The Perfect Baked Blueberry Mascarpone Cheesecake

As you have probably all surmised by now, I love to feed the missionaries from our church and I do it fairly often. I think it's because I miss having a home filled with young people . . . a leftover from my days as a mum to five hungry teens . . . it's also be cause I really respect and love the missionaries and have a great heart and love for their cause and I like to do whatever I can to help them out.



I also love to cook and well . . . you know how it is . . . when you are cooking for your husband you have a tendency to cook the same things . . . and it's always nice to have company so that you can stretch your wings a bit and cook something different!



I did a Cottage Pie today for the lads, using my ragu recipe for the base and a parmigiana mash for the topping . . . along with a variety of vegetables from the garden, some coleslaw and some rolls . . . hearty food, just perfect for two strapping lads and the Toddster . . .



I wanted to make a special dessert and I came across the perfect one in this the August issue of Delicious Magazine . . . a recipe for a deliciously indulgent cheesecake with blueberries and mascarpone cheese. I had all the ingredients in and so I went for it.



It turned out gorgeous, if I don't say so myself. Beautifully coloured and chock full of beautiful berries . . .



Something bad happened to it though . . . you know that little minx we have living with us, otherwise known as Mitzie? Well . . . whilst the cheesecake was cooling down in the oven with the door propped open, that naughty little girl proceeded to eat about a third off the top of it!

(Who me? Little Innocent me???)

I was so annoyed with her! There was no way that I could find my way to feeding the missionaries a cheesecake that a dog had tampered with . . . sigh . . .

And so I did what any other self respecting dog owner would do (after I gave the little madame old heck of course!). I drove to the store and picked up a box of Krispy Kremes. I hope that they like them.

Oh who am I kidding??? Young lads and Krispy Kremes . . . Of course they will like them!! (I did have a taste of the cheesecake and it was indeed very scrummy. Todd and I will enjoy the rest. We are not afraid of dog germs, or at least OUR dog germs!)



*The Perfect Baked Blueberry Mascarpone Cheesecake*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

Perfectly creamy, rich and oh so delicious! Adapted from Delicious Magazine.

3 1/2 TBS butter, melted
200g stem ginger biscuits, crushed (22 small rectangular biscuits)
1 tsp vanilla paste
400g of Mascarpone Cheese (about 1 3/4 cup)
350g of cream cheese (about 1 1/2 cup)
125g of caster sugar (3/4 cup)
2 TBS cornflour (cornstarch)
3 large free range eggs
the grated zest of one small orange
300g of fresh blueberries (3 cups)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 1/2 to 10 inch spring form pan.

Mix the melted butter with the biscuit crumbs, combining well. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling.

Measure the vanilla, both cheeses, sugar, cornflour, eggs and orange zest in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and well blended. Fold in 3/4 of the berries. Pour into the chilled crust. Scatter the remaining berries over top, pushing them down into the mixture a bit. Place the pan on top of a baking sheet.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until golden brown and almost set. It should still jiggle a bit in the centre, but this will firm up upon standing. Turn the oven off and open the oven door. Allow to cool completey in the oven before removing it from the tin. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. Serve cut into slices.