Flavours of Cheesecake : Lemon, Raspberry and Ginger
I hurt my ankle yesterday trying to do something stupid. I’d rather not get into the embarassing details, but let’s just say it involved as innocuous a task as hanging up the laundry. Which just goes to show that the path of Domesticity is fraught with too many dangers and should best be avoided at all costs! Lucky for me it’s my day off, as I wouldn’t have relished the thought of having to hobble around work with a dodgy ankle. B has recommended lots of rest and sitting in front of the TV, but stuff that, I’d rather be in our kitchen, trying out a new recipe and listening to something I discovered we had albums of : 80’s Madonna!
So while I’m hobble-dancing around to the ma-ma-ma-material girl, here is something I had bookmarked to try. A deconstructed cheesecake which Elizabeth Falkner calls Waking Up In A City That Never Sleeps. Her version consists of cheesecake custard, sour cream sorbet, graham cracker powder and blueberry paper. I made mine with lemon sorbet, raspberry sorbet, ginger crumbs and raspberry paper.
I’ve never been a huge fan of cheesecake, but was attracted to this recipe because I like the flavours that we commonly associate with cheesecake. What usually trips the whole thing up for me is when the filling is dense and cloying, and the base has lost it’s contrasting texture.
Here however, the traditional cheesecake has been taken apart and each component allowed to shine. The cream cheese custard is light (though not as light as I hoped it would be), the sorbets add a refreshing element to the whole and the raspberry paper is just plain fun.
Fun, because isn’t that what eating dessert is a big part of? 🙂
Tags: cheesecake, lemon, plated dessert, raspberry
cakebrain said,
September 19, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
That’s so gorgeous! It’s like a piece of art and is so beautiful it ought not to be eaten…almost. I hope you’re feeling better soon. Remember to RICE (Rest, Ice, Cake and Elevate–hee hee) your ankle! Ibuprofen helps if you swell! I know how you feel because a few years ago I twisted an ankle doing an even more mundane thing: walking!
Y said,
September 19, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
Hehehe.. thanks. I got the same bit of advice from B, but I’m also one of those people who can’t quite sit still for too long!
Lorraine E said,
September 19, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
Another gorgeously artistic endeavour Y! I think the ankle injury should at least entitle you to several weeks off domestic duty. Just in case it happens again of course. And I don’t listen to Madonna past Like A Virgin.
the caked crusader said,
September 19, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Very clever – do you make the raspberry paper?
Hope the ankle gets better soon
Y said,
September 19, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Lorraine: Several weeks! I don’t know if I’d be able to get away with that one! 😀
Caked Crusader: Thanks! Yes, I made the raspberry paper, based on Elizabeth Falkner’s recipe for a blueberry one. It was very easy to make and you can cut different shapes out of it.
clumbsycookie said,
September 19, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
I LOVE this! Really cool! I love cheesecake , but I also love every individual component of that dessert, so I’ll be in heaven. Gorgeous presentacion! Hope you get better soon!
Aran said,
September 19, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
beautiful plated dessert. i love the twist on the cheesecake and i hope your ankle feels better soon!
Zita said,
September 19, 2008 @ 10:47 pm
OO.. so sorry to hear about your ankle, get well soon…
And This is really my kind of dessert, cheese cake custard, not that’s a MUST try 🙂
Zoë François said,
September 19, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Sorry about your ankle! Just goes to show doing laundry is dangerous work. Your dessert is fabulous, I just love your presentation.
Mayan said,
September 20, 2008 @ 12:45 am
Wow! The presentation looks gorgeous, it would look just right in a modern art museum. But at the same time it looks so delicious, and would look even better right in front of me!
Anita said,
September 20, 2008 @ 1:46 am
Hope you feel better soon! Btw, I was just at Elizabeth Falkner’s restaurant this week for a tasting – it was my second time meeting her and she’s fabulous! There may be some of her desserts showing up on my blog soon too:)
Gabriela said,
September 20, 2008 @ 3:03 am
Ouch, I hope your ankle is feeling much better. I do a lot of fairly easy-to-the-eye things around the house, but as you’ve read already about my fears of freak accidents … yeah. I’m just overly paranoid.
I love cheesecake though. There was a time, or a month, rather, where my mother and I spent every single day in the kitchen making something cheesecake related? Suffice to say, we got our fill of cheesecake, but that was a while ago.
Might be time for some more. Looks yummy, and I love the flavors. :}
Christy said,
September 20, 2008 @ 12:00 pm
Ouch. I hope your ankle feels better by now. Can’t imagine myself limping around in the kitchen in the middle of a dinner rush. Great take on Falkner’s deconstructed version of the cheesecake. Unconventional, but I’d take it anytime over the ultra dense, rubbery versions with soggy crusts that seem to be the norm these days! And I would agree that making it this way let all the flavours sing in harmony. Not to mention it’s much more fun to put together!
