Nielsen-Massey Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

A deep baked vanilla cheesecake speckled with vanilla which is ideal for entertaining or to share with a crowd.

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.

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.

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 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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Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

A deep vanilla cheesecake ideal for entertaining

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: vanilla cheesecake

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 483kcal

Author: Lucy Allen | BakingQueen74

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. 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.
• 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. 

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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.