Simple Baked Cheesecake

I have never been a fan of baked cheesecakes…..until I tried this one! This recipe from Donna Hay was on one of the early series of Masterchef. I couldn’t resist ‘healthifying’ it!
Ingredients:
- Gluten Free Plain Flour - 1/2 cup (organic)
- Almond Meal - 2/3 cup (organic)
- Butter - 100g, chilles (organic, biodynamic)
- Xylitol - 1/4 cup
- Eggs - 4, (organic, biodynamic)
- Ricotta Cheese - 500 g (organic, biodynamic)
- Cream Cheese - 300 g (organic, bidynamic)
- Xylitol - 1 & 1/3 cups
- Vanilla Bean - 1, seeds scraped out
- Lemon - 1, rind grated and juiced
- Corn Flour - 1 tablespoon
Instructions:
- Grease a 20cm springform cake tin with a little butter, then line with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 150⁰C.
- In a bowl combine the ¼ cup of xylitol, almond meal, flour and butter. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together until it is a crumb-like consistency.
- Tip the crumb mix into the cake tin and press the mix evenly over the bottom of the tin. Make sure the base is nice and even and smooth. Place into the oven to bake for around 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
- In a food processor add the eggs, ricotta, cream cheese, vanilla seeds, xylitol, lemon rind & ¼ cup of the lemon juice, mix until nice and smooth. Mix the corn flour with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, then add to the mix and process well.
- Pour the cheesecake mix over the base, tap the base to eliminate any air bubbles and use a knife to smooth the top of the cheesecake. Place into the oven and bake for an hour. Then turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for a further hour with the door closed.
- Place the cheesecake in the fridge. Remove from tin. Serve topped with fresh berries or any other fruit you like.
Teneille’s Tips
- This recipe can easily be altered with different citrus, blood oranges or limes would be a great option.
- Ricotta is a great lighter alternative to a traditional cream cheese cheesecake. You can also use ricotta made from Sheep’s or Goat’s milk.
- Top the cheesecake with mixed berries to add an antioxidant hit!
Comments are closed.