Baked berry swirl cheesecake with any berry sauce

Serves 810

Ready in 1 hour and 10 minutes + chilling

A baked cheesecake is a bit of a treat, from a cost point of view, but goes a long way. They do tend to split, but I rather like the imperfections of homemade food and happily let the berry sauce fill any crevasses in my cheesecake.

Any berry sauce

This sauce is also great with yoghurt, ice cream, porridge or pancakes.

200g (approx. 2 cups) berries — fresh or defrosted and drained; cut strawberries into pieces if using

1⁄4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice, or to taste

2 Tbsp water

11⁄2 tsp arrowroot

Cheesecake

11⁄2 packets of classic Oreo cookies

(about 21)

45g butter, melted

500g cream cheese, at room temperature 2 Tbsp plain flour

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup sour cream (a 250g tub)

3⁄4 cup caster sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

Method

1. Make the sauce. Place the berries in a small saucepan with the sugar, lemon juice and water. Cover, bring to a simmer and cook until the berries are beginning to soften. Spoon out excess juice and, when cool, mix two tablespoons with the arrowroot, return it to the pan and heat gently, stirring until thick. Cool.

2. Heat the oven to 150degC. Remove the base of a 22cm springform cake tin and turn it upside down (this makes it easier to remove the cake once chilled). Grease the tin and the inverted base, then cover the base with a piece of nonstick baking paper and clip it back into place, still upsidedown, so that the excess paper is outside the tin. Place the tin on a rimmed baking tray.

3. Crush the biscuits in a sturdy bag with a rolling pin, or pulse in a food processor. Mix in the melted butter, then spread evenly over the base, pressing down firmly. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

4. Beat the cream cheese with an electric beater until light and fluffy — around 11⁄2 minutes. Add the flour, mixing until just combined. Add the vanilla, sour cream and sugar, mixing lightly. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then pour the mixture into the tin. Spoon a quarter of the cooled berry sauce on top and swirl it in with the tip of a knife. Bake for 45 minutes, or until light golden but still jiggly in the middle.

5. Turn off the heat and open the oven door slightly. Run a sharp knife around the cheesecake, separating it from the sides of the tin, then leave it in the oven until completely cool. Chill in the fridge before removing from the tin, to reduce splits forming. Serve in slices with extra berry sauce spooned over the top.

Tip: If you want to crackproof your cheesecake, wrap the tin very well in foil and bake it in a water bath, then loosen the sides with a knife and chill it for 4 hours to allow the texture to firm up.