white chocolate, blackberry and ginger cheesecake

white chocolate, blackberry and ginger cheesecake

• 23 Mar 2025

I put in a request for 'Love Crumbs' by Nadine Ingram at my local library, then waited about 6 months before the book finally arrived. I pored over the book and bookmarked about 20 recipes that I wanted to try.

This recipe from Love Crumbs is called 'Hansel and Gretel' and it's a white chocolate cheesecake atop a gingerbread base, adorned with brambles or mulberries. It's a family thing but I'm not keen on a reconsituted cheeecake base  so I went rogue and fashioned my own gingerbread base but kept the original cheesecake filling. The original recipe made a 25cm cake so I halved the cheesecake ingredients to fit my 17cm springform tin.

The cheesecake is baked in a water bath, which is problematic if you only have springform tins. Springform tins are not watertight so I use layers of foil and kitchen string to make a watertight seal accompanied by a healthy dose of good luck. Whilst trawling instagram I saw a reel which blew my mind. In the reel, the springform tin was put into a slightly larger regular cake tin, which was then placed into the water bath. I was just itching to try out this new to me method.

The recipe called for ½ tsp smoked salt, which I didn't have in the cupboard. I'm sure you could just use regular sea salt but I looked online for a recipe and made some at home. I also made the ricotta cheese, just because. I thought about making the mascarpone as well but thankfully common sense prevailed and instead I bought some at the supermarket.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C. Please note the cheesecake needs to rest in the fridge overnight, so you'll need start this process the day before serving. 

Small white chocolate, blackberry and ginger cheesecake 
Base 
60g unsalted butter 
25g caster sugar 
75g plain flour
½ tsp ground ginger 
½ tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Cheesecake
60g good quality white chocolate, roughly chopped 
½ tsp smoked sea salt
2 eggs, separated
75g caster sugar
150g cream cheese, softened
100g mascarpone
140g fresh ricotta, drained
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 tsp finely grated lemon rind
170g blackberries or mulberries, plus extra to serve
 
Base 
Grease and line the base of a 17cm-springform cake tin with baking paper and flour the sides. Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional.

Brown half (30g) of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it turns a foamy tan brown. Place the browned butter in a bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes until cool and the butter has thickened. Remove the bowl from the fridge and add the remaining butter, the sugar and the vanilla and beat until creamy. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until you get a sandy texture. Lightly knead the dough until it forms a dough. If the dough seems a little dry, you might need to add a tsp or 2 of water. Transfer the dough to the tin and flatten with the back of a tablespoon to create a level base. Bake the base in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until just lightly coloured.  Cool on a wire rack while making the cheesecake filling.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C, conventional. In the recipe the cheesecake was baked at 120°C, which my oven can't do, so I cooked it on the lowest temperature setting.

Cake
Melt the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water or the chocolate will seize. Remove the bowl from the heat, then stir through the smoked salt and set aside. Place the yolks into a small bowl and the whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. 

Weigh the sugar, reserving 25 g for the egg whites and place this next to the mixer in preparation for later. Place the remaining 50g sugar, cream cheese, mascarpone and ricotta and the egg yolks, into the bowl of a food processor and blend everything together until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a spatula and blend again to ensure there is no residual cream cheese lumps in the mixture. Add the vanilla bean paste, the melted chocolate and lemon zest to the cheeses and blend again to combine. 

Pour the cake filling into a bowl large enough to accommodate the whipped egg whites. Now begin whisking the egg whites on high speed until you see soft ribbons starting to form. Reduce the speed to medium and gradually add the sugar until firm peaks start to form. Be careful not to overwhip the whites. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to fold the meringue through the cake filling in two batches, pressing out any lumps formed in the meringue before folding it through, then pour the cake filling over the base.

Place the springform tin into a slighter larger regular cake tin, then place the regular cake tin into a deep-sided baking tray that can be used as a water bath. This method of baking creates a slow heat, which will enable the cake to cook evenly throughout, avoiding cracking and a souffle top. 

Place the baking tray containing the cake tin in the oven and use a jug to pour water into the baking tray until it comes two-thirds of the way up the sides of the cake tin. Close the oven door and bake the cheesecake for 1 hour, then open the oven door and press the berries into the surface of the cake. Bake the cake for a further 30 minutes or until the centre springs back when pressed with your finger. If you feel the cheesecake is not giving you this news, just leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes to be sure.

Switch the oven off and prop the door open with a wooden spoon. Leave the cheesecake in the switched off oven for another hour, then take the baking tray out of the oven and remove the cake from the water bath. When cool, cover the cheesecake then chill in the fridge overnight.

The next day
Remove the cheesecake the tin and place it on a serving plate. The best way to cut this cake is with a knife that has been run under hot water in between each slice, or by dipping the knife into a large jug of boiling water from the kettle. Top each slice with a few extra berries.

I took this to a friend's house and we had this for dessert. As expected, this delicate berry topped cheesecake atop a gingery base was absolutely delicious. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian