Saturday 16 March 2013

Blueberry Cheesecake

Blueberry Cheesecake








This was my first attempt of making a cheesecake and I'm really impressed with the outcome. 
I always thought that making a cheesecake would be a daunting process but I couldn't have been more wrong :)
I will definitely be making another one :) It was delicious.

Ingredient:
1 tub cream cheese( I used Philadelphia)( room temp)
4 table spoons of fresh cream (optional)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tea spoons vanilla extract
8 plain biscuits for base ( I used Hobnobs)
2 table spoons of butter/margarine
Punnet of Blueberries
Preparation Method :
Pre heat oven to 175
Put biscuits( cookies) in a food bag and bash with the back of a spoon or rolling pin until you get fine crumbs.
Add butter into a pan and melt on a gentle heat.
add Crumbs and mix together( it should look like wet sand)
Line a round cake tin with tin foil leaving extra to hang  over so it makes it easier to lift out and also makes for easy clean up.
Press the biscuit crumbs onto the base and press down firmly with the bottom of a glass or spoon.
Add cream cheese to a large bowl and soften with a wooden spoon and add the sugar and mix well.
Add cream and vanilla essence and and mix through.
Add one egg at a time and whisk til combined.
Then add the blueberries leaving some aside for the topping. 
mix the batter well and pour onto the biscuit base.
Place the cake tin on an oven tray and put in the oven on the middle shelf for 30 mins.
After the cooking time your cheesecake will have a slight jiggle ( that's what you want) and it will brown slightly( that's fine)
leave it to cool until ready to chill in the fridge.
Chill for 3 hours (yup 3 hours eek)
15 minutes before the end of chill time, put the remaining blueberries in a pan with 1 table spoon of sugar and splash of water and heat while stirring all the time( making sure you don't mash the berries)Bring the mixture to a boil and take the pan of the heat.
As the mixture cools down it will thicken up like a sauce.
Make sure it is completely cool before putting it on your cheesecake or else it will sink through (and you'll cry).
Cut a huge slice and indulge :)

Alternatives:
1. you can replace the cream cheese with cottage cheese but make sure it blended to make it smooth.
2. Replace sugar with honey or Agave nectar.
3. You don't have to use eggs ( they are used to make the cake rise) it tastes and bakes just as good without them)
4. use any of your favourite fruit :)
5. you don't have to add fruit into the batter before baking, you can just use it for the topping and keep it vanilla flavoured.

2 comments:

  1. How about replacing the cream cheese/neufchatel with ricotta?

    ReplyDelete
  2. OOh good idea :)I didn't think of that :) thank you, that would work just as well .

    ReplyDelete