Cherry Cheesecake
by Nigella. Featured in NIGELLA EXPRESSIntroduction
This is not the trad baked cheesecake that requires patience and lots of spare time. No, this is fresh, quick, simple and — best of all — irresistibly scrumptious!
Even in the spirit of retro-accuracy, please do not be tempted to open a jar of cherry pie filling over the cake. I use some French cherry concoction that seems to be pretty universally available and has no added sugar, but anything labelled "conserve" as opposed to "jam" should be safe.
And, if you feel like it, when cherries are in season, strew the top with a couple of handfuls of beautiful fruit.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
This is not the trad baked cheesecake that requires patience and lots of spare time. No, this is fresh, quick, simple and — best of all — irresistibly scrumptious!
Even in the spirit of retro-accuracy, please do not be tempted to open a jar of cherry pie filling over the cake. I use some French cherry concoction that seems to be pretty universally available and has no added sugar, but anything labelled "conserve" as opposed to "jam" should be safe.
And, if you feel like it, when cherries are in season, strew the top with a couple of handfuls of beautiful fruit.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 6-8
- 125 grams crumbled digestive biscuits
- 75 grams soft butter
- 300 grams cream cheese
- 60 grams icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 250 millilitres double cream
- 1 x 284 grams jar black cherry spread (e.g., St Dalfour Rhapsodie de Fruit)
- 1¼ cups crumbled graham crackers
- 6 tablespoons soft butter
- 10 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 10 ounces jar black cherry spread (e.g., St Dalfour Rhapsodie de Fruit)
Method
- Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and whiz again to make the mixture clump.
- Press this mixture into a 20cm / 8 inch springform tin; press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.
- Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
- Lightly whip the double cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
- Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
- When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.
- Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and whiz again to make the mixture clump.
- Press this mixture into a 20cm / 8 inch springform tin; press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.
- Beat together the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
- Lightly whip the heavy cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
- Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
- When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.
Additional Information
For vegetarains make sure the cream cheese is a brand suitable for vegetarians.
For vegetarains make sure the cream cheese is a brand suitable for vegetarians.
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Show more commentsI tried this recipe as I am not a good cheesecake baker, I used gingernut biscuits as a base and put lemon jelly on the top of the filling. My husband has always loved cheesecake and when he tried this one he couldn’t believe how delicious it was. so thank you Nigella. Will definitely be making this one again and again
I have made this often, just a go to recipe and a must for any kitchen, will not disappoint.
So decadent and rich yet light and fluffy! I made one minor change. I browned the butter and let it cool a bit before making the crust which I doubled as my pan is 10 inch. I'll be riffing on this recipe for a long time and adding it to my list of quick and easy potluck desserts.
This is the easiest cheesecake recipe I could find and it was delicious. Cream is great addition. My springform pan is 23cm so I needed more base (x2 weight in graham crackers). Love the US cup conversions on this website (as a Brit living in the US) but 1 pack is 8 ounces so added 2 ounces of some leftover ricotta. I skipped the cherry jam and simply put strawberries on top, even better for those with a less sweet tooth.
I am 63 years old and I have been making this cheesecake since I was 18! The recipe was given to me by a boyfriends mother and I have passed it on to lots of people, usually to everyone I made it for. I also use it as a base for many other flavours including Baileys, Slow Gin and Gooseberry. Perfect every time.
I've made this several times and it's always delicious. This year I doubled the ingredients and used ginger nuts instead of digestives, added orange instead of lemon and a teaspoon each of ginger and cinnamon for a festive twist. I added decoration instead of the fruit Delicious!
We made this last week for our guests and my goodness it was a complete success. Six of us ate the whole lot as dessert after a pasta bake. It was so light and fresh tasting. One guest declared it the best cheesecake they had ever eaten. I will be making it again this weekend. It is light in texture unlike most cheesecakes yet tastes amazing. It is simple to make compared to baked cheesecakes and it should not be as good but I'm convinced. Thoroughly recommended as a definitive recipe. Not the first time a Nigella recipe has become my one and only definitive. Thank you Nigella.
My mother in law has been making cheesecake this way for decades, not baked. It is so nice and light. She buys frozen sour cherries by the pail from orchards and makes her own not too sweet fruit topping. Amazing!!
Highly recommend using a jar of Luxardo Maraschino cherries on the top. mmmmm.
I made this today, and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
I only made a small tweak. Since it had to be gluten free I replaced the digestives with a gluten free version. And I used fresh raspberries and blueberries as topping. Perfect!
Great, great recipe. The best I've ever tried - and the easiest too!
I went searching for a cheesecake recipe several years ago and came across Nigella's recipe. It is absolutely the best and now my go-to cheesecake recipe. Thank you!