New Year resolution

This year is going to be really challenging for me. Two important things are awaiting us: we are moving to a different country and travelling to Buenos Aires for 3 months with the focus on developing as a teacher and dancer. My mind's already very busy and that's why I decided not to challenge myself anymore with numerous New Year resolutions. I commited only to one - I decided to bake sweet things (cakes, pastries etc.) only once a week. Inspired (among others) by Patrycja's blog and her post on sugar I felt there's too much sugar in my diet and I didn't feel well with it. I'm far away from any extreme - I'm not going to resign from sugar, the goal is simply to cut back on the quantity. I cook daily with lots of vegetables and non-refined products, and in general, I think that our diet is very healthy apart from the sweets I'm baking. Some time ago I started to cut the amount of sugar in the recipes and it turned out that you usually need half the amount of sugar in the recipe to enjoy the sweetness and without any harm to the taste. Still, I'm a crazy baker and I could bake daily, so even with the lower amount of sugar it was still quite a lot in terms of frequency...

To sum up: In 2010, for the sake of my wellbeing I'm going to bake sweets only once a week.
Observation no 1: This makes choosing the recipe more exciting and baking the cake even more enjoyable...
Observation no 2:  I had to find a vent for my baking passion so instead I will bake bread and savoury tarts - planning to bake a tart with beetroots and Russian bread this weekend :)

Today I would like to share with you the triple-almond cheesecake that I baked last weekend. I barely managed to save this one piece to take a picture of it :)

Italian Baked Almond Cheesecake
Recipe comes from a special edition of "Delicious" magazine - "Wicked Desserts".

Serves 8. One 20cm non-stick springform cake tin.
Preparation: 15 minutes.
Baking: 45 - 50 minutes.
Chilling: over 1 hour.

Base:*
200g amaretti biscuits, crushed
50g unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
500g ricotta
250g tub mascarpone
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped or sugar with real vanilla
125g golden caster sugar
100g ground almonds
2 tablespoons cornflour
3 large free-range eggs
grated zest of one lemon

Decoration:
handful of flaked almonds
icing sugar for dusting
whipped cream

1. Preaheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/ gas 4. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter, tip into the base of a 20cm non-stick springform cake tin lined with baking paper. Press down firmly in an even layer with a spoon. Chill for 10 - 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, beat the ricotta, vanilla seeds, sugar, mascarpone, almonds, cornflour, eggs and lemon zest together in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into the prepared tin and scatter with the part of the flaked almonds.
3. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes until golden, set in the center but still a bit wobbly. Turn off the oven, open the door and leave the cheesecake inside to cool completely. Chill for a further hour or more. Remove from the tin and serve with icing sugar, remaining flaked almonds and some cream, if you like.

* In case you don't have amaretti biscuits you can do the base with these ingredients:
200g wholegrain Digestive biscuits
50g unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon Dutch cocoa
2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur or almond aroma