Nigella Lawson’s chestnut cheesecake recipe is “undeniably festive” and ever so moreish.
While the delicious vanilla and chestnut cheesecake takes around 60 minutes to bake in the oven, an overnight stay in the fridge is needed.
Enabling the cheesecake to have enough time to firm up in the fridge means the dessert will look how it’s supposed to when serving.
Plus, with a drizzling of sauce at the very last minute, expect eyes to light up with delight.
Chestnut cheesecake
For the base:
- 250g digestive biscuits
- 50g soft butter
- One tbsp sweetened chestnut puree
For the cheesecake:
- 500g cream cheese
- 125g caster sugar
- Three large eggs
- Three large egg yolks
- 175ml sour cream
- One tsp fresh lime juice
- One tsp vanilla extract
- Two tbsp rum
- 350g sweetened chestnut puree
- For the syrup
- 80ml water
- 60ml rum
- One tbsp sweetened chestnut puree
- 50g caster sugar
- 15g butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan/ 350F/gas mark four). Boil the kettle.
For the base
Blitz the biscuits, butter and chestnut purée until it’s like fine crumbs. Press the mixture into the bottom of a (nine-inch) springform cake tin and place in the fridge.
Making the filling
Beat the cream cheese until smooth and add the sugar. Add the eggs and egg yolks, beating them in one by one. Pour in the sour cream, lime juice, vanilla extract and rum, and beat again. Then fold in the sweetened chestnut purée.
Preparing the tin
Line the outside of the springform tin containing the biscuit base with clingfilm, so that the whole of the bottom and sides are enveloped in cling film. Do the same with foil, covering the layer of clingfilm to make a very watertight casing.
Stand the covered springform tin in a roasting tin and pour in the chestnut filling. Then pour water from a recently boiled kettle into the roasting tin to about 3cm up the side of the cake tin, and place in the oven to cook for an hour.
Sign the cheesecake is ready
Set on top with a hint of wobble underneath.
Take the cheesecake out of the roasting tin, take off the foil and clingfilm wrapping and let the cheesecake cool on a rack. Refrigerate overnight before un-moulding and leaving it to get back to room temperature.
Making the syrup
Put all of the syrup ingredients into a saucepan and melt together. Let the syrup boil until thickened slightly, then cool to just warmish before drizzling across the top of the cheesecake.
