New York Cheesecake

Cheesecake is not something I have ever raved about, it is okay and tastes good enough. This all changed when I visited the cheesecake factory on a trip to America. I remember having a bite of the slice and thinking "is this what I have been missing out on!" Making my own New York cheesecake has been long overdue but I finally got around to doing it. This recipe comes from SORTEDfood and yields about 8 slices.

New York Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 250 g digestive biscuits (or graham crackers if you are from the US)

• 125 g butter, melted

• 500 g cream cheese

• 135 g caster sugar

• zest and juice from 1 lemon

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• 4 eggs

Compote (optional)

• 200g blueberries

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 Celsius. The first step is to make the base. To do this crush up the biscuits into a fine powder (I used a food processor to do this) and then mix in the melted butter. Pour the base mixture into a loose bottomed tin and press until the base goes up the sides. Place in the fridge to firm up.

Make the cheesecake mixture by beating together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon, flour and vanilla (I used a vanilla bean to make it extra special) until smooth.

Now it is time to add in the eggs. Make sure to only add one egg at a time and beat in between, because the mixture will curdle otherwise. The mixture is ready when there are no lumps.

Pour into the tin, making sure to level the top.

Place the tin in the oven and bake for about 45 mins, the top should feel firm with a slight wobble. At this point, turn off the oven and leave the door slightly open. This is so that the cheesecake can cool down to room temperature gently before being left in the fridge. Moving from the hot oven to the cold fridge could sink the rise in the cheesecake.

The recipe suggested serving the cheesecake along with a blueberry compote. I did not do this and regretted it because the compote would cut through the sweetness of the cheesecake and give it more pizzazz!