Gâteau Ricotta:

50g de beurre

4 feuilles de pâte filo/phyllo (à peu près la pâte à tourtière)

500g de ricotta frais

115g de sucre en poudre

5 œufs

60g de chocolat noir amer, coupé fin

150g de zeste d’agrumes (faites le mélange qui vous convient : bergamote, citron, kumquat, orange, pamplemousse, citron vert, orange sanguine…) coupé TRÈS fin + le zeste d’un citron coupé de la même manière.

FOUR : 180°C (C.T. = -20). Graissez un moule à tarte rond de 25cm de diamètre. Faites fondre le beurre sur feu doux. Alignez 3 feuilles de pâte (légèrement décalé les unes des autres à partir d’un même centre pour faire plus joli). Et badigeonnez chacune de matière grasse. Placez dans le moule.

Battez le fromage un tout petit peu à la fourchette, puis ajoutez 90g de sucre et les jaunes d’œufs. Mélangez et ajoutez ensuite les zestes d’agrumes et le chocolat. Dans un autre bol, battez les blancs d’œufs en neige ferme et ajoutez le sucre restant. Incorporez délicatement en prenant bien soin de ne pas perdre l’air.

Versez le mélange dans la pâte. Avec la pâte restante, faites des rubans au ciseau et badigeonnez-les de beurre fondu. Placez ces derniers décorativement sur le bord du gâteau. Cuisson : 30 minutes. Servez frais.

Cheesecake Passion:

So this is the last of my cheesecake knowledge - feel free to comment any flavour combinations/inspiration I could try out. Oh, and I know this one's a little weird being heated and all - but it really lightens the flavour and can avoid that rubbery feel you can get with lots of gelatine.

200g digestives

40g unsalted butter, melted

7 gelatine leaves, cut into broad strips (separate into 6 + 1)

600g cream cheese *see NY Cheesecake*

200ml whipping cream

205g caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 passion fruit, halved (the wrinklier, the better)

Lightly oil a 20cm springform round tin and make a base as in “New York Cheesecake” and press this into tin.

To make the filling, let 6 gelatine leaves ‘sponge’ in cold water and soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Place these in another bowl and pour over 3 tbsp boiling water and stir to dissolve. Next, gently heat the cheese, cream, 190g sugar and the juice in a saucepan stirring until the cheese liquefies. Now, whisk until smooth - it should be warm NOT hot.

Stir in the gelatine solution and mix thoroughly. Spoon this onto the base, smooth the top and leave to chill for a few hours until set. Before serving make the topping. Soak, drain and dissolve the remaining gelatine leaf like you did before. Stir in the remaining (15g) sugar then add the fruit pulp 1 tbsp at a time.

If necessary, make up to 150ml with water. Pour over the cheesecake and leave overnight in the fridge.

Strawbs Cheesecake:

210g digestives

100g unsalted butter, melted

200g fresh strawberries, hulled & chopped + extra to decorate

170g caster sugar

600g cream cheese *see NY Cheesecake*

2 jumbo eggs

1 tbsp strawberry extract

100g mascarpone

25g icing sugar

100ml double cream

Prepare a 20cm round springform tin just like in “New York Cheesecake” complete with bain-marie + foil etc… and line with the base made with the crushed biscuits and butter.

In the meantime, whilst the base is chilling, bring the 200g fruit to the boil with 2 - 3 tbsp water and 80g of the sugar. Reduce the heat and leave to stew until the fruit is soft and the liquid reduced by half. OVEN: 160°C (Fan = -20°)

Loosen the cheese by lightly beating and add the sugar then the eggs one by one, by making sure to scrape the sides for unmixed ingredients. Make sure the mix is smooth and then turn up mixer to high for 1 minute to make it lighter and fluffier. Now stir in the extract.

Fold in the fruit and bake in the bain-marie for 30 minutes. It should be firm on top with a slight wobble in the centre. Leave in the fridge overnight.

Whisk the mascarpone with the icing sugar & the double cream in separate bowls then combine. Spread this over the cheesecake and top with extra fruit when you are ready to serve.

