This is a cheesecake version of the Peruvian Suspiro de Limeña, a delicious cake with a flavour of caramel. Combined with the ginger nut biscuit base it is totally irresistible.
Category | Cakes & Desserts |
Preparation Time | 25 minutes |
Cooking Time | None |
Serves | 10 portions |
The dessert Suspiro de Limeňa, named by a poet, meaning “the sigh of a woman from Lima” certainly sounds romantic. Even more so if you are familiar with the South American poets Borges and Neruda, who wrote some of the most romantic poetry ever. I experimented with the dessert and ended up inventing the following cheesecake. It does however require patience as the mixture needs to set at various stages before proceeding to the next. Definitely worth the effort when you taste it!
18cm loose-bottomed tin, baking parchment, plastic food bag, rolling pin, large bowl, dessert spoon, chopping board, kitchen knife, electric mixer, spatula, serving plate, blender or food processor, sieve
Bring the cheesecake to room temperature, about 30 mins before serving. To un-mould, place the base on top of a can, then gradually pull the sides of the tin down. Slip the cake onto a serving plate, removing the lining paper and base. If you find the cake difficult to un-mould, then either let it sit for a little longer, or wipe the outside of the tin with a hot cloth. This heats the edges and should allow you to remove the tin easily.
Decorate with chocolate leaves and raspberries.
I make mine by picking small leaves from plants in my garden. Wash the leaves. Melt chocolate in the microwave and spoon onto the leaves. Allow to dry in the fridge and the chocolate just peels off.
Read the following poem by South American poet Borges while enjoying your dessert. Good for you if you’re with a lover savouring this but you don’t necessarily need one, since Borges sonnet’s caress the heart and spirit on a metaphysical level.
I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don’t know any other way of loving
but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.