8: The Idea of Cheesecake

I've wanted to make baked cheesecake ever since I watched the contestants doing so on The Great British Bake-Off. Who doesn't like cheesecake? Unfortunately, it can sometimes be really boring. I've never warmed to New York style vanilla cheesecake, a great creamy fattening mass of blandness. Where's the goddamn flavour? The eponymous cheesecake of my childhood is the frozen or chilled blackcurrant kind. Mum and Dad were never quite circumspect in making sure it was thoroughly defrosted, so sometimes it was quite hard and icy still. I've never liked the blackcurrants. I always picked them off, flicking them onto the side of my plate, to be pirated by whichever family member's spoon or fork got there fast enough. I'm sure this happens in other families: this sharking of leftovers from the finished plate.

Baked Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients:
225g digestive biscuits
100g butter, melted
250g marscapone (tub)
600g soft cheese
2 whole eggs + 2 yolks
Zest of 3 lemons + juice of 1
4 tablespoons plain flour
175g caster sugar

Topping:
Half a 284ml pot soured cream
3 tablespoons lemon curd
Handful raspberries

Heat oven to 180 degrees. Line the bottom of a 23cm springform tin with greaseproof paper. Tip the biscuits and melted butter into a food processor, then blitz to make fine crumbs. Press into the tin and chill. Whisk all the other ingredients in a large bowl until completely combined, pour into the tin, then bake for 35-50 minutes until the cheesecake has a uniform wobble. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside until cool. When it is completely cooled, remove from the tin and top with soured cream. Swirl lemon curd over the top and decorate with raspberries, if you like.

(To turn this cheesecake into an orange or lime-flavoured cheesecake, simply swap the zest and juice of lemon to that of an orange or a lime.) Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2009.

Chilled Strawberry Cheesecake
Ingredients:
250g digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter, melted
1 vanilla pod
600g soft cheese
100g icing sugar
284ml pot double cream

Topping:
400g punnet strawberries, halved
25g icing sugar

EQUIPMENT: 23cm loose-bottomed tin, baking parchment, plastic food bag, rolling pin, large bowl, dessert spoon, chopping board, kitchen knife, electric mixer, spatula, serving plate, blender or food processor, sieve

Make the base: Butter and line a 23cm loose-bottomed tin with baking parchment. Put the biscuits in a plastic food bag and crush to crumbs using a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl, then pour over the melted butter. Mix thoroughly until the crumbs are completely coated. Tip them into the prepared tin and press firmly down into the base to create an even layer. Chill in the fridge for 1 hr to set firmly. Remove the vanilla seeds: Slice the vanilla pod in half lengthways, leaving the tip intact, so that the two halves are still joined. Holding onto the tip of the pod, scrape out the seeds using the back of a kitchen knife.

Make the filling: Place the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl, then beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Tip in the cream and continue beating until the mixture is completely combined. Now spoon the cream mixture onto the biscuit base, working from the edges inwards and making sure that there are no air bubbles. Smooth the top of the cheesecake down with the back of a dessert spoon or spatula. Leave to set in the fridge overnight.

Un-moulding and topping: Bring the cheesecake to room temperature, about 30 minutes before serving. To un-mould, place the base on top of a can, then gradually pull the sides of the tin down. Slip the cake onto a serving plate, removing the lining paper and base. Purée half the strawberries in a blender or food processor with 25g icing sugar and 1 tsp water, then sieve. Pile the remaining strawberries onto the cake, then pour over purée.

What about a different flavour?
For Lemon: Beat the finely grated zest & juice 2 lemons with the soft cheese & icing sugar instead of the vanilla seeds. Top with lemon curd & leave to chill. For Raspberry: Replace strawberries with fresh raspberries. For Passion fruit & mango: Make a delicious passion fruit sauce by sieving the pulp of 4 passion fruit and sweetening to taste with a little icing sugar. Top the cheesecake with chopped mango, then pour over the sauce, dotting the top with a few of the passion fruit seeds.