I find it really nice if you can be bothered to make a rosette from strawberry slices, but otherwise grab some strawberries, hull them, then place them upside down in a ring around the outside of the cake. You could also make extra Chantilly and cover the sides like here:

Cadbury's Eclairs-style Cheesecake:

225g digestives

100g lightly salted butter

700g cream cheese *See NY Cheesecake*

110g caster sugar

3 eggs

50g 'dulce de leche'

50g dark chocolate *see Tips*

Prepare the tin (bain-marie too) as in "New York Cheesecake" and fill with the base. Oven: 160°C (Fan -20°)

Loosen the cheese by beating lightly then add the sugar and beat until smooth. Next add the eggs one by one and scrape for unmixed ingredients down the sides of the bowl.

Now place ⅓ of the mix into a separate bowl and stir in the caramel. Cover the chilled base with this and melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Stir this into the remaining ⅔ and spoon and smooth this over the caramel layer. Bake in the bain-marie for 40 minutes. Don't worry if the edges go darker, the normal wobble rules apply.

Leave to chill overnight then top with an extra 3 - 4 tbsp caramel and pralin powder or chopped hazelnuts if you're lazy. You can buy it, but I prefer to make my own. I'll write it up later.

Tangy Lemon Cheesecake:

125g Digestives

50g butter, melted

1x600ml packet lemon jelly

1 lemon (zested into long strands and juiced)

375g cream cheese *see NY Cheesecake*

100g caster sugar

300ml cream (made up of ½ whipping, ½ double cream)

Lightly oil a 20cm round springform tin. Separate the jelly into squares and dissolve it in 150ml boiling water, then add the juice. Put in a cool place until thick and nearly set.

Make the base by blitzing the biscuits and pouring in the butter with the motor still going. Lightly beat the cheese to loosen it then mix in sugar and the almost-set jelly. Now fold in half of the cream.

Turn this into the tin and leave to set in the fridge overnight. With the remaining cream, you can flavour it with lemon extract *see Tips* and pipe rosettes on top of the cake. You can also blanch the long zest strands in boiling water for a minute; drain them and sprinkle them over the top. You can also top with a little lemon curd loosened with juice.

Bittersweet Chocolate & Lime Cheesecake:

235g double chocolate cookies

90g unsalted butter, melted

800g cream cheese *see NY Cheesecake*

140g caster sugar

3 eggs

7 limes

30 - 40g dark chocolate *see Tips*

Prepare the tin, greased, lined, coated in foil for bain-marie and lined with base as in “New York Cheesecake” simply using cookies instead of biscuits. Leave in the fridge. Oven: 160°C (Fan -20°)

Lightly beat the cheese to loosen it with the hand mixer then add in the sugar, followed by the eggs, one by one. Remember to always mix on ‘low’ and scrape the sides for any unmixed ingredients.

Now, add the zest and juice of 6 of the limes and give it a quick whizz on ‘high’ to lighten it up but only for a few minutes. DO NOT OVERMIX!

Bake in your pre-made bain-marie for 30 minutes. The normal ‘wobble’ rules apply. Leave it to set overnight in the oven then decorate with chocolate Caraque and the zest of the final lime. In this context, I prefer finely grated/chopped zest as opposed to long strands.

Grapefruit/Orange Cheesecake:

It may seem bizarre that this is made almost backwards but it ensures a perfect base. Sometimes it can absorb moisture from the unset filling which can make it not taste as good but it shouldn’t be a massive problem should you choose to make the base first. Just leave it overnight in the fridge once the topping is made.

15g gelatine

40ml cold water

450g cream cheese *see NY Cheesecake*

200ml juice *You'll need 1 - 2 grapefruits / 3 - 4 oranges* *see Tips*

70g caster sugar

300ml cream (½ double cream, ½ whipping cream)

135g digestive biscuits

55g butter, melted

Decoration: You can make a jelly like the “Moro Cheesecake”, or you could top with drained tinned fruit segments or even nicer, crystallised fruits/segments/flowers, coming soon. *see Tips* 

Oil a 20cm springform round tin and line the base with baking parchment. Make sure the oil on the base comes through the paper.

Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and leave to 'sponge' for 10 minutes. Next, heat it gently in a bain-marie until it goes clear and set it aside.

Whip the cheese by hand mixer on slow until soft then beat in the juice and sugar. Now, fold in the gelatine and make sure it is evenly dispersed throughout the mix. Whisk the cream until thick but not too stiff and fold in. Pour into tin and smooth top then leave to set in fridge.

