Foolproof New York cheesecake

Ingredients

• 200g digestive biscuits, crumbed
• 100g butter, melted
• ½ lemon, zest and juice
• 750g cream cheese
• 150ml double cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 5 eggs
• 275g caster sugar
• 1 large tablespoon plain flour
• fruit compote, to serve

Equipment

• 20cm cake tin
• Baking parchment
• 2 mixing bowls
• Electric or hand whisk

Method

My Mum is a connoisseur of cooked cheesecake. No matter where in the world she goes, if it is on the menu, she will order it. I have made more cheesecakes than you care to imagine to come up with this recipe that she considers good enough to pass on!

Preheat the oven to oven 350˚F/180˚C

1. Line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper – simply fold at the edges as you go round. Do not cut it as you need to keep all the mixture inside as it cooks.

2. Mix the biscuit crumbs with melted butter and press into the bottom of the tin with a metal spoon.

3. Whisk all the other cheesecake ingredients together and spoon over the base.

4. Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until the top has risen and the surface is cracked. Do not remove from the oven before the surface cracks as this means it is not ready (see tips). The cheesecake can be made up to 5 days ahead and stored in the fridge, or frozen. Defrost for about one day in the fridge before serving. Remove from the fridge about 1 hour before serving as it tastes better at room temperature.

To serve: Serve slices dusted with icing sugar and some fruit compote spooned over.

Lucy’s tips

• Cook the cheesecake until it is cracked on the top – this means it is cooked. If you remove it before fully cooked it will sink.
• The texture is better after a couple of days so make ahead.
• The flour in this recipe helps stop the cheesecake sinking.
• Crumb the biscuits either in a food processor or by putting them in a plastic bag and smashing them with a rolling pin.
• Replace digestives with ginger biscuits as an alternative.

Managing a budget?

• Use own-brand digestives for the base.
• Own-brand butter is also fine.
• Use full-fat cream cheese, but it does not need to be top of the range.

Lucy’s Food: Minimum effort, maximum impact! by Lucy Cufflin, published by Hardie Grant, is out now, priced £16.99.