Recipe: Fresh Cherry Cheesecake
Ingredients
For The Cheesecake:
5 ounces of graham crackers
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
26 ounches cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup light sour cream
Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt
For The Cherry Sauce:
1 & 1/4 lb. fresh cherries, halved and pitted
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons corn flour (cornstarch)
4 teaspoons water, extra
Details
Time:
4 hours
Serves:
16
Rating:
Directions
For The Baked Cheesecake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F fan forced. Grease and line an 8 inch round spring form tin with baking paper.
- Blend or crush the crackers into crumbs.
- Add the melted butter, cinnamon & ginger and mix well.
- Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared tin and about 1/5 inch up the side.
- Bake for 5 minutes then set aside while you make the filling.
- Increase the oven temperature to 430F fan forced.
- Using a stand mixer and the beater attachment or handheld beater, beat the cream cheese on low-med speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as required.
- Add the sugar and vanilla and beat well, again scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Add the eggs and extra yolk, one at a time beating until each is well incorporated.
- Add the sour cream, salt, lemon juice and zest and beat well.
- Pour the filling over the top of the biscuit base and smooth over the top as much as possible.
- Place a dish or cake tin filled with warm water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Then place the cheesecake onto a separate baking tin (to catch any butter that might leak out in cooking) and place in the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 230F and bake for a further 20 minutes. There should be a slight wobble in the centre.
- Turn the oven off and allow to cool in the oven for half an hour with the door closed, then open the door and let it cool for a further 1 1/2 hours before transferring to the fridge to cool completely.
For The Fresh Cherry Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the cherries, water, lemon juice and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn the heat down so the mixture is just simmering.
- Simmer stirring every so often for about 10 minutes until the cherries have softened and the liquid has tripled.
- Make a slurry using the cornflour and extra water. Slowly dribble the slurry into the cherries while stirring constantly so that it doesn’t turn lumpy.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- Pour the cherry sauce over the top of the cheesecake right before serving, piling all the cherries up in the middle.