Recipe Image
Vegetarian

Ingredients

For the Filling

500 g Mascarpone

4 Eggs

250 g Caster Sugar

500 g Cream Cheese

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Base

4 Oranges (Squeezed)

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

¼ tsp Ground Clove

60 g Unsalted Butter (Melted)

80 g Walnuts (Chopped)

250 g Dried Figs (Roughly Chopped)

100 g Digestive Biscuits
* Always check the ingredient labels for allgergen information

The cheesecake is best served chilled.

Fig, Orange and Mascarpone Cheesecake

by Dan

Serves 12

Total 1 hour 35 minutes

Oven Temp 160 °C - 1 hour 20 minutes

Difficulty Not too Tricky

Chef Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh

Method

  1. Grease a 23cm round springform tin.

  2. For the base, smash the digestives until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Place in a bowl and add the chopped walnuts and melted butter and combine the mixture, it should resemble wet sand. Spoon the crumbs into the tin and then using your hands press into the base, then place in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.

  3. Zest one of the oranges for later, then squeeze the 4 oranges to get the fresh orange juice. Place the figs, orange juice, cinnamon and ground cloves in a saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated but the mixture is still moist. Set aside to cool, then spread over the biscuit base. Return to the fridge.

  4. Separate the egg yolks and whites. For the filling add the cream cheese to a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add the mascarpone, sugar, orange zest, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until all the ingredients are all incorporated and the mixture looks smooth and creamy.

  5. Add the egg whites to a separate bowl and whisk until firm peaks form. Fold a third into the cream cheese mixture, followed by the remaining two-thirds, then pour the filling over the chilled fig and biscuit base.

  6. Place on a baking tray and bake for 80 minutes, until the cheesecake is a light golden brown at the edges and the centre is only just firm. Turn off the oven but leave the cheesecake inside for an hour or so, with the door propped open with a wooden spoon. Allow it to come to room temperature before wrapping in cling film and keeping in the fridge for at least 4 hours.