Julia's Irresistible Baked Cheesecake With Figs

Cheesecake is one of the most requested cakes in our house. We all love it so much and so I have made many iterations over the years. Whatever kind I am making, it needs to be baked and not overly sweet.

Here, the biscuit base is a mixture of two types of biscuits and has a little spice from the cinnamon and a hit of saltiness too. You can double the mixture and press the crumb all the way up the sides of the tin too, but for ease I’ve just suggested a base.

The mixture itself is perfumed with lemon and vanilla which I think is just perfect with figs, which are so great right now. Any berry or poached fruit would be lovely also.

The cream layer is actually optional, but does make a nice base for the fruit and does a fantastic job of covering any imperfections in the surface which may have arisen during the baking or cooling.

Baked cheesecake with figs

(Serves 8)

500g full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
400g full fat sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
Zest of a lemon
30g plain flour
4 figs, halved, to serve
200g double cream, to serve

Biscuit base

150g Granita biscuits
100g Gingernut biscuits
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C (170C conventional).

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor or blender to a fine crumb and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the salt and cinnamon and stir. Pour over the melted butter and mix well.

Tip the biscuit crumbs into a 23cm springform tin and press the crumbs evenly into the base of the tin. Set aside in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

For the cheesecake filling, place the cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, sugar, eggs, lemon and flour in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin (you can strain it in if there are lumps) and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the edges of the cheesecake are set, but the centre is still wobbly.

Run a non serrated knife around the edge of the cheesecake to release it from the tin and allow it to cool. Transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from the tin and transfer to a serving plate or cake stand.

Just before serving, spread the cream onto the cheesecake in a swirled motion and top with figs.

What else I’m cooking:

Currently can’t get enough of runner/flat beans. I have been eating them simply cooked in salted boiling water til tender then topped with lightly pickled red onion and a generous amount of grated parmigiano reggiano.

What else I’m eating:

The salt and pepper fried zucchini flowers with romesco sauce from Marion. It was one of my favourite summer bites.

Click here to download the recipe printout!