Lemon and Raspberry Cheesecake

Prior to cooking this dessert I had never made lemon curd. First time I made it I had problems getting it nice and thick. I was mid way making it googling for "how to thicken lemon curd". I ended up adding corn flour which helped but second time it was glossy and just had that perfect lucious texture. Boy was I proud! Made it a few more times and perfect each time. 

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I love my layered desserts in tumblers. Don't know what it is but these desserts tend to have a mixture of textures. I love bit of crunchiness and a bit of creaminess. I love this dessert. I've made it at least 3 times now. If you skip the lemon curd part it shouldn't take very long. 

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A vast improvement from my normal photographs. This is what happens when you use an SLR in daylight. I always manage to photograph the food on this blog at night. Very annoying!

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For this recipe, I would make the lemon curd the night before and put the cheesecake together the following day.

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Lemon Curd recipe from Taste.com.au (Makes 1 1/2 cups) 

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Ingredients

2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

1/3 cup (80g) chilled unsalted butter

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

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Method

1. Whisk whole eggs, yolks and sugar in a saucepan until smooth, then place pan over a low heat. 

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2. Add the butter, juice and zest and whisk continuously until thickened. Strain through a sieve into a sterilised jar. Lemon curd keeps, covered, in the fridge for 2 weeks.

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Cheesecake recipe from Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals

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Ingredients

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50g butter 

50g blanched hazelnuts 

8 gingernut biscuits 

1 lemon 

4 heaped teaspoons lemon curd 

1 punnet raspberries (approx 150g) 

250g light or low fat cream cheese, marscapone cheese or crème fraiche (I used marscapone.... my favourite!)

1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or extract 

A splash of milk 

1 tablespoon icing sugar 

Good quality dark chocolate for grating  

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Method

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1. Place 4 tumblers for these cheesecakes into the freezer. (You could use a large deep bowl to serve this instead and you could just scoop it out. I did that on one of the occasions I made it.) Put the butter into a medium frying pan on a high heat. 

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2. Place the hazelnuts and biscuits in food food processor to crush into pieces or bash with a rolling pin by placing them in a sandwich bag. I prefer the food processor. Alternatively, you could use a pestle and mortar. 

3. Turn the heat off under the melted butter, tip in the bashed nuts and biscuits and stir. Finely grate in the lemon zest and mix well. 

4. Take the tumblers out of the freezer and divide the mixture between them, gently patting it down until firm. Put 1 heaped teaspoon of lemon curd into each tumbler and top with a few raspberries. 

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5. Spoon the marscapone  into a bowl and add the vanilla paste or extract and a splash of milk. Stir, then add the icing sugar and another splash of milk and mix really well until it looks soft and silky smooth. 

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6. Divide between the tumblers, scrape over a few gratings of dark chocolate and set aside until you are ready to serve.