Chilli and Clementine Cheesecake

My not so little brother requested that I make the Chilli and Clementine, he's been feeling a little under the weather, so of course as a good big sister - I did as he requested and made him his own Chilli and Clementine Cheesecake.  I hope he shares some of it with his little ones. 

I have already posted this recipe earlier in the year, but of course by doing so again I can show it off once more.  This time I am sharing it with One Ingredient hosted this month by Laura of How to Cook Good Food and Nazima of Franglais Kitchen who are featuring my favourite ingredient chilli this month.

Clementine and Chilli Cheesecake
Serves 8
Ingredients
Packet of digestive biscuits
55g butter
225g cream cheese
280ml whipping cream
85g caster sugar
Zest and Juice from 2 large and firm clementines
Pinch of chilli flakes plus extra for garnishing
1 whole clementine, peeled and segments separated for the topping
Method
Grease and line the bottom of a 8 inch cake tin and crush all the biscuits in a bowl. Then melt the butter in a pan and stir in the biscuit crumbs. Tip this into the cake tin, spread out and press firmly with the back of a spoon. Chill in the fridge. Put the zest and juice of the clementines into a bowl and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Stir in the cream cheese until it is of a smooth consistency. Whip the cream in another bowl, then fold into the cheese mixture, finally fold in the chilli flakes until combined. Then evenly spoon the mixture onto the biscuit base. Smooth out flat, cover with cling film and chill for at least 2 hours; even better overnight.
When the cheesecake is set, remove from the tin and decorate with clementine segments and sprinkle of the chilli flakes. Slice and serve.

Clementine and Chilli Cheesecake

Would you beileve me if I told you that I only made this Clementine and Chilli Cheesecake last night, well I did.

There was a period of my life when I loved indulging in a slice of cheesecake: mango, rhubarb and strawberry being some of my favourite flavours, but then I got sick of the rich creamy cloddy cloy mass and avoided it for years.  Its only in the last few days, I thought why not give it a go with my favourite spice: chilli and the seasonal fruit of the moment - the clementine! And this Clementine and Chilli Cheesecake was created for your eyes to feast on.

Eating my rather large slice was the easy part, getting the first slice out of the baking tin was a tad hard, I had to do it slowly and carefully, in fear that the whole cake would collapse, but it came out well.

The sweet flavours of the clementine come through and so does the chilli, not so hot to blow your head off, but subtle to tease and let you know its there in the background.

Clementine and Chilli Cheesecake
Serves 8
Ingredients
Packet of digestive biscuits
55g butter
225g cream cheese
280ml whipping cream
85g caster sugar
Zest and Juice from 2 large and firm clementines
Pinch of chilli flakes plus extra for garnishing
1 whole clementine, peeled and segments separated for the topping

Method
Grease and line the bottom of a 8 inch cake tin and crush all the biscuits in a bowl.  Then melt the butter in a pan and stir in the biscuit crumbs.  Tip this into the cake tin, spread out and press firmly with the back of a spoon.  Chill in the fridge.  Put the zest and juice of the clementines into a bowl and stir in the sugar until dissolved.  Stir in the cream cheese until it is of a smooth consistency.  Whip the cream in another bowl, then fold into the cheese mixture, finally fold in the chilli flakes until combined.  Then evenly spoon the mixture onto the biscuit base.  Smooth out flat, cover with cling film and chill for at least 2 hours; even better overnight.
When the cheesecake is set, remove from the tin and decorate with clementine segments and sprinkle of the chilli flakes.  Slice and serve.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Clementine and Cranberries

I forgot to post the vegan chocolate cake recipe up on this post and some of my lovely readers have gently reminded me of this omission, so this has given me another excuse to post another variation of that vegan chocolate cake, this time topped with fresh clementine pieces and fresh cranberries.  This cake can also be topped with dried fruit or just dark chocolate buttons.

