Celebrating Shavuot!

Shavuot is a Jewish festival that this year begins on the evening of Tuesday 11^th June and ends on the evening of Thursday 13^th June.

Shavuot, known as the ‘Feast of Weeks’, signifies the time when Moses was given the Torah on Mount Sinai.

On Shavuot, the Book of Ruth is read and we celebrate the time when the Jewish people harvested their last grain of the season and began harvesting their fruit crops. It is traditional on Shavuot to eat dairy foods, including cheesecake and blintzes, to symbolise the kosher food laws in the Torah. As the Torah was given on Shabbat, no cattle could be slaughtered nor could utensils be koshered, so on that day they ate dairy products.

If you’re having friends over on Shavuot, why not try serving them this delicious classic New York style cheesecake – enjoy!

Classic Cheesecake

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 4 hours

Serves: 10

Ingredients

Crust ingredients

• 10- 15digestive biscuits crushed
• 1/2cupwalnut pieces
• 1/4cuppowdered sugar
• 5teaspoonscinnamon
• 1/4teaspoonnutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 2tablespoonsmelted unsalted butter

Cheesecake ingredients

• 2lbscream cheese
• 4largeeggs
• 5cupsgranulated sugar
• 3/4cupsour cream
• 1/2cupcream
• 1/4cupsweetened condensed milk
• 1/4cupall-purpose flour
• 2teaspoonsvanilla essence

Blueberry topping ingredients (optional)

• 1/3cupwater
• 1/4cupgranulated sugar
• 4teaspoonscorn-starch
• 5 cupsfresh blueberries
• 1tablespoonlemon juice

You will also need: A cake tin, greaseproof paper, blender, baking tray for bain-marie.

Method

 To make cheesecake

1. About 45 minutes before baking, take the cream cheese out of the fridge, so it can return to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 165 degrees or gas mark 3. Place a piece of greaseproof paper over the bottom of a 9-inch cake tin, then seal the edge around the base. The base should be covered by greaseproof paper with edges of the paper sticking out from the sides of the tin. This will keep the cheesecake from sticking to the bottom of your tin. Grease the inner sides of the tin with butter or cooking spray, making sure the sides are fully coated. Do not spray the paper on the bottom.

2. In a food blender, mix together the graham crackers, powdered sugar, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until a crumbly powder forms (about 30 seconds of blending). Pour the melted butter over the crumbs and continue to blend for another 10 seconds. At the end, the crumbs should be evenly darkened/moistened by the butter. Press crumb mixture firmly in an even layer across the bottom of the cake tin.

Mix the cream cheese well in the blender, then add the rest of the cheesecake ingredients (eggs, sugar, sour cream, cream, sweetened condensed milk, flour and vanilla essence). Continue to mix the ingredients together, using short 1-second pulses to blend the ingredients for about 15 seconds total mixing time. Do not over-mix as this will cause the cheesecake’s texture to change. Filling consistency should be smooth (no lumps), but not watery.

3. Fill the kettle and boil it. While kettle is boiling, pour the cheesecake filling into the prepared cake tin. Smooth the surface of the cheesecake filling with a spatula or spoon and pop any large bubbles that rise to the surface.
4. When the kettle has boiled, fill a wide baking tray with the hot water and place it on the middle rack of the oven, with the cake tin (wrapped in foil to prevent leakage) placed inside the tray of water. Close the oven and bake at 165 degrees for one hour.

After an hour, take the cake tin out of the tray, close the oven, turn off the heat and let the cheesecake in the cake tin cool slowly inside the oven for 3 hours. This slow cooling will prevent the top of the cake from cracking. (If you don’t mind about cracking, you can cool it out of the oven, which will bring it back to room temperature more quickly.)

5. After 3 hours, remove the cake tin from the oven. Let it return to room temperature, then place the cheesecake in the fridge and chill for at least 12 hours. Gently remove the cheesecake from the cake tin after it is thoroughly chilled. If using a topping, spread it on after chilling the cake. Serve cold.

To make blueberry topping

In a small saucepan, heat 1/3 cup of water. Slowly dissolve sugar and corn-starch as the water heats up. When mixture boils, add blueberries. Stir slowly and constantly for 4-5 minutes until mixture is thick, syrupy and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let the topping return to room temperature, then place it in the fridge to chill for 1 hour. Stir well before spreading on top of the cheesecake.

With thanks to: https://toriavey.com/classic-cheesecake/