Three Berry Baked Lemon Cheesecake

Yesterday was the last day to vote for the 2014 Singapore blog awards, where MySuit&Apron is competing in two categories: Best Cooking Blog and Best New Blog. Thanks so much to all of you who voted! Regardless of the outcome of the contest, I really feel honored to be selected as one of the finalists. This blog started out (and continues to be) a personal hobby which I thought of doing on New Year's Eve. It is only 8 months old, so whether it wins or not, I'm happy and proud enough as it is. :)

Actually, this week, I am on vacation somewhere in Europe--loving the food, culture and the warm but windy weather, a welcome respite from humid Singapore!  But wherever I find myself every Friday, I always make it a point to release this week's blog recipe, culled from my arsenal of draft posts. :)

This week, it's cake! I have a confession to make: I don't really like making nor eating very sweet desserts, like cakes. I normally bake cakes only if there's a party in my house, or if I have a potluck party to bring it to. Dessert is often just fruit in our household, but whenever I have to make a dessert, this one is one of my "go to" recipes.

I like desserts that have a touch of sourness and that's why I use berries a lot. This cheesecake is light and is baked, and topped with a homemade berry compote, fresh berries and lemon rind. It's delicious and not as sinful as your normal sweet cake, and it looks so impressive too!

THREE BERRY BAKED LEMON CHEESECAKE

Cake:
1/4 cup melted butter, plus extra for greasing the baking pan
2 cups crushed gingersnap, digestive or Graham crackers
3 tablespoons candied ginger, chopped finely
2 lemons - microplane the zest (for fine zest) and extract the juice
1 lemon - get long strips of zest (this is for decorating the top of the cake), and extract the juice
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup plain yogurt
4 eggs
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Toppings:
1 cup berries of your choice (I use raspberry, blueberries and blackberries. Especially blackberries because they their seeds provide an interesting texture)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8 inch springform pan with baking paper. Trim the edges. Coat the paper and the sides of the pan with butter.

2. Make the crust. Use a blender to grind the cookies. Chop the candied ginger into small pieces.

Mix together the sliced, candied ginger and crushed cookies.

3. Melt the butter. Transfer the crushed cookies/ginger mix into the baking pan. Pour the melted butter and mix together. Spread the mix evenly at the bottom of the pan. Press down with a fork or with your fingers. Put the pan in the freezer to chill it until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Make the cake by mixing together the following: the juice of the 3 lemons, fine zest from two lemons, ricotta cheese, yogurt, eggs, cornstarch, sugar. Mix well.

5. Get out the chilled crust and pour the batter onto it. Put it into the oven and bake the cake until firm and until it doesn't jiggle, about 45 to 75 minutes.

6. Make the berry compote by putting the sliced berries, sugar, lemon juice in a pan, over high heat.

Mash the fruits with a fork or potato masher. Mix with a wire whisk.

Once the compote is close to boiling, add the dissolved cornstarch and keep mixing until the cornstarch dissolves and thickens the sauce. Set aside to cool.

7.  Once the cake is baked and doesn't jiggle, take it out of the oven, and let it cool.

The baked cheesecake.

Once cool, drizzle the compote on top of the cake. Decorate with sliced berries and the longer pieces of lemon rind. Then dig in and enjoy!