Lingonberries I had planned to make another cranberry cake for the Christmas dinner, but on the day I did the shopping, I had a choice between imported American cranberries or local Estonian lingonberries. As both berries are tart and sour, I opted for the berries that hadn't been on a long-haul flight, and I also picked up a jar of fresh lingonberry jam (IKEA sells a nice one). I used curd cheese - kohupiim - that is very common in Estonia, but feel free to use cream cheese - the texture is slightly different, but both should work.
Lingonberry cheesecake
(Pohla-kohupiimatort)
Base:
350 grams plain chocolate biscuits
150 grams butter, melted
Cheesecake mixture:
400-500 grams plain curd cheese or cream cheese
400 ml whipping cream
400 grams sweetened lingonberry jam
50 ml sugar
12 gelatine sheets
To decorate:
lingonberries
Crush the biscuits and mix with melted butter. Press the mixture into a baking sheet (I used 22x32 cm, cover with a large piece of baking paper) and put into a fridge.
Whisk whipping cream with some sugar until soft peaks form.
In another bowl, mix the cream or curd cheese with lingonberry jam.
Mix whipped cream and creamed cheese.
Is using gelatine sheets, soak in cold water for 5 minutes, then squeeze dry, mix with 50 ml boiling water and mix, until gelatine has dissolved.
Add to the cream cheese mixture, mixing vigorously, so you wouldn't end up with any lumps. Throw in few generous handfuls of berries, if you wish.
Pour the cheese mixture onto the crushed biscuit base and put the cake in a fridge for at least 4-5 hours or until the following day (or two).
Before serving, lift the cake out with the help of the baking paper. Decorate with lingonberries and cut into small squares.
8 comments:
that is an adorable cheesecake - it looks so tasty!! :)
Mmm, that looks good! I have a recipe for this too, but in that you use crushed gingerbread instead of chocolate biscuits.
That looks wonderful...wish I could have a taste of those lingonberries...they sure sound good :)
Alicat - thank you!
Clivia - crushed gingerbread is a tasty alternative indeed - I've used these for Christmassy cheesecakes before!
Joey - we are very lucky with various wild berries in Estonia - lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries, cloudberries and many others can be picked in various forests, meadows and boglands!
Paz - lingonberries are a bit like cranberries, though not as sour. They're a wee bit too tart to be enjoyed on their own, but lingonberry jam is delicious - both on pancakes or as a condiment for various meats. And in cakes, of course!
Pille,
I'd love to make a cake like this but I've only ever seen gelatine as a powder. So what do I look for here in Estonia? Is it usually with other cake making products?
Hi Pene - as a rule of thumb, 1 Tbsp of gelatine powder equals to 1 sheet of leaf gelatine.
But you should find leaf gelatine in larger supermarkets in Tartu as well. Try the spice shelf maybe - I bought some at Citymarket and Selver in Tallinn over Xmas - blue packets from the German RUF brand, "Blatt Gelatine". And I think my lingonberry jam was the Estonian "Meie Mari" brand (yellow metal lids).
Hey Pille,
I saw a comment of yours (2/25/2006) on Esurientes blog about a lemon ricotta cheesecake, and I've been searching for a recipe for years for this.
My mother used to make a baked one back in Australia when I was young and I even made it myself once as a teenager. It was quite tart and dry and very lemony (using both juice and zest). Would you be willing to share your recipe?
Hi Nikki - of course I will! I've actually almost written the post, so please come back later this week for it - or leave me your email address and I'll send it to you asap..
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