My classic cheesecake
BY ANNIE SMITHERS
Photography by Earl Carter
INGREDIENTS
For the crust
150 g McVities biscuits
50 g unsalted butter
For the cake
600 g cream cheese
200 g caster sugar
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 lemon
vanilla extract
400 g crème fraîche
For the topping
300 ml pure cream
1 punnet strawberries
6 stalks rhubarb
caster sugar
vanilla bean
zest and juice 1 lemon
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180ºC. To make the base, crush the biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor or in a sealed plastic bag with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the crumbs and mix thoroughly. Grease and line a 22 cm springform cake tin. Press the biscuit mixture into the base of the cake tin, then pat gently down to form a crust. Cook the base for 10 minutes, remove from oven and cool.
Set the oven at 140ºC. Mix the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for five minutes until smooth and light. Stir in the eggs, lightly beaten, and the extra yolk, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Finely grate the zest from the lemon and beat it into the mixture along with its juice and a few drops of vanilla extract. Stop the machine and stir in the crème fraîche thoroughly.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the tin and bake for an hour. It should still be wobbly. Turn off the heat and leave the cake in the switched-off oven for a further hour. Remove the cake from the oven and refrigerate it for four hours.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Cut the stalks into 4 cm lengths. Weigh the rhubarb; for every 100 g of rhubarb, use 50 g of caster sugar. Toss the rhubarb, orange juice, zest and sugar together. Leave for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Place the rhubarb and its juices into an impervious baking dish and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Cool.
Remove cheesecake carefully from tin, place on a serving plate. Whip cream till stiff and spread on top of the cheesecake. Trim the strawberries and cut them into halves or quarters, toss them with rhubarb and place them onto the top of the cheesecake. Serve.