New Stour & Avon, August 27, 2021
Food & Drink
Queen of the cakes
Sadie Smith
Sadie Smith is an award winning cake designer and baker from Cake by Sadie Smith, Wimborne Cheesecakes are up there with my top desserts to make and eat. I very rarely find a good one when eating out, either the base is so thin you can hardly taste it, or it is soggy, so I have created a recipe which gives you the right amount of every component. A nice thick buttery biscuit base with a generous layer of cheesecake filling swirled with juicy and fresh seasonal fruits. This recipe uses fresh blueberries, although you can buy blueberries all year round from the supermarket, I much prefer to make the most of the short blueberry season and pick my own, you really can taste the difference. There is just one week left of this year’s season at Brothers Farm in Wimborne and they are well worth a visit, not just for the delicious blueberries but for some of their seasonal flowers cut from the field or to grab a coffee and cake from the café. Ingredients: 100g blueberries 1 tablespoon sugar 3 tablespoons of water
200g digestive biscuits 125g salted butter 300g cream cheese 60g icing sugar 250ml double cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Method: Line an 8” round tin with baking paper Place the blueberries, sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil, allow to simmer for around five minutes until the fruit is soft and thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool
Crush the digestive biscuits until they resemble breadcrumbs Melt the butter and add to the biscuits, mixing well Press the biscuit mix into the tin and chill Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract In a separate bowl whip the double cream until it forms stiff peaks Fold the cream into the cheese mixture Add half the blueberry syrup and give it three or four stirs,
no more as you want to create a ripple effect Pour onto the biscuit base Top with the remaining blueberry syrup and swirl around the top Allow to chill in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight TOP TIP: the recipe for this cheesecake can be made with any topping, such as strawberries, honeycomb, and lemon, just substitute the blueberries for your chosen topping.
Eat Festivals inviting county producers Scrummy things to eat and drink will be on offer at festivals in Yeovil on September 18 and December 11. Eat Festivals are celebrating a bumper year, having just held a great event in Honiton. A big turnout at Honiton Gate to Plate brought a real buzz to the high street with 32
more than 50 local food and drink producers plus sponsors Jurassic Fibre, strolling entertainers and music from Court Productions. Head of Sparkle, Sarah Milner Simonds said: “This was our first year delivering Honiton Gate to Plate and it was wonderful to have such a great turnout. The
feedback from native businesses was that their tills were ringing all day and that this was the busiest the High Street had been since lockdowns began in spring 2020. “We had 11 cancellations in the days running up to the event due to pings from Track and Trace – which meant we had a few gaps on
the day, but we know that the producers who were able to trade had lots of great conversations and sales. We are sorry that some sold out early in the day – but we think the weather forecast meant people came early. “It was great hearing from visitors how they had invited friends and family to join them for the weekend and
