Baked Raspberry Cheesecake (sugar and gluten free)

A couple of weeks ago I attempted my first no-bake cheesecake. It was a raspberry and lime number with a cashew and coconut oil base. It was delicious.

For Mother’s Day dinner with the BF’s family I was in charge of dessert and so I decided to put cheesecake on the menu again. But this time it was going to be baked.

Pressure… I was feeling the pressure. If this didn’t work, then we’d be having ice cream with chocolate topping, which, let’s be honest, is a delicious dessert. However, I was hoping for something a little more impressive as a Mother’s Day treat.

Naturally I wanted to enjoy this along with the rest of the family so it was going to be sugar and gluten free. Base was up first, almond meal and butter, and a little flax meal, that easy. All pressed into our tin. Looking good so far, but the base is hardly the difficult part now is it. Filling. Whipped into a creamy cloud. Raspberries, about to folded through. And the just baked base ready to go. Ready for the oven. Baked! And not a crack in sight! Raspberry coulis time. Soooo red.

I didn’t get a photo of the finished product because it was eaten pretty quickly. But I can tell you I had two slices and then took some home, it is now sitting in my fridge begging me to eat it every time I open the door…

Baked Raspberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
200g almond meal
50g butter, melted
600g cream cheese
140g sour cream
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
3-4tbsp stevia
1tsp vanilla
300g raspberries

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160*c and grease a 20cm springform tin
2. Combine almond meal and butter, and press into the base of your tin. Bake for 5 minutes, allow to cool.
3. Whip cream cheese, sour cream, eggs and yolk, stevia and vanilla until creamy.
4. Fold in half the raspberries.
5. Pour filling into your tin and bake for 40 minutes. The centre will still be jiggly, let it cool in the tin.
6. Toss the rest of your raspberries and a couple of teaspoons of stevia into a pan and cook until juicy, mash the berries. Done.
7. Pour coulis over your cheesecake, cut and serve with cream or ice cream… delicious!

Profiteroles

A good friend of mine just turned 30. Next weekend she is having a party and requested a croquembouche as her cake. I have never attempted a profiterole, let alone a whole lot of them and then fashioned them into a tower…

So, some practice was in order. And that happened today.  I was scared, intimidated by this French classic. But with the help from the BF (who had tried his hand at choux pastry before) I think it has been conquered.

I googled (and decided on Gordon Ramsey’s recipe which I found here) and measured. He whisked. I particularly like the bottom action shots.

Then there was the piping (him) and the baking (me). Here is where I deviated from Gordon’s recipe just a tad. Rather than make the chocolate sauce it calls for I went for a toffee dipped and cream filled delight… dipping in toffee is a dangerous business, be wary if you choose to do the same.

But it does make ’em look all glossy when they’re done. Not too bad for a first attempt, right?