Defying the laws of cheesecake

Wow, so I am being completely out of season these days with my rather summery recipes in this cold month of December. Hmm, maybe Freud could help me unlock the meaning of my culinary jet-lag…

Anyway, let’s get to the heart of the subject: cheesecake. Everyone loves cheesecake! If people were throwing cheesecake gifts to each other instead of bombs and stones, man would this world be a better place! Clouds of creaminess on golden crunchiness flying in the air, left and right, defying the rules of gravity landing into the hands of happy people illuminating their eyes filled with sugar sparkles… aaaahhh

Ummm…just ignore that last sentence. If it doesn’t make sense, then that’s perfectly normal.

:-)

So back to cheesecake. I had my first slice of cheesecake many years ago. I was first introduced to cheesecake by some American friends in middle school..or lower school..can’t remember anymore. However what I do remember is that it was so unbelievably good, and ever since I’ve been enjoying homemade cheesecake. As for the recipe, well there seems to be many versions of it. Eggs, no eggs, bake, no bake, etc etc. I’ve personally never used eggs in my cheesecakes because the truth is that I’m not an egg person. Now I know what you’re thinking: how can a cooking-baking lover not like eggs? I don’t know. I just don’t like the taste of eggs. Actually, when I was a kid, I was allergic to eggs, especially egg whites. They’d go in my mouth, and go straight out again (ehehe, sorry for being so disgusting). But hey, let’s get something clear: I eat eggs, I just don’t like tasting them. That means I’ll eat cakes that include eggs, but I won’t eat a boiled egg or an omelette. And I don’t like dessert with an “eggy” taste. So basically I like undercover eggs. Eggs in disguise. Right, so enough about eggs. I’m drifting from the main subject again.

Cheesecake. So yes, I’ve never included eggs in my cheesecake recipes for all the reasons above. Recently I experimented around with the recipe, which led me to a limoncello cheesecake. If you want, you can consider it a more European version…? Why? Because it includes many European ingredients such as: ricotta (instead of the cream cheese) lemon sablés and limoncello. The result is a delightful layering of creamy clouds floating on a sweet yellow sky, overlooking a golden crunchy beach… A charming sugary dessert topped off with glowing sunrays (the lemon rinds).

For the recipe, just continue reading… Please note however that I have not included quantities as I didn’t measure while I was making it… very sorry! A lot of it is basic stuff though...

Recipe for limoncello cheesecake:

Ingredients:

• Ricotta
• Icing Sugar
• Lemon sablés
• Butter
• Lemon rinds
• Limoncello
• Sugar
• Water
• Gelatine

1. 
   Prepare the limoncello gelée. Mix limoncello, sugar and water. Soak the gelatine in warm water for about 20 minutes, and then drain. Then add the limoncello, sugar, and water mix to the gelatine “liquid”. Pour in a container and place in freezer until it becomes solid.


2. Take out your cooled cheesecake moulds or cups (to cool, keep them in the fridge beforehand)


3. Melt some butter, and crush the lemon sablés. Add the butter to the crushed lemon sablés to form a layer on the bottom of your cheesecake mould/cup.


4. With a knife, “slice” layers of the limoncello gelée and add on top of the lemon sable base


5. Mix ricotta with icing sugar. Add as final layer on top of the gelée.


6. Place in fridge for a couple of hours
   
7. In the meantime, cut off lemon rinds from a clean lemon. Place in a pan with some sugar and water over heat so that rinds become soft and eadable. Add water gradually when needed. When done, set aside and use for decoration.