I am a sponge girl through and through, sponge cake, sponge pudding, sponge is my go to! Therefore, it seldom happens that cheesecake creeps into my mind. But for all of last week, cheesecake was haunting my every thought! I just could not get it off my brain! There was only one thing to do! Get baking!
To make a cheesecake that was going to fully satisfy these cravings, it was going to have to be exceptionally good! So I threw one of my favourite ingredients at it for luck, the pistachio! The humble pistachio, you may have noticed, creeps its way into a fair few of my baking creations. As does white chocolate. So it may not be a great surprise that I have paired them together again and they work beautifully in this deliciously creamy cheesecake.
If you have never made a baked cheesecake before, don't worry! They are much easier than you may have been led to believe and take minimal time as well! Just follow this step by step recipe and you can be indulging in sweet creamy nutty heaven in no time at all. Enjoy...
Ingredients...
- 200g rich tea biscuits
- 75g shelled pistachios
- 80g melted butter
- 300ml double cream
- 400g full fat cream cheese
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 400g white chocolate
Method...
- Pre heat your oven to 180 or 160 fan. Line the base of an 8inch round spring form cake tin with baking parchment and lightly grease the sides.
- Put your pistachios, saving a couple for decoration later, and your biscuits into a food processor and blitz until fine crumbs. Mix together with the melted butter then pop into your tin and press down evenly and firmly to form the base.
- Pop this into the oven to bake for 10 minutes and then leave to cool.
- Heat the double cream gently in a saucepan over low heat, then add in the white chocolate and stir until fully melted.
- Leave to cool slightly before blending with the cream cheese, eggs and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth.
- Now the only slightly technical part, your cheesecake needs to be baked in a bain-marie, to ensure it is evenly baked. All you need to do is wrap the base and sides of your tin in a layer of clingfilm and then a double layer of foil, to ensure your tin is watertight. Then pop the tin in a deep roasting tin.
- Pour your cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base. Then fill the roasting tin with boiling water, going half way up the level of the cake tin. Pop this into a slightly cooler oven, 140 or 120 fan and bake for 1 hour.
- Once your hour is up, turn your oven off, leave the cheesecake in, with the oven door slightly open and leave to cool for a couple of hours. This should prevent any cracks forming on the top.
- Your cheesecake may still appear to be slightly wobbly, don't worry, it just needs to chill and fully firm up! Leave it in the fridge overnight and the next day it should be firm. Un-clip your tin and pop the cheesecake out and onto a serving plate. Sprinkle some chopped pistachios over the top for a pop of colour. And then dive right in and enjoy the smooth silky creaminess of your cheesecake!
