Sensational New York Cheesecake

There is only one size for this iconic cheesecake – big! It keeps well but I guarantee it won’t last long. It’s best to make this cheesecake the day before you intend to serve it and make no mistake, it’s well worth the effort.

Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

Base:
125g digestive biscuits
125g gingernuts
3 tablespoons caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
750g cream cheese
1 cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour
150g sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
150 mls cream
6 eggs, separated
Pinch salt
Zest from one lemon

Sauce:
1 cup frozen blueberries
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cornflour

Crush the biscuits to a fine crumb. Put them in a tough plastic bag, cover with a tea towel and beat with a rolling pin; or use a food processor.

In a bowl mix the crumbs, sugar and melted butter until well mixed. Press this evenly into the base of a loose-bottomed springform cake tin. Refrigerate whilst you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 150 C. Place the cream cheese, sugar, cornflour and sour cream into a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add vanilla essence, cream, egg yolks, pinch of salt and lemon zest. Blend until smooth.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold this gently into the cream mix.

Pourthis on top of the chilled base and bake for 11/2 hours until the top is golden brown. Turn the oven off and leave cheesecake to stand in the oven for 3 hours. Take out and chill until ready to serve.

In a small pot bring the blueberries and sugar to a simmer. Add the cornflour and whisk briskly until the sauce thickens.

Serve slices of cheesecake with blueberry sauce.