Skyr Cake – Recipe

Skyr cake: kind of like cheesecake, but lighter in texture and with a 'cleaner' taste.



Remember when I went to Reykjavik and discovered the wonders of skyr, the wonderful technically-cheese-but-more-like-yogurt that can only really be found widely in Iceland (and often in Denmark)? I discovered that Scandinavian Kitchen in London semi-regularly brings in small batches of the stuff, and you can join a mailing list to be notified of when it comes into stock. I joined the mailing list right away, of course.


I enjoyed my first tub in England plain with a little honey (a super-healthy way to eat it, as skyr is naturally very low in calories and fat), but the second time it came into stock I bought two tubs- one for eating plain, and one for making skyr cake. Sort of like a no-bake cheesecake, this recipe relies on the whipped up double cream soft-setting the whole thing, making it a super quick and easy recipe.

I decorated my sky cake with with tempered chocolate decorations and macarons that I had made the day before. It gave me an opportunity to try out my new chocolate transfer sheets for the first time.



All you have to do is cut the amount of transfer sheet you need, temper some chocolate, pour the tempered chocolate over the sheet and spread evenly, leave to set until just firm, cut the marks where you want the chocolate to break, set completely and peel off the sheets. All these transfer sheets are are acetate sheets painted with coloured cocoa butter, which melts and sticks onto the warm melted chocolate. The pattern then comes away with the chocolate when it re-sets.




You can tell that the chocolate has been well-tempered if it sets properly (without being 'bendy') and has a nice shine to it. White chocolate is a bit trickier to temper than dark chocolate, but it just takes a bit of practice.


As for the cheesecake itself, it's lovely and simple: three ingredients for the base, three ingredients for the filling, and no baking at all.

Ingredients:

-150g digestive biscuits or Graham Crackers, crumbled to fine-ish crumbs
-2tbsp demerara sugar
-60g butter, softened
-300ml skyr
-300ml double cream, whipped until stiff (but not overwhipped and curdled)
-100g caster sugar

Method:

1) To make the base, stir the crushed biscuits, butter and demerara sugar together and pack evenly into the base of a 7" springform pan

2) To make the filling, whisk the sugar into the skyr until dissolved, and fold in the whipped double cream



3) Pour the filling into the pan over the base, tap a few times on the counter to knock out air bubbles, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight



4) To unmould, run a knife around the edge of the pan before releasing the springform mechanism (you could also freeze the cheesecake first if you're worried, and let it defrost once unmoulded)

5) If you like, decorate with berries- or, as I have, with tempered chocolate decorations and macarons.


And you're done!




You can replace the skyr with quark or Greek yoghurt if you can't find skyr- but then the whole point of this cake is that it's a skyr cake, after all- but I do understand how hard it can be to get hold if if you're not in Iceland or Denmark. In any case, I'll be returning to Reykjavik in March next year, so I'll be quite happily consuming my weight in locally-produced skyr while I have the chance.

Enjoy!

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