Who doesn’t love a cheesecake! I love to use the 40% fat soft cow’s milk cheese from The Book & Bucket Cheese Company. It’s incredibly versatile and can be used as an alternative to cream cheese, it also has a shelf life of three weeks in the fridge which makes it very practical with very little waste. I always use this as my go-to when making this classic simple cheesecake recipe. I also like to use Hobnobs for the base as I find they give an additional texture to the cheesecake and taste much better than digestives!

For the base, you’ll need:

• 200g Hobnobs or Digestives
• 50g Butter
• 20g Runny honey

 

 

Method:

Break the biscuits into a food processor, and blitz until fine, or if you don’t have one, place in a freezer bag and crush with the base of a pot or rolling pin. Gently heat the butter and honey, but do not boil.

Pour the hot butter on to the crushed biscuit, and with a spoon, work in the butter mix until all the crumbs are coated. Push into a lined 8”/20cm sandwich tin, or flan ring, and press down with a spatula, large spoon, or palette knife. Chill in the fridge.

For the cheesecake:

• 360g B&B soft cow’s milk cheese
• 70g Caster sugar
• 1 Vanilla pod, split and scrapped, or vanilla essence, to taste
• 140g Double cream

 

 

Method:

In a food mixer with beater attachment, or large bowl and spatula, combine the cheese, sugar and vanilla, but don not over work! In another large bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.

Using a spatula, not a whisk, gently fold the cream into the cheese in 3 or 4 stages.

Remove the base from the fridge, and in stages push the cheese mix on to the biscuit base.

Now with a cranked palette knife, or the back of a spoon/spatula, level the cheese but try not to overwork it. Now chill uncovered for at least an hour.

Fruit topping:

Plain or vanilla cheesecake goes really well with fresh berries, especially strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberries.

If you want to make a sauce from some of the berries, simply place them in a pan with a little sugar, and a dash of alcohol (optional) and cook over a low heat until the berries start to break down. Remove from the heat and use a whisk or spoon to gently mash the fruit. Allow to cool slightly before chilling.

When you are ready to serve, either add the remaining fresh berries to the fruit puree, or pour the puree on the cheesecake, and then top with the remaining fresh berries.