Having a Saturday afternoon BBQ to prepare for, a delicious dessert was in order. Cheesecake. I decided to make Nigella’s New York Cheesecake. Cheesecake is silky, decadent and rich. This recipe makes a particularly amazing cheesecake, as the separating of the eggs gives the cake a lovely light texture that dances on your tongue momentarily before melting away. The only complaint was that this recipe yields so much I ended up with two cheesecakes! That Nigella must have a mighty big cake tin…
Ingredients
- Base – 250g digestive biscuits crushed to fine crumbs
- 150g unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons of caster sugar
- Topping – 2 tablespoons of cornflour
- 750g cream cheese
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 150ml double cream
- 150ml sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- icing sugar for dusting
- raspberries or another sort of fruit for decoration to serve
Method
- Mix together the crushed biscuits, melted butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar, and press into the base of the Springform tin (I used a regular tin and with greasing, the cake came out without any trouble). Put in the fridge for about half an hour to set.
- Preheat the oven to 170˚C. In a large bowl, mix together the remaining sugar and the cornflour. Beat in the cream cheese, egg yolks and vanilla, either by hand or using an electric beater. Slowly pour in both creams, beating constantly. Add the salt and lemon zest. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold into the cheese mixture.
- Scoop onto the chilled base. Bake for 1-1 1/2 hours without opening the oven until the cheesecake is golden-brown on top. Turn off the heat and let the cake stand in the oven for 2 more hours. Then open the door and let it stand for a further hour. Serve chilled with icing sugar and fruit to decorate. Passionfruit is a great choice to pair with this cake as its cheeky tartness zings through the creamy body of the cake.
Note: I found my cake was browning too much so I opened the door of the oven long before the two hours were up. It had no adverse effect on the cake.
As there ended up being two cheesecakes, I loaded up the spare with berries. Pretty as a picture.
