Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

As I mentioned in a previous blogpost - I LOVE cheesecake! So I knew I would have to share my favourite and in my opinion the best recipe for a baked vanilla cheesecake! I love this cheesecake because rather than being really heavy and dense, this recipe makes a cheesecake that is quite light but rich and full of flavour! It is good as it can be used as a base to add on flavours that you like, so you could add raspberry coulis, rhubarb compote or anything that you like really, to build up the flavour of the cheesecake and add another dimension to it or make it better suited to your own taste. It is even perfect on its own - just how I like it.

To start off preheat the oven to 200°c/180°c for a fan assisted oven /356°F. To make the base of the cheesecake, in a food processor or by hand crush the digestive biscuits into fine crumbs. Put the crumbs in a bowl and add the melted butter, mix thoroughly until the butter has been incorporated and all the crumbs have been covered. Transfer these crumbs to a lined baking tin, and press down until firm. Bake the base for 5 minutes, then remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. 

For the cheesecake filling just beat all the ingredients, the cream cheese, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and crème fraiche in a large bowl until the mixture is pale and fluffy (the exact measurements for the recipe are found at the end). Turn the mixture onto the cooled base and smooth off the top. Bake this in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Check very carefully that it is set by touching it with a fingertip - it should give slightly but spring back and still wobble. Remember it will continue to cool a little once removed from the oven. Leave it to  cool completely in the tin. The centre will be quite wobbly when you take it out of the oven but it does set once it cools!

Once it is fully cooled after a couple of hours, you can serve it with the topping of your choice or as it is. I chose to use some of the crème fraiche I had used for the filling and spread a layer of it on top of the cheesecake. 

Usually some baked cheesecakes are prone to cracking but I haven't had that problem yet with this recipe. If it does happen though, the crème fraiche, or any topping you decide to use would do a great job of hiding it. 

Ingredients:

For the Base:

250g (9 ounces) Digestive Biscuits

100g (3.5 ounces) Melted Butter 

For the Cheesecake Filling:

600g (21 ounces) Cream cheese

2 tablespoons Plain flour

175g (6 ounces) Caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

2 Large eggs

1 Egg-yolk

142ml crème fraiche 

Keep it sweet!

Aneesa