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

Mini Raspberry swirl Cheesecakes

Hi everyone! I have been quite addicted to Pinterest lately and as I was browsing the food & drink section I came across this recipe and I knew I had to try it, since I loveee cheesecakes and this was a bit of a different take on it.


The original recipe makes 32 cupcakes, but that was way too much, as I knew I would undoubtedly eat them all myself, so I halved the recipe. The raspberry topping added a touch of raspberry flavour completely transforming the flavour of the cheesecakes adding a tangy hint to them, as well as providing an eye-catching pop of colour, so they not only tasted delicious, they also looked great, so would be good to serve to friends or family and would really impress at a dinner party.

Preheat the oven to 163 celcius (320 farenheit) and line the cupcake pans with cupcake cases.

Combine the digestive biscuits and the melted butter and sugar in a bowl and stir them until it is all blended and the ingredients are all moistened. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake case. Bake this until it is set, which usually takes about 5 minutes.

For the cheesecake filling, beat the cream cheese until fluffy and blend in the sugar until it is smooth. Mix in the salt and vanilla and beat in the eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of this cheesecake filling over the biscuit base in each cupcake case.

To make the raspberry topping just combine the raspberries and sugar in a blender or food processor until it is smooth. Then pour this through a fine sieve to get rid of the seeds.

Dot about 1/2 teaspoon of the raspberry topping in a few dots over the cheesecake filling.

To create the swirl effect, using a toothpick or wooden skewer lightly drag them through the dots and swirl them around to create the marbled effect.

Bake the filling until it is set, about 22 minutes and make sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure they get an even bake.

Once you remove them from the oven, let them cool to room temperature and then transfer them to the fridge to cool for at least a couple of hours because nobody likes warm cheesecakes! 

Ingredients:


For the crust:
1 1/2 crushed digestive biscuits
4 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar


For the cheesecake filling:
2lbs Cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs


For the raspberry topping:
6oz fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Here is the link to the original recipe from Annie's Eats

Hope you enjoy making these as much as I did eating them!! Let me know if you have anything else you would recommend to make!


Aneesa