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Cheapest and easiest cheesecake with solid biscuit base

Cheesecakes are among the easiest cakes to make at home, and produce very impressive professional Berry_cheesecake_home_madelooking results.

A common recipe is to use crushed shop bought biscuits for a crumbly, loose base at the bottom of the pan.

That looks like too much work to me!

I’m quite a fan of shortbread, and incidentally, it makes an incredibly good base for a cheesecake-

Instead of crushing up packets and packets of  fairly ordinary tasting biscuits, par baking some awesome shortbread tartshells for your cheesecake yourself can produce a much more impressive result.

Adjusting the amount of sugar in the recipe will result in a harder, or softer, more crumbly base effect: more sugar= harder, less = crumbly and buttery.

Makes up to 2 large 30cm tart pan cheesecakes.

Ingredients:

Shortbread:cheesecake_base_cream_butter_sugar

225 gms Butter

110 gms Rice flour

125 gms Raw, or caster sugar (raw is cheaper)WP_20160818_17_10_21_Pro

260 gms sifted plain flour.

Method:

  1. Soften butter in the microwave for 30 seconds or so in a large mixing bowl.shortbread_cheesecake_base_big_flan_tart
  2. Introduce sugar, creaming the butter with the sugar
  3. Tip in rice flour, combining well
  4. Gradually add in flour, mixing well.
  5. The mixture should be slightly dry, crumbly, and certainly  not doughy in appearance; and the crumbles should not have a greasy sheen.
  6. Spread crumbly mixture into tart trays, pressing shortbread_cheesecake_base_small_tartdown firmly to create a smooth surface that is around 5-7mm thick.
  7. Lay extra crumbles around the edges of the pan, pressing firmly against the edge, form a crust of 3-6mm thick.
  8. Bake at 180 degrees for ~25 minutes, till golden brown.shortbread_cheesecake_base_finished_product_big_smallshortbread_cheesecake_base_method_part2

 

 

 

 

Cheesecake:

Ricotta cheese, available at most supermarket deli counters, at $7-$9/Kg is cheaper and produces a better result, but packaged mascarpone or phillidelphia can also be used

Ingredients:

700gms ricotta cheese

100gms sugar

3 large eggs

400gms berries, cherries or chopped fruit

Maple_pear_cheesecakeAlternate fillings can be oranges, pears, apples and cinnamon, drissled with maple syrup

Method:

  1. Crack 3 eggs into a large mixing bowl.
  2. Break egg yolks with a fork, and scramble.
  3. Add in sugar and cheese.chilli_maple_syrup_ricotta_cheesecake
  4. Mix thoroughly, consistency of egg/cheese should be liquidy and sloppy, like thick Greek yoghurt.
  5. pour cheese mix into par baked shortbread tartshells, whose tart pans have not been removed.
  6. Sprinkle fruit over surface of cheese filling liberally, patting down where necessary.
  7. Bake filled shells for 35-45 minutes at 180 degrees, or until exposed fruit looks jammy and sticky.

Let cool on racks, and pop tarts out of the pans when warm, but not hot.berrry_maple_syrup_pear_chilli_cheesecake_ricotta

 

 

 

 

 

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