Rose's Heavenly Cakes (47 page)
Read Rose's Heavenly Cakes Online
Authors: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Toast the Coconut Topping
Spread the grated coconut on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for about 5 minutes, or until light brown. Watch carefully to prevent overbrowning. Shortly before serving, strew the coconut on top of the filling.
Notes
If the egg yolks are small, you will need extra. Be sure to measure or weigh them because the yolks are essential for thickening the batter.
Cream of coconut contains solid coconut oil and needs to be processed in the food processor until smooth.
10 to 12
1 hour plus 1 hour with oven off
I adore the flavor of ginger in all forms and have long fantasized about the combination of fresh ginger, with its spicy and tangy flavor, and the rich creaminess of my favorite cheesecake base. I put off trying it because I feared the enzymes in the ginger would curdle the filling, but I finally decided to "go for it." Do try, as I did, adding some cardamom, which blends beautifully with the ginger. For the crust, you can purchase gingerbread cookies to make a crumb crust to pat on the bottom and partway up the sides of the pan, or you can make your own gingerbread men and women cookies to encircle the baked cheesecake, and use some of the baked dough to turn into crumbs for the bottom crust.
Plan Ahead
Make the cheesecake at least 1 day ahead.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
baked gingerbread cookie squares (see | 1 cup crumbs, lightly packed | 4 | 115 |
salt | pinch | . | . |
unsalted butter, melted | 3 tablespoons | 1.5 | 42 |
Or
When not using Gingerbread People
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
gingersnaps, preferably Swedish brand, or gingerbread cookies | 1½ cups crumbs, lightly packed | 6 | 172 |
salt | large pinch | . | . |
unsalted butter, melted | 4½ tablespoons | 2.2 | 63 |
Special Equipment
One 8 or 9 by 2½- to 3-inch springform pan, coated with nonstick cooking spray, set in a slightly larger silicone pan or wrapped with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent seepage | One 12 by 2-inch round cake pan or a roasting pan to serve as a water bath.
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
Make the Gingerbread Cookie Crust
Process the cookies and salt until fine crumbs, about 20 seconds. Add the melted butter and pulse about 10 times just until incorporated.
Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, begin by pressing the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan. To keep the crumbs from sticking to your fingers, it helps to place a piece of plastic wrap over the crumbs and to press them through the wrap. If not making the gingerbread people, continue to press the crumb mixture with a 6-inch round cake pan or a flat-bottomed straight-sided measuring cup over the bottom and at least 1½ inches up the sides. Be sure to press the bottom thoroughly so that the crumbs are evenly distributed.
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
fresh gingerroot | one 6-inch piece | . | . |
cream cheese (65° to 70°F/19° to 21°C) | . | 1 pound | 454 |
sugar | 1 cup | 7 | 200 |
3 large eggs, at room temperature | ½ cup plus 1½ tablespoons (4.7 fluid ounces) | 5.3 | 150 |
cornstarch | 4 teaspoons | . | . |
pure vanilla extract | 1½ teaspoons | . | . |
salt | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
sour cream | 3 cups | 25.6 | 726 |
cardamom, freshly ground (optional); see | 1/8 | . | . |
Make the Ginger Filling
Grate enough ginger into a bowl that you can squeeze out 3 tablespoons/1.7 ounces/50 grams of strained juice (no need to peel). Discard the squeezed grated ginger.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high speed until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs, beating until smooth and scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Add the cornstarch, vanilla, ginger juice, and salt and beat just until incorporated. Beat in the sour cream just until blended. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the filling into the prepared pan. Set the pan in the larger pan and surround it with 1 inch of very hot water
Bake the Cake
Bake for 1 hour, turning the pan halfway around in the oven after the first 30 minutes. Turn off the oven without opening the door and let the cake cool for 1 hour.
Chill and Unmold the Cake
Remove the pan from the water bath and set it on a wire rack to cool to room temperature or just warm, about 1 hour. Cover with a large bowl or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. To unmold, use a small propane torch to heat the outside of the pan or wipe the sides of the pan with a dish towel run under hot water and wrung out.
