Pineapple caramel cheesecake

This cheesecake is delicious and creamy. Nothing like you've experienced with a store bought cheesecake. I recommend that you make this one. The pineapple caramel topping sauce is amazing and satifies the sweet tooth.



You will need:

40 grams salted butter
140 grams of plain hob nob biscuits
225 grams of caster sugar
2 tbsps cornflour
750 grams of good quality cream cheese
6 large free range eggs, seperated
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
150ml double cream
150ml sour cream
pinch of sea salt
zest of 1 lime

For the pineapple caramel:

a large knob of salted butter
200 grams of fresh pineapple, cored and peeled and cut into small chunks
a pinch of sea salt
225 grams of caster sugar

Preheat your oven to gas mark 2. Now go ahead and lightly grease a spring form cake tin with some butter and line the sides and base with baking paper.

To make the base, melt the butter and blitz the biscuits in the food processor. Mix these together until combined and then gently press the mixture evenly into the base of your cake tin. Now, if you want to put some of this mixture onto a spoon and place that in your mouth, go ahead, it's fine. Promise. Place your base in the fridge to chill for a while.

Now mix the sugar and cornflour together. Beat in the cream cheese, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Unless you have an arm like Popeye, you will need an electric whisk for this. Gradually add both the sour and double creams as you whisk. Add the salt and lime zest and mix to combine.

In a seperate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks. Then with a large metal spoon fold them carefully into the cheese mixture. You want to keep this light and fluffy so fold very carefully. Pour the mixture on to your chilled base and place in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes until the cheesecake is lovely and golden on the top. Don't worry if your cheeecake cracks on top, this is the look we're after. Once the cake is cooked, turn off the oven and leave it there to cool completely. Then and only then, remove the tin and baking paper.

To make the caramel, melt the butter in a small, hot pan and fry the pineapple until golden. Season it with the salt and 1 teaspoon of the sugar as you go. Remove from the pan and add the rest of the sugar along with 100ml of water. When the sugar has completely dissolved, turn the heat right up so that the sugar bubbles and turns a deep, golden colour.

Turn the heat down and add another 140ml of water. Be careful that the caramel doesn't spit. Once the sugar has dissolved again, the syrup will start to thicken. Add the pineapple and pour a little over each serving of cheesecake.

Delicious.

Recipe adapted from Thomasin Miers' Mexican Food Made Simple