Cherries etc

Thank you so much Kj for your kind invitation to gather at your place tonight for a potluck supper! Great idea and I'm really happy to bring over a few bottles of Moet from my own blog where I'm celebrating my 1st year blogging anniversary!! How do you like your champers? Plain or with some orange juice for Bucks Fizz! I've brought that too - Slurp!

And I'm guessing we'll have lots of great supper dishes, so if anyone's got any room for desert here's my cherry cheesecake. It's yummy - creamy, juicy, kirch-laced and colorie-laden! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

75g butter
175g lite digestive biscuits, crushed
110g caster sugar
4 eggs, separated
50g chopped almonds
450g light cream cheese
3-4tbs Kirsch
half a jar of cherry jam, sieved
2tsps arrowroot
cherries for the top of cake, halved and stoned

Method

Grease base and sides of 8" cake tin with removable base. Melt butter and stir in biscuit crumbs. Press into tin and bake at 180 c/350 F for 10 minutes. Cool. Soften cheese with sugar and gradually add egg yolks, beating until smooth. Stir in almonds. Beat egg whites until stiff and carefully fold into cheese mix. Pour into tin and bake at 180c/350F for about 1 and a half hours. Cool and remove from tin. When cake is cold pierce top with a skewer and pour over a couple of tbs Kirsch. Bring the sieved jam to the boil with the remaining Kirsch then add arrowroot mixed with a little cold water. Cook until cleared and thickened. Arrange cherries on top of cake and brush jam glaze over top and sides to give an even coating. Chill thoroughly. Enjoy!!

Whilst we're partaking of the goodies here's a a couple of facts about me - I'm a nomad! I've moved with my family around 18 times (not counting into the Lane!) over the last 30 years. 3 different continents, 13 different towns/cities/villages (I think!) - I don't know what it's like to stay put in one place for more than 5 years! I'm English, married to a Dutchman with 2 daughters aged 25 and 30.

oh, and let's not forget one tuxedo cat.