It’s up to you New York, New York (Cheesecake)

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baking, cake, cheese, cheesecake, new york cheesecake

If one thing in life is certain, writing about cheesecake leads to craving cheesecake. So when I had to write a little bit on the history of the New York Cheesecake at work, I knew it was only going to end one way. Namely, me – covered in sugar, my walls – splattered with sour cream, and my first ever New York Cheesecake attempt…

I had to pull out a little turbo baking action on my super busy Saturday, but somehow managed to pull off a convincing New York Cheesecake.

Inspired by this nifty little recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but with a few tweaks, here is my New York Cheesecake recipe –

What you’ll need

The base

85g butter

180g digestive biscuits

1tbsp caster sugar

A pinch of salt

The filling

900g full fat soft cheese

200ml sour cream

200g caster sugar

3tbsp plain flour

3 large eggs and a yolk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Dash of lemon juice

A pinch of salt

The topping

200ml sour cream

1 tbsp caster sugar

Dash of lemon juice

1.)    Heat the oven to 190C. Grease the sides of a springform cake tin with butter.

2.)    Take out all your pent up aggression on the digestive biscuits. In other words smash them into crumbs with a rolling pin. Then add the sugar and salt, and finally mix in the melted butter.

3.)    Press the mixture into the base of the cake tin and bake for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.

4.)    Turn oven down to 170C. Mix sugar, flour and salt.

5.)    Beat the soft cheese until light and fluffy, then add a third of the sugar mixture, then half of the sour cream. Repeat, then add the final third of sugar mixture and beat. Stir in vanilla and lemon. Add the eggs one by one, then the yolk, beating until creamy.

6.)    Butter the cake tin again, then pour the in mixture and cook for an hour and a half. Keep an eye on the cheesecake to make sure it doesn’t burn and don’t be surprised if it rises – mine did, a lot!

7.)    Make the topping by combining sour cream, sugar and lemon. Spread on the cheesecake as soon as it comes out the oven. Pop in the fridge overnight or as long as you can – mine was in for a few hours.

8.)    Share with friends, whilst listening to Frank Sinatra, preferably. 

Sunday sausages at Stockbridge Market

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cheese, edinburgh, farmers market, food market, local produce, organic, sausages, sunday dinner

It was a blustery day down in Stockbridge on Sunday, but the Stockbridge Market stallholders remained enthusiastic with smiles on their faces and canopies flapping frantically above their heads.

“The sun’s going to come out later,” one lady beamed, as she offered me some samples of her free-range, organic sausages. But who wouldn’t be optimistic surrounded by so much delicious produce?

The Stockbridge Market has been running since September last year and you can find it on Sundays between 10am to 5pm, close to the Water of Leith.
Already the market has become something of a Stockbridge institution and the number of producers present seems to grow week upon week.

What immediately hits you is the welcoming aroma of freshly brewed coffee and jazzy sounds coming from the quirky Artisan Roast campervan. Wandering around the market there was plenty to see – and try – from cupcakes to curry.

I loved the garlic or raspberry infused balsamic vinegars, tempting, freshly-baked bread, cinnamon swirls and plum tarts, and the interesting Mojito jelly (which goes well with oysters, apparently).

I treated myself to some creamy but strong tasting Scottish Crowdie – a cow’s milk cheese made in Lanarkshire and lovely with oatcakes. The goat’s cheese rolled in ash caught my eye too, but was a bit pricey.

My best buy were the Toulouse sausages, made from free range pigs who had led stress-free, happy lives and been well fed. The meat was mixed with a little all-spice and coriander, and they made a yummy Sunday dinner. At just £2.95 for five I’d be tempted to eat them for dinner every Sunday night…

Tasty adventures in Portugal: the Francesinha – a sandwich to end all other sandwiches

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cheese, Francesinha, holiday, meat, Porto, portugal, sandwich, steak, travel

Say hello to the most epic sandwich you will ever encounter – the Francesinha. Seek out this meaty, cheesy delight and your standard tuna mayo or egg and cress will forever pale in comparison.

The Francesinha isn’t hard to find in Porto, so spend a little time seeking out somewhere locals are eating to be sure of the tastiest specimen.
This may be called a ‘little French girl’ but little it ain’t (although the boyfriend and I agreed you could definitely fit a small child in there).

A traditional Francesinha contains wet-cured ham, smoke-cured pork, sausages and steak, all sandwiched between two slices of bread, lathered with molten cheese and drenched in a spicy tomato and beer sauce. With chips. Oh my.

I thought I was doing a rather good job of delicately eating mine in a ladylike fashion until my boyfriend exclaimed “well, there’re not many girls who could take a Francesinha like you do.” After that I stopped trying to be elegant and tried to take pride in my meat eating abilities.
It was heaven.

The best thing about the Francesinha is that it isn’t just something for the tourists. As we were leaving the restaurant, a little light-headed and a little bit in need of a lie down, we saw a tiny, elderly Portuguese lady tucking into a Francesinha, giant portion of chips and huge glass of Super Bock. Good on you, love.