Rustic Blueberry Cheesecake Food

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan). Place shelf in middle of oven.
• Line inverted base: Get a 20cm/8" springform cake tin. Turn the base UPSIDE DOWN (Note 4), butter lightly then press on a square piece of parchment/baking paper. Then clip into the springform pan - excess paper will stick out, see photos in post and video.
• Line sides: Butter and line the side of the pan.
• Break up biscuits roughly by hand and place in a food processor.
• Blitz until fine crumbs. Add butter, briefly blitz until dispersed and it resembles wet sand.(Note 5)
• Pour into the prepared cake tin. Use a spatula to roughly spread it out over the base and up the walls.
• Use something with a flat base and vertical edges (I use a measuring cup) to press the crumbs up the wall almost to the top of the sides, and flatten the base.
• Cream cheese: Use a stand mixer (with paddle) or handheld beater to beat the cream cheese until just smooth, no longer than 20 seconds on speed 4. (You do not want to aerate cheesecake filling too much as it causes cracks when it bakes)
• Add flour, beat for 5 seconds on speed 4 until just incorporated.
• Add vanilla, sour cream, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until just combined (10 sec max, speed 4).
• Eggs: Add eggs one at a time - beat for 5 seconds on speed 4 in between each. After the last egg, beat as needed until batter is smooth - but stop beating immediately once smooth.
• Blueberries: Stir in blueberries with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared crust.
• Bake: Bake for 70 minutes. The top should be a bit puffed, very light golden brown, not cracked, and near perfectly flat. It should jiggle slightly when you gently shake the pan, see video at 1 min 23 sec (sets in next step).
• Cool: Cool the cake in the oven with the door open approx 20 cm / 8" for about 2 hours (Note 6), then refrigerate for 4 hours+ in the pan or overnight. Cake will sink and surface should be flat.
• Release: Remove sides of springform pan. Use overhang paper to slide cheesecake off the cake pan base. Then slide the cheesecake off the paper.
• Place 1 cup of blueberries (125g/4oz), vanilla, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Stir then bring to simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 7 minutes until blueberries breakdown.
• Mix cornflour and water, then stir in - it wil thicken quickly.
• Stir in remainig blueberries. Sauce should be syrupy - remove from stove and cool. Will thicken as it cools.
• Once cool, stir. Adjust thickness 1/2 teaspoon of water at a time to make it the perfect "oozing" consistency (see video, Note 7) - be careful, don't make it runny!
• Spoon onto cheesecake so it's completely covered - you'll have maybe 1/2 cup sauce left, good for touch ups. Refrigerate 2 hours+.
• Slice and serve!

NO-BAKE BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Stir graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together until well combined.
• Press into an ungreased 8x8 or 9x9 pan.
• Place in fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
• With electric beaters, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
• Add can of sweetened condensed milk and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Note: it will look quite runny at this point.
• Beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Mixture will thicken.
• Pour over chilled crust and place in fridge to firm up for 2-3 hours before topping with pie filling.
• Spoon the blueberry pie filling evenly over the cheesecake.
• Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen before serving.

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE GALETTE

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, vinegar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal with pea-size pieces of butter. Whisk the egg with 2 tablespoons water; add to the food processor and pulse until a dough just starts to form. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap; shape into a disk, wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round between 2 sheets of floured parchment paper. Remove the top piece of parchment and invert the dough onto the prepared baking sheet; remove the other piece of parchment. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
• Make the filling: Toss the blueberries, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, the lemon juice and cornstarch in a bowl. Whisk the cream cheese, egg yolk, the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and the nutmeg in a separate bowl.
• Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Top with the blueberries. Fold the edge of the dough over the filling. Drizzle the remaining cream cheese mixture over the berries; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Put an inverted baking sheet in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Brush the crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Put the baking sheet with the galette directly on the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake until the crust is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing.

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat it to 325°F.
• Boil water: Fill a kettle or a large pot with water and cover it with a lid. Bring it up to a boil over high heat while you prepare the cheesecake filling. You will use the boiling water to create a hot water bath to bake the cheesecake.
• Bake the cheesecake: Bake the cheesecake until slightly puffed up around the edges and 2 to 3 inches in the center is slightly jiggly (resembling Jell-O), about 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the oven door about 1 inch. You can use a wooden spoon to prop the door open. Let the cheesecake finish setting in the oven until there is barely any jiggle left in the center, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Loosely cover it with a clean kitchen towel and refrigerate it until fully cooled, at least 6 hours. The cheesecake will firm up and no longer jiggle in the center.

LEMON BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• For the blueberry mash: Measure out 1/2 cup of the blueberries and reserve for garnish. Combine the remaining blueberries with the granulated sugar and lemon zest and juice in a bowl. With a potato masher, crush the berries and set aside for 5 minutes.
• For the whipped cream: Whip the cream with an electric mixer until foamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste and whip to soft peaks. Set aside.
• For the cheesecake filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese, lemon curd and lemon zest and juice and mix until combined. Fold half of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. (Save the remaining whipped cream for assembly.)
• To assemble: In each dessert bowl or martini glass, add a layer of cheesecake filling, blueberry mash, crushed cookies and lemon curd. Repeat until each glass is filled, then top with a dollop of the reserved whipped cream. Garnish with the remaining crushed cookies, a few of the reserved blueberries and more lemon zest.

BLUEBERRY PECAN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease an 8-inch cake pan with the 1 tablespoon butter. On a cookie sheet, toast the pecans for 8 minutes. Turn the pan once for even toasting. In a bowl, combine the Graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and pecans. Pat evenly over the bottom of the pan.
• For the cake: In a small saucepan, simmer the port and dried blueberries for 3 minutes. set aside to cool. Put the cream cheese, butter, sugar and cornstarch in a mixing bowl and beat on medium, just to blend. Add eggs, 1 at a time, then sour cream, vanilla and blueberry mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Set into hot water bath and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and slightly puffed and firm. Cool on rack. Refrigerate, then remove from pan.
• For the sauce: In saucepan, simmer 3/4 cup port and sugar for 3 minutes. Meanwhile whisk together cornstarch, vanilla and remaining 1/4 cup of port. Add slurry to pan and simmer for 2 more minutes. Add half of blueberries and cook until berries burst and sauce thickens. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in remaining berries.

BLUEBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a 20 x 30cm rectangular tin with baking parchment. Put the biscuits in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Add the butter and blitz again to combine. Tip into the tin, press down firmly with the back of a spoon to cover the base, then bake for 10 mins. Leave to cool.
• Meanwhile, tip 25g of the sugar and the blueberries into a small pan. Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp cold water and add this to the pan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and bubble for 1-2 mins until saucy. Set aside to cool.
• In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese with an electric hand-held whisk until smooth. Add the remaining sugar and whisk again. Add the flour, vanilla, eggs and soured cream, and whisk until smooth and well combined.
• Pour half the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base, then spoon half the blueberry sauce on top in small blobs. Cover with the remaining cheesecake mix and smooth the surface with a spatula. Drizzle the remaining blueberry sauce over the top, then use the end of the spoon to ripple it into the cheesecake. Bake for 10 mins, then lower the heat to 110C/90C fan/gas ¼ and bake for a further 30 mins. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for 1 hr, then leave for 1 hr more with the door ajar. Finally, leave at room temperature until completely cool, then chill for at least 3 hrs or, even better, overnight. Slice into 14 bars. Will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.