Baked cheesecake

Cheesecakes can be made two ways, the baked variety or the cold set version which requires a bit of gelatine to hold it up together.

This is a baked cheese cake recipe, you can choose from a range of toppings to go on the cheesecake, can be as simple as some fresh berries or fruits.

It has its origin from Greece, however it is said that the Romans claimed this after their conquest over Greece. There are some version which state that it began in England.

In 1872, when a more stable cream cheese was invented in America, this lead to the baked version of the cheesecake. This revolutionised what is commonly called the "New York Cheesecake".

Ingredients

For the cheesecake mix

Philadelphia cream cheese 400gm

Caster sugar 72gm

Cream 30% 55gm

Corn starch 3gm

White chocolate 35gm

Whole eggs 115gm

Vanilla extract 5gm

For the biscuit base

Butter unsalted 133gm

Plain flour 123gm

Almond meal 67gm

Caster sugar 67gm

Baking powder 2gm

Method:

For the biscuit base

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees centigrade.

2. Combine the diced butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Lightly cream this till all the butter has been incorporated with the sugar , now add the dry ingredients and mix well. You don't need to shape them, just place frangments of the dough evenly on a flat baking tray and bake it at 160 degrees centigrade until amber in colour. You may give it a mix with a spoon to ensure even baking. Continue baking till the entire batch has an even colour.

3. Allow the biscuit crumb to cool, you can crush them in a food processor or by simply crushing them with a rolling pin.

4. Line the sides of the cake tin with grease proof paper. Spoon the crushed biscuit onto the cake tin, cover the entire base. Using an offset spatula or a grease proof paper flatten the biscuit so that every corner has the same thickness.

5. Place the lined cake tin in the refrigerator to set for about 20 minutes.

For the cheese cake:

1. Using a paddle attachment on a stand mixer/electric beater soften the cream cheese with the caster sugar to remove any lumps. Cream this for about a minute or so, the objective is to eliminate any lumps in the cheese.

2. Gradually add the eggs,vanilla and continue creaming until all the eggs have been incorporated. You don't need to aerate this, the objective is to mix well.

3. Combine the corn flour with the cream, prepare a slurry and gradually add it to the cheese mix. Continue mixing till well incorporated

4. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and add it slowly to the above mix.

5. Spoon the cheese cake mix onto the cake tin covering the entire surface of the biscuit base. You can go upto 3/4th the height of the cake tin.

6. Bake it for about 35-40 minutes at 150 degrees centigrade, you will observe that the cheese cake tends to raise from the center, a clear knife indicates doneness. If usually comes back to the same level you have filled before baking, so don't worry if this happens.

7. Allow to cool, its best stored in the freezer for about an hour after cooling completely.

8. Top it up with you choice of compote, I have used raspberry in this recipe.

Enjoy 😋

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