Candy’s Cheesecake
by Tannie Maria
from Recipes to Die Live For by Sally Andrew
This recipe has flavours of the Karoo and New York. For an extra-fancy cake, garnish with brandied muscadels (muscadel raisins simmered in a little brandy, water, honey and sugar).
This is the best cheesecake I have ever eaten. Candy is my fashion-designer friend from New York. We met when her cousin Martine was murdered. Ag, shame.
Ingredients
Crust
|
200 g |
Brazil nuts |
|
75 g |
digestive biscuits |
|
100 g |
desiccated coconut |
|
|
finely grated zest of 2 oranges |
|
1 T |
castor sugar |
|
150 g |
butter, melted |
Cake
|
750 g |
plain cream cheese, softened |
|
|
finely grated zest of 2 oranges |
|
|
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon |
|
1 cup |
castor sugar |
|
3 |
eggs |
|
¼ cup |
lemon juice |
|
¾ cup (180 g) |
sour cream |
Sour-cream topping
|
1 cup (240 g) |
sour cream |
|
2 T |
castor sugar |
|
2 t |
lemon juice |
|
|
finely grated orange zest or orange wedges for garnishing |
Use a pestle and mortar or a food processor to crush the Brazil nuts (I like them a little crunchy). Use a rolling pin to crush the digestive biscuits, and add these to the nuts, along with the coconut, orange zest and castor sugar. Add the melted butter and mix well.
Grease a 24 cm springform cake tin. Press the crust mixture lightly onto the base and sides of the tin. You want a thin crust on the base (5–7 mm) and it doesn’t matter if the crust doesn’t go all the way up the sides of the tin or is uneven in height. Put in the fridge for half an hour.
Preheat your oven to 180 ºC.
To make the cake, blend the cream cheese, orange zest, lemon zest and castor sugar in a large bowl, then add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the lemon juice and sour cream.
Pour the mixture into the cooled crust. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes.
Make the sour-cream topping by mixing the sour cream, castor sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Spread over the cheesecake and bake for a further 20 minutes or until set.
Leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven, with the door ajar. Then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Garnish with finely grated orange zest or orange wedges.