Monday, May 28, 2012

Lime and Gingernut Cheesecake for Shavuot


Today is the last day of Shavuot, the Jewish holiday which celebrates God giving the Torah to the Jews.  I am not Jewish, but I learned about this holiday from my Jewish physiotherapist, who is taking tomorrow off work to celebrate Shavuot.

Naturally, the first question I asked her is whether there was food involved with Shavuot - and as it happens, there is.  It is traditional for Jewish people to eat dairy foods on Shavuot, as when they first received the Torah, they could not cook meat in their non-kosher cooking pots, so they turned to dairy instead.  This is good news, as it means cheese blintzes and cheesecake are made for the occasion.

I adore cheesecake, so in honour of Shavuot, I made a lime and gingernut cheesecake:   



I used this recipe, but baked it in a 22cm pan even though the quantities given were for a half recipe.  I added grated lime zest and lime juice instead of vanilla, and I added a base of crushed gingernut biscuits and butter (as I like my cheesecake to have a base).  Some of the gingernut crumbs broke free from the base and floated to the top of the cheesecake - these are the speckles you can see in the cheesecake.  However, this was not a bad thing - I didn't mind the cheesecake being flecked with biscuit crumbs.

This cheesecake is of the light and fluffy variety, so if this sounds like your kind of cheesecake, do try this recipe.  Me, I like cheesecake in all shapes and sizes, and I certainly enjoyed this one. 

14 comments:

Kari said...

I don't usually like cheesecake but the combination of lemon and gingernut sounds wonderful. This may be an exception to my 'no cheesecake' tastes!

Anonymous said...

This sounds and looks like a delicious cheesecake!

Cathleen said...

I come running when there is cheesecake around. This looks delicious!! What a combination!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I didn't realise that dairy was eaten for shavout. My best friend in high school was Jewish but she ate cheesecake every day! :P

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

I don't think I've met a cheesecake I couldn't eat...and this looks like a winner!!

Cindy said...

I've never tried a cheesecake I didn't like! This look yummy. You have been one busy cook. I took a week off for family and am playing catchup.

Jen @ Savory Simple said...

What a great cheesecake recipe. Thanks for sharing!

Lauren Hairston said...

Oooh I love citrus and ginger together. My husband is a huge cheesecake fan (usually make one for his birthday), so I'm sure this would be popular at our house.

Kathy said...

Oooo this sounds so delicious…Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts! Love the flavors you used…Yum!

Johanna GGG said...

I love your first question about the feast day - quite right too! The cheesecake sounds delicious

Blond Duck said...

Can't go wrong w/ cheesecake!

Chocolate Shavings said...

That cheesecake looks pretty perfect to me!

The Caked Crusader said...

What a lovely combo - not seen lime and ginger combined before

Elaine said...

I think I would like the crumbs throughout the cheesecake as well. It looks so delicious.