Vera said,
September 20, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
Y, I wish you the fastest recovery possible!
The dessert looks amazing! I think your changes made it even better 🙂
Madonna, eh? 🙂
Tartelette said,
September 20, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
I love your flavors a lot better 🙂 I love making and eating raspberry papers or chips a lot!!
Hope your ankle feels better soon!
grace said,
September 20, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
lovely dessert! and a person would be lying if she said she’d never hurt herself doing something stupid. hope your ankle heals soon! 🙂
Miri said,
September 20, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
Wonderful looking dessert, a true work of art! Hope your ankle gets better real soon.
FFichiban said,
September 20, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
Go hobble-dancing! and wooww love the presentation ^^! Mmmm I crave cheesecakke!
Mike said,
September 21, 2008 @ 12:03 am
That is the most beautiful not-quite-cheesecake I’ve ever seen! Seriously though, I love how playful it looks and it sounds delicious. Hope you feel better soon
Scott at Realepicurean said,
September 21, 2008 @ 2:03 am
I’m in a big ginger loving phase right now. Bring it on!
Jude said,
September 21, 2008 @ 2:10 am
Saw that recipe in her book, too. It’s such a fun pastry book, isn’t it?
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
cathy x. said,
September 21, 2008 @ 2:34 am
who is this elizabeth falkner woman? god it feels impossible to stay hip and with the times nowadays! boohoo.. i guess i better look into it getting her book now. i made rhubarb paper once. by accident 😛 i made a puree with sugar and spices and then left the tray sitting on top of the hot dishwasher. it tasted pretty crappy, how i imagine a rhubarb roll-up would taste and it looked like pink recycled paper.
Ivy said,
September 21, 2008 @ 11:45 am
This is so impressive and gourmet! And great flavor combo choice.
Shari said,
September 21, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Deconstructed desserts are so much fun! Looks beautiful. Hope your ankle’s better soon!
snookydoodle said,
September 21, 2008 @ 3:22 pm
get well soon. this dessert is so colourful its a pity eating it.
Sophie said,
September 22, 2008 @ 11:14 am
I’m so sorry about your ankle. But ya know what? Dancing is the best form of medication, you should try dancing sitting down with head phones on, I do it all the time — I look like a weirdo, but it definitely makes me feel better! 🙂 Oh, and don’t tell anyone but I own the Immaculate Collection by Madonna, she’s all my mom listened to when I was growing up! 😀
Love the cheesecake, so cute. Much more exciting and pretty than a regular ol’ cheesecake!
Stephanie said,
September 23, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
At the risk of sounding nerdy, if you ever wanted to wax philosophical (and yet pragmatically) about the art of a good deconstructed dessert, I’d be rapt! I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like it when foods combine, so the concept thrills me, but I think I lack a nice, central theme to work from. Even when following recipes, I guess I just need to know what people want out of deconstruction, so I don’t end up making something that’s only good to me!
Any advice?
Thanks!
Y said,
September 24, 2008 @ 9:48 am
Thanks to everyone for the wellwishes. I wasn’t really expecting any sympathy, as I actually thought it was more of a silly and funny incident than anything else, even if I did take 2 -3 days to recover. Anyway, I have other injuries to worry about now (it’s true, I’m accident prone!).
Hi Stephanie : Can’t say I’m any sort of expert on deconstructed desserts. I haven’t made that many of them, I don’t think! I just like baking or whipping up things the way I’d want to eat them. I often start with an idea I see in a book, or a technique I’ve learnt at work, and try to use it at home. Usually the idea is something conventional, like cheesecake, and making it a little more fun by manipulating the individual components, sometimes presenting a particular component in a surprising and unexpected way (like the lemon sorbet representing the lemon flavouring of a cheesecake). Hope that helps 🙂
Thip said,
September 24, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
The deconstructed dessert gives me more excited to work on my plated dessert. It is more fun and challege as it needs to have some idea how to work it out on the classic ones.
Luís Pontes said,
September 25, 2008 @ 12:11 am
I have good news for you, about Portuguese Tarts.
Please send me your e-mail adress to my e-mail: elepontes@gmail.com
I have a lot of translated text and photos to send you.
Luís Pontes – Portugal
Ingrid said,
September 27, 2008 @ 12:01 am
Hi!
Beauuuutiful! Your presentation is gorgeous! I would have seen this recipe, oohed & aahed over it then flipped to the next page, never even thinking of trying it!
Hope your ankle’s better by now!
~ingrid
Janet_Gourmet Traveller said,
October 7, 2008 @ 6:10 am
Your desserts are just so divine and irresistible, what else can I say?