FridayLicious: Limoncello Cheesecake

Thank God It’s Friday… Thank God It’s Delicious!

Do you enjoy savoring a slice of cake with your coffee but don’t enjoy so much baking? Or, unfortunately for your husband and little ones, you would bake everything you could but your relationship with the oven is a love-hate affair that tends to lean a little bit more towards the “hate’? This Friday Rometti Limoncello has a delicious recipe for you that does not require baking: Limoncello Cheesecake. Well, there is a little baking, but it consists in only letting the crust sit!

Cheesecakes are very popular in the United States. If you ask around, some people will even tell you that Cheesecakes are an American invention, which is partially true and partially not. Believe it or not, the ancient Greek were already mastering the art of Cheesecakes, although at the time Cheesecakes were used for religious uses and had a very different taste. It took the introduction in 1872 of American cream cheese to develop the modern Cheesecake we all so love today. And once again, like for other cooking ingredients, cream cheese was nothing less than a mistake! In fact a dairyman called William Lawrence  from Chester, NY,  is the one to claim for such a popular dairy ingredient which he accidentally made while he was trying to reproduce the French Neufchatel cheese. Mr. Lawrence was the founder of Philadelphia brand Cream Cheese. The rest is history.

Just FYI shall you want to make this Limoncello Cheesecake a little more Italian-style, you can substitute cream cheese with ricotta.

Ingredients:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter – melted
8 ounces cream cheese – softened
8 ounces frozen whipped topping – thawed
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup Rometti Limoncello

Preheat oven oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Stir together crust ingredients. Press firmly and evenly in bottom of pie plate.
Bake 9 minutes. Cool 20 minutes.
In the bowl of your mixer, beat cheesecake ingredients on medium speed until smooth; spoon over crust.
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

~Enjoy!
Recipe and image copyright of Paula Jones with Bellalimento

Fridaylicious: White Chocolate Limoncello Truffles

Thank God It’s Friday, Thank God It’s Delicious!

Good things come in small packages, and to be specific this week all the goodness comes in the small, rounded shape of a truffle. Even better if the little chocolate treat features among its ingredients some delicious limoncello, like the White Chocolate Limoncello Truffles we have the spotlight on this week!

We all know that truffles are so called because the original dark chocolate version (rolled in cocoa) resembles the black truffle fungus, but what not everyone knows is that the person who we should thank for such a watering-buds-invention is Auguste Escoffier, who back in 1920s came up with an “accidentally” different recipe of the French chocolate truffles, which originally were in fact a ball of ganache, chocolate and cream flavored in cocoa powder. One day while August was attempting to make pastry cream, he mistakenly poured hot cream into a bowl of chocolate chunks where he should have instead poured sugared egg. Once the mixture hardened he found out that it could have been rolled up into chocolate balls, and the rest is history!

White Chocolate Limoncello Truffles are made with heavy cream, white chocolate, and the addition of Rometti Limoncello which by infusing a bittersweet, zesty flavor to the sweet, delicate mixture elevates it to something definitively heavenly!

Grated white chocolate could be perfect for rolling, however if you want to add a little exotic look (and taste!) to this already simple yet outstanding recipe, coconuts flakes will just be like the cherry on top!

Ingredients (makes about 30):

1/4 cup Heavy cream
1 Lemon zest
8 oz Chopped white chocolate
1 tbsp Rometti Limoncello
Coconut flakes for rolling

Melt the chocolate in bain-marie; add Rometti Limoncello. Stir frequently as white chocolate tends to burn easily.
Heat the cream till nearly boiling then add to the melted chocolate. Stir until thick and velvety. Stir in the lemon zest. Leave to cool in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or until firm enough to work with.
Line a baking tray with non-stick paper. Wearing disposable gloves, scoop a teaspoon of the truffle mixture and roll into balls using the palms of your hands. If the mixture is a bit sticky, dust with icing sugar. Place each rolled truffle on the baking tray; return to the fridge and allow to firm up.
To coat the truffles; use a fork or skewer to dip each truffle into melted white chocolate then return it to the baking tray to set.
Pipe or drizzle some melted dark chocolate across the top of each truffle.
When all the truffles are made, place them back in the fridge for a couple of hours before packing them into cellophane gift bags or chocolate boxes.

Recipe from http://allrecipes.co.uk
Image by Eva Toneva

Cook N Bake British Series: St Clement’s Pie

Like every full meal ends with some sweets, we couldn’t bring this Cook N Back British Series to an end without serving dessert!
Named after an English nursery rhyme’s, St Clemtent’s Pie is a citrusy delight that you may want to indulge into with a hot cup of tea.
Although the original recipe lists among the ingredients zest and juice of 3 lemons and 2 oranges, we would recommend to use either Rometti Limoncello or Rometti Arancello to taste in alternative to one of the two ingredients for an “adult”, citrusy version of this delicious pie!

Ingredients:
For the crust
250g light digestive biscuits
100g cornflakes
85g butter, melted
140g caster sugar

For the filling
1 large egg, plus 4 large egg yolks
397g can light condensed milk
zest and juice 3 lemons (or Rometti Limoncello to taste)
zest and juice 2 oranges (or Rometti Arancello to taste)
For the topping

150ml pot extra-thick double cream
100g 0% fat Greek yogurt
4 tbsp icing sugar
more lemon and orange zest, to decorate

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Sit a fluted 20cm round loose-bottomed tin (about 5cm deep, or a slightly shallower 22cm tin) on a baking sheet. Break the biscuits into a big bowl, or double-bag them in food bags, and bash to big crumbs with the end of a rolling pin or small saucepan. Add the cornflakes and bash a bit more to crumbs. Mix with the melted butter and sugar and press into the base and sides of the tin. Bake for 15 mins, then remove and reduce oven temperature to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
Whisk egg and yolks in a big bowl until pale and frothy. Whisk in the condensed milk, followed by the zests and juices. Pour in the tin and bake for 20 mins. Cool in the tin, then chill for at least 5 hrs, or overnight.
Whip the cream, yogurt and icing sugar together. Dollop on the pie and scatter with zest to serve.

~Enjoy!

Image and recipe from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com