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Martha cooks dessert


Though I am the one that blogs, I'm very much not the only one that cooks in our household.
Enter the youngest member of the family into the frame; Martha is developing into a pretty good cook and is picking up her mothers legendary ability in the dessert department.
A couple of weeks ago she made an amazing version of Jamies key lime pie and this weekend Mark Hix's Blueberry cheesecake.
Both were delicious if just slightly calorific, both recipes are below


key lime pie


Jamie Oliver

serves 10

ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 400ml condensed milk
• 6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth)
• 200ml double cream
• Lime zest (optional), to serve

Crust

• 12 digestive biscuits
• 45g caster sugar
• 135g melted unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175C/gas 3. For the pie crust, lightly grease a 22cm (across the top) metal or glass pie dish with a little of the melted butter. Blend digestive biscuits, caster sugar and remaining melted butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Transfer to pie dish and spread over the bottom and up the sides, firmly pressing the mixture down. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place dish on a wire rack to cool.

2. For the filling, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually whisk in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in lime juice, then pour filling into pie crust and level over with the back of a spoon.

3. Return to the oven for 15 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

4. To serve, whip cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Add dollops of cream to the top of the pie, and grate over some lime zest, for extra zing.



Blueberry cheesecake

Serves 4

By Mark Hix

I've used blueberries for this cheesecake, but you could also substitute raspberries, blackcurrants or strawberries.

Ingredients

450g blueberries
200g caster sugar
200ml water
20g cornflour

For the base

250g digestive biscuits or Hobnobs
80g butter, melted

For the filling

300ml double cream
100g caster sugar
500g cream cheese, such as Philadelphia
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1tsp vanilla extract

Method

Put 200g of the blueberries (use the softer ones) into a pan with the sugar and 175ml water.

Slowly bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar, then simmer for 7-8 minutes. Mix the cornflour with the remaining 25ml water and add to the pan, stirring.

Simmer, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pushing the berries in the sieve with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, line a 17-18cm round springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Crush the biscuits in a food processor until they are the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. (Or smash them in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.) Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter and pack into the cake tin, firming it down with the back of a spoon.

Whip the cream and sugar together until fairly stiff.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese to soften, then fold in the whipped cream with the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Lightly fold through half of the blueberry syrup (not too thoroughly, though, as you want a rippled effect).

Spoon the mix on to the biscuit base and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours until firm.

Mix the rest of the blueberries with the remaining blueberry syrup.

To take the cheesecake out, run a hot knife around the edge, then release the side of the tin and slide the cheesecake on to a board. Cut into slices and serve each portion topped with a couple of spoonfuls of the blueberry sauce.

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