we were allowed to shape some of the dough. At the age of 90, Dad still makes these cinnamon buns every few weeks but he doesn't bother making these fancy knots (online tutorial by Issy Hossack). He just makes regular buns or simple unfilled knots topped with cinnamon sugar. I'm not sure why I persist with making the knots because every knot I shape is different, but I do. As I've only made knots with this recipe I'm not sure how many regular cinnamon rolls this makes. Maybe 10-12? Next time I make a batch, I'll make regular cinnamon buns and let you know.



If you make the fancy knots, you use more dough per bun than a regular cinnamon roll but you only use half the filling. I make the whole quantity then just put the leftover filling in the fridge for the next time, as there is always a next time. These knots are best served on the day of baking but freeze very well. As soon as they're cool, I place them into individual plastic bags and pop them into the freezer. 

Here's the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60 gram eggs. My oven is a regular gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20ºC.



Cinnamon Knots - makes 8 
90g butter               
170 mls milk                               
2 tsp vanilla                          
400 gm plain flour   
½ tsp salt                                 
40g caster sugar  
2¼ tsp dried yeast    
1 egg, beaten  

Topping  
30g melted butter
cinnamon sugar 
  
Filling 
80 g soft butter 
50g brown sugar 
50g caster sugar 
1 tsp golden or maple syrup 
4 tsp ground cinnamon 
50 g almond meal 

Method
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat, add milk and vanilla and heat until lukewarm. Mix flour, salt, sugar and yeast in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Make a well in the centre, then, with motor running, pour milk mixture and beaten egg into the well and knead until smooth and shiny (2-3 minutes).   

Transfer the dough to a buttered bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1 hour). While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a small bowl, cream together the butter, sugarsthe syrup and the ground cinnamon. Mix in the almond meal to form a paste, ensuring there are no lumps in the mixture. If you make the knots you'll only use half the filling but it stores well in the fridge. If you make cinnamon rolls, you'll need to use all the filling 

Knock back dough on a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 20cm x 35cm rectangle. If you're making knots, cover half the dough with the filling. Fold the dough over to cover the filling and press the edges gently to seal. Cut crosswise into 8 even pieces. Twist each strip a few times to lengthen then loop each piece twice around your hand and tuck in the ends to form a knot. If you choose not to make knots, cover the rolled-out dough with all the filling and roll up lengthwise like a swiss roll. Cut into 10-12 even pieces and process with the baking instructions. 

Place the knots or rolls on an oven tray lined with baking paper and set aside. Coat the buns with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle each bun with a little cinnamon sugar then cover with a tea towel and stand in a warm place to prove (30 minutes). Bake at 180°C for about 25 minutes or until the buns have risen and are well browned. Cool on tray for 15 minutes and then cool to room temperature on a wire rack. These are best served on the day of baking but freeze very well.




I hope you give these a try as the house always smell so good when you bake a batch. 

See you all again next week. 

Bye for now,

Jillian
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blueberry lemon loaf

2 Oct 2017



It's blueberry season in Sydney so blueberries have been plentiful and inexpensive. Each week I buy a punnet aiming to bake with them but end up eating the punnet instead. Last weekend I bought 2 punnets and used one to make this cake.




I used an old favourite lemon butter cake recipe and gently folded through most of the blueberries. I studded the top with the remaining blueberries an idea I pinched from an Ottolenghi recipe.



If you want to make sure the blueberries don't sink to the bottom of the cake, you can lightly dust them in flour before folding them into the batter.



The icing on the cake is just that - a drizzle of lemony glace icing.


Here's the recipe for you, which makes a small loaf cake. If you'd like to make a large loaf cake or a 23 cm cake, then double all the ingredients and the baking time will be unchanged. For all my recipes I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional gas oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. 

Blueberry and lemon cake 
Cake 
125 grams unsalted butter 
125 grams caster sugar 
1 lemon, rind grated and juiced 
2 eggs 
¾ cup self-raising flour 
¼ tsp baking powder 
¼ cup almond meal 
¼ cup buttermilk/milk or yoghurt 
125 g punnet blueberries 

Icing 
⅓ cup sifted icing sugar 
1 tsp melted butter 
½ lemon, juiced 

Cake 
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F conventional oven. Grease a small loaf tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. 

To make the cake, cream the butter, sugar and lemon rind in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until combined well. Sift the flour and the baking powder together then mix through the almond meal. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and sufficient lemon juice to make a soft batter. Gently stir in ¾ of the blueberries reserving the rest. Spoon the batter into the greased and lined tin. 

Bake the cake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, then press the remaining blueberries onto the top of the cake. Bake a further 45 minutes or until the cake tests cooked when a skewer is inserted into it. Cool the cake in the tin for about 15 minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack. When cool drizzle with the icing. 

Icing 
In a small bowl combine the icing sugar with the melted butter and sufficient lemon juice to make a thick icing. Drizzle over the cake, then let icing set before serving.



I'd forgotten how delicious a simple butter cake tastes. I must make this one again soon.

See you all again soon with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian
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