Its a fragile cake and will stick to the baking tin, so I strongly advise lining the base with parchment paper.  Here i used a Christmas themed one,

I have had positive remarks about this vegan chocolate cake from many people who are vegan, saying its one of the moist vegan cakes they have ever had. Unlike some vegan cakes that are just too heavy and dry on the palette.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Clementine and Cranberries
Makes 6 - 8 individual cakes or 1 x 8 inch round cake
A2K Ingredients
30g cocoa powder
180g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
165g brown sugar
200ml strong brewed coffee, cooled
100ml vegetable oil
3 - 4 clementines, peeled and separated
Handful of fresh or dried cranberries
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
A2K Method
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 5. Oil an 8 inch round baking tin.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the sugar. In a small bowl, combine the coffee with the oil and whisk. Then beat the liquid into the dry ingredients, then quickly stir in the vinegar.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with clementines and cranberries.  Bake for 30 – 35 minutes for larger cake or 25 minutes for smaller versions, or until a toothpick in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Fruited Clementine Scone Bread

This is really a scone gone wrong recipe.  The wet mixture salvaged by pouring it into a loaf tin to create a fruited bread instead; and my oh my it turned out pretty well.

The original scone recipe from Lucy The Kitchen Maid uses an orange, but as I had a bowl of tart clementines in the fruit bowl, I decided to replace them  in the recipe.  The clementines were a tad bitter, but they worked well next to the natural sweetness from the sultanas and the delicate orange flavours in the background.

A generous wedge of this bread was sliced and toasted and then generously buttered - it was lovely for breakfast.

As requested here is the adapted recipe.  I would like to point out, I cannot find the scrap paper where I converted the cups to grams and ml, so the recipe for the time being will be in cups.
Fruited Clementine Scone Bread
Makes 2 x 2lb loaves
Ingredients 3 cups plain flour
2tablepoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup sultanas

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1generous tablespoon golden syrup
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 cup real orange juice
2 clementines, peeled and roughly chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 and line loaf tins with parchment paper.
Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, then stir through the sultanas.
Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a jug, then stir in the chopped Clementine pieces.  Carefully pour this thick liquid mixture slowly into the dry ingredients.  What you are trying to achieve is a loose light batter, so you may not need all of the liquid.  When the mixture is well combined,  pour the batter evenly into the loaf tins.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden and firm on the top. Leave to cool briefly, then slice and enjoy plain or with butter. 
Adapted from Lucy’s Date and Orange Scones.

Oh darling it's Clementine Muffins

When I was a child, I would often confuse clementines with tangerines and satsumas, and if I am honest I still do. Ultimately they are all types of mandarin. What I love about clementines though especially around the wintertime is they add colour to what can sometimes be a dreary time of year. I also like the fact they they make fantastic compact snack fruit, not like oranges that spurt their juices everywhere when you peel it and get your fingers all sticky. No clementines are a breeze and so easy to peel. I also love the scent of clementines. The smell of clementine is reputed to be therapeutic. According to some studies, the aroma triggers a neurotransmitter called serotonin in the brain. When the serotonin is released, the effect is one of calm and tranquil. There might be some truth in this, when I was a kiddie wink I would get travel sick and my mother would often give me an orange fruit. It could have been a mandarin, orange, tangerine, satsuma or clementine. I think it helped to some extent, as a distraction at least.
My husband D is really poor at eating fruit. He enjoys his fruit, he's just lazy at eating it. So one of the ways I get him to eat his fruit is to disguise it. Only last month, I made some clementine curd, this time it was in this sweet homely bakes: clementine muffins.
These Clementine muffins were ever so light and not overly citrusy. I think they are best eaten on the day, or warmed up briefly. The Clementine pieces had pretty much disintegrated into the muffins, this subtly flavoured the muffins along with the spices.

If you like the look of these check out my marshmallow, cocoa and cola muffins.
Spiced Nutmeg Clementine Muffins
Makes 12
Ingredients
2 cups of plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
½ cup of margarine or butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup of milk, you may not need it all
2 clementines, peeled and separated into segments and chopped
Optional: Icing sugar to decorate
Method
Preheat oven to gas mark 5. Line a muffin tine with muffin cases. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, allspice, nutmeg and sugar in a large bowl. Rub in the margarine or butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
In another bowl, mix together the egg and milk, then add this mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Mix briefly until just combined then fold in the clementine pieces. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it evenly. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until risen and golden. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool before serving with an optional sprinkling of icing sugar. From Muffins Galore by Catherine Atkinson. I have a number of muffin books and recipes have been hit or miss, with this book though everyone so far has been success. I think this is one book I would recommend to fellow muffin lovers.