• Recipes, styling and photographs by Katelyn Williams

    Blueberry, white chocolate and lavender cheesecake

    Serves: 10 - 12
    Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins + 3 hours, to set

    Ingredients

    • Base

    • 400g digestive biscuits
    • 200g butter, melted
    • pinch lavender flowers + extra, to decorate
    • Filling

    • 800g full-cream cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 300g crème fraîche, at room temperature
    • 180g castor sugar
    • 55g cake flour
    • 4 large eggs
    • 200g white chocolate, melted
    • 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
    • zest of 2 lemons
    • pinch lavender flowers
    • 250g frozen blueberries + extra, to decorate

    Instructions

    1

    For the base, preheat the oven to 120°C. Line the bottom of a 30cm springform cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides. Wrap the outside of the tin tightly in foil to make it waterproof. Place the biscuits, butter and a pinch of lavender flowers in a food processor. Blitz until fine crumbs form. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the lined tin.

    2

    Place the cream cheese, crème fraiche, castor sugar, flour, eggs, melted chocolate, vanilla extract, lemon zest, a pinch of lavender and half of the blueberries in a food processor. Blitz until smooth, pour over the crust and sprinkle with the remaining blueberries.

    3

    Place the cake tin on a folded tea towel in a large roasting dish and fill the dish with enough hot water to cover the sides of the cake tin halfway (bainmarie). Bake until the cheesecake is just set with a slight wobble in the centre (like a set jelly), about 1 hour. Allow to cool completely in the bain-marie at room temperature, 1 hour, before removing the cake tin from the water bath. Place the cake tin in the fridge and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

    4

    To serve, unmould the cheesecake by running a knife, dipped in hot water, around the edges. Top with the extra blueberries and lavender flowers, to decorate.

    Notes

    Cook's tip: Lavender can be very potent so use it sparingly for a gentle fragrance.