When set, blitz the biscuits and pour in the melted butter with the motor going. Press this evenly over the set filling. Leave overnight.

Turn out onto a serving plate and decorate. This is a really nice combination of the two: glaze + fruits.

Moro Cheesecake:

Ok, so for any of you that were thinking: "What the hell is that?" The Moro is a variety of blood orange. They are generally at their best in early April, but you can still find some well into May. They have a far stronger flavour than oranges and have a deep-coloured flesh. In the Moro, it is not uncommon to find dark crimson flesh.

Ok, so for any of you that were thinking: "What the hell is that?" The Moro is a variety of blood orange. They are generally at their best in early April, but you can still find some well into May. They have a far stronger flavour than oranges and have a deep-coloured flesh. In the Moro, it is not uncommon to find dark crimson flesh.

180g digestives

100g unsalted butter, melted

½ tsp + 2tbsp finely grated zest

700g cream cheese *See NY Cheesecake*

100g ricotta

110g caster sugar

3 jumbo eggs

100ml juice, strained

2 gelatine leaves

Prepare a 20cm round springform tin like in “New York Cheesecake”. Blitz the biscuits to a powder in a food processor, then, with the motor still running, pour in butter and add ½ tsp of zest. Press firmly into base of tin and leave in the fridge.

OVEN: 160°C (REMEMBER: Fan = -20).

Beat both cheeses with sugar and the remaining zest with a hand mixer on slow speed until silky smooth. Add your eggs one by one and remember to scrape the sides for unmixed ingredients. You can now turn up the mixer for a few moments to lighten the mixture but DO NOT OVERMIX.

Bake the cheesecake in the ‘bain-marie’ as described in “New York Cheesecake” for just under 40 minutes. Again, same rules apply; it should be light gold and with a light wobble in the middle. Leave it in the fridge overnight.

Approx. 1½ hours before serving, make a ‘gelée’ by gently heating the juice till just (luke)warm. Next, soften the gelatine in a large bowl of COLD water. Read manufacturer’s guidelines/instructions but this usually takes 5-6 minutes. Drain and dissolve the gelatine in the warm juice. Allow the ‘gelée’ to cool slightly before pouring over the cake (still in the tin). Leave it to set for roughly an hour in the fridge then open the tin delicately when serving.

 My picture of this deleted itself but I saw this online and it's beautiful, The picture is slightly stretched (it shouldn't get that tall) but all the same. Yum! Yum! Yuuum!

New York Cheesecake:

Now that I've finished my 'tartes', I thought I would move on to my speciality: Cheesecakes! This first one is baked very gently and it is so undeniably scrumptious that I wouldn't miss learning how to make this ever. You'll need:

900g cream cheese (Philadelphia will do just fine, but it MUST be whole fat)

180g caster sugar

1½ tsp vanilla extract

1 vanilla pod

11g vanilla sugar (1 sachet)

4 eggs

130g unsalted butter, melted

200g digestive biscuits

OVEN: 150°C (Fan 130°C). Grease a 23cm round springform tin and line the base with baking parchment. Cover the outside of the tin in foil so the base is completely water-tight. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until finely ground, and slowly pour in the melted butter, with the motor still running. Press this into the base and compress using the palm of your hands or perhaps the back of a tbsp. Bake this blind for approx.5 - 10 minutes.

Next, put the cheese and the sugar in a bowl and beat on low speed with a hand mixer until it becomes very smooth and thick. Then add the vanilla extract, sugar and seeds (scraped out from the inside of the pod).

Add the eggs one by one, while still mixing. By the end you should have a very creamy (fr. onctueux) and smooth. Remember to scrape unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl using a rubber spatula. You can now turn up the mixer to high speed to make the mix lighter and fluffier but for a few minutes only. DO NOT OVERMIX OR THE CHEESE WILL SPLIT!

Spoon this onto the cold base and place in a much larger roasting tin. Fill to ⅔ up the sides of the smaller tin with water (bain-marie-ish) and bake for 30-35 minutes. It should be a light gold and still wobbly in the centre. IT WILL NOT LOOK COOKED. Leave to cool slightly in the tin, then cover and put in fridge overnight. The next day it will have set beautifully.

VARIANT: You can also fold in chopped cookies, brownies or berries just before baking.