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Cherry Bakewell Cheesecake!
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This no-bake cherry Bakewell cheesecake transforms the iconic British teatime treat into a show-stopping dessert. Featuring a unique flaked almond and digestive biscuit crust, a velvety almond-infused filling rippled with thick cherry conserve, and a beautiful crown of fresh cherries and toasted almonds, it requires just 25 minutes of active kitchen time.
The crunchy almond biscuit base
While a standard cheesecake crust relies purely on crushed biscuits, a true Bakewell needs almond integrated into every single layer.
To achieve this, you pulse 50g of flaked almonds directly into the food processor alongside 275g of digestive biscuits. Ground almonds will not work here; they disappear into the crumbs and become greasy when mixed with butter. Flaked almonds, however, break down into varying textures that mimic a delicate pastry crunch while infusing the entire crust with a wonderful nutty aroma. Press the buttery mixture firmly into your 8″/20cm springform tin to ensure a clean, stable slice.
Ingredients notes and tips
For this specific recipe, your choice of cheese completely dictates the final flavour profile. While a classic full-fat cream cheese provides a lovely, distinct tang, Mascarpone offers a brilliant alternative.
- Cheese – you can use cream cheese, mascarpone or a 50/50 mix of both
- Sugar – I use icing sugar as it perfectly incorporates into the mixture
- Cream – double cream has the perfect high fat content (47% in the UK)
- Vanilla – classic vanilla extract works great here
- Almond – almond extract provides that tart cherry bakewell flavour
- Jam – I use cherry jam although other flavours will work too but provide a different flavour profile from a traditional cherry bakewell.
Mascarpone has a higher fat content and a naturally sweeter, milder flavour. When you pair it with the intense, punchy notes of almond extract and sweet cherry, Mascarpone provides a smooth, velvety canvas that prevents the dessert from tasting too sharp. You can choose either option based on your personal taste, or even use a 50/50 split of both to capture the best of both worlds.
Rippling the cherry conserve
To make the filling visually stunning and structurally sound, use a high-quality, thick cherry conserve or jam rather than a thin fruit syrup or coulis. Liquid syrups introduce too much moisture, which breaks the dairy emulsion and leaves you with a sloppy center. To create the signature marble effect:
- Loosen the jam: Give the cherry conserve a vigorous stir in a separate bowl to remove any dense clumps before adding it to the filling.
- The gentle fold: Drop the loosened jam directly onto your whipped cheesecake mixture and fold it through just two or three times with a spatula.
You want distinct, vibrant ribbons of deep red running through the pale almond cream. If you over-mix at this stage, you will simply turn the entire cheesecake a uniform pastel pink and lose that beautiful swirled contrast.
FAQs
Can I use raspberry jam instead of cherry conserve?
Yes, absolutely. While a “Cherry Bakewell” specifically uses cherry, a traditional Derbyshire Bakewell tart frequently uses raspberry jam. You can use a high-quality raspberry conserve instead; just ensure it is thick and full-bodied so it forms distinct ribbons in the filling.
What is the best way to toast the flaked almonds for the decoration?
To toast your almonds, scatter them into a dry frying pan over a medium-low heat. Toss them continuously for 2 to 3 minutes until they turn a beautiful golden brown and smell fragrant. Remove them from the hot pan immediately, as the residual heat will quickly burn them if left untouched.
Can I use glacé cherries instead of fresh cherries on top?
You can certainly use glacé cherries if fresh cherries are out of season. They give the dessert a lovely, nostalgic look that mimics an authentic bakery Bakewell. Just pat them dry with kitchen paper first to remove any excess sticky sugar syrup before popping them onto your cream swirls.
I have a nut allergy. Can I make a nut-free version of this?
To make this safe for a nut allergy, omit the flaked almonds from the base and decoration entirely, and replace the almond extract with extra vanilla extract or a splash of fresh lemon juice. While it will technically become a delicious cherry-vanilla cheesecake rather than a Bakewell, it will still taste incredible.
Cherry Bakewell Cheesecake Recipe
With an almond biscuit base, cherry and almond bakewell cheesecake filling, whipped cream, fresh cherries, and even more almond!
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Servings: 12 Slices
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
- 275 g digestives
- 50 g flaked almonds
- 150 g unsalted butter / baking spread
Cheesecake Filling
- 500-600 g full fat cream cheese or mascarpone or 50/50
- 100 g icing sugar
- 300 ml double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 200 g cherry jam/conserve
Decoration
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 tbsps icing sugar
- cherry jam/conserve
- fresh cherries
- flaked almonds
Instructions
- Blitz the biscuits with the flaked almonds in a food processor to a fine crumb. Melt the butter in a pan or in the microwave, and then add the melted butter to the biscuits and almond mix.
- Pulse a few times until it is combined well. Tip into a 8″/20cm deep springform tin and press down firmly – chill in the refrigerator whilst you do the rest.
- Mix the cream cheese, vanilla extract, almond extract and icing sugar together until smooth, it’ll only take a few seconds.
- Whilst whisking slowly, pour in the liquid double cream and continue to whip the cream cheese/cream Mixture until it is starting to thicken.
- Once its thick, loosen the jam slightly in another bowl. Carefully fold through the jam into the cheesecake mixture only a couple of times so its swirled, and not completely mixed through.
- Spread the mixture onto the biscuit base and spread evenly. Leave to set in the fridge, covered, for 5-6 hours, or preferably over night.
- Loosen some more jam and drizzle it over the cheesecake. Whip together the double cream and icing sugar until thick and pipe onto the cheesecake with a 2D closed star piping tip and then sprinkle on some toasted flaked almonds.
