I have to say I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this week’s Weekly Bake Off Challenge. I didn’t think Mary Berry’s Austrian Curd Cheesecake sounded or looked very appetising – if it wasn’t for the challenge I would never have made it and was almost put off completely when I couldn’t buy Ricotta cheese from my local shop! What a surprise when finally I tasted it – it’s gorgeous!  It has a lovely creamy texture with a lovely hint of lemon flavour. Thankyou Amy at Weekly Bake Off and Mary Berry!  http://WeeklyBakeOff.blogspot.com

My recipe was slightly different to Mary Berry’s due to not being properly prepared and not having the correct amount of ingredients (oops!) Mary’s recipe can be found in her ’100 Cakes and Bakes’. I used: -

150g softened butter

150g caster sugar

550g ricotta cheese

4 large eggs, separated

50g ground almonds

100g semolina

100g raisins

zest and juice of two large lemons

icing sugar to dust

Set oven to 170 c and grease and line a loose-based 9″ cake tin.

Beat the softened butter, sugar and ricotta together well until light and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Fold in the ground almonds, semolina, raisins and lemon zest and juice.

Leave to stand while whisking the egg whites. Fold these into the mixture and pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until firm, covering the top to prevent burning if necessary. When cooked, turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven for about an hour. When ready to serve, dust with icing sugar. Enjoy!

Another great Austrian Cheesecake recipe using apricots can be found at the Great British Bake Club http://www.greatbritishbakingclub.co.uk/2012/01/budding-bakers-baked-cheesecake.html

Update: I am very honoured to have won Weekly Bake Off’s Star Baker for this bake! Thankyou Weekly Bake Off and thankyou @ZoeRevell2 who judged X