Sunday, 8 November 2015

Lemon Cottage Cheesecake

With lemon in season, I've been addicted with lemon curd since I made my first batch about a month ago. In fact, this batch is the third I've cooked consecutively!
Lemon cottage cheesecake source : credited respectively below as I was combining 3 recipes

Crust ~ adapted from Joy of Baking
100 gm crumbs of vanilla cream biscuits
57gm unsalted butter, melted
* sugar was eliminated as vanilla cream from biscuits should give enough sweetness. You can add sugar if you will.
Lemon curd ~ from Joy of BakingMakes 360 ml


3 large eggs
80 ml fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
1 Tbsp finely shredded lemon zest
150 grams granulated white sugar
56 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature

Cottage cheese filling adapted from Not quite Nigella
250gm local cottage cheese
2 eggs
24 gm vanilla infused caster sugar



Method

Pre-heat oven at 180°c

For crust
In a bowl combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For lemon curd
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

For cottage cheese filling

In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, eggs, , vanilla sugar until smooth using hand blender. Mix with 3/4 of lemon curd, set aside
Take the crust-lined springform pan out of the fridge. Place the pan in a larger pan. Pour the cheese mixture over the crust.
Pour enough hot water into the larger pan to reach halfway up the height of the pan. Bake the cheesecake for an hour and 45 minutes. The center should be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven to cool completely. Decorate top of cake with remaining 1/4 of lemon curd. Then, chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.