Get your laughing gear around this!

It has finally become the cold winter I’ve been longing for. All those red sky sunrises (red sky in the morning-shepherds warning) have come to fruition and given us cold wet days as well. I know they’re not as cold as Tasmania or other cold areas of the world but they are nice and chilly. I figure, what with all the shivering I’m doing, extra calories are being used up just to keep this bulk of mine in warmer pastures so what better for a calorie burning season than a rich and luscious Baked Lemon Cheesecake? It’s baked, thus it fits into winter with all the other baked goodies we eat 😀

Gluten Free Baked Lemon Cheesecake (with a twist)

Ingredients

Here’s my twist, I used a whole jar (1 cup, 250mls)of my homemade Lemon Curd. Use the juice and rind of one lemon instead if preferred.

1 1/4 cups of crushed biscuits. I used a gluten free mix of gingernuts and macadamia nut shorbread.

1 tablespoon of gluten free flour. I tend to choose Orgran brand but any would do.

2 x large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup of caster sugar

70gm melted butter

750gms of Cream cheese, softened

Recipe

First assemble all your ingredients.

Then process and combine the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter and press into base of prepared tin.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar using an electric mixer until smooth. Add Eggs one at a time and beat till smooth. Fold in gently the lemon curd and tablespoon of gluten free flour.

Poor mixture onto prepared base and bake at 150 degrees celcius for 45 minutes or until slightly wobbly in the centre. Allow to cool in oven with door ajar, then chill.

I serve this with a dollop of thick cream and it is divine!

Don’t be concerned if the top cracks on cooling. It wont affect the flavour at all and you can cover any cracks with a good dollop of cream anyway 😀

Just the thing for a cold winters day.

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd-Quickest preserve ever!

This is my amazing lemon tree. It grows in what looks like a pitiful buckets worth of soil, clinging grimly to the side of the big granite rocks our house is perched on. It never stops producing day in, day out. It always has flowers, green lemons and ripe lemons on it all at the same time. I never water it as it gets all the runoff from rain on the rock and I imagine it is feeding off all the minerals and organic matter that comes off the rock too. Not sure what type of lemon it is but it isn’t a sweet one and has thick pithy skin on it. I’ve never made lemon curd before so thought i’d give it a go to use up a few of the lemons I get. If ever I need a lemon, I just pop out the door off the side of my kitchen to the right of this photo and pick one.

Recipe,

Grated zest and juice of 4 large juicy lemons

4 large eggs

350gm  Golden (raw) caster sugar

225gm unsalted butter, room temp and cut into lumps

1 dessertspoon cornflour (I used gluten free cornflour, real cornflour)

Whisk the eggs in a medium sized saucepan, then add the rest of the ingredients. Place over a medium heat and continue to whisk till mixture thickens. When it does, lower the heat to low and let the lemon curd simmer for a minute whilst whisking still.

Remove from heat and pour into hot sterilized jars. Seal immediatley and store in a cool dry place till needed. This all took about 10 minutes to make once everything was prepped and ready to go. So quick to make.

I used 4 one cup (250ml) capacity mason jars and it filled all to the brim.

Now all I need to do is discover some yummy recipes to use it with. 😀

Bon appetit!