A mid-week treat today!
Our friends at Bordeaux Life (www.BordeauxLife,com) a fabulous relocation company in rural France are trying to lead us astray with naughty recipes and I'm more than happy to allow it. So I'm handing you over to our Guest Blogger today Shona Munro...for Naughty French Cheesecake You Deserve!
Ok, so we know that, in an ideal world, we should all be eating kale and tofu but this isn’t an ideal world and we think that a little of what you fancy does you good! In the BordeauxLife kitchen we’ve been working (and eating..) hard to come up with the perfect cheesecake recipe to celebrate our local strawberries - les guriguette - sweet and tasty and only available for a few weeks each year.
Seriously, please don’t even try to add up the calorie content of each portion - just make it and savour every gorgeous mouthful. This cheesecake is easy to put together, doesn’t require any specialist ingredients of cheff’y skills and can (and really should) be made the day before you proudly plonk it on a pretty dish and carry, with pride and anticipation, to the dinner table. Enjoy and, if you really feel you need to, head over to Joe Wicks for a couple of HIT sessions afterwards!
Ingredients
- 200g of hobnob biscuits, or digestives
- 75g of unsalted butter
- 300g of cream cheese
- 300g of mascarpone
- 300g of double cream
- 125g of sugar
- 1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped or 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 lemon, zested
- 400g of strawberries washed and hulled
Method
- Place the biscuits into a food processor and blitz to an even crumb, then stir in the melted butter (you can also place them in a plastic bag and bash them up with a rolling pin - good for frustration levels too!)
- Line an 18cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper, then pour in the crumb and press down firmly to create a flat, even base. Place in the fridge to set for about 20 minutes
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar together until smooth and fluffy (you can also do this by hand in a mixing bowl). Fold in the lemon zest
- In a separate bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks and fold in the vanilla seeds/extract
- Gently fold the cream into the cheese mixture until thoroughly combined. Be careful not to over-mix to ensure a light and fluffy cheesecake
- Once the base has set, add the cheese mixture (top tip - do this in two “loads” to make sure that you don’t have any gaps at the bottom) and flatten out so you have a nice even surface. Place in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight
- Slice the strawberries and toss with the sugar if you think they need it.
- Once everything is set and chilled, carefully remove the cheesecake from the cake tin. Arrange the strawberry slices in a spiral, or chuck them over in a casual, I have to eat this now, manner.
Hope you loved this naughty french cheesecake recipe, check back with us for lots of other recipes.
And if you are moving to Bordeaux, or anywhere in France then it's worth contacting the lovely girls at Bordeaux Life. Shona and Gwen have made the lives of many ex-pats moving to the area so much easier by assisting with everything from home rental and purchase, to schools and so much more. Give the girls a call