I have put off making cheesecake for years, reading so many recipes but worrying about cracks or soggy bases or that I wouldn’t be able to get it from the tin. But when it came down to it, it was actually super simple.
I honestly don’t even notice doing it but when looking at cheesecake variations in the recipe book I automatically steered myself to the cherry and almond one. So this recipe could almost have been added to the infinite other baked goods I have made on the cherry and almond theme. However fate got in my way this time cherry and almond was not to be.
You see cherries are not exactly in season so I decided to swirl black cherry jam into the top layer of my cheesecake. But when I went to pick up Black Cherry Jam I mistakenly picked up Blackcurrant Jam. I only noticed when I had cooked the biscuit base and poured the cheesecake mixture in – way too late to be able to fix it. So in it went, and you know I am glad. It was a wee bit of a change…
This is certainly not a recipe I would make every day, it has 3 tubs of cream cheese in it! To get the almond-y base I was supposed to use Amaretti biscuits, but I couldn’t find any. In the end I used ground almonds (from my macaron baking days) and some digestive biscuits.
I used the recipe for New York style Cheesecake from Great Baking which you can also find online at Good Housekeeping.
Notes:
- As mentioned before for the base I used 100grams of ground almonds and made up the rest of the biscuit base with digestive biscuits. It worked remarkably well. However I don’t think I packed the cups well enough when measuring because I definitely didn’t have enough to do the base and sides of the tin.
- Instead of adding milk to the filling I added two tablespoons of Amaretti liqueur.
- To add a bit of interest to the top of the cheesecake I watered a little blackcurrant jam down (maybe a teaspoon of water). After the mixture has been poured into the crust drop 1/2 teaspoons and use a knife to swirl it.
- The top of my cheesecake did crack a bit, I have since read that adding a pan of water to the bottom of the oven before and during cooking may help.
Since I stopped doing Daring Bakers / Daring Cooks I haven’t really made anything out of my comfort zone – but this has proved that thinking something is difficult, doesn’t mean it is.
When is the last time you baked or made something that scared you?