- Add some cherries to the little cream swirls.
Notes
- This delicious treat will last in the fridge, covered, for 3 days.
- I recommend using a 8″/20cm Deep Springform Tin
- And I recommend using a 2D Closed Star Piping Tip
Storage and freezing
This delicious cherry Bakewell cheesecake keeps beautifully in the refrigerator for up to three days. Always place the dessert under a glass cake dome or inside a deep, airtight container to prevent the fresh cream and delicate almond aromas from absorbing any ambient fridge smells. The cherry conserve ripple will remain perfectly soft and glossy when kept chilled, giving you a wonderful texture with every slice.
If you want to prepare this dessert well ahead of a gathering, you can freeze the unadorned cheesecake safely for up to three months.
Related recipes
I relatively recently posted my Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes which were a hit, and I know you bakewell lovers will love these as well. Like my Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes, you can use Glacé Cherries for the decoration if you wanted instead of fresh ones, but I love a fresh cherry. You can only ‘drizzle jam’ so much, mine is more blobs that anything but it gives it a decoration element.
Made this at weekend and turned out fabulous as ever.
I tweeted it a little but still turned out as yours looked
Yay!!xx
Hi Jane!
I love your recipes and I want to make this cheesecake on the weekend. What Jam do you use? Would a sour Cherry one work?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Oooh a sour cherry one would be lovely!!
Hi Jane,
How do you get the cheesecake off of the base of the tin? I will need to put mine on a cake board but wondering how to do this without breaking the biscuit.
Thanks!
I run a knife underneath and lift it off, but it depends sometimes on the tin or how much practice you’ve had at it haha!
Hi Jane, could you please advise on how can I adjust the recipe for 9’ springform? So excited to try this one!
Thanks
I usually say a 9″ is about 1/3 more ingredients! x
I made this for my friend’s birthday as he doesn’t like sponge cakes and loves cherry bakewells.
He said it’s probably the nicest cake he’s eaten! It turned out beautifully. I used 500g of mascarpone and slightly more butter in the biscuit base, as well as glacé cherries as opposed to actual cherries as he doesn’t like those either!
So thank you for helping me make a fussy eater’s birthday!
Ahh amazing!
Hi Jane
It’s the first time I’m making a cheesecake and I loved the look of this one! I made it last night and it’s been in the fridge overnight, I was just wondering, when it set will it still be a little soft when you touch the top or should it be solid set?
And also can you make this recipe with dairy free butter and dairy free cream cheese? Would it work out the same?
Hiya! So it won’t be completely solid, but when you touch it it should be firmer than when you put it in the tin! And the dairy free butter would be fine, but sometimes dairy free cream cheese and cream can set a lot softer and sometimes not at all, so a setting agent might be necessary! X
Hey, absolutely love your recipes, been living off cheesecake since lockdown lol. Just wondering if I could substitute the jam for cherry pie filling (I have a tin in the cupboard) instead. Thanks and happy baking 🙂 xx
Yeah I’m sure that would be very tasty! Because of the pie filing, it may make the cheesecake a little softer though!
Hi jane. I love all your recipes, i made the eton mess cake last week and everyone loved it. I have made a lot of your cheescakes and baked and unbaked with no problems. However i tried to make the bakewell cheesecake and it was a disaster. Can you tell me if the butter is correct for the amount of biscuits as mine seemed very wet ? Also my cheese mixture split and creamy water leaking from the tin. I had to put the whole cheesecake in the bin. I didn’t over mix but i did use 500g of mascarpone and 100g of philadelphia. Would it maybe be better to whip my cream 1st then fold it into the cheese? Is it better to have them all room temp too including the cream? My cheese was room temp but my cream was cold, do you think that would be the problem? I really would appreciate your help ( ps the mixture tasted nice though lol)
The butter is the correct amount on the recipe – did you definitely use digestives? and what type of butter did you use?
Mascarpone can need less whisking sometimes compared to Philadelphia, but I genuinely find it easier and better to whisk the liquid cream into the cream cheese as I do with all my recipes. You can however make it by whipping the cream separately if you prefer it. As a general rule, I would have the cream and cream cheese as similar temperatures, so that could have been it!
Sometimes, if you add the mixture to a bowl over a double boiler, and then heat VERY gently and stir, it’ll smooth out, and then you can cool it and try to whisk it again!
Hi jane
I made it again today but made sure cream and cheese was same temp. It seems to have worked. Thank you xx
This cheesecake is absolutely delicious. I’ve made it twice already in less than two weeks!! The first one – I took most of it to work to share with friends and it went down really well! I want to try the lemon drizzle cheesecake next! Oh and the crunchie one!!
Please. Need to know is it best to use 500 grams or 600 grams of full fat cheese…. I have made loads of your cheesecakes and have been very happy with all that i have made
Use either – it honestly doesn’t matter. Any either between there is fine. Some brands vary in weight hence the weight range.
Hi Jane,
I assume that any jam would work in this cheesecake – I don’t really like cherries much but love raspberry jam!
Thanks for any help – your recipes are amazing and I use them all the time!
Hiya! Yeah any jam works ? and yaayyy I’m so glad! Thank you!! X
Have just made this. Super excited to try it. Love love bakewell tart.
Went to my farmers market to get the jam, accidentally bought strawberry, rhubarb and vanilla by mistake (in my defense, the jam brand is called cherry tree!) but I’m hopeful it’ll still taste great xx
Oh that sounds amazing! I’d adore to try that jam and I’m sure it would work VERY well in this!! x