Blackberry and Chocolate Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, , usually cheese cream, eggs, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, it most often consists of a crust or base made from crushed digestive biscuits or graham crackers and the cheesecake may be baked or unbaked which is usually refrigerated.Cheesecake is a very popular dessert nowadays and many people believe that it have its origins from New Your, but actually, that’s not true. Let’s go back 4000 years to see how cheesecake was really created. The earliest attested mention of a cheesecake is by the Greek physician Aegimus (5th century BCE), who wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes. The name for this type of cake (derived from the Greek term) became “placenta.” Placenta was more like a cheesecake, baked on a pastry base, or sometimes inside a pastry case. When the Romans conquered Greece, the cheesecake recipe was just one spoil of war. They modified it including crushed cheese and eggs. These ingredients were baked under a hot brick and it was served warm. Occasionally, the Romans would put the cheese filling in a pastry. The Romans called their cheese cake “libuma” and they served it on special occasions. Marcus Cato, a Roman politician in the first century B.C., is credited as recording the oldest known Roman cheesecake recipe. In Greece, cheesecake was considered to be a good source of energy, and there is evidence that it was served to athletes during the first Olympic games in 776 B.C. As the Romans expanded their empire, they brought cheesecake recipes to the Europeans. Great Britain and Eastern Europe began experimenting with ways to put their own unique spin on cheesecake. In each country of Europe, the recipes started taking on different cultural shapes, using ingredients native to each region.The Basque cheesecake has no separate crust but, rather, develops its crust through hard, high temperature baking. It is characterised by a burnt, scorched top which conceals a soft, gooey filling of cream cheese, sugar, eggs and cream which oozes like molten lava when cut.In the United Kingdom and Ireland, cheesecake is typically made with a base of crushed, buttered biscuits and often topped with a fruit compote. The most common commercial varieties are black cherry, blackcurrant, strawberry, passionfruit, raspberry, and lemoncurd. The usual filling is a mixture of cream cheese, sugar, and cream and it is not baked, but refrigerated. Gelatine may also be mixed in with the cheese/cream mixture to keep the filling firm. Variations are common, and include banoffee (bananas and toffee), coffee, tea, chocolate, Irish cream, white chocolate, and marshmallow flavors. Savory smoked salmon cheesecake is made in Scotland.Swedish-style cheesecake differs greatly from other cheesecakes. A Swedish cheesecake is not layered and is traditionally produced by adding rennet to milk and letting the casein coagulate. It is then baked in an oven and served warm.German-style cheesecake(Käsekuchen, Quarkkuchen, Matzkuchen; Topfenkuchen in Austria) uses quark and a freshly made dough, not Graham crackers. The Käsesahnetorte (cheese cream tart) adds cream and is not baked.By the 1900s, New Yorkers were in love with this dessert. Every restaurant had its own version of cheesecake on their menu. Even though he is best known for his signature sandwiches, Arnold Reuben (1883-1970) is generally credited for creating the New York Style cheesecake. Reuben was born in Germany and he came to America when he was young. The story goes that Reuben was invited to a dinner party where the hostess served a cheese pie. Allegedly, he was so intrigued by this dish that he experimented with the recipe until he came up with the beloved NYStyle cheesecake. Arnold Reuben, owner of the legendary Turf Restaurant at 49thand Broadway in New York City, claimed that his family developed the first cream-cheese cake recipe. Traditionally, thei ngredients entering the preparation of a classic New York-style cheesecake are cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch or flour, eggs, double cream, lemon zest and vanilla, with a crust made of crushed crackers or digestive biscuits, sugar and melted butter. While the flavour is quite plain, fruit coulis or jelly wasoften served alongside the cake.There is no secret that cheesecake is my favourite dessert, is easy tomake and it gives me the freedom to mix any falvours I want. If you try this recipe I promise you won’t regret.
Ingredients
Crust
- 300 g digestive biscuits
- 200 g melted butter
Chocolate cream
- 230 g chocolate
- 400 g cheese cream
- 10 g gelatine
- 50 ml water
Blueberry cream
- 400 g blackberries
- 400 g cheese cream
- 80 g sugar
- 15 g gelatine
- 50 ml water
Instructions
Crust
- Chop the biscuits and mix with the melted butter. Add the composition in a tray with a diameter of 20-22 cm and removable bottom. Let it cool in the fridge until the creams are ready.
Chocolate cream
- Melt the chocolate at bain marie and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes. Very important, the cheese cream should be at room temperature. In a large bowl add the cheese cream and melted chocolate and mix until you get a homogenous comnposition. Mix the gelatine with water and heat the gelatin until is melted. Add it over the chocolate cheese cream.
- Add the cream over the biscuits crust and let it cool in the fridge until the blackberry cream is ready.
Blueberry cream
- Using a chopper or a vertical mixer mash the blackberries. Add the blackberries puree over the cheese cream and mix. Mix the gelatine with water and heat the gelatin until is melted. At the end add the sugar and mix until the composition is homogenous.
- Add the blackberry cream over the chocolate layer and let the cake cool in the fridge for about 3 hours. You can decorate it with fresh fruits or chocolate, whatever you like. Enjoy your cake!