"cheesecake, but you know like New York cheesecake."
So as I was now completely head over heals in love, I frantically started reading about and researching what a "New York" cheesecake was.
What I learned was that he was referring to a baked cheesecake and not a gelatin set cheesecake. Also, although the New Yorkers have many and varied flavours of cheesecake now, the original was a classic lemon or vanilla cheesecake with a biscuit base.
The story goes on: We had a trip planned, a very special trip. He was to come to Adelaide for the first time to meet my parents as my boyfriend. I was travelling their first and he was to follow in a couple of days. To show him how much he meant to me, I secretly spent two days preparing the first cheesecake I had ever made. First I made the biscuit base, taking a lot of time to get it perfectly even. I then made the cake mixture and baked it carefully.
The morning before my flight I got up VERY early, whipped my vanilla cream and decorated it with strawberries. My idea was that strawberries looked romantic, like little red love hearts.
I drove to my boyfriends house and let myself in. While he and his flatmate were still sleeping, I placed the cheesecake in their kitchen with a note saying that it was for John and that I was going to miss him.
Needless to say we were married some time later and my cheesecake has ever since been the most requested by my love. There have been a few improvements to the original recipe and some learned methods along the way. But, I always finish it with a thin layer of vanilla cream and those luscious romantic strawberries on top just as I did that morning.
I always make this cake with my darling John in mind, it is made with so much love it oozes with it.
Ingredients:
250 grams of 'Nice' biscuits
125 grams of un-salted butter, melted
375 grams of cream cheese, cut into cubes and brought to room temperature
3/4 of a cup of caster sugar + 1 tablespoon of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of plain flour
pinch of salt
1 whole egg + 2 eggs separated, at room temperature
300 grams of sour cream
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
200 ml of whipping cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of pure icing sugar
Strawberries, rinsed and dried
Method:
Process biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine bread crumbs. Add melted butter to food processor and combine well.
Pour moist biscuit mixture into a 22 cm round spring form cake tin. Use your fingers to move around and press mixture around the tin to create a base and sides. Next, use the base of a straight edged glass to get base and sides as even as you can.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees celsius or moderately slow.
Place cream cheese cubes into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat till smooth. Add 3/4 of a cup of caster sugar, flour and salt. Beat gently till combined.
Next add one whole egg plus two egg yolks, sour cream and lemon juice. Beat till combined and mixture is smooth.
Transfer cream cheese mixture to a separate bowl. Clean mixer bowl and dry well.
Using a balloon whisk on the electric mixer, beat two egg whites and one tablespoon of caster sugar together until stiff white peaks form.
Gently fold stiffened egg whites into cream cheese mixture, making sure to combine well.
Pour mixture into crumb base and gently bang the tin to help release some of the air bubbles. *
Bake for one hour, or until cake is firm.
Turn oven off and leave cake to cool with oven door ajar. When cake is completely cool, place in fridge to chill and set in the cake tin for at least 2 hours, over night is even better.
Remove cake from tin and place on a serving plate.
Using a balloon whisk on an electric mixer, whisk cream, icing sugar and vanilla until cream is thickened and stiff, being carefully not to split it.
Spread a layer of vanilla cream on top of cheese cake and decorate with strawberries.
*Note: This cheesecake may crack on top as using this method does create air bubbles in the mixture. But you also get a very light, fluffy result as well, and using the layer of cream will hide any cracks that form due to this.
