Basic cheesecake.
For the base
– 150g McVitie’s Digestives biscuits
– 50g unsalted butter
For the cake
– 600g cream cheese
– 200g castor sugar
– 4 eggs
– 1 egg yolk
– zest and juice of 1 lemon
– vanilla extract
– 400g crème fraîche
For the topping
– 6 rhubarb stalks
– castor sugar
– 1 vanilla bean
– zest and juice of 1 orange
– 300ml pure cream
– 1 punnet of strawberries
Preheat oven to 180ºC. To make the base, crush the biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor or in a sealed plastic bag with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the crumbs and mix thoroughly. Grease and line a 22-centimetre springform cake tin. Press the biscuit mixture into the base of the cake tin, then pat gently down to form a crust. Cook the base for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and cool.
Set the oven at 140ºC. Mix the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for five minutes until smooth and light. Stir in the eggs, lightly beaten, and the extra yolk, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Finely grate the zest from the lemon and beat it into the mixture along with its juice and a few drops of vanilla extract. Stop the machine and stir in the crème fraîche thoroughly.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the tin and bake for an hour. It should still be wobbly. Turn off the heat and leave the cake in the switched-off oven for a further hour. Remove the cake from the oven and refrigerate for four hours.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Cut the rhubarb stalks into fourcentimetre lengths. For every 100 grams of rhubarb, use 50 grams of castor sugar. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthways. Toss the rhubarb, orange juice, zest and sugar together. Leave for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Place the rhubarb and its juices into an impervious baking dish and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Cool.
Remove the cheesecake carefully from the tin and place on a serving plate. Whip the cream until stiff and spread on top of the cheesecake. Trim the strawberries and cut into halves or quarters, toss with the rhubarb and place onto the cheesecake. Serve.
Wine pairing:
NV Innocent Bystander moscato, Yarra Valley ($20)