"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. 

Spring Beginnings

The weather here has been Spring-like for a little while now. Many days of warmer temperatures reflecting the very short Winter we have had. (Perhaps that is the new normal??) It is very dry here and I heard over the radio that it is predicted to be a hot, dry Summer. (Perhaps that is the new normal too??) The first new leaves are beginning to unfurl on our neighbour's Plane Trees that spread their branches well over our shared boundary. I love these beautiful, deciduous trees and how they mirror the weather and seasons. It seems though that they only lost their leaves a short time ago and now they are readying themselves for Spring. I wonder if they had a long enough Winter sleep??

A Spring leaf unfurls.

In our own garden, our little native bees are taking flight from their hive sooner rather than later each day now as the temperature reaches 18C earlier. Did you know that native bees only venture out when the temperature climbs to that magic degree? The native birds are making good use of the bird baths; coming in to drink and splash about in the cool water. The first snake, a carpet python curled up in the eaves of the verandah, has been spotted and a pair of nocturnal Long-nosed Bandicoots have been visiting at night, leaving their tell-tale drill holes throughout the garden and lawn and forcing us to think up ways to protect our plants. (We put up a temporary wire mesh fence, dug well into the ground to try to keep them away from the base of the avocado tree...we'll see how that goes!) The last of late Winter's offerings have been harvested; a few lettuces, leeks, baby potatoes and little sweet pea posies among them. 

A pretty posy indeed!

From the very few passionfruits left after sulphur crested cockatoo raids, a deep yellow and tangy passionfruit curd has been made. Some for us and some for friends. Fresh, locally grown and sweet strawberries were enjoyed with a french toast breakfast and a creamy Fathers' Day cheesecake sponge, a cheat's "cheesecake" really for there is no cheese in it at all, was a special homemade treat for Dad and Grandad for our Sunday afternoon tea.

 A little pot of passionfruit curd. Mmm!

Sweet local strawberries make perfect french toast toppings.

Homemade sponge underneath with a creamy "cheesecake" topping.

One new craft project and one rediscovered project are taking shape. A soft blue cotton washcloth is forming on my knitting needles and a little hand-stitched tote, that I began years ago, is being completed one tiny hand-sewn stitch at a time. Although more time consuming than using a sewing machine, I am enjoying the slowness of hand sewing again. 

 Brown linen and a soft cotton lining held together with hand-sewn stitches.

We spent a lovely evening in at our city's South Bank to celebrate the birthday of a special young teenager friend. A train ride in, a shared Mexican meal with much laughter and fun, a ride together on the big Wheel of Brisbane that offered a twinkling bird's eye view of our city at night. Finished off with a slice of divine homemade chocolate birthday cake, it was a happy Spring night indeed.

I hope you have had a happy start to your new season too.

Meg

Our Own Spuds

Little steamed spuds, tossed in cream with strips of bacon and seeded mustard, made for an impromptu warm potato salad that was simply delicious BUT it was somehow even better than that because these potatoes were homegrown! 

Moreish baby potatoes 

Just before I cooked these little baby potatoes, I unearthed them from under the soil in one of the Potato Planter Bags I grew them in. I bought two of these bags a while ago, from an organic gardening shop called Green Harvest, because I have never successfully grown potatoes in a garden bed here and thought this might be a solution. It worked so well!

Spuds growing in a Potato Planter Bag.

Just-out-0f-the-ground!

Underneath the soil in each bag were lots of little baby potatoes. My son and I had great fun digging them up!  A quick wash and peel and straight into the steamer to cook until tender. Into a pan with strips of fried bacon, a dollop or two of luscious cream and a teaspoon or so of seeded mustard.

Simple but my, our own spuds were good! 

Meg

p.s. I am not affiliated in any way with Green Harvest. If you are a gardener however, I should tell you that one could spend hours quite happily in their  shop and garden up at Witta (Sunshine Coast hinterland near Maleny). Rhonda over at Down to Earth wrote about her visit to Green Harvest a little while ago.