I'm always on the lookout for recipes that uses ripe bananas because I seem to have a few of those in the kitchen every few weeks. A pet peeve of mine is big cheesecakes. Most of the cheesecake recipes yields 9" or 10" cakes which is simply too big even if I slice it into 16 servings. I think 7" is the optimal size when sliced into 12 servings. Cheesecake is such a rich dessert that smaller servings is probably more enjoyable anyway.
Ingredients
- 85g graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 30g walnuts
- 60g melted butter
- 2 very ripe bananas
- lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 500g cream cheese, soften to room temperature
- 150g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
Method
- Preheat oven to 325F. Line the bottom of a 7" round cake pan (3" height) with a round of parchment paper.
- Place graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and walnuts in a food processor and process until fine. Drizzle in melted butter to moisten all the dry ingredients. Pat the crust mixture to the bottom of the pan and press with bottom of a glass to tightly pack the crust. Bake until fragrant and slightly brown at the edges, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature and grease the side of the pan.
- Lower the oven temperature to 300F. Using a blender or an immersion blender, puree the banana. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and continue beating at medium speed. Add eggs one by one ensuring that mixture is thoroughly incorporated. Lastly, add in banana puree and beat until mixture is smooth.
- Pour cheesecake mixture into pan and bake until set but the centre is still wobbly, about 90 minutes. Turn off oven and leave the cheesecake inside for another hour. Cool the cheescake to room temperature and store in freezer. It is much easier to unmold and cut into neat slices when the cheesecake is frozen.
- To unmold the cheesecake, heat the outside of the pan over flames (either a handheld torch or a gas range is great) to loosen the cake. Invert the pan to unmold the cake and cut into slices. Defrost in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Technorati: dessert, cheesecake
