Ricotta and a dusting of amaretti make this Hairy Bikers baked cheesecake, with no pressed biscuit base at all. And it serves 10 at about 330 calories a slice, from British Classics, in seven hours.
British Classics calls it one of their favourites, with “a good splosh of booze and a crunchy coating”. So the amaretto goes into the filling and the amaretti go round the tin, which is the whole structure.
Turn the oven off and wedge the door ajar with a tea towel, because the cheesecake cools in there for three hours. And that slow cool is what stops the top cracking, since there is no flour in the mix to hold it.
Hairy Bikers Baked Cheesecake Recipe
Description
A springform tin is buttered and coated inside with crushed amaretti rather than given a pressed base. Then drained ricotta is whisked with sugar, six eggs, cream, lemon zest and amaretto into a loose batter. And it bakes hot for ten minutes then low for an hour, before cooling in the switched-off oven.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the tin: heat the oven to 180C fan 160C, then grease a 24cm springform tin with 15g butter, base and sides. Then fit the base in upside down, so the cheesecake slides off easily later.
- Coat with amaretti: blitz 40g amaretti to fine crumbs, or bash them in a bag with a rolling pin. Then tip them into the tin and shake it until the base and sides are evenly coated, keeping a spoonful back for the top.
- Whisk the ricotta: drain 750g ricotta well, then put it in a bowl with 150g caster sugar. Then whisk with an electric beater until smooth and combined.
- Add the eggs: beat in 6 eggs one at a time, whisking well after each so the mixture stays smooth.
- Finish the batter: stir in 100ml double cream, the zest of 1 lemon and 4 tbsp amaretto. Then expect it to look very soft and light, because that is right.
- Bake it: pour the batter slowly into the tin starting from the middle, so the crumbs stay put. Then set it on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, before dropping to 160C fan 140C for an hour until just set. And cover it loosely with foil if it starts to brown while still wobbly.
- Cool in the oven: turn the oven off and wedge the door ajar with a folded tea towel. Then leave the cheesecake in there for three to four hours until completely cold, before chilling it in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Release and serve: run a knife round the edge, then unclip the tin and slide the cheesecake onto a plate. Then scatter the reserved amaretti crumbs over the top and cut into wedges.
FAQs
Is this the almond cheesecake from their Comfort Food series?
It is, and it has four names for one recipe, which is why it is so hard to find. Because Comfort Food billed it as baked almond cheesecake, BBC calls it gluten-free cheesecake, and Big Book of Baking says amaretto cheesecake. So the ingredients never change, and their chocolate hazelnut cake sits beside it in the same Italian chapter, taking amaretto too.
Is it gluten free?
Only if the amaretti are, because everything else in it is naturally flour free. And BBC Food specifies gluten-free amaretti while both books just say crunchy amaretti, which matters since many supermarket ones are made with wheat flour. So read the packet, then use the rest of it in their black forest trifle, which layers amaretti under the custard.
Why is there no biscuit base?
Because 40g of amaretti is a coating, not a base, and the recipe is built that way on purpose. So it sets on six eggs and ricotta alone, which makes it far lighter than their vodka strawberry cheesecake with its 300g digestive base. And Big Book of Baking says to serve it with poached peaches and cream, which the other two sources leave out.
How many does it serve?
British Classics says 12, while Big Book of Baking and BBC Food both say 8 to 10, from the same 24cm tin. Because the filling is light rather than dense, 10 is the honest middle and gives a proper wedge. So put the tin base in upside down before you start, since all three sources say it makes sliding the cheesecake off far easier.
How long does it keep?
Three days covered in the fridge, and it is better on day two once the amaretto has settled into the filling. But the amaretti coating softens from the second day, so the crunch the headnote promises is a first-day thing. And it will not freeze, since the egg set weeps as it thaws, so their fridge-set apple cheesecake is the one to make ahead.
