Baked Blackberry Cheesecake
Baked or No bake. Everyone loves a slice of Cheesecake and a cheeky second helping when no one’s looking. For best results, a baked Cheese Cake is always made 24 hours before serving.
I have been making New York Cheesecakes or ‘baked’ Cheesecakes for a long time, using my go to recipe. My family doesn’t like the no bake variety much, so it has always been a New York cheesecake for the past 26..ish years. Same recipe never changed it. Made it for many get togethers and birthday celebrations too; and have occasionally and when in season served it with fresh Strawberries and a generous drizzle of Strawberry Coulis.
This will be the first for me and for this much loved Cheesecake recipe, another ingredient is added to this recipe. But it worked.
Hedgerow Blackberries |
When you see an abundance of blackberries in the hedgerows of the allotment, tell me you are not tempted to pick and eat some and wonder if any will even make it home. Remember, only pick hedgerow berries and fruit, from knee high and above; as you never know when dogs have urinated on the bushes.
This year has been a good year for these berries, so after picking some, I was wondering what to make with them, as cupboards are full of jam, jellies and marmalade, I don’t think I want to add another jam jar to the well packed cupboard.
A ‘semi set’ or ‘runny’ jelly was made with this 120g harvest. Berries were placed in a pan (avoid washing them, do so only if necessary) with 60g of sugar and drop or two of fresh lime juice, dissolve on a gentle heat until all the sugar has dissolved into the fruit juice. Remove from heat and sieve,place the blackberry liquid back on the heat until it just starts thicken. Allow to cool, now onto the Cheese cake mix.
Ingredients for a Blackberry Cheesecake |
Make a biscuit base of 250g of crushed Digestive biscuits and 85g melted butter; pressed down firmly in a lined 20cm springform cake tin. Bake for 10 minutes at 180˙C. Remove and allow to cool whilst the cheese mix is prepared.
Whisk 400g of Cream Cheese with 150g of Caster Sugar until sugar is all blended in; add a teaspoon and a half of Vanilla Extract with 150g of Soured Cream and 25g of Cornflour, whisk until all mixed in. Add an egg at a time, do not whisk. Beating it in gently, each time.
Whisking in will just make the cake rise and crack when it cools down, therefore avoid whisking in.
Swirl semi set Bramble jelly into the Cheese mix |
Pour cheese mix onto the biscuit base and gently swirl in 2 to 3 tablspoons of the semi set jelly. Bake at 150˙C for an hour and a half in a steam oven, a gadget I do not have, so I improvise. (Place a small dish of water in the oven: the gentle steam created, helps even out heat, whilst baking and not have uneven browning on the bake and it also keeps the bake moist at the same time too).
Check cake and it should have a gentle wobble and with slight rise, which will gently go down as it cools and will not crack. Turn the oven off but leave the cake in the oven with the door slightly ajar. Once oven had cooled down, remove cake and allow cake to cool completely at room temperature.
Cake will now need an overnight resting in the fridge for best results.
Next day remove from fridge, allow to come to room temperature before slicing and serving. This Cheesecake will keep for up to 3 days.