Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar. I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen. It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table. Russian aubergine spread IKRA 1 large aubergine/eggplant 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley or dill Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting b...
Need a rich and gorgeous-looking cake to serve with coffee or finish your next dinner party? I wholeheartedly recommend this chocolate-blueberry-sour cream cheesecake. There's a Digestive and dark chocolate base (graham crackers would work just as well), topped with blueberry and cream cheese layer. These two layers are baked in the oven. When the cheesecake is cooled, it's topped with a third layer, a sour cream jelly layer, which provides a stunning contrast in colour as well as a cooling flavour and texture contrast. Our family and friends were very pleased with the cake.
You can use both blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) or bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) for making this cake. The first are more common in the US, are larger and whitish inside, the latter are more common in Europe (Scottish blaeberries, French myrtilles, Estonian mustikad), are smaller and blackish-blue inside (see here for a very good comparison of the two). I used the latter - simply because it's the bilberry season just now, and it's a very good year for local bilberries (reflected also in the prices at the market.
Note that the anthocyanin content of fresh bilberries is almost 4 times higher than in blueberries, so if you can choose between the two, go for the smaller wild berries.
The cheesecake keeps for a few days in the fridge.
Blueberry Cheesecake
(Mustika-toorjuustukook)
Adapted from Allt om Mat (a Swedish food magazine)
Serves 8 to 12
Cookie base:
200 g Digestives or graham crackers
50 g dark chocolate, chopped
75 g unsalted butter, melted
Cream cheese layer:
400 g cream cheese
200 g sour cream/creme fraiche
100 g caster sugar
250 g blueberries/bilberries
2 Tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
grated zest of 1 small lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
Sour cream jelly layer:
200 g sour cream
170 g caster sugar (200 ml)
3 gelatine leaves
Pre-heat the oven to 175 C/350 F.
Cover the base of a 24 cm/10'' springform tin with parchment paper.
Make the cookie base: Place Digestives and chopped dark chocolate into your food processor and process till fine crumbs form. Add the melted butter and process again till combined and moist. Press the cookie mixture onto the base of your prepared tin. Bake for about 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven.
Meanwhile, make the cheesecake layer. Use a kitchen tissue to wipe the bowl of your food processor clean. Place all the ingredients into the bowl and process till smooth and dark purple in colour. Spoon the cheesecake mixture onto the pre-baked cookie base, smoothing the top. Return to the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until it looks set (it'll set further when cooling).
Remove from the oven, let cool to the room temperature, then cover with kitchen foil or clingfilm and place into a fridge or a cold larder overnight (or for at least 4 hours).
Couple of hours before serving, cover the the cheesecake with the sour cream jelly layer. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes.
Mix sour cream and sugar in a small saucepann and heat slowly on a low heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar has melted. The mixture should be about 60-70 C (140-158 F). Now squeeze the gelatine leaves dry, one at a time, and stir into the sour cream mixture until amalgamated.
Pour the sour cream mixture carefully on top of your cooled cheesecake and return to the fridge for an hour or two.
To serve, carefully transfer the cheesecake onto your serving tray. Decorate with more berries and serve, cutting into slices of your preferred size.
More blueberry/bilberry recipes:
Blueberry and sour cream tart
Blueberry and lemon friands
Simple coconut and blueberry cake
French blueberry tart
Blueberry pancakes
Baked semolina pudding with custard and blueberries
Blueberry syrup
Blueberry jam
More cheesecake recipes:
Nami-Nami's favourite cheesecake
Raspberry cheesecake brownie
Rhubarb ripple cheesecake
Sea-buckthrorn and Amaretto cheesecake
Cold wild strawberry coulis with warm marzipan cheesecake
Baked rhubarb cheesecake
Baked lemon cheesecake
Chocolate cheesecake
Lingonberry cheesecake
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