Cheesecake with lemon zest

The introduction

Hello everyone, I hope, that you are all doing just fine.

In this article I want to tell you about this cheesecake, that I prepared and it’s the very first cheesecake, that I prepared and it was pretty good, I must say. Well, I always wanted to have some cheesecake tasted, however, I couldn’t taste it, because every time I looked at it, I wasn’t sure, whether I would like it or not, so that then I would usually buy something that I had already tasted and liked and that way I wasn’t able to taste those cheesecakes, that looked really delicious, I must say. However, better late than never, and at last, I had this courage to actually buy some cheesecake and taste it. Well, you know, how it is, you go into a bakery or somewhere else like that place and you just look at those cakes and pieces of cakes and cookies and stuff like that and you can’t really decide which one you should eat, because they are those sizes, that when you eat one, you can’t really have another one, so that you should choose wisely, because if you don’t choose the right one, then you get disappointed, and that’s a sad feeling and then you may even not want to buy another one of those cakes anymore, because you bought something and you didn’t like it and now you don’t want to eat anything else, you know. So that was the case in my situation, too and I was like not wanting to eat something else, because I didn’t know those things and I didn’t know what they would taste. Well, to tell you the truth, I like trying new things, however, when I was in the supermarket or a café or something like that with a friend or whatever, I would just take that piece of cake, which I had already tasted, because usually I didn’t want to taste something new at that time. If I wanted to take something at home and taste them there, I would take some of them with pleasure to taste them there, however, when eating at that place, I would prefer to have something already tasted, so that my meal there wouldn’t be any disappointment, you know.

Anyways, I just really wanted to taste a cheesecake, because it became very popular some time ago and it was really intriguing thing for me, because I didn’t know anything about the cheesecake and I thought, that I hadn’t tasted that cream cheese, which is used in preparing this cheesecake and I thought that it would have a strange taste because it didn’t have any usual biscuit that I used to know and that I had tasted and stuff like that and that’s why I was kind of afraid of tasting the cheesecake, because I didn’t know, whether I would like it or not. So that, I didn’t taste it anywhere. And when I wanted to buy it a couple of times, they either didn’t have any cheesecake, or my friends chose something else and then I changed my mind about buying the cheesecake, too. Though they looked just great, I mean, they had all those cheesecakes with berries and different fruit and stuff like that and they looked so beautiful, that I really wanted to taste them. So, now you see, how I suffered until I finally tasted a cheesecake and it was a historic moment, if you want to know the truth and, of course, I took some photos, too, while tasting it and until tasting it and everything. It was a pretty satisfying day, I must say.

Well, about that, me and my friend were visiting this place on Rustaveli avenue and then we decided to eat some dessert, however, we didn’t really like those desserts there in that café and I really wanted to have some cheesecake tasted, and I had seen some cheesecakes in that café, however, they didn’t have any of them there at that time and it was pretty frustrating, though I didn’t really expect to see many cheesecakes there, because they usually have those creamy cakes, like Opera and Snickers and stuff like that and they usually have those mini tarts and Tiramisu and stuff like that. So that, we wouldn’t eat anything there and then I remembered this Coffeesta, where I saw some cheesecakes and I remembered, that they had some pretty good cheesecakes, so that we decided to taste some cheesecakes and as my friend didn’t have a cheesecake tasted either, it was a great idea going there and eating a cheesecake, and, besides, the prices were pretty reasonable there, too, I mean, comparing to other cafes and stuff like that, and we just went there to see what kind of cheesecakes they had. Well, going there, we realized, that we were on the right place and we would definitely meet some cheesecakes there and they had these different cheesecakes and they cost somewhere about 3 to 4 GEL (€0.60-1)and they were with blueberries and raspberries and berries and cherries and stuff like that and we decided to have a cheesecake with blueberries and we had already eaten some stuff, so that we knew, that we couldn’t eat the whole piece on our own, so that we decided to have one piece of that cheesecake and have it divided into two, so that we would just have a taste of that cheesecake, and, at the same time, we would just enjoy eating it and it wouldn’t be that case, when you don’t want something anymore, however, you feel like you have to eat it and things like that, you know. So, when we tasted that blueberry cheesecake, it really tasted delicious and, you know, it was not that sweet or something like that and that gave the whole cheesecake this light taste, which was really good. And we liked it very much and as we both liked Tiramisu, now we decided, that we would like cheesecakes, too. And that was a pretty important decision, I must say.

Anyways, now that I’ve told you about my story of cheesecakes and how I finally tasted one of them, I want to tell you about this other day, when I decided to have a baked cheesecake, I mean, there are some recipes about this no-bake cheesecakes and stuff like that and you can just put them in the fridge and get them cold and assembled and after some hours you can take it out and taste it, of course. Well, I had it kind of prepared the other day, I mean, I prepared this cheesecake trifle and it didn’t need any baking and stuff like that, it just needed to be in the fridge for some time until I ate it, and, well, it was really delicious, I must say. So that, after preparing that cheesecake trifle, I had some of this cheesecake cream filling left and I wondered, what it would look like if I just had it baked and done everything that you are supposed to do when you prepare some basic cheesecake. Well, I knew, that it needed some biscuit stuff and butter or something like that, so that I collected those ingredients that I wanted to use in my cheesecake and prepared for the preparation process.

