Feasting on Art

Until last week, the joys of a warm cheesecake were unbeknownst to me. With my ever present soft-spot for the previously cool but always creamy dessert, I would help myself to a rather generous wedge accompanied by a spoonful, or two, of strawberries in a sugar syrup. For my palate this was a bit too sweet, so I forfeited the syrup for purple grapes, already naturally sweet, crusted in a bit of crunchy sugar. This variety of cheesecake is typical of New York and is combined with the British/Australian tradition of using a crushed biscuit base. The first recipe for cheesecake is thought to date back to the Ancient Greek times but I have both William Lawrence and James Kraft to thank for developing and refining the unripened cheese, also known as cream cheese, in the late 19th – early 20th century. Philadelphia cream cheese is used in most cheesecakes, including the recipe below, and is essential in creating the light yet rich texture characteristic in the best slices.

Feasting on Art has clip in the October 2010 issue of Virgin Blue Voyeur, click here to view.

Henri Fantin-Latour, Still Life with Grapes and a Carnation, c.1880
oil on canvas, 30.5 x 47 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

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The mix of ordered fruit and a rustic, haphazard crust encapsulates the French term, galette. Typically, the crust is made with plenty of butter so when it is baked, it becomes flaky and extra crusty. In France, a galette can be made either sweet or savoury with ham, eggs and cheese, otherwise known as a galette complète. The galette des Rois is eaten on January 6, the Christian feast of Epiphany. To celebrate, a small trinket is hidden in the cake and the finder is named the ‘king’ for the remainder of the day. My galette is made sweet by a fragrant mixture of honey and wine that is first used to make the apples heady and boozy and then reduced to give the cake a beautiful glacé finish.

John Francis, Still Life with Yellow Apples, 1858
oil on canvas, 64.1 x 76.8 cm, Detroit Institute of Arts

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Even after making frozen yogurt and jelly, our seemingly never ending supply of wild blackberries still provided enough berries to make a pie. I am writing this from Sydney although the pie was made while home in Michigan. I had a wonderful and relaxing holiday and am thankful to have spent so much time with my family. I love this pie and the only thing that could have made it better would have been cooler weather in which to bake it (and maybe some ginger). It was oppressively humid when I finally slid it into the oven – making the ice cream accompaniment a necessity. I cut down the sugar in my recipe from the original Gourmet instructions to make it a bit more tart. Our berries were very juicy and the pie overflowed onto the baking tray making me glad I used one!

Willem Claesz Heda, Breakfast Table with Blackberry Pie, 1631
oil on wood, 54 x 82 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

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After a beautiful weekend in the Upper Peninsula visiting my mother’s side of the family we have returned to the humidity of the Lower Peninsula with a bucket of wild blackberries in tow. My aunt and uncle know of all the best berry picking locations and while I was asleep in my bed, my parents joined them for some early morning picking. I did do a tiny bit of thimbleberry picking (pictured below) and I  sat through the 7 hour car ride home thinking about what to make. It is too hot to bake and I just made a batch of jam so I settled on a frozen dessert. I seem to be a creature of habit – the last post I did about Raphaelle Peale was a recipe for orange & lemon ice cream and exactly one year ago I posted a recipe for a frozen watermelon margarita. For another cold treat check out my post about coconut milk ice cream.

Raphaelle Peale, Blackberries, c.1813
oil on wood panel, 18.4 x 26 cm, de Young Fine Art Museum

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In honour of the 4th of July, I put together a small selection of nostalgia inducing recipes. I am travelling back to the States in three short weeks and after two years away, I am feeling pretty sentimental! Sunday is the 4th of July and perhaps one (or all) of these recipes will inspire a few Independence Day menus. I will be celebrating with my closest ex-pat friend here in Sydney and if my oven was not still broken the chocolate chip cookies would be at the top of my ‘to make’ list. Happy 4th everyone!

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