Midweek Roundup: "Remarkably Light and Airyish"

Photo by Patricia

ButterYum Blog

I think that the main reaction to this week's baking project was surprise (or awe, or even a little disappointment) at the combination of the massive amounts of rich, heavy, ingredients, and the, as Patricia says, the "remarkably light and airyish" texture.  

Although Patricia loved the "beautiful lemon curd glaze," she decided that the texture was almost "too wet," when compared with traditional heavy cheesecakes.  She was also not crazy about the texture of the ground almonds and could not detect the flavor of the almond extract.  (Patricia omitted the cake base and used a "push pan" instead of a springform pan.

On the other hand, Rachel was crazy about the texture, and called the cheesecake "the cake for you if you like light AND creamy cheesecake."   She says she's had light cheesecakes, "but the tend to the crumbly."  And she's had "super creamy cheesecakes, but they're usually also dense."  This combination of light and creamy makes a just-about-perfect cake.  She took her cheesecake to a New Year's Eve party, "where it was a hit."  Mine shared the same fate, Rachel.

Kim had a little trouble with excess moisture in her cheesecake, although not enough to keep her from describing it as "lovely" and "fluffy."  She was "VERY CAREFUL" with the heavy-duty and "VERY CAREFUL" walking the pan to the oven, but still thought it wept a bit, and was moist enough that she ended up not being able to discern the cake base.  She served it with grappa--an unexpected but probably excellent choice, and people were so impressed with the cake's lightness that they had seconds.  (The grappa may have lowered some inhibitions).

After making the super-tart tart a few weeks ago, Aimee was wary of the lemon curd topping, so she decided just to skip it, and ended up with a "5-star restaurant dessert."  This made her (and her friends) very happy.  She made mini-cheesecakes, using some small brioche paper wrappers that she'd purchased years ago, figuring she'd eventually find the right time to use them.  And so she did.  Without the curd, she topped some mini-cheesecakes with lemon yogurt and some with whipped cream (the whipped cream ones were best!).  She had plenty to give away, and nobody complained that this lemon dessert was too tart!

Catherine started out so cheerfully when writing about the cheesecake:  "The Lemon Almond Cheesecake is completely delicious and well worth the effort."  But then she fades:  "But Oh what an effort."  First, there was the fuss of making the cake, which turned out too brown anyway.  (This is why some of us took the easy way out and bought ladyfingers.)  Also, "I remember zesting a lot of lemons and weighing out my own body weight in cream cheese and sour cream."  Finally, almost done:  "Oh, good God, there's a Step Five!!??"  She was tired when she finished, but, fortunately, never too tired to eat.

Neither was Vicki, in part because she used "a package of store-bought lovely lady finger cookies."  This purchase allowed Vicki to describe it as a "fairly easy recipe,"  She also had no water problems, since she "found the longest roll possible of extra strength foil which encased the entire pan."  Finally, she topped the lemon curd topping with Devonshire cream, which made goodness "even better."

Just Added:

Evil Cake Lady

Katya



Next week:  Irish Cream Scones - from the Q&E list!  Hooray!  Don't miss the sauce, which is technically optional, but too spectacular to omit.

And better give a glance to the Pink Pearl Lady Cake, which is coming up for Valentine's Day, or just because.  Many pages of instructions and ingredients you aren't likely to have even in the back of your cupboard, at least if you're like me.