Blueberry Cheese Cake

Blueberry Cheese Cake

First things first, let's get something straight.....

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with using condensed milk to make a cheesecake. It is quite economical. In many Caribbean countries, it has traditionally been a pantry standard, and is therefore usually to hand. Additionally, I have found it to be very flexible in cheese cake recipes- you can easily adjust the amount of condensed milk to adjust the sweetness.

This is a nice, simple recipe, great for the inexperienced baker. I have tried a number of cheesecake recipes and always come back to this one...with its condensed milk.

Food Network and Cooking Channel are making culinary snobs of us all...

INGREDIENTS

Crust

One 8- or 9-inch ready-made graham cracker pie shell

OR

8 oz  digestive biscuit crumbs (or graham cracker crumbs, if you are from the USA)

2 oz  sugar

2 oz  margarine or butter

Filling

2 - 2 1/2 packages cream cheese (each package = 8 oz.)

1  can condensed milk (12 - 14 oz)

2 eggs

2 tsp lime or lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla essence or vanilla extract

Blueberry Topping

1 can blueberry topping

OR

2 cups frozen blueberries

1/2 cup water

1/4 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar (optional)

1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp lemon juice
sprinkling of cinnamon

METHOD

Topping

If you are making the topping from scratch...

1.  Combine the blueberries, sugar, water, cinnamon, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. 

2.  Dissolve the corn starch in a tablespoon of cold water, whisking until smooth. 

3.  Pour the corn starch into the fruit mixture in the saucepan and cook until thickened. 

4.  Remove from the heat and cool.


Crust

If you are making the crust from scratch...


1.  Combine digestive biscuit crumbs and sugar.
2.  Melt the margarine (or butter).
3.  Add melted margarine (or butter) to the dry mixure of crumbs and sugar. Mix well, until the fat is evenly distributed.
4.  Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan. You can also press some of the crumbs onto the sides. Be sure to distribute the crumbs evenly. There should be very little variation in the thickness of the crust.
5.  Place the crust in the fridge or freezer to chill. Use the freezer if you will be ready to fill the crust in about 15 - 20 minutes. Otherwise, place in the fridge.

Filling

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.2.  While the crust is chilling, cut cream cheese into small pieces and place in a blender.
3.  Add the eggs, milk, lime juice and vanilla.
4.  Blend all the ingredients until completely combined. The batter will be a thick liquid.
5.  Pour the batter into the prepared crust. Do not overfill*.
6.  Bake at 350 F for 30 - 40 minutes, until almost set.
7.  Remove from the oven and cool.
8.  Remove from the cake from the pan and arrange it on a serving plate. Pour on the blueberry topping and serve.

* If you have left-over batter, you can bake it in another dish, well-greased. Voila! Crust-less cheese cake!

My Baking Powder Dillema

I actually did the Cream Cheese Pound Cake twice.

This first time around I wasn't satisfied with the outcome. The cake was light with a good texture and tasted lovely.

But when it was sliced there was a faint "line" towards the bottom of the cake. It looked like a shiny streak of compacted cake.... I'm sorry I didnt take a pic. It's proving to be very hard to describe.

This is not the first time we have had this problem. Sometimes, when this happens it may due to egg whites that that not been mixed in properly. However in reviewing the process I didn't think this was the case. The eggs are beaten first before being added to the cake and I mix quite well between additions. Also the cream mixture didn't show any signs of curdling suggesting that the egg wasn't incorporated. And anyway I have found that curdling is quickly corrected at the folding in stage.

I have long suspected that this was an issue related to the baking powder. If the b.p. isn't working well, then the cake may not be rising properly and compacting at the bottom, giving that denser area at the base.

So I decided that the second time around I would try to eliminate all likely  b.p. issues. I bought a brand new tin of b.p. I bought a different more expensive brand. I also decided to make sure that I had the precise proportions of flour to b.p. 

Now the correct proportion is 1 tsp b.p. to every 4 oz of flour. But as I looked at the recipe again I realised that the flour is in cups (volume) and ounces (weight)! The recipe suggests 2 tsp b.p. to 2 cups flour, which is typically used for 8 ozs of flour. But my mother always said that she used 3 cups of flour as  equivalent to 1 lb. 2 cups would be 2/3 lb, more than 1/2 lb.

I measured the flour, according to the recipe, and then weighed it. And guess what? The 2 cups of flour weighed more than 8 ozs. Actually closer to 10 ozs. A light bulb went off in my head. So I calculated the corect amount of b.p. for the weght of the 2 cups of flour and used that instead of the 2 tsps- about 2.5 teaspoons.

And would you, believe it- problem solved! Perfect cake!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Some months ago, when I first started this blog, with every intention of sticking to my New Year's resolution, I decided to do one of my favourites- the Cream Cheese Pound Cake. I did it and shot the photo you see above...and never posted it. So here it is. This is a simple cake, that is excellent with ice cream.


INGREDIENTS (see below for ingredients by weight)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1pkg cream cheese (8 oz.)
1 cup butter
1.5 cup sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 tsp lemon rind
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt*

Optional garnish: powdered sugar and lemon rind


METHOD

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 F.
2. Grease and flour two (2) 8 oz. loaf pans and set aside.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. Beat eggs (with a twist or two of lemon rind). Set aside.
5. Mix cream cheese and butter, on low speed, until well blended. Beat in sugar until smooth.
6. Add eggs, slowly, beating well after each addition. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
7. Add lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla.
8. Fold in the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Batter will be rather heavy.
9. Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans.
10. Bake at 325 F for one (1) hour or until a tester (or toothpick), inserted into the centre, comes out clean.
11. Let the cakes stand in pan for ten (10) minutes. Then turn onto a cake rack to cool thoroughly.

Serving Suggestion

Slice and place on a serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar and sprinkle with grated lemon rind. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

* Do not add salt if your margarine or butter is salted!


INGREDIENTS (by weight)

2/3 lb all-purpose flour (10.6 oz)
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
8 oz. butter
10.5 oz sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 tsp lemon rind
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt (optional)