Letitia Clark feels like “a bit of an anomaly.” Originally from the United Kingdom but having called Sardinia home for the last four years, she said she no longer feels completely English but will never feel 100-percent Italian, either. The chef, food writer, and illustrator says that her food will always be a hybrid, a reflection of her identity as a cook with two homes.
Clark’s second cookbook, La Vita È Dolce, explores this idea in the whimsical, highly decorative world of Italian desserts as seen through her English-born, French-trained lens. Her perspective yields a collection of recipes that feel like they could exist in multiple countries at once — like this mascarpone-meets-Philadelphia cheesecake by Clark’s friend Sylvia.
Sylvia’s Double-Crusted Cheesecake
Printed with permission from La Vita È Dolce by Letitia Clark and Hardie Grant Publishing
A genius invention by my friend Sylvia, who took the sbrisolona idea a step further
and made a sort of giant cheesecake sandwich with it. Everybody knows that the best bit of a cheesecake is the biscuit, just like the best bit of a crumble is the crumble. Everybody also knows, however, that the only way to appreciate the biscuit base is to have something tangy and creamy against it, otherwise it would just be a biscuit. Crumble without the sharp fruit under-bit to contrast against its sweet buttery-biscuity-ness would seem equally incongruous. But the eternal dilemma of any obsessive such as myself is how to create more crust without compromising on cream? Here, Sylvia has answered all our prayers and created a double-crust, crumble cheesecake-sandwich. We can have our cheesecake, and eat it too.
The filling is simple, a mixture of sweetened Philadelphia cream cheese and mascarpone lifted with a little lemon zest. Folded through the cream filling can be any fruit of your choice, whatever is in season and appealing. I like raspberries and peaches best, as a sort of peach melba tribute. To decorate (as the top is simply a smooth biscuit layer) you can use a tumble of surplus fresh fruit, or leave it plain and unassuming, so that people are even more pleasantly surprised when they realise how delicious it is.
Sylvia uses a combination of oat biscuits and digestives, which works very well, but you can use pure digestives or pure oat biscuits if you prefer.
Serves 12
Ingredients:
For the crumb:
380 g (13½ oz) biscuits, crushed into crumbs
160 g (5½ oz) butter, melted
pinch of salt
For the filling:
250 g (9 oz) full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese
400 g (14 oz) mascarpone
zest and juice of 2 lemons
100 g (3½ oz/¾ cup) icing (confectioner’s) sugar
150 g (5 oz) peaches/raspberries/blackberries (or fruit of your choice)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 160ºC (320ºF/Gas 2).
To make the crumb, crush the biscuits in a food processor or by hand and put in a bowl. Pour the melted butter over the crushed biscuits, add the salt and mix well.
Grease and line a 23 cm (9 in) spring-form cake tin. Press half of the crumb mixture into the base to form an even layer, pressing down with the underside of a spoon or the base of a glass tumbler to make a compact, even base.
Transfer to the oven to bake for 10 to 15 minutes (this initial baking ensures the crust stays crisp and biscuity rather than soggy once it has the cream mixture on top). Set aside to cool completely. (Keep the oven on.)
For the filling, put the cream cheese and mascarpone in a bowl, then mix in the lemon zest and icing sugar until smooth and incorporated. Prepare your chosen fruit (if using peaches, chop them into slices or chunks and macerate with the lemon juice; if using berries simply stir them with the lemon juice). Strain off the excess lemon juice, then gently stir the prepared fruit through the cream mixture and spread it out evenly over the cold crumb base. Spread the remaining half of the crumb base over the top and smooth it over with the back of a spoon to form an even layer.
Bake the cheesecake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the biscuit has turned a shade darker. Remove and allow to cool completely, then chill in the fridge before serving. Serve unadorned, or with extra fruit as you see fit. This keeps well in the fridge for a few days and is very good for breakfast.
Cheesecake photo: La Vita è Dolce by Letitia Clark (Hardie Grant, £26) Photography ©Charlotte Bland