Plum cheesecake

A wonderful plum cheesecake with a homemade cocoa shortcrust base and crumble topping. It’s one of those recipes that always tastes amazing and instantly brings back childhood memories, as it resembles a lighter version of the classic Polish royal cheesecake (sernik królewski). This modern version doesn’t require a food processor to make the perfect shortcrust pastry, and thanks to the addition of ricotta, the cheesecake is lighter and creamier, even though the egg whites aren’t whipped separately. Plums are absolutely delicious in this bake :).

Ingredients for the cocoa shortcrust pastry:

• 170 g plain flour
• 30 g cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 130 g butter, at room temperature
• 80 g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rub all the ingredients together with your fingertips until the mixture forms crumbs. Set aside half of the crumble for the topping.

Sprinkle the remaining crumble into a 23–24 cm springform tin lined with baking paper and press it firmly into the base. Bake at 180°C for 15–18 minutes.

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 500 g full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, ground three times
• 500 g ricotta
• 2 large eggs
• 1 packet vanilla custard powder (35 g), unsweetened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 500 g plums, halved and stoned

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place all the ingredients for the filling, except the plums, into the bowl of a mixer. Mix just until combined or stir with a whisk. Do not overmix, as incorporating too much air will cause the cheesecake to rise excessively and then collapse.

Pour the cheesecake mixture over the pre-baked base. Arrange the plums on top, cut side up, then sprinkle with the reserved crumble.

Bake at 175°C for about 60 minutes, or until the cheesecake is fully set. Leave to cool in the switched-off oven.

The plum cheesecake does not need to be refrigerated, except during very hot weather.

Enjoy!