Daring Bakers - Say Cheese! Ginger Lime Baked Cheesecake

Are you wondering as you casually surf the blogosphere today why every foodie on the planet appears to simultaneously have decided that baked cheesecake was next on their "to do" list? Never fear, this is not just your imagination or a sense of deja vu - it's Daring Bakers time again!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

However, as Jenny says:

The real challenge this month is to take this basic recipe and play with it. Make it unique. Make a showstopper of a dessert. Add flavor, sauces, decorations – dress it up and show it off.

I am a fan of cheesecake of all types (baked or unbaked), and fruity cheesecakes are my favourite because the acidity of the fruit balances out the rich decadence of the cheese. However, I tend to avoid making cheesecake because I know that it is pretty full on in the calories stakes, and I tend towards being a couch potato. (Since I began this blog, I have gained a certain amount of weight that won't budge.) However, with Jenny's choice for Daring Bakers this month, I have the perfect excuse to make a cheesecake.

There is also no danger that I will be left holding the cake, so to speak, because my team is hosting a morning tea on Tuesday this week. Apparently, my new work friend Ruth tells me that unless Legal holds a morning tea soon, we will be cut off from the Finance morning teas, with Finance being our nearest neighbours. It is perhaps not so sinful that Legal hasn't had a morning tea for a while, because until I arrived, there were only two people in Legal (as opposed to 20 or so people in Finance!). However, I made it clear that I love to bake and HAVE to bake, so I was more than happy to ensure that Ruth doesn't get "excommunicated". I was also impressed to learn that my new boss, Rod, cooks and bakes. No excuses then!! (I understand that Rod is thinking of making creme brulee spoons for the morning tea - wow, who thought that a guy would up the ante on my baking standards! No offence fellas, but the majority of guys that I know are not food bloggers or chefs, and rely on their significant female other to feed them.)

I originally was going to make a ginger and chocolate cheesecake, but if you have been following TWD this month, you will know why I am suffering somewhat from chocolate overload. To give me some ideas, I did a quick Google search on ginger cheesecakes, and lo, I found a recipe for ginger & lime cheesecake. Accordingly, I used Abbey's recipe, but used gingersnaps for the crust instead of graham crackers, laced the batter with glace ginger and lime zest, and substituted the lemon juice in the cheesecake recipe for lime juice. To decorate the cheesecake but leave it simple so that I can transport it to work, I piped whipped cream around the edge.

As this post goes to air, I have no idea what my cheesecake tastes like (other than a lime-y lick of the rim of the springform pan after being removed from the cheesecake), as our morning tea is not until tomorrow. However, I will update you with my verdict once it has been sliced.

Update - the Verdict: this cheesecake was absolutely amazing - light yet creamy, melt in the mouth, and the ginger and lime were dream flavours. It went down really well - it was definitely a hit. I would rate this as my top cheesecake recipe ever.

To see all the other fabulous cheesecake variations by the other Daring Bakers (and believe me, there are some absolute stunners!!), please visit the Daring Bakers blogroll. Jenny's site will have the recipe, should you want to make this cheesecake yourself.