I have eaten a great many cheesecakes in my time, both in my role as a teacher but also as an avid cook and restaurant goer. For whatever reason, whenever I am dining out, I am unable to pass up a slice of baked cheesecake, regardless of how enticing the other desserts may be. There is something about dragging your fork through the yielding, smooth, creamy filling, accented simply with lemon and vanilla, then cracking through the gritty, buttery base. Yet, despite my ardent fervour for this dessert, I have never had a New York Style Cheesecake in New York.
This time, then, I was desperate to taste some and managed to track down a highly respected purveyor of this noble pud, Eileen’s Special Cheesecake in Soho. The cheesecake I ate may well be amongst the best I have ever tasted. I tried an individual, plain cheesecake – but in truth I could have wolfed down two or three more. The texture of the filling was light and delightfully moreish.
Although I can in no way guarantee the following recipe will be as good as Eileen’s, it is the most similar recipe I have on record. I use ricotta here in place of Philadelphia in an effort to make the dish a little more authentic and I fold through whipped double cream in the hopes of making the filling that little bit lighter. This is a real simple recipe folks, but worth the effort.
Level: low
Skills: whisking, folding, baking
Time: 1 hour (plus cooling time)
Makes: 6 individual cheesecakes
Ingredients
50g butter
6-8 digestive biscuits, crushed finely
1tbsp golden caster sugar
250g tub ricotta
50g icing sugar
1 lemon (retain the zest and half the juice)
2 egg (1 whole and 1 yolk)
½tsp vanilla extract
150ml double cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (about 130°C in a fan oven).
2. Take a muffin tin and line 6 of the holes with paper muffin cases.
3. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, then stir in the crushed biscuit and granulated sugar. Continue until well mixed and all of the butter absorbed.
4. Press some of your base into each of the paper cases and press down firmly with the back of a spoon.
5. Bake in the oven for just 5 minutes to help develop some crunch.
6. The next job is to combine the ricotta with the icing sugar, lemon zest and juice, whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla. You can use an electric whisk, but I prefer a wooden spoon to prevent the cheese from breaking down too much.
7. In another bowl, whisk the double cream until the soft peak stage (where the cream can just hold its shape.)
8. Fold into the cheese mixture. Spoon evenly into the paper cases, right up to the tops, then tap the tin on the work surface to flatten the filling.
9. Bake for 30 mins, then turn off the oven and allow to cool completely inside.
10. Serve chilled.
Mastication / Destination 