Vanilla Baked Cheesecake With Seasonal Fruits

Soulful Baker

Posted by Aurum Press

About

I find baked cheesecakes to be far more indulgent than their gelatine set cousins. They are rich, creamy and incredibly smooth and make for a very luxurious dessert indeed. Baking the cheesecake at a lower temperature for a longer time should hold off any unsightly cracks and will also prevent any colour from being taken. One important piece of advice that I will pass to you (learned through experience) is to ensure that the tin(pan) you use is leakproof. There is no fun in seeing all of your careful preparation leaking out of the tin (pan), covering the bottom of your oven!

Serves 8–10
Use a 21cm (8½ inch) round, 6cm (2½ inch) deep loose-bottomed cake tin (pan)

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You Will Need (17 things)

  • Base

  • 90 g (3oz/scant ½ cup/¾ stick) Unsalted Butter
  • 200 g (7oz) crunchy oat Cookies
  • 1 pinch Of Salt

  • Filling

  • 500 g (1lb 2oz) full-fat Cream Cheese at room temperature
  • 100 g (3½oz/½ cup/1 stick) Unsalted Butter at room temperature
  • 80 ml (3fl oz/⅓ cup) (heavy) Double Cream
  • 200 g (7oz/1 cup) (superfine) Caster Sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
  • 30 g (1¼oz/¼ cup) Cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 5 Eggs

  • Fruit

  • 400 g (14oz) mixed summer Berries or seasonal alternatives
  • 2 tbsp (powdered) Icing Sugar
  • 100 ml (3½fl oz/generous ⅓ cup) Water
  • Juice of 1 Lemon

Steps (6 steps, 45 minutes)

  1. 1

    Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line the base and sides of the tin (pan) with non-stick baking paper.

  2. 2

    First, make the base. Gently melt the butter in a small pan and set aside. Crush the cookies to a fine crumb, either by hand or in a food processor and add a pinch of salt. Pour in the melted butter and combine well. Press the mixture evenly into the base of the lined tin (pan), smoothing out evenly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove and leave to cool completely.

  3. 3

    Turn the oven down to 100°C fan/120°C/240°F/gas ¼–½.

  4. 4

    Beat together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth – it is important that both are at room temperature to ensure that the mix will be lump free. When smooth and well combined, add the cream, sugar, vanilla and cornflour (cornstarch). Mix until smooth, then beat in the eggs. Pour over the base, removing any air bubbles that rise to the surface.

  5. 5

    Bake in the cooler oven for up to 2 hours, checking after the first hour, then again 30 minutes later. The cheesecake should have a slight wobble towards the centre when ready. Only remove from the oven at this point if you feel that it has set sufficiently, otherwise continue to cook for longer. That said, it is worth bearing in mind that the cheesecake will continue to set as it is cools. Remove from the oven but do leave it in the tin (pan) until completely cooled. Refrain from putting the cheesecake in the fridge as it will change the consistency completely, losing its luxury.

    Wash and prepare the fruit, halving any larger berries. Add to a pan along with the sugar and water and gently simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add a few drops of lemon juice – a certain level of tartness is a welcome contrast to the richness of the cheesecake.

  6. 6

    Slice and serve with some of the fruit spooned over the top.