Soggy London Cheesecake

Asked by designermamma. Answered on 12th March 2015

Full question

I baked the London Cheesecake as per instructions in a water bath. But even with double wrapping the foil outside the springform pan, some water leaked in and the cheesecake crust was soggy. How can I prevent it from happening again?

Our answer

Nigella's London Cheesecake (from Domestic Goddess and on the Nigella website) is, like many of her cheesecakes, baked in a water bath as this gentle cooking method gives the cheesecake a very smooth and voluptuous texture. Unfortunately to unmould the cheesecake successfully you do need to use a springform pan.

Usually wrapping the pan very tightly in a double layer of foil does prevent any water seeping in and make sure that the foil is overlapped well so that there are no obvious gaps. Also make sure that the base of the springform pan is locked in tightly, as some pans have bases that only fit snugly if the base is one particular way up. You could also try wrapping the base in 2 to 3 layers of clingfilm (plastic wrap) followed by 1 to 2 layers of foil. Sometimes it is easier to get a tighter seal with clingfilm than foil.