Day 18: Feta & Honey Cheesecake

inspired by Honey & Co.

It’s Easter Saturday and I’m desperately trying not to crack open my easter egg until tomorrow.

So I need something to satisfy the sugar cravings. I’m thinking about the emergency bar of whole nut I have stashed away somewhere (in the cupboard behind the teabags I think…)

And as luck would have it I’m thinking this whilst reading a Guardian article about Middle Eastern food. I’ve got aubergines from Oddbox that need using up and I’m looking for inspiration.

And I come across this recipe from Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, which is the signature dessert at their restaurant. I’ll be honest. I’ve never even heard of Honey & Co but this cheesecake sounds too good not to try.

Sorry aubergines, looks like you’re destined to a few more days in the fridge.

Feta & honey cheesecake on a kadaif pastry base

A reason I love this recipe is it will use up the last of the feta I have had open for a few days. One step closer to eating up my cheese stockpile (see my post on emergency cheese).

I have to make a few adjustments. I don’t have icing sugar so I grind some caster sugar in a pestle and mortar to get it as fine as I can. No vanilla pods (actually I don’t even have extract) so I have to skip that.

Obviously theres no hope of me finding the Kadaif pastry that you need to get from a Middle Eastern deli. I don’t even know where my nearest Middle Eastern deli is! But I can get my hands on some filo. We’re in business!

I find cutting up the filo into tiny strips really therapeutic. I’m almost tempted to go and get my scalpel and metal ruler that I use for model making so I can be really precise. But then I decide that’s going too far. I obviously need to get out more (oh wait….)

It takes a while for the nest to brown in the oven. But they get there. And mixing the cheesecake topping together is really simple. I bought double cream instead of extra thick double cream by accident. But with a bit of extra mixing it got to the right consistency. I have a taste and I actually really like the saltiness the feta adds to the dish. I’ve still got a tiny bit more cheese left so I add that in too. I couldn’t face it going back in the fridge.

They say in the article that you can make all of the components ahead of time and they keep for a few days. I’ll take their word for it. My cheesecake doesn’t last that long. It’s delicious!

Now where have I put that bar of whole nut?