baked vanilla cheesecake with cherry coulis
An Easy Baked Vanilla Cheesecake?!?
I wouldn’t lie to you – This Baked Vanilla Cheesecake is actually easy to make. I know, I know, how can that possibly be?….baked cheesecakes are always tricky. Especially the kind you actually have to get out of the baking tin all in one round piece!
Until now, I’ve always stuck to the kind of cheesecakes that you can bake in a pyrex dish or metal pan and cut into squares to serve right out of the dish. Much safer…right? Actuallllly…I have stumbled upon something that could make all your home baked cheesecake dreams come true. And it’s so simple I’m not sure how I got this old without knowing about it!
You can buy an actual cheesecake tin people!! With removable sides! And a greaseproof finish. Whaaaat? I’m sure you all know about this and I was the last living person to find out. But there you go, now I know and I’m so excited about it!
You’re right to presume that this so called cheesecake tin is not solely for cheesecakes. But it might as well be because if its only purpose is to cook delicious cheesecakes until they’re smooth and creamy with a to die for crunchy chocolate biscuit base – that would be enough, its purpose on this earth fulfilled.
Your guests will love this dessert! I made this cheesecake this weekend for a lunch with friends and it’s safe to say everyone was pretty impressed and happy, most went back for seconds.
The fruity toppings that you could adorn this cheesecake with are endless. Mine is a Christmassy cheesecake so I chose to go with fresh cherry coulis and fresh whole cherries and blueberries which seem perfect for the season. But you could do peach, nectarine, pineapple, raspberry, granadilla, so many options.
My brand new “cheesecake tin” (which is what I will refer to it as from now until forever) also came with a bundt tin mould….how cool is that? And I actually used the bundt tin mould last week to make my butternut bundt cake with orange glaze & toasted nuts which you should definitely add to your Christmas recipe collection. And while we’re on the subject you should also take a look at the best chocolate brownie cake (sugar free).
This baked vanilla cheesecake is SO creamy, SO vanilla-y, it absolutely melts in the mouth with a little crunch from the chocolate biscuit base, and of course the fruity topping adds a punch of flavour to round it all out.
You definitely need to try this cheesecake…even if you make it the go0d old fashioned way in an oblong pyrex, it will taste just as delicious – so give it a go this Christmas!
- FOR THE BASE:
- 200 g chocolate biscuits
- 4 1/2 tbsp butter melted
- FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
- 690 g cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- pinch of salt
- 250 ml cream
- FOR THE COULIS:
- 5 cherries
- 5 strawberries
- 1 level tbsp caster sugar
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TO MAKE THE BASE:
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Line the base of a cheesecake tin with removable sides which should be about 10 inches wide x 3 inches tall with greaseproof paper. And wrap the tin with 2 sheets of heavy duty silver foil.
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Crush up the biscuits til fine, or blitz them in a food processor.
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Melt butter, pour in with the biscuits and stir in.
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Press the biscuit mixture into the base of your cheesecake tin and bake at 175°C for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
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TO MAKE THE CHEESECAKE:
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Beat the cream cheese with an electric beater until smooth.
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Add the sugar and beat again until smooth and creamy.
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Add one egg at a time and beat until fully incorporated, then add the next egg.
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Now add the lemon juice, vanilla essence, pinch of salt and cream and beat until combined.
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Pour the mixture onto the cool base. Place on a baking tray and put it in the oven on the middle shelf.
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Now carefully pour about 1 inch of boiling water into the baking tray so that the cheesecake will stay extra moist and creamy.
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Bake for 65 minutes at 175°C. If you notice the top browning a bit too much, place a piece of silver foil over the tin and continue baking.
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Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside for 1 hour to cool down very slowly.
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TO MAKE THE COULIS:
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Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and simmer on medium heat until the fruit breaks down and a a glaze is forming.
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Sieve the coulis into a bowl and then spoon over the top of the cool cheesecake. Keep the whole fruit mixture to add to your breakfast.
If you don’t have a food processor to blitz the biscuits, just place them in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin until they are fine. If your baking tray is not deep enough to add 1 inch of boiling water, use what you have and keep topping the water up every half an hour or so.
