My original plan for his birthday was to make a chocolate cake. I spent an entire day looking through cookbooks trying to find a great chocolate cake recipe. I know I had one once that a friend made with olive oil that was amazing, but sadly, I can't remember who that friend was (to my credit, I think I was about 9 when I had the cake).
I navigated the many chocolate cake recipes out there made with everything from mayonnaise to mashed potatoes (I kid you not) and finally decided on a recipe that seemed like a good candidate; it was titled "the best chocolate cake ever." I made the cake, but was thoroughly disappointed. It was ok, but sort of dull and dry, certainly not birthday worthy; certainly not "the best ever". So I abandoned the whole chocolate idea and went in the other direction. This is what I eventually settled on and it was perfect!
I got the recipe out of a fantastic new cookbook which is a compendium of Gourmet's best recipes from its 65 years of publication. It's really lovely, and I can't wait to make more of the recipes. I'll let you know if I find the "best-ever" chocolate cake recipe. In the meantime, the perfect one made with olive oil will have to live on in my head.
LEMON CURD CHEESECAKE
For the lemon curd:
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For the crust:
1 1/3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour-cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
strawberries to top (optional)
Making the lemon curd:
Whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan.
Add the butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until the curd is thick enough to hold marks of the whisk and the first bubbles appear on the surface, about 6 minutes.
Force the lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a wide shallow dish, scraping bottom of sieve, then cover the surface with wax paper. Cool completely, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Making the Crust:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Invert bottom of springform pan (to make easier to slide cake off bottom), then lock on side.
Stir together crust ingredients in a bowl, then press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of the springform pan. Place pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in pan on a rack.
Making the filling and baking
Reduce overn to 300°F.
Beat together the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
Reduce speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until combined.
Pour two thirds of cream cheese filling into crust, then spoon half of lemon curd over filling and swirl curd into filling with a small knife (to marble the surface). Avoid touching crust with knife to prevent crumbs from getting into filling. Repeat with remaining filling and curd.
Bake cheesecake until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center trembles when pan is gently shaken- about 45 minutes. Center of cake will appear very loose but will continue to set as it cools. Transfer the springform pan to a rack and run a knife around the edge of cake to loosen it.
Cool completely, about 2 hours., then chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. Remove side of springform pan before serving.
Top with fresh strawberries.
