New York Cheesecake

First up, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C/Gas Mark 4. Line the base of a 8” springform cake tin. Wrap foil around the base and up the side of the tin.

Pop the crushed biscuits and melted butter into a bowl and mix together until all the biscuit is covered in butter. Then pour into your prepared tin and press down to flatten – top tip use a potato masher to compact the biscuit crumb and create an even base. Pop into the oven to bake for 10 minutes.

Pop the cream cheese into a large bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in the sugar, flour, Vanilla Paste, zest and lemon juice until you have a smooth mixture. 

Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then whisk in the sour cream until all your mixture is just combined and smooth, you don’t want to over whisk it. 

Pour over your biscuit base and pop in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 120°C/100°C/Gas Mark 1/2 and bake for a further 45 minutes until the cheesecake only has a slightly wobble. Turn off the oven and leave to cool in the oven for 2 hours.

Once cooled cover and pop in the fridge overnight. 

Before serving your cheesecake, make the raspberry glaze. Place 150g raspberries into a small saucepan with the sugar and water and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until the raspberries begin to break down. Pop the raspberry mixture through a sieve to catch the seeds. 

Place a sachet of ground arrowroot into a small bowl and add 2tbsp of water, mix together to dissolve the arrowroot. Pop the raspberry juice back into the pan and pour in the dissolved arrowroot. Place the mixture over a low heat and stir until it just begins to boil, remove from the heat and continue to stir until the mixture thickens. 

Remove the cheesecake from the tin using a hot knife to run around the edge of the tin to loosen the cheesecake and place on a serving plate. Allow the glaze to cool slightly and pour over the top of the cheesecake. Pop any spare raspberries on top and you’re ready to serve your delicious dessert!