White chocolate New York cheesecake

Tamara West

A New York cheesecake is creamy, smooth, rich, dense, and with the addition of white chocolate, it’s indulgently delicious. This recipe is based on the original New York recipe. The “New York’’ or “Jewish’’ cheesecake is always made with cream cheese and is baked, unlike the “Italian’’ New York version which is made with ricotta. Baked cheesecakes always taste better a day or two after they are made, as the flavours develop and deepen. This cheesecake also freezes really well.

Ingredients

180 g	Digestive biscuits
60 g	Butter, melted
1 Tbsp	Demerara sugar
255 g	White chocolate, chopped or buttons (Main)
500 g	Cream cheese
50 g	Caster sugar
1 Tbsp	Cornflour
4	Eggs
2 tsp	Lemon juice
2 tsp	Vanilla extract
¼ tsp	Salt
750 g	Sour cream

Candied oranges

1 Ltr	Water
250 g	Sugar
2	Oranges, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 170C. Place a roasting dish, large enough to put the cheesecake in, half filled with very hot water into the centre of the oven.
2. Lightly grease a 24cm loose-bottomed springform pan. Line the bottom with a disc of baking paper. Cover the outside of the springform pan with two layers of tinfoil to create a waterproof outer.
3. Crush biscuits to make crumbs, then mix with melted butter and demerara sugar. Press firmly into base of spring form pan.
4. Place white chocolate in a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until just melted then take off the heat.
5. In a food processor whizz cream cheese and caster sugar until smooth. Whizz in cornflour, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Add sour cream and whizz until completely smooth. Lastly whizz in the melted white chocolate. Pour over the base in the springform pan and carefully place into water filled roasting dish - the water should come two-thirds of the way up the pan.
6. Bake for 50 minutes then turn oven off and let it cool without opening the door for 1 hour. The cheesecake should be firm but still wobble a little when you shake the pan gently. Once it cools it will firm up to the correct consistency.
7. Place on a cake rack and cool for 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
8. To unmould, have a large serving plate ready. Remove the tinfoil, run a thin knife around the side of the cheesecake, then slowly release the springform outer. Use a large knife to loosen the cheesecake from the metal base. Slide the cheesecake carefully on to a serving plate.
9. If desired, top with candied orange slices - to make, bring to the boil 1 litre of water and 250g sugar. Thinly slice 2 oranges. Very gently simmer oranges in sugar syrup for 1 hour, carefully turning the oranges from time to time until they turn translucent and are completely cooked through.