Vanilla and Gingerbread Cheesecake Recipe

Here’s a lovely vanilla and gingerbread cheesecake recipe from The Swan Inn, Swinbrook, near Burford. Serve with fresh raspberries, raspberry sorbet and a sprig of lavender.

Ingredients

For the gingerbread:

125g strong rye flour
125g plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground mixed spice
2 tsp ground ginger
125ml whole milk
250g honey
3 eggs
50g light brown sugar
1 lemon, grated zest only
1 orange, grated zest only
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped

For the stock syrup:

1 thick slice of lemon
300g caster sugar
15g glucose

For the raspberry sorbet:

500g raspberries
2 tblsp caster sugar
¼ tsp liquid glucose
½ lemon, juice only

For the cheesecake:

250g full-fat soft cheese
250ml double cream
125g crème fraîche
125g caster sugar
Seeds scraped from 1 split vanilla pod

Method

The gingerbread:

Oven at 160C, butter and line a gastronome, sift all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, then mix the milk, honey, eggs and sugar in another bowl with the zests and vanilla seeds.
Then add to the dry ingredients and mix well until evenly combined. Spoon the mixture into the gastro tray.
Bake until a fork into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tray for about 30 minutes, then remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Grind the gingerbread to fine crumbs

The stock syrup:

Put all the ingredients into a pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and boil for five minutes, cool.
Remove the lemon slice, then pass the syrup through a fine sieve. Chill

The raspberry sorbet:

Put the raspberries, caster sugar and two tablespoons of water in a pan and cook over a low heat until the raspberries soften.
Pass through a fine sieve. Cover and chill in the fridge.
Keep 100ml of raspberry purée aside in the fridge for garnish.
Combine the remaining purée with 250ml of the chilled stock syrup, the liquid glucose and lemon juice and churn.

The cheesecake:

Stand eight metal rings on a non-stick mat. Combine the soft cheese, cream, crème fraîche, sugar and vanilla seeds in a large bowl. Whisk together until thick, then put the mixture in a plastic piping bag and pipe into the rings.
Make sure there are no air pockets and pipe right up to the top, then smooth the tops with the back of a flat knife, set until firm.