Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake with Dainty Pastry's Lemon Curd Filling

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

My musings for this challenge ran from a cheesecake with a port and rhubarb compote – pretty in pink, or the tart, fresh (as in spring) lemon curd. The lemon won out! I couldn’t have been happier with this cheesecake. It was delicious and pretty, which made it worth the few extra steps I took in creating it. The ban marie (which can be tricky for my spring form pan) worked nicely and created a smooth, creamy cheesecake without any cracks on the top, which is important because the marbling of this cheesecake is meant to be seen and appreciated and not covered with a topping.

Note: * Indicates adjustments to recipe for flavor. ** Indicates adjustments to recipe for technique.

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake (With Dainty Pastry’s Lemon Curd Filling)

Lemon Curd Ingredients:

1 tsp. fresh lemon zest, finely grated
½ Cup fresh lemon juice
½ Cup sugar
3 large eggs
¼ Cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

Crust Ingredients:

2 Cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick melted butter
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients (*as called for in original recipe with adjustments for flavoring)

3 packages cream cheese, 8 oz. ea.
1 Cup sugar
3 large eggs
*1 Cup heavy cream – I substituted 1 Cup sour cream for melding the cream cheese flavor to my lemon curd.
1 Tbs. vanilla
*1 Tbs. lemon juice – I omitted so as to not overpower my cake with lemon.
*1Tbsp liqueur – I omitted as lemon curd would replace this flavor

Directions:

Lemon Curd
Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a 2 quart, heavy saucepan. Place over low heat and add butter. Whisk frequently for about 5 – 6 minutes. Curd will show whisk marks and bubbles will just begin to show when curd is finished.

Force lemon curd through a sieve (to remove any materials which would keep curd from being perfectly smooth) into a small bowl. Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap or waxed paper, to keep a skin from forming, and place in the refrigerator to cool. As curd is cooling, stir it occasionally, and re-cover.

Note: Curd can be made up to 1 week ahead, chilled and covered as noted above.

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack placed in middle position.

Mix together crust ingredients and press into preferred pan, if using a spring form pan, press crust up sides 1”. Notes on using spring form pan: Because this recipe for cheesecake is baked in a ban marie, it is necessary to prevent water from seeping into the spring form pan. Remove the pan bottom and wrap in lengthy sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil with the loose ends on the exposed bottom of the spring form pan. Set the bottom in place and tighten the ring. Then pull the loose ends of the aluminum foil up the exterior sides of the pan, thereby creating a water tight spring form pan. Not all spring form pans are created equal!

**Place spring form pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in the spring form pan on a rack. Crust (without filling) can be made up to 1 day in advance and stored, covered at room temp.

Filling:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar in bowl of electric mixer, cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each, before adding another. Scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add *sour cream and vanilla, blend until smooth.

I add an additional layer of wide aluminum foil to cover the exterior of the pan, beyond where the hot water of the ban marie will be, so as to prevent any water from seeping into the spring form pan.

Pour 2/3’s of the batter into prepared crust, and then spoon half of the lemon curd over the filling and swirl curd into filling with a small knife. Avoid touching crust with knife to prevent crumbs getting into your filling. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Repeat with remaining filling and curd. Swirl next layer with knife.

Place filled pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done. Center of cake will appear very loose, but will continue to set as it cools. Center should tremble when the pan is gently shaken – the center of the cake will continue to set as it cools.

Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of the water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. **I like to run an offset spatula around the cheesecake before covering and refrigerating.

Just prior to serving, pipe whipping cream around perimeter of cheesecake and garnish with small slices of lemon. I added a pretty, white ribbon to the circumference of my cheesecake – the perfect finishing touch.

A Pilgrimage to Gayle's

Life is filled with opportunities for inspiration. Lucky are we who have those opportunities near by - well, I guess "near by" is relative. My favorite "near by" is either 1-1/2 or 3 hours, depending on traffic.

This place of inspiration for me is tucked away in the seaside community of Capitola, Ca. We used to live in this lovely place - sun, flowers, seaside, fog and history. We now live in the California Central Valley, which for us has sun, flowers and fog. The seaside and history are absent. So, a trip to Capitola for me, is like a pilgrimage of sorts.

