This baked blueberry cheesecake tart includes a few red gooseberries for added on-topic-ness. Their sweet tartness combines well with that of the blueberries and the lemon cheesecake filling. As a whole, it reminds me of some future election results graphic – but I wonder why some blueberries have turned slightly purple after the application of heat? And where would this simile end? — Barack, Many Happy Returns!

All For The Glorious Barack’s Birthday Bake Off Contest

Like the Banoffi cheesecake, this was made in answer to the call of The Food Tasters for Obama group from my.barackobama.com. They had the luminous idea of organizing an event called the Barack’s Birthday Bake Off Contest, to celebrate Obama’s birthday on August 4th. I just *had* to participate in it. What a great way of getting attention for Barack Obama!
My obvious choice was a berry-spangled blueberry cheesecake tart (with some added red gooseberries for Obamicans) – and a Banoffi cheesecake thrown in for good measure.

The Right American President Material

Not many people realize this, but the blueberry is a superfruit: a great source for anti-oxidants, which have the ability to neutralise free radicals that can damage the body’s cells. Free radicals can build up in the body and cause oxidative stress, which is thought to contribute to the ageing process of body and mind. Blueberry pie would seem the pie of choice of forward-looking presidents.

And the Visual Aspect

Combining blueberries with just a few red gooseberries and placing them on a white background, not only looks tastefully patriotic, but also aspires to echo the now famous “Because we are not a collection of Red states and Blue states – we are the UNITED States of America”. I only hope that the European notion of making some politicians wear cakes for lapel pins does not take hold in America as well.
I took a picture of the cakes sitting on my wooden ship’s chest (above), featuring the stencilled word “Batavia” which is the old Dutch name for Jakarta – which just goes to show how interconnected the world has become…

ready for consumption: Baked Banoffi Cheesecake (top left) and Berry-Spangled Barack’s Birthday Cake

Wishing Barack Obama a happy birthday, many wonderful desserts to follow, and a terrific election result come November!

Fix a crust of biscuits

Prepare the tin with a bottom and sides of baking paper – this way you can remove the pie more easily later on.
Put the broken-up biscuits and sugar in a food processor and turn them into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well. Put the crumbs mixture in the tin and spread out over bottom and sides with the back of a spoon. Press into shape with your fingers.

Then fill it

Soften the cream cheese, grated lemon rind, and vanilla in a bowl, then beat in the eggs. When the mixture has become soft and fluffy, add the sugar and beat some more.
Spoon or pour the filling into the crust.

And Bake Off!

Set the baking tin on a baking sheet to prevent butter dripping out. Preheat the oven to a 180°C. Bake for about 45 minutes; the filling will rise over the cookie crumbs. Take out of the oven and cool, but leave the oven on. Prepare the topping: combine the grated lemon rind with the sour cream and both sugars, and mix well.
When the filling has slightly sunk in and formed a hollow, gently spread the sour cream on top and drop the berries, one by one, carefully in place. Bake this for 10 minutes more, then leave to cool. Chill overnight in the fridge to firm up the sour cream top. It seems you can store this for up to four days but we are not for trying.
Makes a great summer dessert.