A 50th of a Cheesecake.

It was my Step-Mum's 50th birthday and I offered to make a cake (or two) for the celebration. I figured, seeing as I missed my Dad's 50th and both my siblings birthdays' this year, I should at least make an effort for one of them.

This was before I realised how many people would be turning up to the party. About 40 or 50. Now this may not sound like very many, but I've only really cooked for small amounts of people before.

No pressure!
So I searched high and low to find a cake recipe that would be big enough to feed so many people. Apparently, they don't exist. So I decided that I would make two cakes, plus a batch of cupcakes, to keep everyone happy. But most importantly, to keep everyone full of cake.

As it turns out, having lots of choice for birthday dessert is something that everyone appreciates. So there I was, donned in my finest attire, with everyone saying how nice the cakes were and what a good effort I'd gone too. Apparently, hardly anybody knew that I had so much talent! (Ha!)

So here's the recipe for one of the cakes I made. A rosemary cheesecake with added pinenuts, for that extra crunch we all crave. I made this with low-fat ricotta, but full-fat ricotta would probably be just as good, if not nicer, I imagine.

Rosemary and Honey Cheesecake:
Adapted from Karen Martini

oven 180
100g fresh breadcrumbs
2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
100g honey, plus extra for glazing (about 4 tbsp)
620g ricotta
1/4 cup castor sugar
5 eggs
1 cup plain yoghurt
250g mascarpone
zest of 1 lemon
50g pine nuts (use more, if you like)

Grease sides of a 26cm springform pan with butter. Press breadcrumbs around the tin.
Mix rosemary and honey, bring to a simmer in a saucepan.
Beat ricotta and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each.
Add cooled honey, yoghurt, mascarpone and lemon, mix.
Pour into tin, and sprinkle with pinenuts.
Bake 1 1/4 hours until golden.
Melt extra honey and spread over cake to glaze.


Plus, here's a super song for you to listen to while you're getting your bake on!