Blackcurrant cheesecake
A crowd pleaser that can be prepared in advance and taken to any dinner party.
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 650kcal
Ingredients
- 165 g digestive biscuits
- 60 g unsalted butter
- 330 g full-fat cream cheese Philadelphia, at room temperature
- 250 g mascarpone at room temperature
- 170 g icing sugar sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150 g blackcurrants plus some water
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- Using a rolling pin, crush the digestive biscuits in a medium sized plastic bag.
- Melt the butter in a medium sized pan, add the crushed biscuits and mix well to coat the biscuits in butter. Tip the mixture into a 19.5 cm x 4cm loose-bottomed tin and press down firmly to create a firm base for the cheesecake. Place in the fridge to cool and 'set' whilst you make the cheese layer.
- Mix the cheeses in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the icing sugar, before adding the vanilla extract.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and use a spatula to level. Place in the fridge for a least 4 hours or overnight preferably to 'set'.
- Put the blackcurrants into a saucepan with a little water and enough sugar (about 1 tablespoon) to sweeten slightly. Simmer until the fruit is soft; leave to cool.
- Before serving, spread a thin layer of the blackcurrant mixture over the cheese mixture.
- To remove from the tin, place on a small bowl and slide the outer ring down, before sliding the cheesecake off the base onto a serving plate.
Notes
Freezing tip: If you can resist eating all of this cheesecake it freezes well and doesn’t take long to defrost.
Calories are per portion and for the ingredients listed; not for any accompaniments. The calories are an approximation and will depend in some instances on the size of the ingredients.
I made this to take to a friend’s dinner gathering and everyone loved it. The sharpness of the blackcurrants was an excellent contrast to the sweetness of the cream cheese mix. I added two small teaspoons of arrowroot (mixed with a little cold water to make a paste) to the blackcurrant mix just to thicken the juice a little. This formed a light jelly consistency when cold. It travelled well in the car for its 20 minute journey and I added the blackcurrant sauce on arriving at my friends home. A real hit. Thank you.
Thanks for your feedback. This is very popular dish and there is rarely any leftover to freeze!
My second attempt at this recipe was with a gluten free biscuit base for a gluten intolerant guest. I used the same quantity of biscuits/butter, which worked well. Again a real hit with guests. I have popped what was left over in the freezer for a nice desert one evening. Thank you.
Prepared this again to take on a self catering holiday with friends. I took it straight from the freezer on a six hour car journey, it then sat in the fridge for a day, no problems. Added the prepared blackcurrant mix straight from the fridge before serving. See my earlier note regarding adding arrowroot to thicken the sauce a little. I love this recipe.
Thanks for leaving some more feedback on this recipe. It’s interesting to hear that it ‘survived’ a six hour car journey having only taken it on a four hour journey to date!
Made this a while back and its been in the freezer for a few months.Served it today for lunch with friends.I used frozen berries and like joyjoybert added some arrowroot.Most enjoyable and easy to make.
This is a really popular dish and liked by everyone! Thanks for your feedback.
Lovely cheesecake and very easy to make.
The recipe was very straightforward but I used blackberries picked in the hedgerows near the house as I had no blackcurrants.
The family loved it! Will make again and freeze! Thank you.
This cheesecake is definitely a crowd-pleaser and interesting to hear that it works with blackberries as well. Thank you for your feedback.
Loved this cheesecake! So easy to make and a real crowd pleaser. Made it for my dad’s birthday meal and he loved it. Real sweetness in the cheesecake filling combined with the tartness of the juicy blackcurrants. As it’s winter time and I didn’t have any blackcurrants in the freezer I used Sainsbury’s tinned blackcurrants in fruit juice. i drained two tins and made a compote with the blackcurrants, added a little sugar (1-2 dst spoons) and juice of two lemons and boiled gently for a few minutes until the right consistency. Held together lovely and went slightly ‘jammy’ so held on the top of the cheesecake lovely. Thanks for the recipe! Xx
We’re delighted to hear that you’ve joined the CNF Blackcurrant Cheesecake fan club! 🙂 It’s great to hear that it works as well with tinned blackcurrants and thanks for giving us the cooking tips on how to achieve the best ‘jammy’ consistency. Thank you for taking the time to leave the comprehensive feedback.