Blueberry Cheesecake

Blueberry Cheesecake – Summer Baking

This blueberry cheesecake just screams summer! It´s the perfect treat for serving a crowd on a Sunday afternoon! This cake can be cut into 10 generous slices.

A spongy base, topped with a lemon cream cheese, followed by a layer of sweet blueberries and finished with a sprinkle of flaked almonds – This blueberry cheesecake is pure heaven!

The blueberry cheesecake recipe was given to me by an American friend (she is an amazing baker!) – so there is your guarantee for it tasting great! We all know that the Americans are the best when it comes to making cheesecakes!

It is a bit more work, so make sure you have plenty of time on your hands to make it. Preparing the cake can take up to an hour and it also needs about 45 minutes in the oven.

You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe, both work really well.

Serve the blueberry cheesecake warm or at room temperature, with a dollop of whipped cream and a lovely cup of tea/coffee!

If you are looking for other fruity summer baking ideas, then why not try this Strawberry Fraisier Cake (a Mary Berry Recipe) or some Mini Chocolate and Raspberry Sandwich Cakes?

Blueberry Cheesecake

Recipe

Ingredients:

FOR THE BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

• 100g / 1 generous cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• 65ml / ¼ cup apple juice
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp water

FOR THE BASE

• 280g / 2 cups plain flour
• 150g / ¾ cup caster sugar
• 115g / ½ cup cold butter, cut into chunks
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 190g / ¾ cup low-fat natural yoghurt
• zest of 1 medium lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING

• 175g / 6 oz full-fat cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 1 large egg
• 50g / ¼ cup caster sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon

TO FINISH

• 45g / ½ cup flaked almonds

Method:

For the blueberry compote:

1. In a small saucepan, bring the blueberries and apple juice to the boil. Turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about 3 minutes until the blueberries start to release their juices.
2. Then, in a separate bowl blend together the cornstarch with the water. Add to the blueberry mixture and stir until it simmers and starts to thicken. Set aside and leave to cool to room temperature.

For the base:

1. Lightly grease a 22cm / 9” round spring-clip or loose-based baking tin. Line the bottom with baking paper.
2. To make the base, whirl together the flour and sugar in a food processor. Next, add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
   (Alternatively, if you don´t have a food processor, simply mix the flour and sugar and then rub in the butter to create the crumby texture).
   Reserve about 70g / ½ cup of this mixture to sprinkle over the cake later.
3. Pour the remaining base mixture into a large mixing bowl and add in the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
4. Next, in a bowl, mix the yoghurt, egg and vanilla extract. Then add to the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking tin and spread out evenly.

For the cream cheese filling:

1. To make the cream cheese filling, add all 4 ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until smooth.

To assemble:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
2. To assemble the cake, start by spreading the cream cheese filling over the batter in the tin, leaving a 1 cm / ½ inch border bare. Carefully spoon the blueberry mixture over the cream cheese, leaving some visible.
3. Before baking, add the flaked almonds to the reserved flour-crumb-mixture. Sprinkle over the cake, concentrating mostly around the edge of the batter you left bare earlier.
4. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the cake only jiggles slightly in the middle when gently shaken and the top is starting to look golden brown.
5. Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then remove the cake from the tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.