White chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake

White chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake is one of the best cheesecakes I have baked recently. Wonderful, intensely fruity, refreshing and incredibly creamy. A real treat! Served with fresh passion fruit, it is simply unbeatable. If you are fans of tropical-flavoured cheesecakes, you simply have to try this one. It has even knocked my mango cheesecake off the top spot! Highly recommended 🙂

Ingredients for the base:

• 160 g wholemeal or oat biscuits
• 50 g butter, melted

Place the biscuits and butter in a food processor and blitz until the biscuits are thoroughly crushed and the mixture has the consistency of wet sand. If you do not have a food processor, place the biscuits in a strong bag (e.g. a resealable bag) and bash firmly with a rolling pin or meat mallet until thoroughly crushed, then combine with the melted butter.

Line the bottom of a 23 cm springform tin with baking paper. Tip the biscuit mixture onto the paper, spread evenly and press firmly into the base of the tin. Bake at 175°C for approximately 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly while preparing the cheesecake mixture.

Wrap the outside of the tin twice with aluminium foil – the cheesecake will be baked in a water bath.*

Ingredients for the cheesecake mixture:

• 750 g full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, ground three times
• 3 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks, from large eggs
• 120 g caster sugar
• 200 ml double cream
• 200 g white chocolate, chopped
• 150 ml passion fruit pulp, without seeds
• 1½ tbsp potato starch
• 1 tbsp plain flour

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Heat the double cream in a small saucepan until almost boiling, then remove from the heat. Add the chopped white chocolate and leave to stand for 2 minutes, until melted. After this time, stir thoroughly until you have a smooth chocolate sauce. If necessary, if any lumps remain, pass the mixture through a sieve.

Place the curd cheese, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, white chocolate melted in the cream, passion fruit pulp, sifted potato starch and plain flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix only until the ingredients are combined and you have a smooth cheesecake mixture. Do not mix for too long – an aerated cheesecake will rise considerably and then sink. We do not want that; once baked, the cheesecake should be flat.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base and bake at 160°C in a water bath* for approximately 60–70 minutes. The entire surface of the cheesecake should be baked through and set when touched with a skewer. If necessary, extend the baking time slightly. Remove the white chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake from the oven, leave to cool and then chill in the fridge overnight. Serve with fresh passion fruit pulp.

* The cheesecake is baked in a water bath: this involves placing the tin containing the cheesecake inside a larger tin or ovenproof dish, then pouring in boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the tin containing the cheesecake mixture. The cheesecake is baked surrounded by steam, and therefore in a very humid environment. Thanks to the steam, the cheesecake bakes evenly throughout, even in the centre, does not crack after baking and retains a perfectly creamy texture.

How to make a passion fruit pulp:

Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop out the pulp with a teaspoon. Pass it through a sieve to remove the seeds. The resulting pulp will be as runny as water, but very intense in flavour. One medium-sized passion fruit contains 2 tbsp (30 ml) of pulp with seeds, or 1 tbsp (15 ml) of seedless pulp.

Enjoy!

Source of inspiration – Chocolate by Eric Lanlard; recipe adapted.