• Over the years the readers have always put us to our paces with fresh ideas and interesting food queries. One reader, Annabel Davids, had the perfect classic cheesecake recipe that just blew our socks off.

    Another favourite cheesecake recipe: Bar-One cheesecake 

    Classic cheesecake

    Ingredients

    • Crust

    • 200g unsalted butter, melted
    • 400g digestive biscuits, crushed
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) sugar
    • Filling

    • 700g cream cheese
    • 200g smooth plain cottage cheese
    • 250g sugar
    • 45ml (3 tbsp) cake flour
    • 3 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
    • 250ml (1 cup) sour cream
    • 7,5ml (1½ tsp) vanilla extract
    • Topping

    • 250ml (1 cup) sour cream
    • juice of 1 lemon
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) castor sugar

    Instructions

    1

    Preheat the oven to 180°C.

    2

    For the crust, combine the melted butter, crushed biscuits and sugar in a large bowl. Gently press the mixture onto the base of a greased springform cake tin. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill.

    3

    For the filling, beat the cream cheese and cottage cheese until fluffy. Add the sugar and flour and continue beating until well combined. Add the eggs and yolk one at a time. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract.

    4

    Pour the filling into the prepared cake tin and bake for 20 minutes.

    5

    Lower the oven temperature to 160°C and bake for a further 1 hour – 1 hour 10 minutes or until the centre of the cake is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

    6

    For the topping, combine all of the ingredients, pour over the cooled cake and place in the refrigerator for a few hours to chill.

    Also try: Brownie, Amarula and espresso semifreddo cheesecake