Raspberry Cheesecake, with a little twist

Cheese cakes are a pleasure indeed, combine that with raspberries, its just amazing. And that’s exactly what I did. I find the crunchy, fruity, cheesey combination a treat for the mouth. I couldn’t get my hands onto any fresh raspberries to decorate, so  I decided to make do with something I had around—Willy Wonkas Gobstoppers.. I know its silly.. but I thought that adding one more ingredient which I love to something that’s already so lovable was harmless, and anyhow since there were no fresh raspberries, this seemed like a fun replacement.

Bottom layer – the crunchy biscuit layer: Digestive biscuits – 100 gms, crushed finely

Butter – 50 gms

Take a shallow, loose bottom, microwavable cake dish, around 6” in diameter, put the butter into this, heat it up, in a microwave oven till the butter has melted, this takes just around 20 seconds. Add the crushed biscuits to this, stir it in, and press it down  evenly around the base of the cake dish. Heat on high in a microwave oven for 1 minute. Keep aside.

Middle layer – the cheesy layer:

Philadelphia cheese (or any soft and full fat cheese) – ½ cup

Cottage cheese – ½ cup

Egg – 1, beaten

Lemon juice – 1 tsp

Powdered sugar – 3 ½ tbsp

Raspberry essence – ½ tsp

·         
     Add all the ingredients to a bowl and beat lightly till its all well combined. Pour it through a seive into another bowl. You will have to press the mixture down to help it pass through the seive.

·        Place the bowl in a microwave oven on high for about half a minute. Take it out, whisk it with a wire whisk, put it back into the oven and cook for another 30 to 40 seconds, remove and repeat the process of whisking and cooking once more. The mixutre would be thickened now, whisk once more and pour over the biscuit layer in the cake dish.

·       Place it into the microwave oven and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Keep turning the dish a bit after every half minute. Keep aside till it cools down.

·       Now store the dish in the chiller section of the refrigerator till the remaining parts for the cheese cake are done.

Top layer – the fruity layer:

Canned raspberries in syrup – 1 can, about 250 gms  

Corn starch – 2 tbsp  

·         Strain canned raspberries and keep the raspberries aside. Pour the syrup into a bowl.

·         Mix the corn starch with equal amount of water to make a loose paste. Mix this with the raspberry syrup and cook in a double boiler for a few minutes, stirring continously, till the mixture thickens up to a dropping consistency.

·         Add the raspberries to this mixture and stir it in. Keep it aside for 5 minutes.

·         Now pour it evenly over the chilled cheesecake and put it back into the refrigerator.

·         Let it chill for atleast 4 to 5 hours.

You can decorate it with whipped cream and fresh raspberries, which is your typical cheesecake deco, or you could get whacky and use something you have on hand, like Gobstoppers.. ;-)

Tagging the recipe onto the event "ABC Series: DESSERTS" @ Ramya's recipe... hosted by Ramya

Corn flour Halwa

Halvas are amongst some of the most popular of Indian sweets. Saying that, Indians are not the only ones who make halvas, it is popular with the Greeks, and most parts of the Middle East. Each region has their own versions. The word 'halva' has Arabic roots and means 'sweet'. Halvas are sweet, have a thick texture and are mostly translucent with any color depending on the food coloring used. It can be made of maida, wheat flour, corn flour, semolina and so on.  They could be made solely from fruit pulps too. Some of the very popular ones amongst fruit halvas are jackfruit (known as 'chakka varattiyathe') and plantain (banana halva). Both use jaggery instead of sugar. These are especially popular around the Malabar region. A bakery called "Malabar Bakery" in Kannur makes some of the best banana halvas. My Achamma (Grandmom) used to stock these along with cream colored Barley biscuits and 'Tea cakes' (plain sponge cake pieces, cut into about palm 's length, 2 inches in width and 1 inch in thickness, with a thin layer of baby pink colored icing along the length in the middle and wrapped like a toffee, in parchment paper) at home, at all times and they used to be a regular item, amongst others, as tea time snacks and for any guests who appear every now and then, mostly some relative or the other. 
Coming back to halvas, the varieties are endless. They can be flavored artificially or with real fruits. Most halvas are time consuming and a bit of hard work.  The version I have made is not too sweet, has much less oil (ghee) compared to most halvas, and is one of the easiest ever  to make. I have used Raspberry essence to flavor the halva, and pink food color to match the flavor, but you can experiment with different flavors and colors that compliment the flavor,  as you like. For instance, you could use yellow color and mango essence or red color and rose essence. If you don't prefer to use essence, then you could replace it with some fresh or dry  fruits like pineapple, dates, kiwi, figs etc. Or you could use elachi for a very Indian touch.


Corn flour halva has a jelly like texture once it sets. This preparation requires very little ghee, hence making it a healthy halva. I have made it just sweet enough without being sickly and overbearing. I chose to serve it cold, cut it into cubes, but it can also be be served hot, if you prefer it that way. And instead of cutting it into cubes, you could leave it to set in tiny (greased) moulds, in any shape and empty onto plates.


Corn flour - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 2 cups
Raspberry essence - 1/2 tsp
Pink food color - A pinch
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cashews - 4-5, broken into pieces
Golden raisins - 6-8
Almonds - 3-4, slivered

1.  Mix corn flour, sugar, water and food color in a microwavable bowl. Mix well to dissolve any lumps.
2.  Microwave this on high power for 3 minutes. Remove from the microwave and stir the mix well with a wire whisk (do not whisk). Microwave again for another 2-3 minutes, remove and stir again with the wire whisk. The mixture will start getting thicker after the second time. Repeat the process, till the mixture becomes a thick (halva) consistency, stirring well after each microwave session.
3. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat the ghee and slightly brown the cashews. Next add the raisins and when they swell up turn off heat and add the almond slivers.
4. Add this to the halva, mix well. Move into greased moulds.
5. Keep aside for sometime till it sets. Cut into cubes, or if you have set it in moulds, turn it out onto a plate.


As I said earlier, this can be served hot or cold, as per your choice.