Baked Ginger and Creme Fraiche Cheesecake

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

80g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

250g ginger nut biscuits

1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1kg cream cheese, brought to room temperature

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 vanilla beans, scrapped

5 eggs

300ml crème fraiche

Strawberries, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Grease and line the base and side of a 20cm spring form cake tin with baking paper.

Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz until a crumb forms, then add the melted butter and fresh ginger and pulse again until the mixture resembles wet sand. Pour into the tin and press the biscuit mixture down firmly to form a compact even layer. Clean food processor bowl.

For the filling, place the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar into the food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time incorporating well before adding the next. Add the crème fraiche and whiz until smooth and combined.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and bake for 45 minutes until beginning to brown on top. Reduce the temperature to 150°C and bake for a further 30-40 minutes until completely golden in colour with a slight wobble in the centre. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake cool completely in the oven for 3–4 hours. Transfer to the fridge to chill overnight.

Serve the chilled cheesecake with sliced strawberries.