Baked Vanilla Cheesecake With Blueberry Topping

Because I worked for a lot of years as the only chef on board a yacht, sometimes, well, a lot of times, I would need inspiration. It is one of the joys and that's saying something because professional kitchens just like yachts are like the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When they are good, they are very very good and when they are bad they are horrid. But the thing I loved and missed the most are the ideas or discussions of dishes and shared experiences that get tossed around in a commercial setting. In one kitchen I worked in, we had a photo shoot for a newspaper with an accompanying article every week, so there was always a conversation about what to do for the paper this week. It generated lively debate and you always learned something.

As I didn't have chefs to bounce ideas off or to take inspiration from on a daily basis, I relied on my endless supply of cookbooks. Some of which would have to be among the most well traveled books on the planet. And they're heavy, really heavy. And I loved them, they gave me comfort. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but for whatever reason, I have the favor of the excess luggage gods. I had to pay twenty five dollars once leaving New Zealand for being a good fifteen kilograms over the limit. That's it. In all the years I have traveled.

I did have a close call in Brisbane, Australia a few years ago. I had my Visa card out ready to pay when my father just reached over and took it. He flashed me a "be cool" look and then casually asked the man behind the counter how full was the flight? "Lot of spare seats on this one," came the reply. And Dad gave me a wink and handed back my visa card and I gave him a huge big smile and added another enormous tick in the already overcrowded "Another Reason Why My Dad Is A Legend Box." My record to date and I will no doubt be punished for this blatant showing off was leaving Tahiti with a kite surfer and over sixty kilograms of luggage - didn't pay a penny.

Some cookbooks only got one tour of duty, others were recalled every time, and they became my friends. Granted it was one sided, they didn't and still don't know I exist. But I would sit on the edge of the door to the galley to catch the breeze and think, oh, I wonder if Matt (first name basis, you know, because we're friends) has something, maybe Diana, Shannon, or was it Claire that I read that recipe in for cheesecake the other day.

Then I'd fly down the stairs and into my cabin, throw the book on my bunk and find the needed recipe - see, just like friends. Supportive, comforting and always there in a time of crisis and with the added bonus of that they often made me look very good.

This recipe for Baked Vanilla Cheesecake is from the sublime Head Pastry Chef, Claire Clark at the famous, French Laundry in the Napa Valley, California. It's the kind of recipe I love as she says that she was given it by a friend's mother when she was working in London. Claire and I have become really good friends over the years (she doesn't know this) as hers is a cookbook where everything works - the measurements are correct, the baking times spot on.

Cheesecake Part:
21/4lb (1kg) Philadelphia cream cheese
9 oz (250 g) caster sugar
6 medium eggs, lightly beaten
1 vanilla pod
1 capful of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons icing sugar

The Base:
91/4 oz (260g) digestive biscuits
3 oz (90g) unsalted butter

Topping:
6 fl oz (175ml) creme fraiche
1 oz (25 g) caster sugar
1/4 vanilla pod

Heat your oven to 350 F (180 C/Gas Mark 4). Line the base of a 10 inch (25cm) spring form tin.

Make your base. Put the digestive biscuits in a plastic bag. Loosely hold the end closed and with a rolling bin bash them into a fine crumb (great if you're mad with someone.)


This is halfway through the process, you want them really fine.

Melt your butter and then stir in the crumbs. Pour this into the lined cake tin and press down firmly to make an even base.

Cook this for about 15-18 minutes until lightly colored. This smells wonderful when it's ready, take it out and leave it to cool.

Now, and this is important, reduce your oven down to 300 F (150 C/Gas Mark 2). You do this so that when you put the cheesecake in to bake, it won't rise in the pan. More on that later.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. You can use a wooden spoon or an electric beater.




Take your six lightly beaten eggs and add some a little at a time to the mixture. I would do this by hand, I have found that with an electric beater, you can add too much air into the mixture. But the choice is yours.

Slice the vanilla bean down the middle (longways) and using the tip of a small paring knife, scape the vanilla beans out of both sides and add to the cream cheese mix. Put in your vanilla extract and stir well to combine.

Spoon this mixture over the biscuit base and level off the top with a palette knife or spatula. Bake in the oven, after about thirty minutes, check to see that the cheesecake isn't rising in the tin, if it is, turn your oven down to 275 F (140 C/Gas Mark 1).

Allow it to cook for another thirty to fifty minutes depending on your oven. You'll know it's done when a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cheesecake cool for ten minutes.

Make the topping, add the contents of the scraped vanilla bean, the sugar and creme fraiche and combine. Spread this mixture over the cheesecake and level it with a palette knife. Another option is to sprinkle fresh blueberries on to the topping before baking it. They burst in the oven and look and taste great.

Return to the oven for another ten minutes. Leave the cheesecake to cool to room temperature. Transfer it to the refrigerator for two hours to firm up. Be sure to run a small knife around the edge of the cheesecake before opening the spring form tin.




Cut with a knife that you've heated first. Keeps for about three day, covered in the refrigerator.