Apply the Gingerbread People
If you made the gingerbread men and women, press them up against the sides of the cake. The moisture of the cake will keep them in place, but to secure them more firmly, you can spread a thin layer of lemon curd, apple jelly, or preserves such as ginger on the back of each cookie.
Notes
Remove the husk and fibers from about 6 cardamom pods. Crush the black seeds in a mortar with a pestle or spice mill until a fine powder. Add only the suggested amount (together with the salt) as more will develop a citruslike flavor rather than a aromatic floral quality.
If you opt to make the gingerbread cookies, you will need about twenty 1½-inch-wide cookies to hold hands around the cake. If your cookie cutter is more narrow, you will need a few more. Also make extra cookies to allow for breakage. Roll any remaining dough into a rectangle, cut into squares, and bake. Use it for the cookie crust.
20 cookies
Volume | Ounce | Gram | |
bleached all-purpose flour | 1¾ cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off) plus 4 teaspoons | 7.5 | 212 |
baking soda | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
salt | 1/8 | . | . |
ground ginger | 1 teaspoon | . | . |
cinnamon | ½ teaspoon | . | . |
nutmeg | ¼ teaspoon | . | . |
cloves | 1/8 | . | . |
dark brown sugar, preferably Muscovado | ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, firmly packed | 3.2 | 91 |
unsalted butter, refrigerated | 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) | 3 | 85 |
light molasses, preferably Grandma's | ¼ cup (2 fluid ounces) | 2.7 | 80 |
½ egg, lightly beaten | 1½ tablespoons | 1 | 25 |
Special Equipment
Two nonstick, oiled, or buttered cookie sheets | Floured pastry cloth, floured rolling pin sleeve, and rolling pin | Gingerbread men and women cookie cutters, 2 inches high by about 1½ inches wide
Preheat the Oven
Twenty minutes or more before baking, set two oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
Food Processor Method
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Whisk to mix evenly.
In a food processor, process the brown sugar until fine. Cut the butter into a few pieces and add it with the motor running. Process until smooth and creamy. Add the molasses and egg and process until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and pulse in just until the dough begins to clump together.
Electric Mixer Method
Soften the butter.
Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Whisk to mix evenly.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed until incorporated.
For Both Methods
Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use the wrap, not your fingers, to press the dough together to form a thick flat disk. Wrap the disk well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
On a floured pastry cloth, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. (The dough can be rolled between sheets of plastic wrap instead of a floured cloth, but you will need to freeze the dough until very firm before and after cutting out the shapes.) Use cookie cutters to cut out about 24 figures, allowing for breakage. You will need 20 in all. (Gather up the dough scraps, knead them together, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to roll the cookies for the crust.)
With a small offset spatula or pancake turner, lift the cut dough onto two nonstick, oiled, or buttered cookie sheets, placing the cutouts about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes for the small cookies, 10 to 12 minutes for the larger square cookies, or until firm to the touch and just beginning to color around the edges. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from front to back halfway through the baking period.
Reroll the remaining dough as above, this time into a rough rectangle. Cut into squares, bake, and use for the cookie crust.
10 to 12
No bake
Before I returned to college to finish my education, I spent two years working at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. A co-worker told me about a cheesecake in a local mall that was like eating whipped cream. Though our short lunch break didn't allow enough time for driving there and back, I risked being fired to rush out and get a piece, consuming it in the car. I was a little late returning, but it was worth it. This cheesecake remained in my taste memory for more than forty years until, finally, I decided to use everything I had learned about dessert techniques and ingredients to try to re-create its impossibly light texture and lovely flavor. I'm not sure if the result is exactly the same—it's hard to match a phantom memory. But quite possibly it's even better.
The secret to achieving this airy texture while maintaining full cheesecake flavor is the whipped cream cheese, which contains neither the added milk nor the added cream of a traditional cheesecake. With less fat, it's easier to aerate. The Italian Meringue contributes a voluptuous airiness.
Fresh cherry coulis (koo-LEE) is a lovely accompaniment, but don't place them on top of the cheesecake because it's too wonderfully light to support a topping!
Plan Ahead
Chill the cheesecake at least 4 hours before serving.