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Oct 26

Ricotta + Brandied Sultana Cheesecake

Brandied Sultana Cheesecake1

 

 

 

 

I love it when my baking experiments go according to plan, and today was one of those times. Now, you may or may not know that I am fairly new to the baked cheesecake thing; most of the time I do no-bake ones because I feel those carry a lot less risk to fail. I think the only other baked cheesecake I have ever done was a classic lemon and orange one which a friend requested. That one turned out really well indeed so, heartened by my one and only success, I decided to push on and explore other variants.

 

 

A couple of months ago I came across this recipe on an Australian food website and the idea just clicked. I just looked at the picture and could already imagine the taste and texture. Brilliant. All that was left to do now was actually make it. I tend to have a habit of imagining the finished product in my head and consider it done … then I move on to something else. Terrible, I know, but not this time.

 

 

I started this recipe a good week or so ago with a jar of brandied sultanas. To this jar I added two sticks of cinnamon, about five whole cloves and three tablespoons of light brown sugar. Screwed the lid on tightly and left it on a shelf to steep. I don’t fancy biting into pungent, alcohol soaked sultanas in the finished product … so I made the executive decision to sweeten the fruit this way.  A week later, strain off the liquid from the fruit and set them aside to dry out a little. Keep the brandy syrup for later use.

 

 

 

Brandied Sultana Cheesecake2

 

 

 

 

Now for the cheesecake itself, start by getting all the ingredients up to room temperature.

  • 400 g cream cheese
  • 250 g ricotta
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup brandied sultanas
  • 1 pack Savoiardi biscuits (Italian ladyfingers)
  • 3 tbsp fine sugar
  • 2 tbsp AP flour

 

 

I like cakes that don’t require many ingredients and still turn out so freaking delicious, don’t you?

Anyway, moving along … dump both cheeses into a mixing bowl along with the sugar. Beat with electric mixers until well combined and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat that in as well. Sift the flour over the mixture and beat that in.

 

 

Lightly beat in the eggs until well combined. I like to beat the eggs in a separate bowl first to break up the yolks before adding them into the cheese mixture. Now, using a wide spatula, fold in the sultanas. To avoid them all sinking to the bottom of the cake later, I like to toss them with a little bit of flour before adding them to the cheese mixture.

 

 

For the base, I went for a bit of texture, so instead of pounding the biscuits to a dust I simply broke up each finger into four pieces and loosely covered the base with them.

 

 

 

Brandied Sultana Cheesecake4

 

 

 

 

And to fill in the gaps I crushed up the rest of the biscuits into smaller pieces and sprinkled them over the top. Shake the tin a little to help them all settle in.

 

 

 

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Remember the brandy syrup we saved earlier? Now you get to drizzle some of that onto the biscuits to add flavour and to soften them slightly. Not a lot of syrup … possibly about two or three tablespoons only. Once that is done you can pour in the cheese and sultana mixture. Tap the pan sharply on the counter top to settle the mixture and to release air bubbles.

 

 

Place the tin into a preheated oven and bake at a gentle 150ºC for  1 hr  20 mins, or until the edges turn a lovely golden brown. Don’t try to over bake cheesecakes coz then the finished product will end up dry and crumbly. The centre should still be fairly soft and jiggly when you remove it from the oven. To prevent cracks return the cheesecake to the oven, turn off the heat and leave the door slightly ajar. Allow the cake to sit in there to gradually cooldown for about an our or two … then cover in clingfilm / plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 6 – 8 hours, preferably overnight.

 

 

 

 

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I would strongly recommend you fight against all your urges to eat this cake on the same day and leave it in the fridge overnight. The texture and flavour improve significantly as they mingle over time. This cake, when done right, turns out dense, creamy and full of fruity flavours that remind me of Christmas.

 

 

 

Brandied Sultana Cheesecake8

 

 

 

So, yay! This is another one for the books … I like this cake A LOT. Possible room for improvement, I admit, but over all I am thrilled. R. doesn’t like anything with sultanas in them so I guess this cake is all for me.  🙂

 

 

 

~ Enjoy! ~

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2 comments

  1. Mary

    Excuse my ignorance but what is AP flour. I’m familiar with self raising and plain flour, but don’t know what AP represents.

    1. bubviv

      AP = All Purpose 🙂

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