Cheesecake with Lemon Poppyseed Macarons
(Adapted from Sharon's Cheesecake of Trattoria Garga, recipe from Saveur Magazine, serves 8)
For the macarons:
100g aged egg whites (you can use fresh eggs too, just make sure they are room temperature. I always use fresh these days, and zap it in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds)
105g almond meal, dried in a cool (100 degrees C) oven for 5 minutes and sifted
195g icing sugar
50g sugar
Zest of one lemon, about 1-2 tsp
1 tbsp poppy seeds
Optional: 1 tsp powdered egg whites (available from The Essential Ingredient),
yellow powdered food colouring
50g unsalted butter
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
Juice from half a lemon

For the crust:
2 cups finely crushed digestives (English whole wheat biscuits, can be substituted with graham crackers)
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp (approx 60g) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake filling:
1 1/2 cups (approx 390g) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp (approx 170g) mascarpone
1 cup sugar
3 eggs

For the cheesecake topping:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract