Peter Gordon

Banana and Gingernut Cheesecake with Lime and Clove Cream

Preparation info

  • Serves

    8–10

    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in

A World in My Kitchen

A World in My Kitchen

By Peter Gordon

Published 2003

  • About

This is my partner Michael McGrath’s best baked cheesecake recipe, and we’ve been serving it at The Providores to much praise. The bananas and Gingernut biscuits give it a really delicious edge.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 large ripe bananas
  • 250 g (1 packet) Gingernuts or any hard ginger biscuits, finely crushed
  • 110 g (3 ⅔ oz) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 400 g (14 oz) cream cheese
  • 400 g (14 oz) ricotta
  • 250 g (8 oz) caster sugar
  • 4 large eggs plus one extra white
  • 60 g (2 oz) butter, melted and cooled

    Method

    Preheat oven to 170°C/340°F/Gas Mark 3–4. Place unpeeled bananas on a baking tray and roast until softened and slightly blackened, about 15 minutes. Peel and weigh them – you need 250 g (8 oz) of cooked banana.

    Meanwhile, line the base of a 25 cm (10 in) springform cake tin with baking paper. Combine Gingernuts, butter and cloves and press firmly into base.

    In a large bowl beat cream cheese with banana. Beat in ricotta and sugar then eggs and extra egg white, one at a time. Beat in butter until just combined. Pour mixture into tin. Bake 1 hour, turn off the heat and leave in oven a further hour. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

    An hour before serving, remove cake from tin and spread the lime and clove cream on top. Return to the fridge for an hour before serving.