The Teaspoon: Baked Mascarpone Cheesecake with Passion fruit Syrup

By Diana

From many days now, the idea of making a cheesecake has been settling down in the back of my head. However, I was reluctant to make an ordinary cheesecake covered with the typical raspberry and strawberry coulis, so often found attached to the packages of the ingredients and on those free magazines forgotten in the seats of the underground. I was trying to find a flavour that would surprise my husband -and you guys of course-. So I remembered a few months ago I bought some mascarpone cheese to prepare a recipe, but even though it was strategically hidden in the fridge, a couple of days later I found out that half of it was gone. When I asked my other half about the other half of the cheese he guiltily enough confessed that he enjoyed it one afternoon for snack, accompanied with crackers -strangely adorable-. So I thought, since he loved it so much, why not trying out this cheesecake with mascarpone instead of conventional cream cheese and then cover it with something fantastic.. like.. lets say.. passion fruit!

Very rustic yet delicious outcome!

Here it is:

Ingredients

For the base
200 g digestive biscuits, crushed
85 g unsalted butter, melted

For the filling
250 g mascarpone cheese
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 egg
85 ml double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the syrup
2 passion fruits, pulp only
50 g granulated sugar
50 ml water

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F

Mix the digestive biscuits with the butter. Place them evenly in a buttered baking tin of about 20cm diameter. Use your hands to press the mixture on to the base, finish by pressing it with a fork. Allow the mixture to set for about 10 minutes.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until it looks slightly brown.

Turn down the oven temperature to 150 C / 300 F

In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the mascarpone and the sugar for a few seconds. Add the egg yolk and the egg. Mix again briefly. Incorporate the double cream and the vanilla extract.

Pour the mixture into the tin with the baked crust. Now bake in the lower part of the oven for about 30 minutes or until set.

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool down completely before remove it from the baking tin.

To make the syrup, place the pulp of the passion fruits, the sugar and the water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until it begins to thick. Take off the heat and allow it to cool down slightly.