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Baked Cheesecake with Blackberries, Blueberries and Figs

Previously I have always done no-bake cheesecakes. Partly due to laziness and partly because I was unsure of the taste. But I finally succumbed and this is a stunning cheesecake with so much rich, creamy flavour. I believe I am now a baked cheesecake expert!

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and fig match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 324 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 8-10
Prep30 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Wrap the outside of a 20cm springform tin in foil and bring a kettle of water to the boil.

  2. Crush the gingernut biscuits to fine crumbs. Melt the butter, stir it into the crumbs, then press the mixture firmly over the base of the tin. Chill for 10 minutes.

  3. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Beat the cream cheese, ricotta, caster sugar and vanilla until smooth, then beat in the cornflour.

  4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the double cream, until just combined. Do not overbeat, as this traps air.

  5. Pour the filling over the biscuit base. Set the tin in a larger tray and pour boiling water around it to halfway up the sides.

  6. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the edges are set and the centre has a slight wobble. The centre should reach 160°F (71°C) on a probe thermometer.

  7. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar and let the cheesecake cool inside for 1 hour. Then remove it from the water bath and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

  8. Just before serving, quarter the figs and arrange them with the blueberries and blackberries on top. Dust with icing sugar, scatter over the mint leaves and serve chilled.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Vanilla + figtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together324 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Butter + cream cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together41,494 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Biscuit + cream cheesetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together145 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs