Wednesday 6 September 2017

"Cheesecake" Sponge

Creamy, sweet "cheesecake" on top and light, airy sponge cake underneath makes for a divine dessert! 

A very special treat!

This is one of those recipes that I left home with; scribbled down on a scrap piece of paper and tucked into an old folder that was, at that time, my recipe book. I've been making it for special occasions ever since though I don't know why it's called a cheesecake when there is no cheese in it at all!

Homemade sponge cake for the base. 

For the sponge:

Grease and line a springform pan. Preheat your oven to 180C. Beat two eggs until thick and creamy. Gradually add 1/3cup caster sugar while beating until sugar dissolved. Gently fold in 2Tablespoons each of plain flour, self raising flour and cornflour. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly over base. Bake for 20mins. Turn out cake and cool on a wire rack but return to your re-lined springform pan when you are ready to pour topping on.

 Smooth, lemony "cheesecake" mixture.

For the "cheesecake" topping:

Beat 300mL of a thick cream until soft peaks form. Fold in one tin of condensed milk and then generous 1/4cup of lemon juice. *Topping should thicken as you fold in the lemon juice.* Pour over the cooled sponge base and smooth out evenly. Carefully cover the top of the springform pan with a plate and place in fridge for topping to set which takes several hours.

 One on top of the other!

Ready to set in the fridge.

Once your "cheesecake" sponge is ready, after you've removed the side of your springform pan and lining paper, you should be able to carefully slide it onto a serving plate with the aid of an egg flip or two. 

You can jazz up its creamy topping with fresh fruit like berries or passionfruit which have a tang that balances out the sweetness of this dessert. When I made it for Fathers' Day last weekend, I popped some little raspberries on top and served it with a dollop of homemade passionfruit butter.  A small slice is plenty but you might want to hide any leftovers!

Do you have a dessert that you save for special occasions at your place?

Meg

p.s. Over on her Down to Earth blog, Rhonda has a recipe for making your own condensed milk at home. 

21 comments:

  1. Ooh Meg, once again you've given us a recipe that looks too good not to try ASAP. I've had Rhonda's Condensed milk recipe written out for ages but haven't yet tried making it. Have you? Is it good?

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    1. I haven't tried it, Sally, but I read in the comment section of the blog that it can be used for cheesecakes. Meg:)

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  2. I'm going to give this one a go Meg. It's something different. Thanks for sharing.
    Kylie

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    1. It is that bit different, Kylie. Very easy to make really. I hope you enjoy it! Meg:)

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  3. I think I will have to have a go, we have sweet tooth here, thanks for sharing.

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    1. I hope you enjoy it, Marlene. If you don't feel like making the sponge, you can always make a tart shell or a biscuit crumb base instead. Meg:)

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  4. I don't bake much these days but at Christmas I normally make the 2 egg pavlova out of a really old Womens' Weekly cookbook http://www.abc.net.au/local/recipes/2011/03/01/3151979.htm. So easy to make.

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    1. I make pavlova at xmas time too, Chel, but it has a lot more eggs than that. I will definitely be checking your recipe out so thank you for the link. Meg:)

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  5. My favourite deserts for when I had visitors over used to be baked caramel cheesecake; Hazelnut meringue gateau, White chocolate bliss with Berry sauce; and Pots de Creme. I used to make these a lot during my 20's. My husband has not ever tasted any of these as we did not get together until I was in my 30's. He doesn't like baked cheesecakes anyway which is a shame. His favourite sweet is Matrimonial slice.

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    1. That all sounds delicious, Sherri. I have never had White Chocolate Bliss or Matrimonial Slice. I shall have to look those up! Meg:)

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  6. Looks good, cheesecake is my favourite dessert, not try it this way, but I will x

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    1. Cheesecake is my husband's favourite dessert:) I have a few simple cheesecake recipes, this being one of them, that I make for him. I hope your hubby enjoys it when you make it for him. Meg:)

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  7. My husband would really love this one Meg! My Mum always used to make my Dad a Lemon Cheesecake for his birthday on Christmas Day. Everyone used to really look forward to that. It had a delicious biscuit base and fresh cream on top. She hasn't made it for a few years, I think we need to do it again this year!

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    1. My husband loves cheesecake, Belinda. It's his favourite and so I make one for him for his birthday and Fathers' Day and for our anniversary too. It's a tradition! I'm sure everyone would love Lemon Cheesecake again for Christmas. Yum! Meg:)

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  8. Goodmorning Meg,
    I can't wait to try this one, it looks do delicious. The dessert I make more often then most is my Sticky Date Pudding, really easy and so yummy. It is my sons all time fav. My mum used to make her "cheesecake " with a can of condensed milk and lemon juice to set it and she always put passionfruit in hers, such lovely memories. Have a lovely day.
    Fi

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    1. Oh, I love sticky date pudding, Fiona! I make it in the Winter time occasionally. Have a lovely day too. Meg:)

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  9. What a unique recipe - a cheesecake, without the cream cheese. I use to like making a chilled french vanilla cheesecake, with a baked, brownie base. I'm not into baked goods much any more. But there is one gluten free chocolate cake recipe, my kids and husband love me to bake. It's made as muffins, so they can be frozen individually, and grabbed from the freezer. That's about the only mainstay desert I make on a regular basis. And occasionally, baked custard cups - in separate, 150ml ramekin cups, so people can grab them from the fridge as they like. You can't do that with a whole pudding. It tends to separate, if you put leftovers back in the fridge.

    For this father's day though, I made a sweet potato brownie for my husband, with a chocolate gnash topping. I like to incorporate veg into baked goods, if I can. Everyone loved it - even the kids. I didn't think our eldest would like it, as she's not a fan of sweet potato. But it tasted awesome in a brownie. ;)

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    1. Sweet potato brownies sound delicious, Chris. I occasionally make a chocolate cake that has sweet potato in it but it's not moist enough to be a brownie. I make it up as muffins sometimes too because it is convenient to be able to just take one out of the freezer. Meg:)

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  10. The condensed milk and lemon juice version of cheesecake was very popular back in the 70s. Perhaps is it is based on one of these old Borden milk recipes?

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    1. Hi, it is quite a delicious version of cheesecake, quite sweet so I only make it for special occasions. I did a quick search, before I posted this recipe, to see if I could find out where it might have come from as I had just scribbled it down on an old bit of paper. I did find a recipe for cheesecake that had a sponge base but there was cream cheese in the filling. Perhaps my Mum might know where it came from as I probably copied it down from her recipe book. Meg:)

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  11. I used to make this way back in the seventies as well! In a biscuit crumb shell.

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