Happy Birthday, Bruno!

Today was my husband's birthday! Like many people with traumatic, too sweet, too dry cake experiences, he doesn't like traditional birthday cake, so I made a cheesecake instead. It was my first time making it, so I can only attribute my success to a good recipe, which I dutifully converted into metric measurements and followed step by (another?!) step. Thanks to my friend Julia who got us these adorable measuring cups from Anthropologie for our wedding! The littlest one's beak broke during shipping, but I think it makes it even cuter. So sweet, Jules! The hardest part of this recipe was tasting the batter -creamy, sweet, lemony, smooth- and then having to wait an hour and a half during baking, another hour in the oven, another hour out of the oven, and then overnight while it chilled in the fridge to try a slice. BUT guess what?? It didn't crack! And while it looked more like flan straight out of the oven, it cooled into a big, fat, unmistakable cheesecake.

Marscapone Cheesecake:
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan via Cup of Jo  

Crust:
1 ¾ cups cracker crumbs (the recipe calls for graham crackers, but as they're not widely available in the UK, I used digestive cookie crumbs!)
2 tbsp. sugar
pinch salt
4 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350º (about 180 C). Butter the inside of a 9-inch springform pan, and wrap the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil and place in a roasting pan. Be sure to wrap the bottom of the pan well with foil as mine spring a little leak in the water bath! D: 

In a medium bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs, sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and stir well to cover all the crumbs. Pour the crumb mixture into the prepared pan and use your fingers to press gently into an even layer on the bottom. The recipe calls for pressing the mixture halfway up the pan, but I'd recommend just on the bottom the next time I make this. The original recipe also calls for freezing the crust for 10 minutes while the oven heats, but I skipped this step for time- and lack of freezer space- sake.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake until the crust is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325º (about 160 C).

For the filling:
32 oz (900 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. lemon zest
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 ⅓ cups (about 315 grams) mascarpone cheese, room temperature

Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until it is light and very smooth, about 4 minutes. 

With the mixer running on medium low speed, slowly pour in the sugar, then the salt. Beat for 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 

Add in the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a  minute after each egg. Scrape down the bowl, reduce the speed to low. Add in the mascarpone and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. The batter will come to the top of the springform pan. I tried to make it look pretty, but it settles evenly during baking so it didn't matter! 

Place the springform pan into a roasting pan and place on the center rack of the oven. Fill the roasting pan with enough very hot or boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Close the oven door and bake the cheesecake until it is lightly golden on top and the filling is set, but still slightly wobbly in the center. The original recipe called for 90 minutes of baking time, but my cheesecake was lightly browned in 70 minutes, and still VERY wobbly. 

Turn off the oven and prop the door open slightly with a wooden spoon. Let the cheesecake cool for one hour in its water bath. After an hour, gently remove the roasting pan from the oven and lift the springform pan from the water. Carefully remove the foil from the bottom of the pan and set the pan on a cooling rack. Run a knife around the top edge of the cheesecake to release it from the pan. Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature, then cover the top with plastic wrap and chill overnight. 

I was so anxious about my big flan-looking blob with a water bath leak, but it was creamy and light and delicious! I made a topping with a package of strawberries and 1 cup each water and sugar, but it was great on its own. Happy Birthday, love! xoxo