Sunday 26 April 2015

Eric Lanlard’s Baked Vanilla Cheesecake


This cheesecake recipe calls for 900g of (full fat) cream cheese. So when I was out picking up the ingredients the supermarket only sold them in 200g tubs, so off I went to pick up five.


That's...a lot of cheese.



I've never made a baked cheesecake before! How exciting. I used to always cop out and make one of the put-in-the-fridge-to-set type of cheesecakes which ends up being really creamy and swirly (or want of a better word) - not that that's a bad thing at all.

Oh wait, that's a lie, I did made a Matcha baked cheesecake before (see it here!), but not an American one before. Or French. Which I'm guessing this is, since it's Eric Lanlard's cheesecake recipe and he's well, obviously not American.


20 minutes later and only crumbs left. My job here is done :)


The nice guys at Nielsen-Massey and Baking Mad sent me some vanilla paste, vanilla pod and vanilla essence along with some golden caster sugar in a hamper, which I used in this recipe. 

You can find the full recipe here: http://www.bakingmad.com/nielsen-massey-baked-vanilla-cheesecake-recipe/ or at the bottom of the page.


That's me adding the vanilla paste to the cream cheese mix!


And smothering it all over the lovely crispy crunchy digestive base.


Even it out with a spatula and bake.



My cheesecake suffered a minor (okay major) fracture out of the oven, but I hid it with fruit and icing. Top tip! No matter how delicious your cakes are, sometime they come out a bit ugly on the top. Make sure you're stocked with icing sugar and various toppings (like fruit), which will save the day!



Nielsen-Massey baked vanilla cheesecake
By Eric Lanlard

Serves about 12, takes about 2 hours including baking time

Ingredients

FOR THE BASE
150g Digestive biscuits, crushed
75g Butter (unsalted) plus extra for greasing

FOR THE TOPPING
900g Cream cheese full-fat
200g Unrefined golden caster sugar
200ml Sour cream
3tbsp Plain white flour
3 Eggs + 1 egg yolk , lightly beaten
3tsp Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4). Grease and line the base of a 20cm spring form cake tin.

Melt the butter and add the biscuit crumbs, stir to combine. Place in the base of the cake tin and spread in an even layer, then flatten (using a spoon).

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until golden. Remove and leave to cool while you prepare the filling. Reduce the oven to 160°C (fan 140°C, gas mark 2).

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and golden caster sugar until smooth, then add the sour cream and flour and beat again. Gradually add the eggs and Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste, beating well between each addition.

Pour the cream cheese mix on to the biscuit base then bake in the oven for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should be just set with a slight wobble and should still have cream on top with just a slight golden hint around the edges.

Once the cheesecake is cooked, turn off the oven and prop open the door so that it is slightly ajar and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven – this prevents the top from cracking.

Once the oven is cool you can remove the cheesecake to cool completely before removing from the tin.

6 comments:

  1. I always have trouble with cracks in my cheesecakes, despite cooling them gently in the oven. They always taste great, though! And hiding the cracks with a sweet fruit topping or fresh berries is a pretty perfect solution to that little dilemma! Just got Eric Lanlard's Tart It Up cookbook. His stuff is very rich!

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  2. I love cheesecake and always request it for my birthday instead of regular cake. The plain ones with fruit are my favorite, and this one looks delicious! :)

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  3. YUM YUM YUM! Love the sound and the look of this :-)
    - Yes please!

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  4. This looks gorgeous - such a classic! I often stick to chilled cheesecakes as well but now I feel very tempted to try a baked one.

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  5. Oooooh I do love a baked cheesecake. I think they are much nicer than the ones you just set in the fridge. Good effort on hiding the crack too ;) just remember its the personality that counts, not what it looks like on the outside haha!

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