Vanilla Cheesecake with Warm Forced Rhubarb

This is a wonderfully light and simple to make cheesecake from Damian Clisby, head chef at Russells of Broadway. Here’s what he says:

“At the restaurant we will be serving the cheesecake with a little roasted Forced Rhubarb which will be in season throughout February. The Forced Rhubarb, which technically is a vegetable, works very well with the cheesecake as it has a high amount of acidity. This acidity helps to balance the fat within the cheesecake.

When whisking the creams be careful not to over whip, as this will cause your cheesecake to become grainy and heavy.”

Download this recipe as a PDF

Vanilla cheesecake (Serves 10)

Cheesecake Base:
500g oat cakes
200g golden syrup
100g butter
Juice of half a lemon

Crumble the oat cakes into a mixing bowl. Add the softened butter and mix.
Warm the golden syrup and add this to the mix with the juice of the lemon. Mix this until all the golden syrup is worked in.
Place this into the bottom of your cake mould about 1cm thick and set in fridge for 1 hour

Topping:
250g cream cheese
125g mascarpone
125g crème fraîche
125g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod
1 lemon, juiced

Weigh the cream cheese into a large mixing bowl with the seeds of the vanilla pod. Add sieved icing sugar and mix until smooth.
Add the mascarpone, lemon juice and the crème fraîche and whisk until stiff.
Place into moulds and set in the fridge for a minimum of two hours

Forced Rhubarb:
Cut the washed rhubarb into one inch batons, lay on a tray, sprinkle lightly with sugar and roast for about 6 minutes at 175°C. Serve the rhubarb warm.