Jubilee Cheesecake

I hope everyone enjoyed the Jubilee weekend. I managed to see my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister and brother over the course of the 4 days, so it was a lovely family occasion.

My family is a very foodie family, not everyone enjoys cooking it, but we all certainly enjoy eating it and so there is always a selection of delicious food (homemade of course) to enjoy while we all catch up with each others news.

As well as my previously mentioned éclairs, my mum contributed a delicious vanilla cheesecake which we decorated together with blueberries and strawberries to resemble the Union Jack flag. This is a baked vanilla cheesecake with a layer of sour cream on top, added just before baking, to give it a slight tang. The cheesecake itself is baked in a bain-marie or water bath to ensure it stays fabulous smooth and creamy.

I don’t have many photos of it as we were all too eager to tuck in, but quite a considerable amount of it disappeared! It was a Nigella Lawson recipe and it seemed particularly fitting for the occasion as Nigella calls it a London cheesecake. GF biscuits were used for the base which meant I could enjoy it too. It was absolutely divine, velvety smooth and creamy.

My sister really outdid herself by baking a red, white and blue Union Jack puff pastry flag. She used roasted red peppers and tomatoes for the red, sliced feta cheese for the white and then some sliced new potatoes that she boiled in water, tinted blue with food dye as you couldn’t think of a savoury blue food. Talk about inventive! It looked stunning, well done C!

Unfortunately it wasn’t GF, but the whole thing got eaten so I assume it tasted good.

Jubilee Cheesecake

(Recipe from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson)

Biscuit Base

150g gluten free digestive/tea biscuits

75g unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake

600g cream cheese (check its GF)

150g caster sugar

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

1½ tablespoons vanilla extract (yes really!)

1½ tablespoons lemon juice

Topping

145ml tub sour cream

1 tablespoon caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

Blueberries and strawberries to decorate

Method

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they are like crumbs, then add the butter and pulse again. Line the bottom of an 8inch/20cm springform tin and pressing the buttery biscuits into the base and press down firmly.

Put the tin in the fridge to set. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Beat the cream cheese gently until it's smooth, then add in the sugar. Beat in the eggs and egg yolks, then finally the vanilla and lemon juice. Fill the kettle and bring to the boil.

Warp the outside on the tin, base and up and sides, with one large sheet of strong foil. Repeat to ensure it is watertight. This will protect the cheesecake from the water as it is cooked in its water bath. Place the tin into a roasting dish.

Pour the cream cheese filling onto the chilled biscuit base. Pour hot water from the recently boiled kettle into the roasting tin, around the cheesecake, so that the water comes half way up the sides. It should not come over the top edges of your foil wrapping.

Carefully place into the oven and cook for 50 minutes, while you prefer the sour cream topping. After 50 minutes the cheesecake should be set on top, but still be soft and wobbly in the centre.

For the sour cream, whisk together the sour cream, sugar and vanilla and pour over the baked cheesecake. Put the cheesecake back in the oven for a further 10 minutes to set the topping.

Once baked, remove the wrapped cheesecake from the water bath and unwrap the foil. A little condensation/water on the foil is ok. Transfer the cheesecake, still in its tin, to a rack to cool.

When it's cooled down completely, place in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, although preferably overnight.

When ready to serve, run a sharp knife around the edge of the tin before unmoulding and transferring to a serving plate. Try heating the knife in hot water first to get a clean cut.

Decorate with berries or anything else you wish.

Makes 1 x 8inch cheesecake