Ingredients:

• Sponge cake pieces or cookies
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter spread
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 70 grams natural cream cheese
• 20 grams cottage cheese
• 20 grams sour cream
• Vanilla envelope
• Tiramisu powder
• Espresso powder
• Lemon zest
• Sugar powder

Preparation process

Well, the preparation process started with the making of that cream filling of the cheesecake. I had to assemble all those dairy products together and blend them well, of course. Then I added some Tiramisu powder and very small amount of espresso powder and the vanilla and I just mixed them well together. Then, of course, I had it tasted and it was good, so that the cream filling was all done and everything.

Now I had to prepare that base of the cheesecake and I had to crush those biscuits or cookies, so that they would be like a flour or something and then I could bake them. And after I crushed them, I took this small bowl, where I could melt the peanut butter and add some oil and then add those biscuit stuff to it and mix them well together, so that it would be sticky in some way and I could just put it into this small aluminium baking form, that I had bought earlier. Well, to be honest, I really didn’t know what to use for that purpose and then I realized, that there’s this shop in Varketili, where they have those kinds of things and it’s nearby the metro station, on Kaloubani street, in particular, in that place, where it starts and where the bazaar ends, you know, and it’s a pretty cheap shop full of kitchenware and containers and some garden stuff and, well, home stuff, you know. And I went there and they had those different shaped baking aluminium forms. You know, they are kind of those things, that you cannot use twice, however, it was not like that, because I could just easily wash this baking form that I have bought and used and I can use it again in preparing some other cheesecake or things like that, you know.

Anyways, I put these biscuit things into this aluminium baking form and corrected it on edges with my hands and everything and put it into my halogen oven on a high rack for about 5 minutes or so on 180 degrees Celsius and let it get baked for a while. And in the meantime, I shredded half of a lemon to have a lemon zest, so that I could sprinkle it on the top of my cheesecake.

Well, after those 5 minutes, the base was all cooked and stuff and I took it out and poured this cheesecake filling on it and put it into the halogen oven again. This time I had it there for about 10 minutes, I guess, because I was afraid the base not to get burned or something like that. And after that time, I just took it out and checked it and though I couldn’t exactly say that it was ready, I thought and decided, that it was ready and I just sprinkled those lemon zests on top of my cheesecake and put it in the refrigerator for it to get cold and get assembled and left it like that for some hours, though I did wanted to taste it right away.

So that, after some hours, I took the liberty of tasting my prepared cheesecake. You know, it’s always hard to taste something for the very first time, because, if it’s good, then you just can’t really cut it, because it’s beautiful, too, you know, and if it’s not good-looking, then you think, that it’s not that delicious or something and you are afraid of cutting it, too, if you ask me. So that, it was really hard decision to make, I guess. And I took some time until I cut my small cheesecake.

To be honest, I had this small baking form bought and I had my cheesecake baked in it and it was so small and so cute, that I didn’t want to cut it in any ways. However, I also wanted to taste it, so that sooner or later I would still have to cut it, so that I just took this knife and cut it into two parts and then I tried to take one of them out, so that I could put it on a plate and then decorate it with some other things and then I would take a picture of it, of course. Well, I did all that stuff and then I poured some sugar powder on it and I also put some pieces of peppermint, so that it would look great on a photo and, besides, I had this cute yellow plate, where I put it and it was looking good with that lemon zest colour and things like that, you know. Well, when I tasted it, it was really good, however, a little strange, because for me a dessert is something very sweet, I guess, and though I was not expecting something very sweet, I still didn’t expect it to have this kind of taste and it was strange, but it was good. I mean, it tasted kind of bitter and sweet at the same time and it was some kind of funny, too, and I really liked it, if you want to know the truth. And it had this peanut butter taste, too, which I used in the base baking, so that everything was just well-combined with each other and the taste was combined, too, and everything together just tasted great.

Well, this was all about my cheesecake baking and stuff like that. To be honest, that was not all, but I’m not going to brag about my feelings and thoughts about cheesecakes, and I will just tell you, that if you don’t want something heavy or very nourishing and if you want to have something light with more healthy products in it and less biscuits, you can have a cheesecake and enjoy it. And, besides, you can prepare it in a pretty easy way, too, just like I did and you will be very satisfied with your cooking and everything and you will just have a cheesecake that way that you want. Trust me, it’s a really good idea to substitute all those sugary stuff with some cheesecake, as it’s low in calories and is not that heavy to eat. However, if you don’t love dairy products, I don’t know whether you will like it or not. Or if you are allergic to the dairy products, I think, that you should not have cheesecake, because its filling is prepared with dairy products, you know, and though it’s baked, I can’t really say, that it won’t affect you.

Anyways, enjoy some cheesecakes and enjoy your cooking!

Photo gallery