
There are a few piña colada vibes going on with this delicious baked cheesecake!
This is a great dessert for any occasion and is ideal making a day or two in advance.
The cheesecake’s creamy, slightly fudgy texture has that “just one more bite” factor! I sometimes go fully piña colada-style and top with slices of fresh or grilled pineapple. To be honest, though, any sharp fruit hits the spot here: I am partial to passionfruit, which I used here.
The small amount of flour really makes a difference to the texture – as my GCSE Food students found out when we experimented with different ingredients. Crucially, you get a slightly firmer and even fudgier texture if using flour. The flour also ensures the eggs do not over-coagulate or scramble (although here, as the cheesecake is baked at a low temperature this is less likely to happen).
For a more traditional baked vanilla cheesecake:
- use crème fraiche or soured cream instead of the coconut cream
- omit the coconut from the base
- omit the rum
- increase the vanilla bean extract to 2 teaspoons
Recipe: baked coconut and lime cheesecake – serves 6
Base:
- 100g Digestive or Nice biscuits
- 30g desiccated coconut, ideally lightly toasted
- 50g unsalted butter, melted
Topping:
- 250ml full-fat cream cheese
- 150ml thick coconut cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract
- 60g caster sugar
- 15g plain flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk (you can freeze the white for meringues or macarons)
- 3 tablespoons rum of choice
- juice and finely grated zest of 2 limes
Topping (all optional!)
- fresh fruit of choice: passionfruit, pineapple, oranges….
- 1 tablespoon of rum
- toasted coconut flakes
you need to pre-heat the oven to 160°C(fan) and line a deep 6” round springform cake tin with greaseproof
(1) For the base: crush the biscuits finely. It is easiest to put them in a plastic bag, fold the top over and bash gently with a rolling pin.
(2) Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter and the the coconut. Press into the base of the tin, patting down firmly to give a flat biscuit layer.
(3) For the filling: add the cream cheese, coconut cream, vanilla extract and sugar to a medium bowl. Lightly whisk with a ballon whisk to give a smooth mixture: this only takes a few seconds.
(4) Add the remaining ingredients and whisk for a few seconds – just to incorporate the ingredients to give a light, smooth mixture.
(5) Pour the filling onto the biscuit base and flatten out by giving the tin a gentle shake. Place onto a baking tray.
(6) Bake for 15 minutes before turning the oven down to 120°C(fan) and baking for 45 more minutes: there should still be a very light wobble in the middle.
(7) Remove from the oven to cool down and chill until needed: ideally overnight. Then remove carefully by placing the baking tin on a jar, for example, and lightly pulling the sides vertically downwards. Peel off the greaseproof.
(8) If topping, simply place your fruit of choice on top (perhaps mixed with a little rum if you wish) and/or toasted coconut before serving.