Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gastronomía

Recipes from an Islandmix. Chef Cristina Codina. Gran Canaria.

How to make Creamy Guía Flower Cheese Cake by Cristina Codina



INGREDIENTS AND COOKING METHOD


7 eggs
280 gr sugar
30 gr cornflour
450 gr Mascarpone cheese
550 gr Guía Flower cheese
500 gr cream

Pre-heat oven to 200ºC and line a 24 cm round mould with grease-proof paper. Follow these steps:
1.- Beat the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl.
2.- Add the cheese and blend in until there are no more lumps.
3.- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend together.
4.- Pour contents into the mould and place in the oven for 45-50 minutes.
5.- Leave to cool for a further 30 minutes, keeping the oven closed.

Creamy Guía Flower Cheese Cake
THERMOMIX BLENDER RECIPE


1.- Place the eggs and sugar in the glass and blend for 50 seconds at speed 6
2.- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend for 50 seconds, gradually increasing the speed from 6 to 8.
3.- Pour into the mould
4.- Place into the oven at 200ºC and cook for 45-50 minutes.

Creamy Guía Flower Cheese Cake
Cristina Codina
PRESENTATION


To give the dessert extra sweetness, it is recommended to add ice-cream and aromatic honey from the Gran Canarian municipality of Tejeda.

THE CHEF’S INSPIRATION


When Cristina Codina began to do research into making her own cheesecake, she took some of the best-known recipes as a reference, and then began to reinvent new combinations, as a preliminary step, until she came up with her own creation.

She ruled out a recipe containing biscuits and jams, as she wanted to emphasise the cheese flavour as the main element. So she finally decided on the wonderful, award-winning Guía Flower designation of origin cheese, which she mixed with another very sweet cheese to compensate for the acidity of the rich Flower cheese. In this way she achieved a personal blend, the blend that forms the basis of the cake, in a unique preparation that puts the spotlight on the island's local produce.

"Right from the start it was clear to me that in a place dedicated to cheese we should make a special cake containing cheese from Gran Canaria"


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Who is Cristina Codina?

Cristina's vocation for catering began at a very young age. She loved watching her mother getting the crockery, cutlery, glassware and table linen ready for big occasions at home, taking great care to ensure that every detail pleased her guests.

Sometime later, Cristina Codina began her career studying at the Hotel Escuela de Santa Brígida, training in all the different hotel departments, including the food and drinks area, which she made her first specialisation. After graduating, she moved on to different hotel chains in Germany, Scotland and Spain, working hard to learn new forms of service and other gastronomies. She finished this first stage of training as a food and drinks assistant at the Princesa Yaiza 5-star Gran Lujo hotel in Lanzarote.

Cristina returned to Gran Canaria as Head of Catering at AsproPark Canarias, the leisure park operated by the company on the island. At the end of this period, she returned to her origins as a trainer at the Hotel Escuela de Hecansa in Santa Brígida, providing training in the catering area. At that time she began to think about entrepreneurship. "I had been toying with the idea of opening a business together with my husband for a long time, we wanted to do a joint project together". While that dream took shape, she worked as head waitress at La Barra By Traddiction, an award-winning restaurant run by chef Ángel Palacios.

In 2016, with her husband, Juancho Lorenzo, she opened the doors of CHEESE Las Palmas, a small and cosy establishment specialising in Canarian cheeses. They set up on a corner next to Las Canteras beach, in the heart of Guanarteme, where they showcase practically the entire range of exquisite cheeses from the archipelago. With the preparation of their boards they strive to transmit the history of each cheese and the people who make them with considerable effort and love.

*Cristina Codina was a finalist for best cheesecake at an open competition during the 1st International Cheese Forum, held in Gran Canaria in April 2019.



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Guía Cheese

INGLES28º 'Dish-enhancing' secret ingredient:

Guía Cheese

The municipality of Guía can rightly boast being the production hub of one of the country’s finest cheeses. Guía has its own three Designations of Origin; Guía Cheese, Flower Cheese and Half Flower Cheese. All of them have a unique flavour, thanks to the quality pasture land at the summit area and the quality of the livestock, elements that complement the painstaking work that goes on in the cheese dairies, and in large numbers, traditional-style storage in caves.  

La Bodega Visitor Centre, in Marqués de Muni nº 34, Santa Mª de Guía, is a great place to learn all about this essential product if you decide to pass through the town on your tour around the north of the island.