JAN'S CREAMY BAKED CHEESECAKE

WITH MY VARIATIONS ….

For the biscuit base you need

1 packet (200 g) digestive biscuits or half digestives and half ginger biscuits; you can use gluten free biscuits if you wish

50 g (60 ml) light brown sugar

100 g (110 ml) butter, melted

Optional 5ml ground ginger and 5ml ground cinnamon

For the filling you need

1 kg smooth cream cheese

210 g (250 ml) caster sugar

45 ml cake flour or gluten free flour

5 extra large or 6 large eggs

125 ml cream

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out or 5ml vanilla paste

Optional: 25ml orange zest (zest from 2 oranges)

To prepare the biscuit base

Place the biscuits, sugar and spices in a food processor and blend until the mixture is super fine.
Melt the butter and add it to the crumb mixture, blending it well.
Line the base of an 18 cm loose-base cake tin (7.5 cm deep) with baking paper. Spray the tin with non-stick food spray. (Tip: You can also bake this cheesecake in a standard 23 cm cake tin, but you’ll lose some of the height. The baking time stays exactly the same.)
Press the mixture onto the bottom and halfway up the cake tin. Then, let it chill in the fridge while you move on to the filling.

To prepare the filling

Heat the oven to 120 °C.
Place the cream cheese, caster sugar and flour in the bowl of your mixer.

Whisk all the ingredients together for 2 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of bowl with a spatula and folding it in to ensure you’ve got it all.
Add the eggs one by one and whisk well after each egg has been added.

3. Add the cream and whisk for 5 minutes. Then, add the vanilla seeds or paste and orange zest and mix well.

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and place the tin on a baking tray before popping it into the oven to bake for 2 hours. Switch the oven off and let the cheesecake cool in the oven. This is important helps to prevent it from tearing.