This Sour Cream and Pecan cheesecake is a recipe created by Adam Liaw. It is based on the vivid memory of a perfect cake from his childhood, he persisted in trying to recreate it – and after many years of trial and error, here it is. And it’s glorious.
Sour Cream and Pecan Cheesecake Recipe
Serves 8
Ingredients:
Biscuit base
300 g (101⁄2 oz) digestive biscuits
1 cup (100 g/31⁄2 oz) pecans
120 g (41⁄2 oz) butter, melted
1 teaspoon sea salt
Sour Cream Filling
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) cream cheese, softened
300 g (101⁄2 oz) sour cream
100 g (31⁄2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Method:
For the biscuit base, line the base of a 22 cm (8 3⁄4 in) springform tin with baking paper. Pulse the biscuits to a coarse powder in a food processor, then add the pecans and pulse until coarsely chopped. Remove to a bowl and mix the butter and salt through. Press the mixture into the springform tin to form a base and sides, then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Heat your oven to 160°C (320°F) conventional. Clean out the food processor, then process the filling ingredients until smooth and combined. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and cool in the tin, then refrigerate the cheesecake overnight for the filling to set and develop a more dense and creamy texture.
Slice to serve.
Smart Tip:
This cheesecake has a very thick crust, both on the base and sides – which is I think the key to a great cheesecake. If you find that the crust extends too far above the filling (which is likely), I’d suggest not cutting it off, but instead pushing it on top of the baked filling like a crumble.
This is an edited extract from Tonight’s Dinner by Adam Liaw, published by Hardie Grant Books & SBS, RRP $39.99 AUD, RRP $45 NZD. Available in stores nationally. Photography: ©Steve Brown. Set photography: ©Bruce Walters
