a database lab (a 6x8"? baking tray)
digestives (1 sleeve)
butter (120g)
cream cheese (400g)
mascarpone cheese (250g)
Greek yoghurt (1 tablespoon)
vanilla extract (1 tablespoon)
sugar (~170ml)
salt
eggs (3)
fresh blueberries (1 punnet)
frozen blueberries (350g)
lemon (1)
cornstarch (1.5 tablespoons)
CRUST:
Crumb the digestives. You could probably use a food processor, or a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, but if you have none, you can also pulverise them with your fingers and a lot of effort.
Melt the butter.
In a large bowl, mix the digestive crumbs and butter.
Line the baking tray with parchment paper.
Mold a digestive crumb crust around the inside of the baking tray. Use a spoon to compress the crumbs, so the crust won't fall apart later.
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
BATTER:
Whisk the cream cheese and mascarpone together. If you don't have a whisk, you can use a fork and lots of effort again. You can probably be lax with the dairy proportions — mascarpone will make it denser, compared to using more cream cheese. If I made it again, I might swap a cream cheese tub (200g) with another mascarpone tub (250g).
Mix the flour in.
Mix the Greek yoghurt in. Do not skip this. You want some sour to balance out the cheese. Also, do not drop the yoghurt container and explode it all over the kitchen, and have to clean it up.
Mix the vanilla extract and sugar in, along with a pinch of salt.
Mix the eggs in. DO NOT FORGET THIS. YOU WILL HAVE TO SCOOP OUT HOT BATTER AND WAIT FOR IT TO COOL AND THEN MIX EGGS IN IF YOU FORGET. DO NOT FORGET THIS.
Mix some fresh blueberries in.
Pour the batter into the crust.
BAKE:
Leave the cake in for about 70 mins, depending on your oven strength/batter depth. DO NOT open the door to check on it, this will increase the likelihood of the top cracking when it cools.
Let the cake cool in the oven, with the door propped slightly open, for about 2 hours.
COMPOTE:
In the meantime, dump the frozen blueberries into a pot. You can use fresh blueberries, frozen ones are just cheaper, and you don't need them to be aesthetically pleasing, since you're about to melt them.
Sprinkle a bit of sugar in, and a couple squeezes of lemon juice.
Reduce over a low heat until the blueberries break down. You have to keep stirring so they won't burn.
Thicken it by stirring in the cornstarch, which has been dissolved in a bit of room-temp water first. If you're not bothered to get cornstarch, use half a tablespoon of your flour.
ASSEMBLY:
When the cake is cool, spoon the compote over the top.
Arrange the fresh blueberries however you like. Do it while the compote is hot, so that they'll stick when the whole thing sets.
SETTING:
Cool overnight in the fridge.