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.