Where's BBx? She is Cheesecake Queen!
You called!
Follow this recipe.. even a noob like I can do it
This is for American baked cheesecake, not like any of that creamy rubbish that that Sara Lee bird makes
First off you need a bottomless cheesecake tin (it has a release on the side so the bottom falls out and you can remove it from the tin without mashing it up) or you can use another deep cake tin. Has to be deep though as there will be a lot of mixture.
CHOPPER'S CHEESECAKE
Ingredients:
Small packet of digestive biscuits
1 oz of butter
175g caster sugar
3 Tbsps (heaped) cornflour
800g Philadelphia (For some reason Organic was 23p cheaper each in ASDA so I bought that)
280ml of double cream (or thereabouts)
2 eggs
1 Vanilla Pod
Tbsp Vanilla essence (would prob use 2 next time)
Icing Sugar (optional)
Method:
1) Pre-heat the oven to 170 degs.
2) Crush ¾ of the small bag of digestive biscuits in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. (see Fig 1)
3) Melt the 1 oz of butter in a pan on a low heat and mix in the crushed biscuits.
4) Once mixed together, pour into the flan tin (you should have a special one as in (Fig 2) this one cost £4.99 from Robert Dyas which wasn't too bad for immediateness and what I had found on internet but if you don't have, victoria sponge tins should be ok if they are deep enough) and press down with a potato masher so the layer is solid. (Fig 3)
5) In a bowl put in the 175g of caster sugar, 3 heaped tablespoons of cornflour, 800g Philadelphia and blend together with a hand blender. (At this point I realised that I'm going to have to get over my fear of the consistency of cream cheese in order to make this...)
6) Remove vanilla seeds from the pod. Score down the middle with your Jean Patrique knife and scrape out with a teaspoon and add to the mixture.
7) Beat the two eggs together in a bowl (you don't really need to if you are using a hand blender but I did anyway) then add to the mixture with the vanilla seeds, double cream,1-2 tsp of vanilla essence and blend again. (Fig 4)
8) Blend into a smooth consistency (Fig 5) (- make sure you keep the hand blender underneath the mixture at all times as you don't want too much air to get in) and then pour onto the biscuit base. (Figs 6.0 - 6.2)
9) Use the plastic spatula to make the mixture even in the tin. (Fig 7)
10) Place in the lower part of the oven and bake in the oven for 40mins at 170 degs.
11) When ready the cheesecake should be cooked but have a wobbly consistency. (Fig 8)
12) Leave in oven to cool down.
13) When cold you can put in the fridge. Don't put it in straight away as it may crack if you do this though so leave to cool in the oven and then when its cold put it in the fridge 4hrs ideally to set. (Fig 9)
14) Dust with icing sugar and serve (I forgot to dust) on own or with cream. (Fig 10)
Good luck!
Like Blackstar said, it probably cost more than to buy one off the shelf, but you have the satisfaction of it being your creation
BB x
PS Mine looks a bit burnt there, but it didn't taste it
