I felt a little sad
that this was to be my last cheesecake from the Baking Bible. I'm a
sucker for a buttery biscuit base with a generous helping of smooth
creamy cheesecake piled on top. The mere thought is enough to send my
taste buds into overdrive! However, my longing for a biscuit base was
on this occasion to be unfulfilled. It was time to attempt something
different; the cheesecake would be sandwiched between two layers of
fatless sponge. I confess I wasn't entirely convinced by this
prospect (how would I live without my beloved biscuit base) but I was
of course willing to give it a try. I felt sure it would still be
very tasty!!
My greedy enthusiasm
meant that I entered the kitchen with a spring in my step. The
instructions for the recipe looked rather lengthy, so I resigned
myself that this cheesecake was going to take a while to make.
However, the first stage looked very straightforward. I just needed
to make the small fatless sponge. I say small purely because it's
half the quantity Mary uses for her Swiss roll recipe! It seemed to
take ages to whisk the eggs and sugar to the correct thick mousse
like consistency. I wondered if this was due to the small quantity;
perhaps there wasn't much for the electric whisk to 'get hold of'!
Finally I had a mixture which had more than doubled in size and was
ready for the sifted self-raising flour. Since beginning this
challenge I've made a fair amount of fatless sponges. At the start
I'd spend ages gently folding in the flour. Over time I've become
quite heavy handed as the flour always refuses to intermingle with
the egg and sugar mixture! Now I was ready to pour the voluminous
mixture into the awaiting tin. Mary says not to worry if it appears
you don't have enough for the size of the tin. I'm so glad she added
that little detail as it barely covered the base of mine! I whacked
the sponge into the oven and started to get all the ingredients for
the cheesecake ready.
After about five
minutes I started to notice the oven smelt very hot. I peered through
the glass door and noted that my sponge was already on a rapid rise.
Something smelt fishy (not literally) so I went back to the Baking
Bible to check the cooking temperature and time. It didn't take long
to work out that, instead of having my oven set to gas mark 4, it was
in fact set to its highest temperature of gas mark 9 – ARGH!! A
few choice words were uttered as I quickly adjusted the heat. For the
remainder of the cooking time I kept throwing the oven anxious
glances as I feared the high heat would cause the sponge to sink. The
heavens must have been smiling on me as the cake survived its ordeal
and exited the oven unscathed and well risen – phew!
While the cake cooled
on a wire rack I was instructed to wash and dry the cake tin. Well,
as I'm sure you are already aware; I am an inherently lazy cook. It
didn't look bad to me, so I just wiped the tin with a sheet of
kitchen towel. As it turned out I had to line the base and sides with
greaseproof paper so it would all be covered up anyway! I gingerly
cut the by now stone cold cake in half. As it was so thin, I was
delighted to slice it successfully and not be left with a pile of
crumbs! I laid one half into the lined cake tin before turning my
attention to the cheesecake filling.
It felt as though I was
embarking on another cake as I had to cream together a helping of
butter and sugar. Once the mixture was suitably soft and fluffy I
moved onto separating the eggs. This was when it suddenly dawned on
me that I'd be unable to eat the cheesecake. Raw eggs are a big No No
for a pregnant lady! I was on the brink of tears as I REALLY fancied
cheesecake and felt so disappointed. I unceremoniously dropped the
egg yolks into the bowl with a heavy heart. I reluctantly grated the
zest from two oranges and squeezed in the juice. Everything suddenly
felt like too much effort and I very much wanted to go and sit down –
yes I was sulking!!!
I retrieved the cream
cheese from the fridge and beat a fairly small quantity into the
mixture. Neil kindly whisked the double cream by hand using a balloon
whisk whilst I lazily used my electric version to transform the egg
whites into voluminous puffs of cloud. The thick whipped cream and
fluffy egg whites could then be folded into the unattractive
(slightly curdled) mixture. There was such a lot that I couldn't see
how it would fit into the tin, but it did...JUST! There was a sliver
of space left for the remaining sponge half to squeeze on top. I
placed a piece of cling film across the tin as instructed and put the
heavy cheesecake into the fridge to chill and set for the suggested
four hours.
Once the time had
passed it was early evening and Neil was hankering for a slice of
cheesecake. Isaac was enjoying his tea as I did the unveiling. I
removed the sides of the tin and watched aghast as the cheesecake
subsided and the filling gently oozed over the edges of the sponge.
Oh dear, that really wasn't supposed to happen!! I made the mistake
of saying “urgh” so had to listen to Isaac's repeated
exclamations of “URGH” as I hurriedly dusted icing sugar and
covered the surface of the sponge with orange wedges! As expected it
was a nightmare to slice as the filling was so very soft. It ended up
looking extremely messy and I felt in need of a bath.
Neil was chief taste
taster on this occasion; he reported back that the filling was
delicious, very orangey, light and moussey. He wasn't sure about the
sponge; as he said that there was so much filling he couldn't really
notice it. It would appear that four hours wasn't anywhere near long
enough in the fridge, as the next day the cheesecake filling had
firmed up considerably and was much easier to cut. Neil confirmed
that it was also much easier to eat!
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| Not sure about my orange decoration!! |
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| I promise the cheesecake firmed up after longer in the fridge! |
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