Cheese is what you need

It has been raining every day in Sydney.  Cheesecake is the kind of comfort you need on rainy days or when the weather is cold.

I love the creamy, smooth quality of the cheese against the crunch of the biscuit base and the sweet aftertaste. You don’t need a lot of sugar in cheesecake – somehow its richness is satisfying enough.

Sweet, creamy, tangy and refreshing – are some of the words that come to mind after tasting my baked citrus cheesecake. I used the zest and juice of lemon in the cake and served it with fresh mandarins. I kept the cake simple so that the freshness of ingredients would stand out; fresh ricotta, cream cheese, eggs, lemon and agave made up the body of the cake and I used wholemeal biscuits for the base.

My baked citrus cheesecake was super easy to make so I hope you try it out for yourself!

And for more cheesecake type recipes see here and here.

baked citrus cheesecake

serves 6-8

crust

125g/12 biscuits wholemeal biscuits (you could also use graham crackers, granita)

1 1/2  tbsp melted butter

filling

250g or 1 1/2 cups cream cheese (package)

250g fresh ricotta cheese

3 eggs – 2 whole and 1 yolk

zest from 1 lemon, juice from half

2 tbsp dark agave syrup (use honey or other sweetner if you don’t have it)

1 tbsp demerara sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

Line the bottom of a 20cm springform pan with baking paper.

To make the crust, place biscuits in a processor and process until biscuits resemble sand-like texture. Place into bowl with melted butter and mix through. Place mixture into pan and press down.  Bake 5 minutes or until golden and take out to let cool.

To make filling: in a processor or with a beater mix both cheeses until softened, add in eggs one at a time, zest of lemon and juice, and agave syrup. Beat until everything becomes smooth . To get a dense and rich cheesecake make sure not to beat too much air into mix – it will just end up flopping in the centre. Once the filling is smooth, pour into pan on top of crust and sprinkle with demerara sugar (I do this to get a little bruléed crust). Cover pan with foil and place into centre shelf to bake* for 45 minutes – remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until centre is firm.  Once baked, take out and let cool – refrigerate for a few hours – if you can wait! To serve, add mandarins or any other citrus fruit – pour over more agave syrup or use jam to add more sweetness. Enjoy!

*These are baking guidelines since ovens do vary – just make sure to keep an eye on the cake checking every 20 minutes or so.