A deep baked vanilla cheesecake speckled with vanilla which is ideal for entertaining or to share with a crowd.
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Nielsen-Massey vanilla
When Baking Mad got in touch and asked if I would like to try out one of their vanilla-based recipes using Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract, I was very keen to do so.
The scent of vanilla has to be one of my favourites in baking, and I had seen Nielsen-Massey’s stands at the Cake and Bake Show at Earls Court last year, but not managed to get into one of the tastings they were giving.
Out of the list of delicious bakes on offer, I decided to try out Eric Lanlard’s cheesecake recipe.
I went for this one as I’ve never baked a cheesecake before but have wanted to for a while.
And given the recipe is by Eric Lanlard, what better recipe to try out than one of his.
I was sent a pretty hamper containing Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, vanilla pods and Billington’s golden caster sugar to use in the recipe.
On looking at the recipe to get prepared to make the vanilla cheesecake, I noticed it required a LOT of cream cheese. 900 g of cream cheese in one cheesecake anyone?
Casting my eye down the rest of the ingredients I made a mental note to renew my gym subscription pronto: 200 g of golden caster sugar, 200 ml sour cream and three eggs plus one yolk are in there too.
This makes a very large and delicious cheesecake, so do make sure there are more than two adults and two chldren around to eat it if you make one…
I decided to use the vanilla bean paste in my cheesecake rather than extract.
This gave the cheesecake the lovely speckled appearance you get with vanilla pods, without the hassle of scraping the pods out yourself.
Ingredients
Here is what you will need fo this recipe. Get the quantities in the recipe card below.
- digestive biscuits
- butter – I prefer unsalted
- full fat cream cheese – either Philadelphia or supermarket own brand will work.
- golden caster sugar – if you don’t have golden you can use normal white caster sugar.
- sour cream
- plain flour
- eggs – I prefer free range, large.
- vanilla bean paste – if you can’t get vanilla bean paste then you can use vanilla extract. Avoid essence which is synthetic and doesn’t have good flavour.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350℉. Grease and line the base of a 20cm springform tin.
- Melt the butter and crush the digestives then stir them in, mix well. Place in the cake tin and spread evenly, then flatten with a spoon or spatula.
Bake in the oven for 10 mins, until golden. Remove and leave to cool while you make the filling. - Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and caster sugar until smooth, then add the sour cream and flour and mix again.
- Add the eggs and vanilla bean paste, beating well between each addition.
- Pour the cream cheese mix on to the biscuit base carefully, and bake for 45 mins. The cheesecake should be just set with a slight wobble. The colour should be mainly cream with gold around the edges.
- Once finished, turn off the oven and leave the door ajar then leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven – this is supposed to prevent the top from cracking.
- Once the oven is cool take the cheesecake out and leave it to cool completely, then carefully remove it from the tin using the spring form base.
Tips for Making a Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
If you make this I have a few tips for you: use a very deep tin as there is a lot of cheesecake topping in there.
Don’t use self-raising flour instead of plain like I did, thinking that as there are only a few tablespoons of flour wouldn’t affect the cheesecake. Mine rose a lot and nearly over the edges of my deep tin.
Do make sure you grease the sides of your springform tin so the cheesecake comes out cleanly.
Storage
You can keep the leftover baked cheesecake for approx. 3 days in the fridge.
Freezing: Baked cheesecake can be frozen. If freezing leftovers, wrap slices carefully and freeze then store in a lidded container in the freezer. Use within one month.
Verdict on the Cheesecake
We really enjoyed the baked vanilla cheesecake, thankfully mine came out of the tin in one piece and didn’t fall apart as I feared would happen when I handled it.
It has a very deep cream cheese layer, filled with vanilla flavours, and with a lovely texture.
As a baked cheesecake I thought you get more flavour than with the no-bake cheesecakes as well.
Definitely a pudding I would make again when we have visitors over.
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Recipe
Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the Base
- 150 g digestive biscuits crushed
- 75 g unsalted butter plus a little extra to grease
For the Topping
- 900 g full fat cream cheese
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 200 ml sour cream
- 3 tbsp plain white flour
- 3 large egg free range
- 1 large egg yolk free range, beaten
- 3 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350℉. Grease and line the base of a 20cm springform tin.
- Melt the butter and stir in the biscuit crumbs, mix well. Place in the cake tin and spread evenly, then flatten with a spoon or spatula.75 g unsalted butter, 150 g digestive biscuits
- Bake in the oven for 10 mins, until golden. Remove and leave to cool while you make the filling.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and caster sugar until smooth, then add the sour cream and flour and mix again.900 g full fat cream cheese, 200 g golden caster sugar, 200 ml sour cream, 3 tbsp plain white flour
- Add the eggs and vanilla bean paste, beating well between each addition.3 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 3 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Pour the cream cheese mix on to the biscuit base carefully, and bake for 45 mins. The cheesecake should be just set with a slight wobble. The colour should be mainly cream with gold around the edges.
- Once finished, turn off the oven and leave the door ajar then leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven – this is supposed to prevent the top from cracking.
- Once the oven is cool take the cheesecake out and leave it to cool completely, then carefully remove it from the tin using the spring form base.
Disclosure: I was sent a hamper of Nielsen-Massey goodies from Baking Mad.com for the purpose of this recipe post. All images, words and opinions are my own.
lucyparissi says
This looks like a proper ‘doorstop’ cheesecake as my husband would call it. I just want to dive in! Totally delicious – thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare
kneadwhine says
As always, Lucy, this looks delicious. I just want to delve in! Sure it’s not propoint friendly though given the list of ingredients!
efwalt says
Ooooooooooooh I love baked cheese cake SO much this looks to ie for. Can I just jump right in?!
bakingqueen74 says
Thank you, and please do Emma!
choclette says
I’ll come and help you out with a slice or two Lucy – pleeeaaase. It sounds so good and I the simple flavouring of vanilla is one of the best.
BTW did you know We Should Cocoa is all about vanilla this month?
bakingqueen74 says
Ooh yes I had seen that, I have plenty of vanilla to make something chocolatey with now 🙂
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
A vanilla cheesecake is such a classic dessert. I haven’t had one in ages.
bakingqueen74 says
Lovely isn’t it, i have enough for a few more days 🙂
laura says
Wow this looks delicious! I love baking I recently bought a KitchenAid mixer for our new house which I can’t wait to use properly & experiment with new recipes!
L x
karengribbon says
I would so love to be able to bake. I can’t. Honestly I can’t. Betty Crocker is my best friend.