Margaret's Bistro Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 2 cups (200g) plain biscuits, , crushed or blended into crumbs
• ½ cup (60g) ground almonds
• 1/4 cup PHILADELPHIA Cream for Cooking, a cream alternative
• 75g butter, melted

• Filling:
• 750g PHILADELPHIA Block Cream Cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• Grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

• Topping:
• 250ml PHILADELPHIA Cream for Desserts, a double cream alternative
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar, extra
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essence, extra
• ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg, for serving

Method

FIRST make the crust: Stir together crumbs, ground almonds, PHILLY Cream for Cooking and melted butter. With fingers, press crumb mixture into a 23cm spring form pan to come 5cm up the sides. Chill crust well while making the Filling. Preheat oven to 190C.
TO make filling, use an electric mixer to beat PHILADELPHIA Block Cream Cheese and sugar until well incorporated then beat in eggs, one at a time, adding lemon rind, juice and vanilla. Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared crust, and use a spatulato spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool to room temperature.
INCREASE oven temperature to 220C.
TO make topping: Combine PHILADELPHIA Cream for Desserts with extra sugar and extra vanilla essence. Spoon over top of cheesecake and spread evenly. Bake for about 5 minutes, or just enough to glaze. Cool then chill for 6-12 hours before serving. The cheesecake can be made a few days ahead and kept covered and chilled. Dust with grated nutmeg to serve, and cut into wedges.

This cheesecake is as good as it gets. It is based on the one that was so popular in Margaret Fulton’s early days when she would demonstrate it at Johnny Walker’s bistro in Sydney. We’ve all loved it ever since.