Lemony Speculoos Cheesecake

On Wednesday I went to a supermarket and wondered that they’ve already started to sell Speculoos cookies. Speculoos cookies are a pretty Christmassy thing but it’s still a while until Christmas… Nevertheless, since the moment I saw them I wanted to eat them even if it’s not THAT time of the year. Then, yesterday I was craving something sweet and homemade and remembered a recipe with Spekulatius cookies. I found it years ago at JamieOliver ‘s homepage, posted by Allora Andiamo. I just changed her recipe a bit. 

This morning after the cake's beauty sleep I ate 2 pieces of it at once and I could eat even more. It’s so lovely!

For a 6-inch round cake tin

Ingredients

Speculoos base:

• 116g Speculoos biscuits, finely crushed
• 50g butter, melted

Filling:

• 290g cream cheese
• 105ml double cream
• 87g quark cheese
• 50g icing sugar
• Juice and finely grated zest of 1 large organic lemon
• 5 gelatin leaves

Lemon topping:

• 1 egg
• 46g icing sugar
• 46g of butter, cut into small cubes
• Juice + finely grated zest of 1 organic lemon
• 1 tbsp of double (thick) cream

Method:

Before you start bring all the ingredients to room temprature.

Fort he base, mix together the crushed biscuits and melted butter then gently press into the tin. Put in the fridge. 

Soak the gelatin leaves for 10 minutes in ice-cold water. 

In a small saucepan, add a couple of tablespoons of the lemon juice you’ll use for the filling and warm on a very low heat. Add the gelatin leaves and mix well until they’re dissolved. Remove from heat and leave to cool slightly. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, lemon zest and (remaining) lemon juice, until the sugar has melted. Add the cream cheese, double cream and quark and continue whisking for about 1 minute. The cream should be nice and fluffy. 

Pour the mixture into the tin and spread out evenly. Place the cheesecake in the fridge and allow to set for 2 hours before making the topping.
 

Make the lemon topping. Place the egg, butter, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan. Cook over a low heat for approx. 10 minutes whisking the whole time. Once the sauce has thickened remove from the heat then whisk in one tablespoon of double cream.
 

Leave the sauce to cool completely then spread over the cheesecake. Refrigerate overnight.

Ivi's Pumpkin Cake

My better half loves this pumpkin pie the most. Last time I made it was autumn 2012 - sorry for keeping you waiting, my dear! ♡

For a 20 cm cake tin

Ingredients

• 120 ml vegetable oil + extra for greasing
• 445 grams of grated pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 130 grams sugar
• 10 grams vanilla sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 90 grams walnuts + 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 295 grams flour
• 10 grams baking powder
• icing sugar for dusting

Method

Wash the pumpkin, cut into quarters and deseed it with a spoon. Grate the pumpkin quarters with the skin on.

Separate egg yolks and egg whites.

With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, cinnamon and the oil together. Stir in the grated pumpkin. Set aside to sit for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, grease a deep 20 cm cake tin with vegetable oil. Preheat your oven to 160 degrees.

Finely ground the walnuts with 1 tbsp icing sugar in a food processor. Mix the ground walnuts with the flour and baking powder and gradually add it to the pumpkin-batter.

Beat the egg whites to a firm peak stage, then fold them in 3 steps into the batter.

Transfer the batter to the cake tin and spread it evenly. Bake in the oven for approx. 1 hour, but prick it to check if it’s really done before you remove it from the oven. 

Leave to cook in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove it from the tin and leave to cool completely.

Finally dust the cake with icing sugar. Cut and enjoy!