Normally unafraid of calories and fat content, every once in a while my husband will say in passing that he will get fat if he eats another one of my baked goods. It’s the sad reality of a well-fed guinea pig. Since marathon training began his concerns of padding out his pouch have somewhat changed and I have found myself initiating a code orange security watch on my own dinner plate. Hey, I’m marathon training too!
Cheesecake is no longer considered a fat-boy treat- in fact his birthday cake which I claim to feed twenty is almost entirely gone and only four slices were eaten by a few lucky friends. There are clearly some perks to having your birthday party when everyone is out of town for the holiday. I wanted to do something a little different with this cake- it was a 30th birthday celebration , after all. I toyed with the idea of peanut butter and chocolate, then a of dulce de leche and chocolate made the list- but in the end I settled with something a little more sophisticated. I was hoping that the chocolate would set a little softer- like fudge but you can’t have everything in one go and just because it’s not a soft fudge setting doesn’t make it bad. Nope, there’s nothing bad about this cheesecake…..except maybe how many miles you will have to run to burn it off. I figured my fifteen-miler this weekend would just about cover a slice.
I have cut down the sugar from a traditional cheesecake by 1/3 but frankly I think I would reduce it even more next time. I have on the other hand left the dairy fat full fat because the lower the fat the more sugar, sodium and preservatives there tend to be. You can use your own judgment on that though but this is cheesecake after all- even low-fat dairy isn’t going to make it good for you. The Digestive biscuits used on the base are lower sugar than traditional graham crackers but if you can’t find them the closest equivalent are Carr’s whole wheat crackers. Both serve as the best banoffee pie base and are totally divine served with a wedge of extra sharp cheddar.
And with that said, I’ll just let the cake speak for itself in pictures…….oh and in case your wondering, yes, Don did have to wait for me to take pictures before he could try it.
Serves 16-20
for the base
10/140g/5oz Digestive biscuits (or Carr’s whole wheat crackers)
85g/3oz butter
large handful toasted hazelnuts (or other unsalted nuts), optional
• Get all of your dairy out of the fridge to bring to room temp. Heat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Bash up the biscuits until they make crumbs- some little pieces are okay. Bash up the hazelnuts and mix with the biscuits. Melt the butter in the microwave or small saucepan and then mix with the biscuits and hazelnut until fully combined. Press into the bottom of you lined cake tin so that you have an even flat base. If you leave it too loosely packed it will crumble and fall apart when you slice the cake. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Turn the oven up to 475F/240C/Gas 9
• Meanwhile make the chocolate layer. In a small saucepan, melt down the condensed milk, dark chocolate and butter until fully melted. Immediately pour the chocolate layer over the biscuit base and using a small offset spatula spread all over the base evenly. Press your pitted and halved cherries in a single even layer all over the chocolate.
• Now for the cheesecake topping. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on a medium-low speed until very smooth creamy (about 2 minutes). This step is important for avoiding lumps so make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once. With the mixer on low, gradually add the 175g of sugar, then the flour, again scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Swap the paddle attachment for the whisk. Add the vanilla, then the eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each egg. Slowly whisk in the 2/3 of the sour cream until smooth. Don’t overbeat. Grease the sides of your cake tin with butter. Pour in the cheesecake mix and spread until smooth.
• Place on a baking tray and into the oven for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature to 250F/110C/Gas 1/4 and bake for a further 25-35 minutes. When you shake the tin there should be a slight wobble but not a liquid-like wobble. Think jello! Turn off the oven and leave the door closed or for softer set, like mine leave the oven door cracked open. Let cool in the oven for 2 hours. If you cheesecake cracks, fear not- you’re going to cover it up!
• Once cool mix your remaining 1/3 container of sour cream with 1 tsp sugar and then spread evenly over the top of your cheesecake. I Find it’s best to do this once your released the cake from the tin. To do this without cracking the cake, run a knife or palette knife under hot water and then go round the sides of the cake tin to loosen any stuck edges, popping the knife back under hot water as necessary. Then release the cake from the tin.
