Vanilla Cheesecake Traybake - Great British Bloggers Bake Off Week 4

I'm baking along with The Great British Bake Off and am hosting Week 4 of the Great British Bloggers Bake Off on behalf of Jenny who blogs at Mummy Mishaps.

It was dessert week on The Great British Bake Off this week and the Show Stopper Challenge was three baked cheesecakes.  It's the school holidays and bubs is teething again so time and patience were in short supply, there was no way three baked cheesecakes was going to happen.  It took me 4 days to get enough time to bake and photograph my traybake.  Each day I would take the ingredients out and be ready to bake only to have to put them back in the fridge due to some family issue or other issue.

It was worth the wait though!  This Vanilla Cheesecake Traybake is creamy and delicious but light and not as heavy as a large baked cheesecake.  You can also slice it into whichever sized portions you fancy.  I topped our slices with homemade Black Cherry Compote, made from foraged fruit.  A caramel sauce topping or chocolate ganache topping also works well, as does a dollop of lemon curd.  If there are any leftovers you can store the cheesecake traybake in the fridge for a couple of days.

I was also sent vouchers by Tesco to purchase my baking ingredients for this week.  Do check out the Tesco Real Food website for lots of great baking inspiration and recipes.

Vanilla Cheesecake Traybake

250g plain biscuits, I used rich tea fingers
125g unsalted butter, melted
220g caster sugar
500g full fat soft cheese/Philadelphia
250g soured cream
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 free range eggs, beaten

Line a slice tin or Swiss roll tin with non stick baking paper and preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 3.

Either put the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush to crumbs with a rolling pin or blitz in a food processor. Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter then press them into your prepared tin. Set aside in the fridge whilst you make the creamy vanilla topping.

Put the sugar and cream cheese into a bowl and mix until combined and the mixture is smooth. I used my hand held electric beater for this as I was in a hurry but you can just as easily mix it by hand. Add the soured cream, vanilla and beaten eggs. Mix again until completely incorporated and the mixture is light and smooth.

Take the chilled base out of the fridge and pour the creamy mixture over the top, spreading and smoothing it out with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the top is a light golden, and the centre is set. Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the tin. Slice and serve with your chosen toppings.

The Rules:

The linky will be open from Thursday morning until the following Monday at 12 midnight. 

All entries must link to this post, carry the Great Bloggers Bake Off badge (available in the side bar of Mummy Mishaps blog), and also a link to http:///www.mummymishaps.co.uk

When you tweet your bake off recipe, please @JennyPaulin with the #GBBOBloggers2015 hashtag and she will RT and add bakes to the Pinterest board.

Each week a blogger or bloggers will be selected as a Star Baker and will receive a special badge to wear with pride on their blog.

The recipe MUST be relevant to the bakes that are made in the The Great British Bake Off - Week 4 which means Creme Brulee, Spanische Windtorte, or Baked Cheesecake.

Now it's your turn! Link up your bakes using the linky below.