Blueberry Cheesecake

I am not quite sure how I completed a weekend full of baking, while also having a 10km race to run. But I made a no-bake Rose Tres Leches and two cheesecakes. One was a Chocolate Cheesecake, which was devoured by all of my running team mates. Second, is this delicious Blueberry Cheesecake, which was a hit with friends and family.

I had to purchase 1kg of cream cheese, so wanted to use up the cream cheese as soon as possible and the cheesecakes are so easy to make. Making up different flavours are so easy. I do love making a marble cheesecake with a mix of chocolate and vanilla cheesecake batter. And other flavours such as mango, strawberries and lemon can be made easily once you know the base ingredients.

Making two cheesecakes back to back meant I could try two different baking methods. For the first cheesecake, I wrapped the pan in foil and placed it in a water bath. Cooking time was the same and the result was a very smooth cheesecake without any cracks. It did not sink either.

The second one, the blueberry cheesecake, I baked it without the water bath, and as you can see it did crack on the sides and has sunk in the middle. But I did not really mind. The texture of the cheesecake was still the same in both cheesecakes so apart from the aesthetics, I am not sure it makes a huge difference on how you bake it.

Blueberry Cheesecake
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
Blueberry Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups blueberries
• 4 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp cornflour

Blueberry Cheesecake:

• 250g Digestive biscuits
• 100g butter (melted)
• 500g cream cheese
• 300g sour cream
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 3 large eggs*
• 3/4 cup blueberries

Method:

• To make the sauce, mix 1 cup of blueberries, 2 tbsp water, sugar and vanilla extract in a saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Simmer till the blueberries break down (for about 5-7 minutes).
• Mix the remaining 2 tbsp water and cornflour and then add to the blueberry mixture. Cook till the mixture thickens. Stir in the remaining blueberries and remove from heat. Leave to cool. You can make the sauce a day before as well.
• For the cheesecake, pre-heat the oven to 160 degree celsius.
• Process the digestive biscuits in a food processor till it resembles bread crumbs. Alternatively, you can place them in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place the biscuit crumbs in a bowl and stir in the melted butter.
• Press crumbs two-thirds of the way up side and over base of a 20cm spring-form pan. Refrigerate. You can use the back of a glass to press it down in the pan.
• Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixture. Beat in the eggs until just mixed. Stir in the blueberries.
• Pour the mixture into biscuit base. Bake the cheesecake in the oven for about 1 hour. Cool slightly in the oven and then place in refrigerator to chill. Pour the blueberry sauce on top when ready to serve.

Note:
* the eggs we get here in Maldives are slightly smaller so 4 eggs would be needed for the recipe.