Friday 4 May 2012

The story of Me & Baking and Why we aren't friends.

You all know I like to cook.

A LOT.

But Baking & I have never really been friends.

I think it is the exacting nature of baking that puts me off.

The fact that when they say 1/2 a cup they REALLY mean HALF a cup!

I am kind of well known for being a spontaneous kind of girl.

A bit of a rule breaker.

Not in a bad way...

I just have never really liked being told what to do.

Coupled with the fact that I don't really have much of a sweet tooth it meant that Baking and me were never really going to hit it off.

Baking was the girl in the schoolyard who always had her pigtails all perfect with the centre part RIGHT smack bang in the middle of her head.  Who always arrived for photo day with her dress all ironed with perfect seams & matching ribbons.

Me.....well I was one with the socks all baggy around my ankles and with Pippi Longstocking plaits (she was my HERO dontcha know...I WAS her!) all wayward and bent skywards with pipe-cleaners to keep them flipped up & mismatching ribbons.  I arrived for photo day with stains & creases on my dress. And I wore red patent clogs instead of school shoes.
My original & very LOVED copy of my HERO
You get my drift?

But the other day on Instagram Flowerpress was chatting about a cake that really took my fancy.
And then my photo on Instagram had lots of requests to blog the recipe too.

We were in the midst of one of those weeks last week where illness visits and takes over.

I sometimes get this weird urge to bake when that happens.

If I listened to my inner psychologist I would totes read that behaviour as me grabbing at a little control where all else feels...well SOOOO outta control.

Does that happen to you?

Do you grab at things to control when all else feels like it is spiralling?

BAKED LEMON & LIME BUTTER CHEESECAKE:
The original recipe is from here.
I get so frustrated when I see the ingredient lists of recipes are not in Metric.
Are you the same? Luckily there is an app for that!
Sheesh when will we all get on the Metric scale? So MUCH easier.
Anyway I made a few minor changes and I will write the recipe in Metric for all us metric fans ok!
My Hubby is a BIG fan of a baked cheesecake so I thought I would get all 'Housewife of the Year 1954' and bake him a cake.  
It might of even made up for the house being super messy. Just maybe.
And despite me NOT being a big fan of sweets I must say this was DELICIOUS.
It has a butter cake bottom & edge which goes all chewy and sugary with the lovely soft cheesecakey middle hidden in the middle. AMAZING.
You make the 2 parts separately and pour the cheesecake top over the butter cake bottom.
I made the butter cake part first & poured it into the springform tin and then made the cheesecake part.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
for the butter cake part

  • 2/3 cup plain Organic flour
  • 1/3 cup Caster sugar
  • 2 tspn baking powder
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 2 organic eggs
  • juice of 1 lemon (and the zest)
  • juice of 1 lime (and zest) (if you only have lemons just substitute this here)
  • seeds from half a Vanilla bean (substitute 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract)
for the cheesecake part

  • 250g cream cheese
  • 3tblspn butter
  • 1 organic egg
  • the seeds form the other half of the vanilla pod (or 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract)
  • zest of a lemon
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 1/2 cup of Icing sugar (and a little extra for dusting)
METHOD:
Heat oven to 160C.
Grease & line a 20 cm springform tin.

In a mixer combine the dry ingredients and then add all wet. Mix well.
Pour into the springform tin.

Now to make the cheesecake part (I used the same mixing bowl).

Beat the cream cheese for about 3 minutes until it is light and creamy.
Add the icing sugar and continue to beat for 2-3 minutes.
Add the egg, butter, vanilla seeds & lemon juice & zest.
Mix until combined and stop.

Now carefully add the cheesecake batter on top of the butter cake batter being sure to leave an edge of about 5cm.

This allows the butter cake to rise around the edges and swallow the cheesecake inside giving the chewy delicious edge.

Place into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean near the edge of the cake.
Allow to cool in the tin for ten minute before carefully removing the springform tin & allowing to cool on a wire rack.

Let cool for an hour before dusting with Icing sugar.
(The original recipe suggests serving cold from the refrigerator but I prefer it to be room temperature. The flavours are better.)

And the listening pleasure today is from one of my FAVE Sassy ladies- Sarah Vaughan...her nickname was 'SASSY'. Do you LOVE Sarah Vaughan?
Listen to how gorgeous she is at the start of the video when she speaks a little Swedish. Bless her.....




11 comments:

  1. Baking can be quite the science but I find for certain things you still get wriggle room. I've actually thrown together batters on a whim and have them come out okay.
    P.S. Love citrus, love cheesecake, this creation is the best of both worlds! :)

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  2. Yum!

    If I feel like being a 'good wife' (rarely ;)) I either buy beer or bake a cheesecake. I'm big on baking - but it's no secret that I'm a bit of a control freak!

    Also - I have to search my parents' house for my copy of Pippi!

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  3. I should send you that pic of you being all cute and stripy Pippi on our farm a few weeks ago.

    I've always been a big Pippi lover too.
    And now I have three wild, long plaited, stripey legging wearing girls.
    But we are missing a horse on the front porch.
    I think we might need to do something about that.

    It's funny, I adore baking and I never thought about it but maybe it is because it is an exact science.
    My life so often feels out of control but in the kitchen if I measure properly, it all works.
    It helps that the farmer boys love a bit of sweet with their tea.

    Happy weekend GG!
    xx

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  4. Me no likey baking either! For the exact same don't tell ME what to do" reason! It's too diddly and precise and follow-the-rules! But that cake does sound and look aceness. Being a fellow savoury toother, my desert tastes are limited to anything citrusy or dark chocolately. Although I do love up a chunky apple pie!

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  5. This cake sounds delicious! My hubs would love it too, whats with men and cheese cakes?
    I bake often, even though I don't love it. I just like to make things myself and like to know what goes in!! Have a great weekend! xx

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  6. I saw your pics of this on The Twit -
    will definitely have a go at this one!

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  7. I do love baking... but since we moved into a house that we are renovating, the oven is decades old... and the seals must be worn on it or something. Nothing cooks unless the oven is right up to 200deg, which means most things burn on their bottoms and dont cook on their tops. So frustrating. So for the time, I have given up baking. Its too disapointing. I agree though, I hate the precisness that baking requires, right measurements, right time, right heat, dont open the oven while its cooking... I enjoy the freedom of regular cooking, where you can shake things up. Bek xx

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  8. I like to think I'm all relaxed & can handle a little chaos but truth be told I thrive on routine, on things being exact & things being kinda predictable ( except cleaning...I'm very slap happy in that area...) hence why I am a superb baker! I love all the measuring, weighing & getting things juuuuuust right!

    This cake...it's going on my " to bake" list. ( yes I actually have a list of things I have seen/read that I want to cook/bake. I'm weird like that ).

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  9. Oh my god, I LOVED Pippi! I still sing the movie theme song sometimes when I braid my hair. the books were awesome. And I totally suck at baking. First, I have no sweet tooth to speak of, and second, I suck at measuring. I'm such an instinct cook. stupid half-a-cup recipes!

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  10. I LOVED Pippi as well (Pippi Langstrumpf as we call her in Austria). Watched the TV series religiously. She is the ultimate free spirit.
    I like baking, but mainly because I am not a particularly great cook and by following a simple recipe, you create something very delicious (or at least most of the time). But hey, there are some 'baking Pippi Longstockings" out there too... no perfectly ironed dresses on me ever :).
    Love reading your posts.
    E xx

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  11. Heya - I made this cake the other day and it turned out like a cheesecake pizza. I don't think it's supposed to be a 30cm springform pan.....

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