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A delicious, creamy and very festive baked gingerbread cheesecake with a ginger nut base and swirled caramel cream topping.

When it gets into December, I think we all know I am bound to post a gingerbread related bake as well as a cheesecake, right? It feels like a right of passage but also a necessity during the festive period.

Baked cheesecake vs no-bake cheesecake

The probably eternal question when it comes to cheesecake, and people are usually one side of the argument or the other, but I do actually adore both. For example, I have a GORGEOUS white chocolate and ginger cheesecake recipe on my blog, but that one is a no bake recipe. I have found over the years the demand for a no-bake cheesecake is so high, but the classic and well loved is a baked cheesecake.

It may seem a bit laborious, but the process is quite easy. You still make a biscuit base, and then you still make a filling, but you then bake, cool and set using the oven and a fridge. The good thing about baked cheesecakes is that whilst they still have to set, but it’s much easier to get a set thanks to the oven. If you are after a no-bake gingerbread cheesecake, you can find the recipe in my second book, Celebrate.

Biscuit Base

As I am making a gingerbread themed cheesecake, I decided to use ginger nuts for a really gingery base. You can use another biscuit such as a digestive, or anything similar – but generally I find the ginger nut is the best. You want to make sure to make the biscuits a really fine crumb before making the base, to prevent any problems later on such as the base not staying together. I find blitzing the biscuits in a form of blender, the best.

Once the biscuits are a fine crumb, you mix through the butter. Some biscuits may require less butter than others, so make sure to add it slowly and look out for a wet sand like texture. I use a 3:1 biscuit to butter ratio when it comes to using ginger nuts, so 300g biscuits and 100g butter. Mix these together, press into the base of the tin, and then bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes. This helps seal the base, and helps prevent it becoming soggy.

Cheesecake Filling

Compared to a no bake cheesecake, but also just comparing it to a vanilla cheesecake, this recipe looks like it has alot of ingredients for the cheesecake filling but it’s partly for the actual cheesecake base, as well as creating the wonderful flavour of the gingerbread theme. For the cheesecake, I based it mostly on my New York cheesecake recipe. Things are altered though, to make it suit a gingery taste.

Cream cheese – I will always say, whether it’s baked or no bake, that you need to use FULL-FAT soft cream cheese. The fat content helps the bake set properly.
Sugar – I used light brown soft sugar because the natural flavours of the sugar works wonders with the bake, but white/golden caster sugar can be used
Black treacle – this is optional, but it really does help with the flavour of the cheesecake. If you don’t want to use it, I would use 150g sugar in total instead.
Flour – A thickening agent, for a baked cheesecake – trust the process. You want to use plain white flour.
Flavours – using a mix of vanilla extract for sweetness, ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg – my usual suspects in a gingerbread based bake.
Eggs – I use medium as always, and for the perfect amount of liquid/egg you need to use three medium eggs, and one egg yolk. If swapping to large, I would just use three large eggs and not add an extra yolk.
Soured cream – the natural sourness of the soured cream is the perfect balance for a baked cheesecake, but you can also use a natural yoghurt if that’s what you have.

Baking a baked cheesecake

After you have made the base and baked it for ten minutes, you can make the filling. I slowly add all ingredients to a bowl, in the order written, and simply mix with a spatula. A baked cheesecake mix can often have a runnier texture (compared to a no-bake cheesecake), but that’s not a worry. I start with my cream cheese and mix to loosen it, add my sugar, add my flour, add the treacle, add the vanilla and spices, add the eggs slowly (but mixing well) and finally folding through the soured cream.

Once the base is ready, you pour the filling on top and bake the cheesecake at initially a high temperature for a short amount of time, and then lower the oven to a lower temperature so it cooks gently and stays creamy. Many people use a water bath to help prevent cracks, but it’s optional. When the cheesecake is done, it should be slightly wobbly in the centre. After baking, it must cool in the oven with the oven door ajar for 1-2 hours, and then set in the fridge for a few hours.

Decoration

Even though I usually go all out with decorations on a cheesecake, the main part of this beauty is the flavour and texture. I wanted to add something fancy, so simple whipped together a sweetened whipped cream (double cream whipped lightly with some icing sugar for sweetness and stability) and dolloped this on top off the cheesecake. I didn’t do any fancy piping on this occasion, as I wanted to swirl some caramel into it for balance of flavour.

I used a few tablespoons of my homemade caramel sauce, but you can use a shop bought one, or a toffee sauce, or dulce de leche or anything similar. I drizzle it onto the cream, and then just simply swirled the two together slightly as I topped the cheesecake for a wonderful pattern. A little sprinkle of some biscuit crumbs, and the cheesecake is ready to devour.

Tips & Tricks

This cheesecake lasts for 3+ days in the fridge, once baked.
You can freeze the cheesecake for 3+ months
Feel free to adapt and change the spices to what you prefer – for example, you can use ground ginger
I use an 8″ springform cake tin in my cheesecakes
You can find my homemade caramel sauce recipe here