Gluten-free cinnamon cheesecake

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Perhaps one of the ultimate comfort food dishes, Victoria’s fantastic gluten-free cheesecake recipe is a must-have recipe for any baker. If you're not a fan of cinnamon, Victoria advises using ground ginger instead for this luxuriously creamy dessert.

First published in 2016
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There’s something so comforting about cheesecake. It’s like sophisticated nursery food – creamy and soft enough to not have to chew and sweet enough to satisfy even the most repressed inner child.

I have been craving cheesecake ever since I saw a BOGOF deal on cream cheese in my local supermarket last week. But I didn’t just want any old cheesecake. I wanted something warming and aromatic and definitely baked. This cheesecake is gorgeous with ginger, but for today’s mood at least, it had to be cinnamon.

Cheesecakes are much simpler to make than lots of people think. As long as the cream cheese is at room temperature before you whisk it up and you preheat the oven properly, very little can go wrong. The reason this is important is that fridge cold cream cheese can make for a grainy texture. This requires no water bath or other such faffing and, if you can’t be bothered to make your own biscuit base, just blitz up some shop bought gluten-free biscuits, mix with melted butter and a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and press it into the base and bake for 10 minutes, before carrying on with the recipe instructions below.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Gluten-free biscuit base

  • 80g of caster sugar
  • 60g of unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 1 egg
  • 95g of rice flour
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cinnamon sugar

Filling

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 and grease a 20cm (8 inch) springform cake tin
2
To make the biscuit base, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually whisk in the egg and sift over the rice flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt
3
Using a large spoon, mix all the ingredients together until it starts to form a dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or until firm
4
Roll out the dough into roughly a 20cm (8 inch) round. Place it on the buttered base of the tin and trim the edges with a knife before sliding the base into the cake tin
5
Mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together and liberally coat the top of the biscuit base with it. Bake for 10–12 minutes, then leave to cool on a wire rack
6
Once cool, paint the inside of the tin liberally with melted butter and place the tin on a baking tray
7
Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/gas mark 7
8
Beat the cream cheese until creamy before gradually adding the sugar, cornflour and salt. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice, before whisking in the eggs and yolk, one at a time. Whisk in the soured cream and pour the mixture over the biscuit base. Bake for 10 minutes
9
Reduce the oven temperature to 110°C/gas mark 1/2
10
Bake for a further 25 minutes. If you gently shake the tin, there should be a slight wobble in the middle. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 2 hours with the oven door slightly ajar
11
Cover loosely with foil (without touching the top) and pop it in the fridge to set for 8 hours or overnight
12
Gently release the cheesecake from the tin (you may need to run a long sharp knife round the edges first), before prising the tin base off the cheesecake with a palette knife, while sliding it onto a serving plate
First published in 2016
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Victoria is a London-based food writer and recipe developer. She was the Roald Dahl Museum’s first ever Gastronomic Writer in Residence and has written six books, including her latest, Too Good To Waste.

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