New York cheesecake with strawberries

Prepare: overnight
Cook: 1 to 2 hours
Serve: Serves 10–12
Dietary: Nut-free Pregnancy-friendly Vegetarian

New York cheesecake is a classic vanilla baked cheesecake topped with soured cream. A little plain flour helps ensure the cheesecake sets perfectly. Use vanilla extract or seeds scraped from a pod for the best flavour, avoid vanilla essence, which has a weaker taste.

For this recipe you will need a 20cm/8in loose-bottomed springform tin.

By Mary Berry

From Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking

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Ingredients

For the base

150g/5oz digestive biscuits
25g/1oz demerara sugar
75g/3oz unsalted butter

For the filling

750g/1lb 10oz full-fat cream cheese
125g/4½oz caster sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
150ml/¼ pint soured cream
2 free-range eggs, beaten

To decorate

150ml/¼ pint soured cream
150g/5oz strawberries

Recipe tips

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Line the base of a 20cm/8in loose-bottomed springform tin with baking paper.
To make the base, put the biscuits and sugar in a bag and finely crush them using a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a wide-based saucepan over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the crushed biscuits until well mixed.
Transfer the mixture into the base of the prepared tin and press down firmly using the back of a spoon. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
Put the cream cheese and caster sugar into a large bowl. Mix slowly using an electric mixer. Add the flour, vanilla extract and soured cream, and mix again. Slowly add the eggs, a little at a time and mixing between each addition, until well combined.
Pour the mixture into the tin on top of the biscuit base and level the surface. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Turn off the oven, keeping the tin inside, and leave for 2 hours.
Using a small palette knife, loosen the edges of the cheesecake in the tin, then leave to cool to room temperature. Transfer to the fridge until set (about 4 hours) or overnight.
When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Spread the soured cream on top and decorate with sliced strawberries.