… this week The Viking and I decided to take an after work stroll along the South Bank. The South Bank is a stretch of the river Thames that runs from the London Eye east towards Tower Bridge and is predominantly a wide, paved promenade that was once, not so long ago, a no-go area concrete graveyard of municipal type buildings and carparks but has recently become a rather wonderful mix of art installations, restaurants, street-food vendors trucks, skate parks, book stalls and pubs. There’s a lot going on and between the National Theatre, Hayward Gallery, Shakespeare Globe and the Tate Modern you can cram an afternoon full of food and culture. To be honest, on closer inspection the restaurants are mostly the ubiquitous chain restaurants but with a lot of alfresco dining areas it all looks rather lovely and you can get as much from simply walking past it all as you will from entering any of the buildings or sitting down to eat…
… as it happens, out of all the choice of places to eat we made a bad decision and had a dreadful meal at the BFI cafe which left that rotten ‘fried-food’ feeling in both our mouths but we paid £37 for the luxury of not being a tourist and left the place without complaint… we then took in a movie, which whilst enjoyable with popcorn (to take away the taste of the meal) and water cost us £40. All in all the evening was a rather pleasant feast for the eyes if not for the stomach or the pocket… I’m not entirely sure where i’m going with this little post but I guess the moral of this little tale is that it’s not just the tourists who occasionally pay through the nose for the pleasure of life…
lemon curd fudge cake
so a weekend in London inevitably means a cooking marathon with Jenny my neighbour. Last weekend was no exception and Jenny was very excited about a cheesecake type thing that her god-mother Anita had served to her recently. She said it was one of the best cheesecakes she’d ever eaten and according to Anita it was also supremely easy to make. So much so that Anita had hand-written the recipe down just for me! Well, how could I resist..? Of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the making of this cake and I have to tell you this is a stunning pudding… like a cheesecake but fudgier… lemony, zesty and had that perfect balance of sharp and sweet that I adore. On further research it turns out to be a Mary Berry recipe that both Anita and then I have adapted as we’ve gone along. Too easy not to make so go and make it… now…
you can either make your own lemon curd – and in fact you could make any kind of curd… rhubarb curd would be amazing in this cake… or you could simply purchase a good quality one such as the awesome zesty lemon curd from waitrose
for the base
7 plain digestive biscuits – crushed
50g butter – melted
25g demerara sugar
2 eggs
150g caster sugar
300ml double cream
50g plain flour
grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
150g TOTAL Greek yoghurt
2 tablespoons lemon curd
fresh fruit of your choice
preheat the oven to 180˚C and line the base of a 20cm round springform tin with baking parchment
for the topping mix the ingredients together and spread over the cold cake and then dump the top with fruit
i’m linking this lemon curd fudge cake to the Recipe Clippings link-up hosted by Janice over at Farmersgirl Kitchen
eat and of course, enjoy!
Oh man!!! This sounds divine and it looks stunning…… so pretty! My mouth is watering…. Jenny's godmother knows her cheesecakes!
I love citrus cheesecakes and the texture of this sounds so amazing….. bookmarked!
This sounds delicious, and definitely something my husband would like. And I agree about the Southbank it's wonderful there. We usually pick up lunch from one of the street food vendors.
Beautiful, Dom! Far better than one can get in any of those shiny-front, bakery cases !!!! And as for your stroll, I'd love to come back to London and see that particular strip beside the Thames. SB and I were there when the Globe was still relatively new and the area still had a 'down at the heels industrial feel' … and no London Eye. I loved exploring the city … sigh.
This cake looks gorgeous and sounds delicious, I could demolish a slice or two right now!
I'm really excited by this recipe – I can't wait to try it, it sounds delicious and looks really pretty too. I love the idea of a fudgy lemon topping.
I LOVE the look of that cake Dom, so tangy and refreshing and it seems really easy to make too…..so a win, win, win! Karen
Wow, that cake really is a beauty. Seems to be perfect for a warm summer day. I can't wait to try your recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it!
Best wishes, Susan
Oh God this sounds good.
Oh my goodness I could eat this right off the page! Your friend Jenny is a bad influence!
Now that sounds REALLY good. Perfect for a summer evening. Walking along the South Bank has long been one of my favourite London walks and I agree that the walk has improved hugely. Funnily enough, the food has become more standard and less interesting at the same time. I usually end up in Gabriel's Wharf unless I have the stamina to last out until I get to Borough Market.
Making it as we speak, had the oven at 180 degrees but after 30 minutes the top got a bit too dark and the rest wasn't set yet…I covered the top and put the oven a bit colder (150) but it's in there for more than an hour now and still not set!
I'm so sorry it's not worked for you. I've just double checked the recipe with what I had written down and also the original Mary Berry recipe and it should work? Very frustrating. Mine actually set quite quickly. Maybe let it cool and it will set.
Well this does sound rather scrumptious. I've never heard of cheesecake being described as fudgy before, so I might just have to make it to see what you mean 🙂
Hi – I've made this cake a few times and it is delicious but I can't get the yoghurt topping – certainly nothing like in the Mary Berry book. Any suggestions? I thought about adding icing sugar but that will spoil the “tanginess” of the lemon curd. Mine just runs off the cake ????