blueberry cheesecake
I love cheesecakes and I have tried many different ones, using a variety of soft cheeses like mascarpone or Philadelphia. This one is particularly easy to make but it looks really professional so you could easily impress your friends if you produce one of these. It tastes even nicer the day after (you have to store it in the fridge in that case) so it’s ideal if you have people for dinner and you want to cook ahead. You can make it with other berries like raspberries or blackberries. But I love blueberries so that’s what I chose and I am now sharing with you. Strangely enough I have never seen a cheesecake on sale in Italy (I might be wrong. Do tell me if I am Candi when you get back from Russia) but they are very popular here in the UK and, may I add, in Austria and Germany where we had some delicious ones while we were there on holiday. The recipe is, once again, from Rachel Allen’s book called Bake.
INGREDIENTS
75 g butter, melted
175 g digestive biscuits
175 g blueberries, plus extra for decorating
450 g cream cheese (like Philadelphia)
150 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (or you can use the grated zest of a lemon. I’ve tried that too!)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
icing sugar, to dust
METHOD
Place the biscuits into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and press down into the base of a 24 cm. tin. Spread the blueberries over the base and allow to chill in the fridge until needed.
Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and the eggs together in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Pour over the top of the blueberries and then bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes, or until pale golden and only wobbles slightly when you gently shake the tin.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 10-15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen it and carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin. Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle over a few blueberries, then dust with icing sugar.
This cheesecake is best eaten when it is at room temperature.
Magnifica torta! L’ho cucinata prima di Natale, semplice da preparare e un successone assicurato! Slurp!
Evviva Stefania, l’ho fatta anch’io ed è stata una soddisfazione.