Cheesecake With A Spanish Flair

I love cheesecake, but seem to in the minority most of the time. This is easy, not expensive to make and with the flavours of spring fruit offerings, makes it a real winner.

• 1 lb. Philadelphia cream cheese
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 cups berry sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• Icing sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together the cream cheese, sugar and 1 tbsp. butter. Add the eggs, blending well after each addition.

Add the flour, zest, cinnamon and salt.  Mix well. With the remaining 2 tbsp of butter, butter the sides and bottom of a springform pan.  Pour in the batter and bake for just 12 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.

Strawberry/Rhubarb topping

• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 2 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 – 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• sugar to taste

Put the ingredients in  a saucepan and cook until the rhubarb is tender.  Taste and adjust lemon juice and sugar.

Sprinkle the top of the cheesecake with icing sugar and add the fruit topping on top. The topping can be either warm or cold, your decision!

If you didn’t notice….this doesn’t have a crust of any kind.  It is so elegant when served.