FOOD and MORE: Cherry Cheesecake

I prepared this cheesecake the night before my parents arrived. Let it sit overnigh in the fridge and prepared the cherry topping only an hour or so before serving for morning tea. Looks great and tastes spectacular. (Jogging required afterwards though!!).

Ingredients

For the crust

- 1 1/2 packets of Arnotts Malt-o-Milk biscuits http://www.arnotts.com/our-products/products/plains.aspx

- 1/3 cup of granulated sugar

- 3/4 of a 250g stick of butter (melted)

For the filling

- 2 x 250 packets of Cream Cheese

- 3 eggs

- 1 can of Nestle Sweetened Condensed Milk

- 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the topping

- 1 can of cherry pie filling

- 1/3 cup water

- 1 tablespoon of corn starch

Directions

Gorgeous crust

Put the Milk Arrowroot biscuits in a sealable food storage bag. Using a rolling pin, gently crush the biscuits. In a medium mixing bowl combined the the biscuits crumbs, melted butter and sugar and combine with your fingers. the Malt-o-milk bisuits are less sweet than the Milk Arrowroot so I add sugar to the base for this one. Transfer the combined crust mixture to a greased 9" pie dish. I like using this pie dish for cheesecake as it allow for a lot more of the delicious crust. Press the crumbs firmly into the dish and then bake at 150C for 10 minutes - take out of the oven and allow to cool.

In a large mixing bowl and using hand beaters, beat the cream cheese and condensed milk until the lumps are taken out. Add one egg at a time, the lemon juice and the vanilla essence and continue to beat. Avoid overbaking the mixture.

Pour the filling into the pie dish and place in a baking tray filled to half the height of the dish with water. This will keep the oven moist when it bakes and prevent your cheesecake from becoming dry.

Cheesecake almost baked

In the water bath

Bake at 150C for 45 minutes checking to see if the cheesecake is done by giving the tray a small shake and the cake should still wobble a bit in the middle when it is done. Once cooked leave the door of the oven ajar and let the cheescake cool competely in the oven before removing from the oven. Then allow the cheesecake to refrigerate for 6-8 hours, preferably overnight.

For the topping, combine the water and cornstarch and add to a small saucepan on a low heat. Add the contents of the canned cherries and simmer until the sauce reduces and thickens up. Allow to cool in the fridge or pour directly on the cheesecake.