Gorgonzola cheesecake with poached pears and marinated biltong
Serve this gloriously rich and delicious cheesecake with a fresh ciabatta or crackers and a glass of Blaauwklippen’s Before & After – which has a tremendous back story.
This aperitif started off as a blunder … a blending mistake, a few years ago, between a tank of Noble Late Harvest red wine and some brandy spirit in the cellar. The result .. Blaauwklippen’s most beautiful blending blunder- the Before & After, also known as a Christmas-in-a-bottle experience, due to the sensuous flavours of Christmas spices which create the backbone of this brandy fortified aperitif. This serves eight.
You’ll need:
Crust – 100g savoury biscuits and 60g butter, melted.
Filling – 250g creamed cheese, 250ml sour cream, 5 eggs, 100g gorgonzola, salt and pepper
Topping – Half a cup double cream yogurt, 2 leeks, chopped and fried. 100 g biltong, quarter cup each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, 2 to 3 pears, half a cup sugar, cinnamon stick, 500ml dry red wine
To make:
Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
For the crust, blitz the biscuits to a fine crumble in a food processor and add the melted butter. Blitz until it is the same texture as wet sand. Line a springform pan out with the crust and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For the filling, add all the ingredients to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pour the filling into the springform pan lined with the crust. Bake for 40 minutes. Let the cheesecake cool for an hour before serving it.
Biltong – slice the biltong very finely, add the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The longer you leave the biltong to marinate, the better.
Pears – while the cheesecake is in the oven, prepare the pears. Heat the red wine, sugar and cinnamon stick until the sugar has dissolved. Add the peeled pears to the pot and simmer for 20 minutes until the pears are a rich ruby colour. Let them cool completely before putting them on the cheesecake.
To assemble … Spread the yogurt on top of the cheesecake, top with the fired leeks, biltong, and cooled pears.
Arrange on a platter with the bread or crackers, and pour everyone a glass of Before & After, available only at the estate for R440 a bottle. Details: blaauwklippen.com
