Seasonal local food recipe No.324 – Hugh’s rhubarb and ginger cheesecake
This easy to make cheesecake is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Fruit Every Day.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25-45 minutes
Chilling time: 4 hours
Serves 8
Ingredients
For the rhubarb:
400 g rhubarb, trimmed
75 g caster sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 orange
For the biscuit base:
85 g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
200 g ginger biscuits
For the filling:
400 g cream cheese
3 balls preserved stem ginger, finely chopped plus 3 Tbsp syrup from the jar
25 g caster sugar
finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 orange
200 ml double cream
Method
For the rhubarb, preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas Mark 2. Cut the rhubarb into 4 cm lengths and place in a wide oven dish, ideally in one layer. Sprinkle with the sugar, orange zest and juice.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25-45 minutes (stirring carefully to turn the pieces over after the first 10 minutes), until tender and juicy (check the rhubarb after 25 minutes – and regularly thereafter – poking it with the tip of a small knife).
Leave to cool completely, then drain off the juice (it’s delicious, so save to pour over ice cream or use in a drink or smoothie). Lightly butter a 20-23 cm springform cake tin, line the base with baking parchment and lightly butter the paper.
To make the base, blitz the biscuits in a food processor (or bash in a bag with a rolling pin) until fairly fine. Pour the melted butter through the feed tube, pulsing as you go, until the mix looks like wet sand. (Or mix the butter with the bashed crumbs in a mixing bowl.) Tip into the prepared tin and press in firmly with the bottom of a glass so you get an even layer. Chill the base while you make the filling.
For the filling, beat the cheese, ginger, ginger syrup, sugar, orange zest and juice together until well blended. Add the cream and beat until the mixture thickens enough to hold its shape. Spoon on to the biscuit base and spread into an even layer.
Chill for 4 hours or overnight, until firm. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cheesecake and release the side of the tin. Serve with the cold baked rhubarb on top or on the side.
