RECIPE: Baked cheesecake with figs

Serves: 6-8

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 1 hour

Crust:

200g Tennis biscuits

50g butter, melted

Filling:

225g American-style cream cheese

20ml (4 tsp) flour, sifted

25ml cream

1 extra-large egg

1 egg yolk

Seeds from ½ vanilla pod

Topping:

4-5 figs, sliced

100g sugar

Method:

1) Grease and line a 16cm springform pan with greaseproof paper on the bottom and a strip around the sides.

2) To make the crust, crush the biscuits in a food processor and mix with the butter and press firmly into the base of the pan. Refrigerate.

3) To make the filling, combine the cream cheese and flour. Beat the cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla seeds together and fold into the cream cheese mixture.

4) Pour the filling over biscuit base and bake at 120°C for about 25 minutes. The sides should be set and the middle should wobble. Cool completely and top with fig slices.

5) To make spun sugar to decorate the cheesecake, place 100g sugar in a heavy-based pan and allow to melt on the stove. Increase the heat and boil till the syrup is golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, you have a window of perfect consistency once the sugar starts to leave a thread as you pull it from the pan, keep dipping a fork into the caramel and lifting it up. Once the caramel gets thicker you can twirl it around a wooden spoon to add a curly wurly effect. Keep dry until ready to use. Don't attempt it on a rainy day.

• Recipe courtesy of Moemas.