And that's the way the cookie crumbles...: May day

So many rainy days in April and no baking... sad isn't it? Some baking disasters made me take a break.
But today was such a lovely day, bank holiday (We have four of them this month, I love may!!!), spending time with friends I don't see often enough, sunbathing in the Jardin du Luxembourg... that I wanted to get back to blogging and soon baking !
We have a tradition here, we give muguet (I think you call it lily of the valley) to bring luck, I'm not superstitious ("Superstition ain't the way ") and I can't actually give it to you, but you'll have a picture of it !

I still have recipes from last month to share with you, like this cheesecake recipe. I LOVE cheesecake, and now that Philadelphia is available in France I love it even more ! I used to buy it on my trips to Germany so that I could bake a real one at least once a year, and now I just have to cross the street to find it ! Isn't that great? (I know, such little things make me happy sometimes!)

Cheesecake

You'll need :

200g spritz biscuits (I could have baked them myself, but sometimes you know... you can find a recipe here : http://bakeaholicandco.blogspot.fr/2011/01/god-created-coffee-houses-of-vienna-and.html)
80g / 1/3 cup melted butter
50g / 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom

500g cream cheese
200g/ 1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
40g 1/3 cup flour
juice and zest of a lime
35 cl crème fraîche
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract.

for the frosting :

22,5 cl crème fraîche
2 tbsp sugar

And then :

Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F. crumble the cookies and mix with the butter, sugar and spice (by hand).
Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
Press crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan.
Bake for about 15 minutes.

Take out the pan and turn the oven up to 250°C/460°F.
Mix all the ingredients (adding one at a time, starting with the cream cheese) and whisk until incorporated.
Pour the mixture into the pan.

Bake for 10 minutes and without opening the oven turn the temperature down to 120°C/250°F and bake for a further 1h15.
If you want to add a frosting, mix the cream and sugar and pour on the cake 15 minutes before the end of baking time and put back the cheesecake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Let it cool.
and enjoy !

Have a nice week, and if you're French or Greek, don't forget to vote on sunday ! :)