The Best Ever Baked Cheesecake

Thankyou to Sarah, from Sarah Cooks for this recipe, with just a couple of tweeks from me. It has been an absolute hit in this household from the first time I made it - and I have made it often. It has a really smooth and creamy texture with just a hint of lemon.

I’ve even made it into Mini Cheesecake Bites ( recipe follows). A drizzle of homemade, or store bought, Salted Caramel Sauce makes them sensational.

This is now the only baked cheesecake recipe I will bother to make.

Ingredients

For the base of 23cm cake tin

• 250g Granita or Gingernut biscuits
• 90g butter, melted

For the filling

• 500g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 500g sour cream
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

Method

For the filling.

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, 1 -2 minutes Add the sour cream and beat to combine. Add the zest and vanilla and lastly the eggs, one at a time. Beat until just combined.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C, fan off if possible. Drop the temperature to 150C if you only have fan-forced.
3. Butter the base and sides of a 23cm springform pan, and line the base with baking paper.

For the base

4. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until finely ground. Add in the melted butter and pulse to combine.
5. Tip into the prepared tin, and press evenly across the base and partly up the sides of the tin. If, like me, you prefer just a base, keep the remaining crumb mix aside and store in the freezer for later use.
6. Place the tin in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
7. Wrap the outside of the tin in a double layer of clingfilm and a double layer foil. This is to prevent the water from the water bath seeping into the cheesecake while it’s cooking.
8. Pour the filling into the biscuit base and tap the tin gently on a flat surface to remove any air bubbles.
9. Place the tin in a large roasting dish and pour boiling water halfway up the sides of the cheesecake tin.
10. Gently place in the oven, on the centre shelf, and bake for 1 hour 10-20 minutes. In my oven it’s 1 hour 10 minutes. Look at it after 1 hour, as every oven is slightly different. It is ready when firm, but still has a slight wobble in the centre of the mix.
11. Remove from the water bath and allow to cool in the tin. It will firm up a little on cooling.
12. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.