Regulars to our pop up events during the summer of 2020 will remember the basque cheesecake I made for the Spanish evenings. Hugely popular and I notice now that many chefs are adding it to their cook books so I thought I would share my gluten free version and top tips on how to make the perfect cheesecake.

I am convinced that my secret weapon is using homemade ricotta. If you would prefer to use shop bought, buy slightly more than the recipe requires and drain it over night in a fine sieve lined with muslin or a J cloth. It’s really important that your ricotta, whether homemade or shop bought is at room temperature when you make the cake.

You’ll need an 18cm spring form cake tin. Serves 8.

Read notes above before starting.

Preheat the oven to 220C fan. Line the cake tin with two layers of baking paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or using an electric hand whisk add the ricotta or cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Gradually add the eggs. Whisk in the sugar and finally the cream.

Once fully combined pour into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. It should be well browned on top but still slightly wobbly. Turn the oven off, open the door a little and leave the cake to cool in the oven. Once cool, put in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.

Once chilled, lift the cake our with the baking parchment, peel the paper off and portion into 8 slices. The cake will keep in the fridge for at least 5 days but I guarantee it won’t hang around that long!