Baked cherry cheesecake

Serves:

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain sweet biscuit crumbs (I used McVite’s Digestive
  biscuits)
• 75g unsalted butter, melted
• 375g Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
• 500g ricotta
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons cornflour
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 ½ cups caster sugar
• 1 ½ cups morello cherries (I buy the 680g glass jar)
• Finely chopped zest and juice of 1 lemon
• Fresh cherries, to decorate
• 1 teaspoon icing sugar, to dust

Method

Butter the base of a 22cm springform pan and line with non-stick baking paper. In a bowl, combine biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press firmly into the base of the pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 150°C.

Mix cornflour and water together in a small bowl to make a runny paste. Place cream cheese in a food processor and whiz until smooth, add ricotta and whiz again to combine. Add the eggs, cornflour mixture, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Whiz until all combined. Pour 2/3 of the cream cheese filling into pan, sprinkle cherries over, and then cover with remaining cheesecake mixture.

Place onto a baking tray (just in case there is overflow or seepage from the springform pan). Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Check to see if the cheesecake is set in the middle, if not, bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Cool in pan, then run a knife around the edge of the pan, release sides of pan and transfer to a serving plate. I leave the cheesecake on the base of the pan.

Refrigerate until cold or needed. Just before serving, top with fresh cherries and dust with icing sugar (place icing sugar in a tea strainer and sprinkle from a height). What an impressive dessert! Serve with thick cream.

Related Christmas recipes:

• Christmas-style coleslaw
• Christmas burgers with the lot
• Easy Christmas turkey
• Simple Christmas terrine
• Glazed baked ham
• Cranberry, prosciutto and pistacho stuffing
• Christmas tree biscuits
• Christmas pastry wreaths
• Sneaky mini Christmas puddings
• Easy Christmas pudding ice-cream
• Christmas cookies
• Christmas cupcakes with butter frosting
• Boiled Christmas pudding with brandy custard
• Mars Bar Christmas crackles
• Christmas fruit platter
• Christmas gingerbread families
• Light Christmas cake
• Easy Christmas jellies
• Spiced Christmas muffins
• Traditional panforte
• White Christmas crackles
• White Christmas slice

Serving Suggestions

Note

• I love baked cheesecake. And the lemon and cherries in this version cut through the richness. A nice cool alternative to Christmas pudding.
• Best of all, cheesecake can be prepared a day or two ahead of serving and kept nice and cold in your overloaded fridge. Added bonus: the taste improves while you are worrying about the turkey, doing a last minute clean of the house and wrapping presents at 11pm on Christmas Eve!
• Store leftover cherries in the jar in the fridge and use later in muffins or cakes.