This pilgrimage takes me directly back to Gayle's Bakery and Rosticceria. This is where I find a wealth of inspiration, joy and comfort. How lucky are we to be within driving distance now with our relocation to Ca? (The answer to that is VERY!) The massive glass enclosed counters are brimming with a supply of pastries for all times of day, which rival anything found in Europe. I would have included photos of that here, but on Saturday, the place was so packed, you couldn't have seen the pastries for all the customers. Additionally, their Rosticceria counter is overflowing with sandwiches, roasted chicken, salads & blue plate dinner items. This jewel has been in business for 30 successful years, and over many of those years, I've been one to pay homage to their creations at their cash register. When we moved away from Capitola, I took with me, my cherished copy of their cookbook; "The Village Baker's Wife." It is always on my counter, either in use or reminding me of my favorite bakery of all time.

Our last trip required more travel time than a sweet little cream puff could endure to make it back to our home. So I snatched up a package of biscotti, stalwart that it is, which could handle the hours in a hotel room and hot drive back to the Central Valley. The package has remained unopened until this post, just so I could snap a photo of it for you to see - in just a matter of minutes that package will be carefully opened and only two biscotti will be removed. They will be nibbled on, with a glass of ice tea, as I return to the land of my enslavement, aka: Excell Spreadsheets - the antithesis of "Pilgrimage" in my life.

New Noises

We are becoming familiarized with the noises of our new home. I'm thinking about this because we accidentally set off the "Call in the California National Guard Alarm" on our house on Easter morning. (Here's an apology shout-out to our neighbors!) That event was followed by a phone call from the security company which set in motion a Q & A session Jack Bauer would have admired.

Our former home had it's noises too. Like those of the stairs squeaking on the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 8th step. If one was sneaky, one could avoid the squeaks on the 2nd step, by stepping gingerly on the very edge of the step, not lingering too long there, then going directly to step #4. #5 was a breeze, but getting directly to step #9, without making any noise, required taking one's life in one's own hands, especially if one's hands were full of a laundry basket, or if one tried to do it with their eyes closed (not that I would ever be so silly.)

The lights in the bathroom of our former home would "tink" as they cooled off. The shower head would "drip," "drip-drip," "drip," as one concluded a shower. The laundry room door would slam shut "slap!" as the back door of the house was closed. The front door lock would "tumble" open as only those with the permission keys would allow could enter. My battery operated clock in the bathroom upstairs would gently whisper "tick-tick" through sleepless nights.

I've come to realize that I found comfort in all those noises. Those noises were companions in my life's journey for the last 14 years. They helped me address the long shadows worries would cast, sown well in the dark. They would even re-assure, as they would declare the unspoken "I'm home!" of late arriving loved ones. They would rhythmically prattle "It's a new day, with a new start - girlie, go get it!"

Those sounds are now replaced with the rattle of a window screen, the beeping of a refrigerator door left open, and the sound of rain falling hard through gutters. These new sounds don't mean much to me yet, and I miss my old "squeak," "tink," "drip," "slap!," "tumble," & "tick." Their absence has made the noises of my thoughts much too loud, so I'm going to go turn on the radio and see if I can find the "Party Hits" station.

Chocolate Valentino

February's challenge was a Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Valentino, inspired by Malaysia's "most flamboyant food ambassador," Chef Wan. Recipe comes from Sweet Treats by Chef Wan.

I'd already posted this as a non-blogger, but now that I've joined the ranks of "bloggdome," I just wanted to play like the big kids!

This was just like eating a truffle with a spoon - dense and almost too good! Deep, smooth, rich chocolate balanced by creamy, cold, homemade vanilla ice cream. A match made in heaven and in my kitchen!!!

I want to share this Valentino recipe with you. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

16 oz. (1 lb.) semisweet, roughly chopped (use your serrated knife for this) chocolate Note:

Your Valentino will taste just like your chocolate, so choose your chocolate based on what want your finished product to taste like.

1/2 Cup (1 stick) plus 2 Tbs. unsalted butter (plus a little butter for your pan)

5 large eggs, separated (Use your fingers for this. Just let the white slip through your fingers as you gently cradle the yolk - no broken yolks this way - happy days!)

