This easy eggless blueberry cheesecake is a heavenly combination of creamy from the huge amount of cream cheese, with touches of tart and sweet from the blueberries.
200gplain digestive biscuits(or your favourite ones)
80gsalted butter, melted
Blueberry Jam Filling
400gblueberries(frozen will work too)
3Tbspcornflour(cornstarch in the US)
1Tbsp1 Tbsp lemon juice
1Tbspwater
Cheese Filling
750gfull fat cream cheese
220gcaster sugar (slightly finer than granulated)
250mlsoured cream(or yoghurt)
3Tbspplain flour
3Tbspcornflour(cornstarch in the US)
Blueberry Jelly Topping
300gblueberries
30gsugar
3Tbsplemon juice
4Tbsp water
2Tbsp cornflour
Instructions
You must bake your cheesecake the day before you are planning to serve it.
Preheat oven to 200˚C (390˚F/180˚C Fan).
Grease, line and grease again, a 9 inch/23cm springform tin, including the sides. If you let the baking paper hang over the base slightly, you'll be able to remove the cheesecake easier. But be careful when you are pouring the filling, make sure it's inside the baking paper sides.
Blueberry Jam Filling (do this before the base so it can cool down)
Place the blueberries in a saucepan with the lemon juice on a medium heat and bring to a simmer. When simmering (small bubbles), lower the heat down, and cook for 10 minutes. After 5 minutes, you can squash the berries with the back of your ladle, if you like.
At the end of 10 minutes,mix the cornflour with the water to form a smooth paste, and slowly drizzle this into your jam, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute, then take off the heat, and leave to cool while you get the base done.If you are not bothered about washing an extra bowl or two, transfer to a bowl, as that saucepan will be hot, and will keep the jam warm for longer. The jam does not want to be hot when added to your cheesecake filling.
The Base
I like to do this in a food processor as it’s so much easier and quicker. Place the biscuits in the food processor and pulse to get fine crumbs.
Add the melted butter (through the feed tube if you have one) and pulse until it’s all thoroughly mixed. You’ll end up with a mixture that looks like dark wet sand.
Carefully press this biscuit mix onto the bottom of your greased pan, patting it and packing it flat with your palm.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. When done, I like to keep it out to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack (set the timer if you might forget!), then straight in the fridge while I get the cheesecake done.
The Filling
In a tabletop mixer (or large bowl with handheld whisk), beat the cream cheese on medium-low until creamy for 1 minute. Add the sugar gradually during this minute in 2 additions.
Next, add the two flours, scraping down the sides if you have to.
Add the soured cream, whisking for only about 30 seconds. Don’t over beat. Check for lumps, squash the bigger ones with a wooden spoon but don’t worry about it too much.
With a wooden spoon, slowly fold in the blueberry jam that we made earlier. Mix gently, getting to the bottom of the bowl where your white cheesecake mix is going to be sitting. We want a mix that's fairly even, but leave the odd white bit or streak alone, it'll make the cake more interesting.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin gently.
Double wrap the base of your cake pan in aluminium foil. This is to prevent the cake mix from dripping onto your oven floor if your cake pan isn't completely sealed.
Bake at the initial high temperature for 20 minutes. This aids the rise.
Reduce the temperature to 110˚C(230˚F/90˚C Fan) and bake for another hour. When done, the cake should still have a wobble in the middle.
Let it cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 1 hour. Then cool completely at room temperature on your kitchen counter.
Blueberry Jelly Topping (while the cake is cooling to room temperature)
Place the blueberries in a saucepan with the lemon juice on a medium heat and bring to a simmer. When simmering (small bubbles), lower the heat down, and cook for 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, squash the berries with the back of your ladle, as we want out jelly to be a little smoother than the jam earlier.Stir a couple of times for the next 5 minutes.
At the end of 15 minutes,mix the cornflour with the water to form a smooth paste, and slowly drizzle this into your jam, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 minutes, then take off the heat, cover, and leave aside until needed, when the cake is at room temperature).
Let's top our Cheesecake (when the cake is at room temperature)
Give the blueberry jelly topping a quick stir to mix it all up and loosen slightly. Now spread this over your cheesecake, you'll probably need two spoons to do this. Flatten it down all around, wetting your spoons a little if you need to, as the jelly will be sticky.
Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The Next Day
Carefully loosen the sides of your springform cake pan.
Then very gently lift the cake off the base. Slide a butter knife very carefully under the baking paper on one side. You'll find the cake comes away very easily after that.
Place on your serving dish or cake stand, and pour the chilled mango pulp all over.
The total time does not take into account the chilling time.
When cutting cheesecakes, it’s a good idea to warm the knife in hot water, dry, then cut. Wipe between each slice. This will make your slices neat and clean looking.