So I lost the bake off sweepstake at work on dessert week and so had to make a cheesecake! Luckily, I already had made this recipe before for a baby shower and it proved tasty then. However, I hoped this time would be more successful as last time I accidentally dropped it on the floor whilst leaving the house! I however managed to save it by cutting off the bottom that touched the floor and crushing an emergency biscuit base for the top to sit on. This time, clumsiness was at bay and it turned out a lot better! The recipe is a Hummingbird Bakery one. I have however changed the biscuit base to half gingernuts as I think they create a better flavour.
Recipe (serves 12)
Biscuit base:
- 110g digestive biscuits
- 110g gingernut biscuits
- 100g unsalted butter
Cheesecake topping:
- 700g full-fat cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 120g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 80g frozen summer fruits (defrosted)
- A good amount of raspberries and blueberries for the topping
One 20cm (8 inch) diameter spring-from cake tin
Method
- Line the cake tin with a circle of baking parchment. You might find it useful to stick it down with a dab of butter!
- Grease the inside of the tin, including over the parchment.
- Melt the butter in the microwave by giving it a 30-60 seconds zap.
- Crush the biscuits. You can use a food processor. Alternatively, put in a sealed food bag and crush with a rolling pin. This is in fact good stress relief! Just imagine being on public transport for 5 hours and you will have the most amazing biscuit crumbs.
- Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and squash into the cake tin so that a tight even base is formed. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Now make the cheesecake filling. Cream together the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Mix in one egg at a time, keeping mixing until the ingredients are well combined. This prevents the mix from curdling. Don’t over mix.
- Pour into the cake tin and smooth the top down with a spatula.
- Now cover the base and sides with foil so that the cake tin sits in a little nest. Make sure the tin is well protected to prevent any moisture slipping into the cake tin. Create a bain-marie by sitting the nest into a water bath. Simply place the cheesecake in a deep baking tray containing water that comes 5 mm from the top of the tin.
- Bake in a preheated 160oC oven for 40-50 minutes. The top needs to be slightly golden with a slight wobble to the cheesecake.
- Leave to cool in the tin.
- Slide a palate knife around the edges of the tin and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Next, take the cheesecake out of the tin Get someone to help if this is tricky as it is not worth spoiling the dessert!
- Add berries for the topping.
Enjoy!