Cherry Cheesecake - episode 3.9 Summer is on its way...

Although looking out of my window today, it's hard to believe that summer is just around the corner. Summer is signaled by many things; days getting longer and warmer, gardens in bloom, football finals over and of course the arrival of cherries at farmers markets and grocery stores. There is nothing like the taste of fresh cherries, and the bright colour they bring to the table.

So when fresh cherries are not available, don't despair! Tinned cherries make a fabulous substitute in this recipe ( and have a bonus in that you don't have to remove the pits!).

Generally there are two types of cheesecake - baked and set. This recipe is a set cheesecake. But even amongst set cheesecakes, there is variation as to the degree of "setness". In this recipe, the filling is quite soft. You could add a couple of gelatin sheets softened in cold water to the filling before folding in the cream if you wanted a firmer filling.

As I have used tinned cherries to make this cheesecake, I have thickened the juice with arrowroot and used with the topping. In this case you CANNOT use cornflour instead, as cornflour will turn the cherry juice a disappointing shade of grey and cloudy. Arrowroot is a generic name for a group of flours that include Tapioca flour. As a coeliac I use Tapioca flour all the time due to its "holding" properties in baking. If you want to know more about arrowroot, check out this link to Wikipedia

This is a special occasion dessert. It is very heavy on dairy, so don't be too generous with your portion sizes. For all the tips on this recipe, you can watch my YouTube video below

Recipe

Serves 10

• 200 g butter

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 350 g gluten free plain biscuits

• 250 g cream cheese

• 2 tbl kirsch

• ½ cup pure icing sugar

• 1¼ cups crème fraîche

• 1¼ cups cream

• 500 g cherries or 400g tin cherries, drained and juice reserved

• 1 tbl arrowroot (tapioca flour)* see note above

Crush biscuits in a food processor until they become fine crumbs. Place into a 22 cm springform tin. Add melted butter and mix until combined. If there are any larger bits of broken biscuit, remove these at this point.

Using a straight sided glass, press the biscuit mixture evenly around the sides and base. This is a bit fiddly, but it is worth taking the time to to get this right. Chill until firm - approximately 30 minutes.

Using a food processor beat cream cheese, icing sugar and 1 tbl of kirsch until smooth. Add crème fraîche and mix well. (If adding gelatine, this is the time to do it.)

In a separate bowl, whip cream until stiff.

Gently fold the cream into the filling.

Gently pour filling into the prepared biscuit case, smoothing out the top. Chill for at least an hour.

Pit fresh cherries if using.

When you are ready to serve, toss remaining kirch with cherries.

Unclip the springform tin sides and gently remove the cheesecake. Place cheesecake onto a  serving plate. Pile cherries on top.

If you have used tinned cherries, mix 1 tbl of arrowroot with reserved juice. Gently heat, stirring minimally until thickened. Allow to cool and pour over cherries.

Updated April 2023