Shaun Rankin's Vanilla Cheesecake
By Great British Chefs
Published on 25 April 2022
These little cheesecakes provide a wonderfully sweet dessert. You can use the delightful compote for many other desserts, or simply spoon onto ice cream. Blackberries come into season towards the end of the summer.Time and servings
1 hr 10 minsTotal time
6Servings
25 minsPrep time
45 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 dash of lemon juice
- 110 g of unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
- 225 g of digestive biscuits
- 100 ml of double cream
- 175 g of caster sugar
- 2 vanilla pods
- 675 g of cream cheese
- 250 g of blackberries
- 2 tbsp of icing sugar, heaped
- 6 mint leaves, chopped
Method
Step 1
Start by making the compote. Place the blackberries, icing sugar and lemon juice in a pan with 3tbsp of water. Bring to the boil and cook the fruit for 4 minutes. Transfer the blackberries and their juices to a bowl and leave to chill in the fridge.Step 2
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of the individual tins.Step 3
Melt the butter in a saucepan and remove from the heat.Step 4
Place the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin to make breadcrumbs. Mix the crumbs well with the melted butter, and place the mix into the cake tins so the coverage is around 1cm thick. Using the back of a spoon, press down firmly and evenly onto the biscuit until flat to form solid bases.Step 5
Place the cream, eggs and caster sugar into a large bowl and mix well. Split the vanilla pods and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Add in the cream cheese and beat until smooth.Step 6
Pour the mixture onto the biscuit bases. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until set.Step 7
Turn the oven off and open its door, leaving the cheesecakes to bake out for 10 minutes before removing. Allow to cool.Step 8
Before serving, add the chopped mint leaves to the compote. Transfer the cheesecakes onto plates and spoon over the blackberry compote.