Joe Wicks' baked ricotta & strawberry cheesecake
Joe Wicks is a multi-million bestselling author, has 11 million social media followers, holds the Guinness World Record for largest ever YouTube livestream audience and has 10 Sunday Times bestselling cookbooks. His latest is Feel Good Food and this cheesecake fits the bill perfectly.
Joe writes: "Cheesecake? Oh, yes please!
This is a real showstopper, so if you have friends coming over or a party coming up, pull this recipe out. I'll bet everyone loves it."
Ingredients
Base
| 35g | unsalted butter, melted |
| 75g | ground almonds |
| 25g | plain white flour |
| Pinch | salt |
| 1½ tsp | caster sugar |
Cheesecake filling
| 250g | ricotta cheese |
| 340g | light cream cheese |
| 100g | caster sugar |
| 2 Tbsp | cornflour |
| 3 | large eggs |
| 1 | lemon, finely grated zest and juice |
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract |
Strawberry topping
| 400g | strawberries, hulled |
| 2 tsp | runny honey |
| 1 Tbsp | lemon juice |
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Use some of the melted butter to grease the sides of an 18-cm springform cake tin.
- Mix all of the base ingredients together in a medium bowl. Tip into the cake tin and press down into an even layer. Bake for 6–8 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven and set aside.
- Turn the oven down to 160°C/140°C fan.
- Sandwich the ricotta cheese between 4 layers of kitchen paper, patting it down to form a flat circle (this removes excess moisture from the cheese). Uncover and tip into a large bowl, then add the cream cheese and use a whisk to stir until smooth. Mix in the sugar and cornflour followed by the eggs, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla.
- Pour the cheesecake filling over the baked crust and place the tin onto a baking tray. Bake for 50–60 minutes until the edges are set and the middle has a slight wobble. Carefully slide a knife around the outer edge of the baked cheesecake, then set aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the strawberry topping. Tip 100g of the strawberries into a food processor with the honey and blitz until you have a smooth purée. Cut the remaining strawberries into quarters and place in a medium bowl. Add the strawberry purée and stir to coat.
- Cut the cooled cheesecake into wedges and serve with the strawberry topping spooned over.
Edited extract from Feel Good Food, by Joe Wicks, published by HQ. Hardback RRP $45. Available in eBook
