Mary Berry's Passion Fruit and Lemon Baked Cheesecake Recipe

The Complete Aga Cookbook by Mary Berry and Lucy Young is out now.

Images are © Georgia Glynn Smith

RELATED: Meet Mary Berry on our foodie river cruise through Portugal and Spain this summer!

Ingredients

For the biscuit base:

• 75g digestive biscuits, crushed
• 40g butter, melted but not hot
• 25g demerara sugar

For the cheesecake:

• 50g butter, softened
• 175g caster sugar
• 450g curd cheese or full-fat cream cheese
• 25g plain flour
• finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 eggs, separated
• 150ml double cream, lightly whipped

For the topping:

• 4 passion fruit, halved
• 4tbsp lemon curd

You will need:

• a 23cm loose-bottomed or spring-form cake tin

Method

1. Lightly grease a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin or spring-form tin, and line with greased greaseproof paper. You do need to line the tin as the mixture is slack when it goes into the tin and may seep through the bottom.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the base and spread over the base of the tin. Press down firmly with the back of a spoon.
3. Measure the butter, sugar, cheese, flour, lemon rind and juice and the egg yolks into a large bowl. Beat until smooth, then fold in the lightly whipped cream. Whisk the egg whites until stiff then fold into the mixture. Pour on to the crust in the tin.
4. Bake the cheesecake in an oven preheated to 160C, gas 3 for about 1 hour or until set. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for a further hour to cool.
5. OR to cook in an Aga, bake on the grid shelf on the floor of the baking oven for about 20 minutes until pale golden, then transfer to the centre of the simmering oven for a further 20 minutes until set. In a two-oven Aga, slide into the roasting oven on the grid shelf on the floor with the cold plain shelf on the second set of runners. Bake for 20 minutes. (If the top is not pale golden, remove the plain shelf from above and cook for a few more minutes.) Now transfer the very hot plain shelf to the centre of the simmering oven and place the cheesecake on top. Bake for a further 20 minutes until set.
6. Leave to cool in the tin – it will sink a little. Run a knife around the edge of the tin and lift out. Remove the paper and transfer to a serving plate. Using a teaspoon, scoop out the seeds from the passion fruit and mix with the lemon curd. Spoon over the top of the cold cheesecake.
7. Serve in wedges on its own or with slices of fresh mango.