Baking London Cheesecake

Asked by Joolsrools. Answered on 23rd August 2020

Full question

The London Cheesecake was my first failed Nigella recipe ever. The cheesecake was flat, grainy and eggy. I have made the New York Cheesecake before, which was delicious. Why the difference? On the plus side the left over egg white made fabulous meringues so all was not lost.

Our answer

Nigella's London Cheesecake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a baked cheesecake. The recipe includes whole eggs and egg yolks and only uses cream cheese in the cheesecake batter, so it is richer than some other cheesecake recipes. It is important that all of the ingredients are at room temperature before the cheesecake batter is made, as otherwise they will not mix properly and the filling could be slightly heavy.

From the description it does sound as if the cheesecake has baked for too long. It is in a water bath so it is more difficult to over bake the cheesecake but the dense, grainy texture is usually indicative of over baking. Some people also report over baked cheesecakes as having an "eggy" flavour, though there is no particular scientific reason for this. The cheesecake should not be fully baked before the sour cream topping is added. It should be set on top but should still have some jiggle underneath, though it should not look liquid. The cheesecake will continue to set as it cools, so should not be fully firm once it comes out of the oven.