Manhattan Cheesecake

I'd promised my good friend to make her Manhatten Cheesecake for her birthday, which I will be presenting to her tomorrow. I love cheesecake, and Manhatten Cheesecake is a twist on the New York cheesecake, and this recipe is much simpler and convenient to bake, yet, it is just as delicious.

The recipe came with a blueberry topping, but as I'm not a fan of blueberry, I decided to do away with it. It tastes quite well on it's own, but you can try the topping if you would like to.

Ingredients:

For the cheesecake:

100g butter, plus extra for greasing

200g digestives, crushed

400g cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

140g of caster sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla essence
450ml yoghurt(can be substituted with sour cream)

For the blueberry topping:
55g caster sugar

4 tbsp water

250g blueberries

1 tsp arrowroot

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. Brush an 8-inch springform pan with butter.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat or in a microwave. (I did the latter) Stir in the biscuits, then spread over the base of the tin. Leave it aside.

3. Place the cream cheese, eggs, 100g of sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence in a food processor. Process until smooth. Pour over biscuit base and smooth the top. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 20 minutes. Leave the oven switched on.

*(NOTE: I blended the cream cheese mixture using a handheld blender, mixing the cream cheese and eggs first, followed by the vanilla essence, ending off with sugar)

4. Mix the yoghurt with the remaining sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl. Spoon over cheesecake. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, leave to cool, then cover with cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.

5.(optional) To make the blueberry topping, place the sugar in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat, add in the blueberries, cover and cook for a few minutes, or until they begin to soften. Remove from heat. Mix the arrowroot and remaining water in a bowl, add to the blueberries and stir until smooth. Return to a low heat. Cook until the juice thickens and turns translucent. Leave to cool.

Serving suggestions:

Remove the cheesecake from tin 1 hour before serving. Spoon over the blueberry topping and chill until ready to serve.

 Happy Birthday Weiqi! :)