Gooseberry streusel cheesecake

A delicious cheesecake with gooseberries, made with almost the last gooseberries I was able to find this season. A shortcrust base, a wonderful creamy cheesecake filling and a buttery streusel topping. This gooseberry cheesecake is quick and fuss-free to make; if you’ve frozen some gooseberries, you’ll be able to enjoy their flavour even in winter :).

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 160 g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 2–3 tablespoons cold water

Work all the shortcrust pastry ingredients together (in a food processor or by hand – chop the butter with a knife, add the remaining ingredients and knead) until the dough starts to form a streusel-like mixture. The streusel should be softer and moister rather than dry.

Tip half of the mixture into a 24–25 cm tin lined with baking paper, reserving the other half for the topping. Press the mixture firmly over the base and pre-bake at 180°C for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 500 g full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, passed through a sieve three times
• 250 g mascarpone
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 350 g gooseberries, topped and tailed

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place all the ingredients apart from the gooseberries in the bowl of a mixer. Mix just until combined, or whisk together by hand; do not mix for too long, as you don’t want to incorporate unnecessary air into the cheesecake mixture (an aerated cheesecake will rise significantly during baking and then collapse).

Spread the cheesecake mixture over the pre-baked base. Arrange the gooseberries over the top, then sprinkle with the remaining streusel.

Bake the gooseberry cheesecake at 175°C for about 50 minutes or longer, without the fan, until the cheesecake is baked through and the top is golden. Leave to cool in the cooling oven. Before serving, you can dust with icing sugar.

There is no need to store the cheesecake in the fridge (except during hot weather).

Enjoy!