When you think of Friends, one dessert immediately springs to mind. Well, apart from Rachel Green's disastrous trifle. In 'The One With All The Cheesecakes', Chandler and Rachel can't resist eating their neighbour's delicious cheesecake – and the episode always makes us hungry. While you might not steal it from your neighbours, this creamy cheesecake recipe is so decadent, you might actually eat it off the floor.
RECIPE
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Rest time: 60 minutes
Chill time: 6 hours to overnight
Makes: 6 large slices
Ingredients
1. 180g biscuits (you can use any, I have used Parle G)
2. 60g melted salted butter
3. 400g cream cheese (full fat)
4. ½ cup granulated sugar
5. 200g sour cream
6. 150 ml heavy cream
7. 2 eggs (for eggless option substitute with 100g yogurt and 2tbsp plain flour)
8. 2 tbsp corn starch
9. 1.5 tbsp vanilla extract
10. 1/4 lemon juice
Method
Preparing the pan and base
· Preheat oven to 180˚C
· Break the biscuits into a large bowl
· Using a bowl or a glass press the broken biscuits to fine crumb
· Pour in the melted butter and mix well
· Grease a 7.8 inch/20cm spring form tin pan, including the sides.
· Transfer the buttery biscuit mix into the pan
· Carefully press this biscuit mix onto the bottom and flatten it using a spoon
· Line the insides of the spring form pan
· Now wrap the outer edge and bottom of your springform pan with foil.
Preparing the filling
· In a large bowl, add cream cheese and granulated sugar
· Mix until combined
· To this add sour cream and mix well, avoid any clumps
· Pour in the heavy cream and combine
· To the mixture add eggs and mix until combined
· Next add cornflour and vanilla essence
· Once combined, add lemon juice and give it a final whisk
Baking the Cheesecake
· Pour the mixture into the prepared pan gently
· Carefully place the cake pan onto the baking tray. Make sure the tray is positioned in the middle rack
· Now pour in some hot water into the tray as shown in the video, this is to ensure the cake has an even top with no cracks
· Bake at 180˚C for 30 mins, then reduce the temperature to 155˚C and bake for another 30 mins
· Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for an hour, do not open the oven door
· Cover and refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 6 hours or overnight
· Use a knife to loosen the chilled cheesecake from the rim of the spring form pan, then remove the rim. Using a clean sharp knife, cut into slices for serving. For neat slices, wipe the knife clean and dip into warm water between each slice.
· Serve cheesecake with desired toppings. Cover and store leftover cheesecake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days
PRO TIP: Bring all cold ingredients to room temperature before beginning. Room temperature ingredients combine quickly and evenly, so you won’t risk over-mixing. Also, beating cold ingredients together will result in a chunky cheesecake batter, hardly the way you want to begin!