Lemon Cheesecake

Who doesn't love a smooth, sweet-sour citrus flavor? Recently, cakes with lime or lemon flavor have become extremely popular, like the well-known loaf cake, which I also find extremely delicious. Although I didn't bake a loaf cake, my cheesecake manages to captures perfectly the intense lemon flavor that I was aiming for, without adding any sort of lemon essence. I decided to combine 2 of my favorite recipes, taking my classic cheesecake recipe (found also here) and the lemon curd recipe that I used for my tart (found also here). While most of previous ingredients and instructions do not change, I made some slight adjustments for the cheesecake, making less cheese mixture. That is because I decided to make the lemon curd the star of the cake and tip the scale in its favor, so too much cheese would have slightly prevented that. In this case, less is actually better. This being said, let's get to work!

*For this recipe I used a round baking tray with the diameter of 26 cm

For the base:

• 60 g unsalted butter, and a little extra for greasing the tray
• 200 g digestive biscuits

First, I greased the baking tray with butter and I covered its base with baking paper. Then I preheated the oven at 150 degrees Celsius/ level 2 on gas and in the meantime I started preparing the biscuit base.

In a kitchen robot I crushed the biscuits until they had the texture of breadcrumbs. You can also do this step by hand. Just put the biscuits in a bag, cover it with a kitchen towel and find something heavy, like a meat hammer or even an empty wine bottle to crush it until the biscuits inside have the right texture. After my biscuits were ready, I mixed them with the melted butter. If you are using a kitchen robot it will be easier for you to mix them, but by hand is also fine. I added the mixture in my baking tray, spreading it evenly, and then I used the bottom of a glass (you can also use your hands) to press it into the tray and make sure it is well compressed and even. I baked the biscuit base at 150 Celsius for 10 minutes, then I let it completely cool down.

For the cheese mixture:

• 250 g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia) 
• 250 ricotta
• 250 g mascarpone
• 3 large eggs
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. semolina
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla essence
• juice and zest from one lemon
• 2 Tbsp. cognac

Next, in a bowl I mixed the cheese with the sugar and semolina. Then I added the eggs, one by one, until fully incorporated, and lastly I added the vanilla, lemon and cognac. I poured the mixture over my biscuit base and I baked it at the same temperature for 80-90 minutes, until it became golden and the sides were golden brown. Try to pay attention to your cake after 70 minutes have passed.

! Even though the cake is baked, the mixture will still be soft and creamy, therefore you need to leave the cake completely cool down, so the cheese mixture can fully thicken. I left my cake to cool down in the oven, with the door open, which I also recommend you to do.

For the lemon curd: 

• 5 egg yolks
• 100 ml lemon juice
• zest from 2 big lemons
• 210 g granulated sugar
• 100 g butter high in fat

First I poured my freshly squeezed lemon juice through a strainer, to keep the pulp out. I put then all the ingredients above in a heat-resistant bowl which I put at Bain-Marie* for aprox. 20 minutes, continuously stirring, until the mixture became thick and shiny. It is important to stir slowly, in one direction, to prevent the mixture from separating. After the curd was ready I let it cool down and I poured it over the cheesecake, which I left over night (or at least 6 hours) in the fridge, until the curd thickened and had a jelly-like texture.

Feel free to decorate your cheesecake as you wish, I went for some fresh lemon slices and mint leaves for some extra color.

*Bain-Marie= heating our mixture over a pot of hot, almost simmering, NOT BOILING water, where our bowl does not touch the water in the pot. This technique is used because the steam created is a more gentle source of heat than the direct heat of the stove which could ruin our dish.

 Enjoy! :)

Orange Loaf Cake

    Who doesn't love the fresh smell and taste of citruses, of their sweet and sour juice or their volatile oil hidden in the zest? This magic fruits serve de basis for an amazing dessert, the loaf cake, spongy, soft, fluffy and moist. The main star today is the orange, which for me has the perfect balance between sweet and sour. (I might have also chosen orange because a good friend of mine had an intense craving for this dessert and used to mention it to me daily for a while).  If I've already captured your attention and you're wondering what you have to do in order to get this cake, don't worry, you just have to keep adding and adding orange at every step, and there will still not be enough. So let's preheat our ovens and star baking.

 Ingredients:

• 115 g soft butter
• 250 g flour
• 100 g sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 100 ml orange juice
• 5 ml cognac 
• 2 Tbsp. orange zest
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest

Extra:

• some more orange juice+ orange zest
• powder sugar

!! I recommend using organic oranges and lemons for this recipe because they are not chemically treated. Search in your local supermarket for citruses that have their zest suitable for consumption.

