Baked banana cheesecake

Bananas No Comments

PREP: 15 MINS

COOK: 35 MINS

plus 3-4 hrs chilling

SERVES 12

Forget banana bread, use up over-ripe fruit in this low-sugar cheesecake with a chocolate and nut base and a ricotta and yogurt topping

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Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal
299
  • 
fat
23g
  • 
saturates
13g
  • 
carbs
13g
  • sugars
5g
  • fibre
1g
  • protein
9g
  • 
salt
4g

Ingredients

For the base

  • 50g butter
  • 
Butter butt-errButter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…
  • 75g oatcakes, finely crushed
  • 50g cream crackers
  • 1 tbsp cocoa, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tbsp salted peanuts, very finely chopped, plus 1 tbsp to scatter over (optional)

For the topping

  • 2 small ripe bananas
  • 
Banana bah-nah-nahProbably the best known, most popular tropical fruit, their name probably derives from the…
  • juice 1 lemon
  • 
Lemon le-monOval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits…
  • 2 x 250g tubs ricotta
  • 
Ricotta ree-cot-aRicotta is an Italian curd cheese. Made from whey, it is traditionally a by-product of making…
  • 200g tub Greek yogurt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 
Egg eggThe ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition, packed with protein and a…
  • ½ tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 200ml double cream

Method

  • Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and lightly oil a non-stick loose-based 22cm cake tin. Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the oatcakes, crackers, cocoa and the chopped peanuts until well coated. Press into the base of the tin to make a firm layer, then bake for 10 mins. Remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 240C/220C fan/gas 9.
  • To make the topping, mash the bananas with the lemon juice in a large bowl, then beat in the ricotta, yogurt, eggs, vanilla and cornflour until everything is very well mixed. Pour onto the biscuit base and bake for 10 mins, then turn the oven right down to 110C/90C fan/gas 1/4 and cook for 25 mins more. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside to cool. When cold, chill for 3-4 hrs. (Cooling the cheesecake this way should prevent it from cracking.)

To serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and slide onto a plate. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then smooth over the top of the cheesecake, lightly dust with cocoa and scatter over the peanuts.