Yep! That's it for ingredients!!!

How you do it:

1. Put your butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water. Make sure that the bowl isn't touching the water. Stir often until everything is melted and you can't help but dip your finger in the chocolate! Let this cool.

2. While the chocolate/butter combo is cooling, cut parchment paper the size of your pan*. Butter your pan and line it with the parchment, then butter the parchment.

*Baking Pan - a Valentino is generally baked in a heart shaped pan, but you can also use any shape pan that gives you an area of 50" - say, 6 x 8 or 7 x 7. You can also use a 8" spring form pan or ramekins (adjusting baking time accordingly). I used my 6 x 8, because that's what I had.

You may want to pre-heat your oven here - 375 degrees F.

3. Separate your egg yolks from the whites and put each group into medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the whites in a sparkling, clean, grease free large bowl until they form stiff peaks.

EGG WHITE ALERT, DISCLAIMER, WARNING, and place where I might get to tell you "I told you so." Don't over beat your egg whites, as that will cause your cake to be dry.

5. With the same beater, but in their own bowl, beat the egg yolks together.

Now this is where it gets to be fun!

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate and mix gently.

Now it's even better!!

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with the remaining 2/3 egg whites. Gently continue to fold mixture until no whites remain and your batter isn't deflated.

8. Pour batter into your prepared pan(s). Your batter should fill the pan(s) about 3/4 of the way full. Tuck this little sweetheart into the preheated oven (375 degrees F).

9. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Use your instant read thermometer here - it should read 140 degrees F. If you don't have an instant read thermometer, the top of your cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear WET.

10. Cool cake(s) on a rack for 10 minutes, then un-mold. Your cake will settle a bit in the center - this is a good thing!!

This is so good with vanilla ice cream, but you can fancy it up any way you want. Have fun!!

Title Search

The hardest thing for me to do in beginning this blog has been to find a name for it. I've run through hundreds of possibilities by trying to capture a name only to find someone quicker and smarter (and undoubtedly prettier) than I already has "it." Story of my life. So, back to the drawing board. Humm... what name could capture in short form what I'm doing & how my life is in the new now? Something to do with home, adapting, rebuilding, refocusing, change, loss, fulfillment - you know, the everyday things of life.

I am reminding myself of the things I love about my new life on a regular basis. Here's one of the items at the top of my list - bird's nests. There's something about them that represents what I'm yearning for. Upon spying a finch nest captured in a backyard tree, I announced to my husband that all work in the back yard would halt until her young had flown the coop. This suggestion was greeted with remote silence. There she was, all tucked into her nest every day, hours on end, darting her little head back and forth with every move of friend or foe who ventured into her territory. Then the wind came - I'd peek from an obscure place - for days and days, howling wind - she's holding on - strong, pounding wind - I think it became too much for her - the wind has stopped - her nest sits empty - the backyard work commences.

There it is, I found my title. My old nest was holding on inspite of the howling wind. I just couldn't - been blown completly away from it. Where might she be now? There's a new nest in the front yard. Might that be her? Starting again? Nesting anew? Few things could make me happier.

Living in the Askew of the "New"

I've been jettisoned into an entirely new lifestyle at a time when exactly (yes, this can be statistically verified) 153% of my peers are not even of thinking of starting a new life, let alone actually taking the questionable steps to actually live in the territory of the "New." New family status - new city - new state - new phase of life - new responsibilities or lack thereof - new hairstylist (oh, that's pure pain) - new "newness" in everything.

You know the "newness" has really grown "old" when the simple thought of having to find a new place to get the car's oil changed sends you over the edge. So, problem solved; the car stays in the garage! There you go, proof that I'm learning no new problem is too big for me to solve!!

So, when one is all is askew in newness, what does one resort to for a sense of stability? No question about it. One bakes! It's that desire, no. . . need. No. . . primordial drive, would be more like it, to find what's familiar & comforting - it consoles me in small part for what I've left behind.

Hence, this new (arg!) venture into blogging. It's my attempt to find community amongst like-hearted bakers and other disoriented "newbys." So, here I am, one more time, heading back to the kitchen to assuage my vulnerability to all things new.