RECIPE: Baked vanilla cheesecake with berry compote

Last week I asked Mr O if there was anything in particular he would like me to bake and he said “cheesecake”. I have a few go to cheesecake recipes for set cheesecakes but I have never made a baked one so I decided to give it a go. It’s a bit fiddly but this recipe from Janie’s Patisserie came out perfectly. Not a single crack and the texture is heavenly. I have absolutely found my forever recipe.

This cheesecake needs to rest overnight so make sure you start the day before you expect to serve it.

Baked vanilla cheesecake with berry compote

Adapted from Janie’s Patisserie

For the base

300g digestive biscuits
175g butter, melted

For the cheesecake

600g full fat cream cheese
175g caster sugar
30g flour
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, plus one egg yolk
150ml sour cream

Berry compote

200g strawberries
100g raspberries
100g caster sugar

Exra berries to decorate

Preheat your oven to 220C. Get out a 20cm, deep springform cake tin. Mine is a bit old so I line the base with greaseproof paper. It’s not essential but if yours tends to be a bit sticky you might also want to.

Put the biscuits in your food processor and process until you have fine crumbs. Pour in the butter and process until it is well combined. Press the mixture firmly into the base of the tin and refrigerate while you make the cheesecake batter.

Put the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk on a slow speed until loose. Mix together the sugar and flour in a separate bowl. Add the sugar mixture to the cream cheese a little at a time, mixing after each addition to make sure it is combined.

Add the vanilla, lemon zest and juice and mix.

Beat together the eggs and then add a little at a time to the cream cheese mixture, beating after each addition to combine. Fold through the sour cream.

Pour the mixture into the tin and place in the centre of your oven for 10 mins. Then turn the oven down to 90C and bake 30 more minutes.

After 30 mins has passed, turn off the oven  and leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool with the door slightly ajar for 2 hours.

Wrap the cheesecake in foil still in the tin and leave in the fridge overnight. Once the cheesecake has cooled overnight run a knife around the edge and remove carefully from the tin.

To make the compote, quarter the strawberries and put them in a saucepan with the sugar. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the berries have gone mushy. Press the mixture through a sieve and discard the pips and lumpy bits (or stir them into your porridge like I did). Leave the compote to cool completely before pouring over the cheesecake. Decorate with fresh berries. (I used raspberries and black berries).

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.