    I prepared the dough by separately mixing the dry and the wet ingredients and the combining them. First, with the help of a mixer I beat the butter together with the sugar until the sugar dissolved and the mixture got creamy. Afterwards I added the eggs, one by one, mixing continuously. When the eggs were incorporated I added all the other wet ingredients: the orange juice and zest, lemon zest, cognac and the vanilla from one bean and I mixed until fully homogeneous.

    In a separate bowl I mixed the flour together with the baking powder and salt. I gradually incorporated the flour mixture into the wet one and poured everything in a loaf tray. If you are using a silicone tray I suggest greasing it with some butter before pouring the mixture and If you are using a tin one also cover it with some baking paper after greasing it, in this is way you will remove the cake easily and you don't risk tearing it apart. 

Final mixture in the loaf tray

    After this essential step I baked the cake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven at 180 Celsius/ 4 on gas. The cake is ready when it reached a golden-brown color and the top is cracked, like you can see in the picture below.  You can also check it by inserting a toothpick which should come out completely clean when the cake is done. 
 

Cooling down the baked cake

    After the cake was baked I took it out of the oven, letting it to partially cool down. While is was still warm (not hot) I poured some orange juice over it in order to make it moist. The rule for this soaking process in quite easy to remember: if the cake is warm, then the liquid used to make it moist has to be cold and if the cake is cold them the liquid has to be warm. Finally, I let it completely cool down and I glazed it with some orange icing which I made by mixing powder sugar with some orange juice until I got a thick and creamy consistence. Feel free to pour as much icing as you want :). I sprinkled some orange zest, I let the cake chill in order for the icing to thicken and then I dug in. 

Glaze

Enjoy!

Piept de rata cu sos de portocale si mazare zdrobita

    Trebuie sa recunosc, cand vine vorba de carne de rata trebuie sa fiu mereu atenta, sa stau cu ochii pe ceas si sa am grija la fiecare detaliu, culoarea si textura sunt extrem de importante. Ma bucur ca prepararea nu necesita un timp indelungat, deoarece ma pot bucura mai repede de gustul delicios. Carnea de rata se imbina fantastic cu sosurile dulci sau dulci-acrisoare, asa ca astazi am dat startul unui carnaval de arome.

Ingrediente:

• 450 g piept de rata
• 400 g mazare
• 250 g Ricotta
• ulei de masline
• sare
• piper

Pentru sos:

• sucul a 2 portocale
• 1 Lg miere
• 100 ml coniac
• 3-4 Lg sos de soia
• sare
• piper

    Pieptul de rata are nevoie de atentie speciala nu doar pentru preparare, ci si pentru pregatire. Pentru ca acesta este acoperit de un strat generos de grasime, l-am crestat ca in imaginea alaturata pentru ca aceasta sa se poata topi mai usor, apoi am asezonat pe ambele parti cu sare si piper. Am avut grija sa nu crestez si carnea.

Cum crestam stratul de grasime

     L-am asezat in tigaia RECE, pe partea cu stratul de grasime fara sa adaug niciun strop de ulei, deoarece grasimea care se va topi ii va tine locul, la foc mediu.

    Am sigilat apoi carnea, pentru a pastra sucurile in care se afla aroma in interior. Astfel, dupa ce grasimea s-a topit si am obtinut o crusta de culoare aurie, am intors carnea pe cealalta parte. De asemenea am acordat atentie si muchiilor care trebuie sigilate. Dupa ce pieptul meu de rata a prins in intregime o culoare maronie, uniforma si o crusta aurie, fantastica, l-am mutat intr-o tava si l-am introdus in cuptorul preincalzit la 180-190 de grade (treapta 4 pentru gaz) cca. 8-10 minute. Am lasat apoi carnea sa se odinheasca aproximativ 15 minute apoi am taiat-o in felii cu grosimea de 1 cm.

Sosul

    Grasimea ramasa in tigaie reprezinta un ingredient important pentru prepararea sosului. Din cantitatea totala am pastrat 2-3 Lg, peste care am adaugat prima data coniacul, apoi mierea, sosul de soia si sucul de portocale, am asezonat cu sare si piper si am lasat sa scada. Cantitatea ultimelor 3 ingrediente poate sa varieze in functie de preferinte. Cel mai bine este sa gusti sosul in timp ce il prepari.

Garnitura

    Pentru garnitura am fiert mazarea conform instructiunilor de pe ambalaj, apoi am zdrobit-o cu un pasator. Intentia mea nu este sa fac un piure, ci sa pastrez boabele partial intregi pentru mai multa savoare. Am asezonat cu sare si piper, am adaugat Ricotta si putin ulei de masline si am fost gata de servit.

    Acum ca ti-am prezentat experienta mea culinara, te invit si pe tine sa-ti transformi bucataria in propriul loc de joaca, unde sa dai frau liber imaginatiei. 

                                                      

                                            Pofta buna!