This year I upgraded from a basic birthday cake to a cheesecake. I like to think of that as my participation to growing up. Of course, I had to make this cheesecake extra special and added a layer of pomegranate jelly, which came with its challenges, but was OH SO WORTH IT!

This is a baked cheesecake and the lightest cheesecake you’ll ever have. The bake time takes a while, but trust me this slow baking is the bestttt thing for it! I promise you’ll thank me later.

To note:

• You must whip the cream and eggs separate, don’t try and rush things.

• If you aren’t too familiar with the nutmeg and cardamom you can always reduce the quantity by half.

• The baking will take a while, you want it to be left with only a small wobble in the middle.

• I don’t always make the jelly layer, this was a first, I usually top with fresh fruit. If you want the jelly layer you will need some acetate or something that is firm/flexible to be able to line around the cheesecake, tightly.

• Make sure your cheesecake gets some fridge time to really firm up.

• If you don’t like ginger biscuits you can use another type of biscuit for the base, but keep to the same quantities.

Ingredients:

Cheesecake

• 2 Large Eggs

• 250g Caster Sugar

• 300ml Double Cream 

• 680g Cream Cheese (I use Philadelphia)

• 1Tbsp Vanilla Extract

• 1Tsp Ground Cardamom

• ½ Tsp of Ground Nutmeg 

Cheesecake Base

• 400g Digestive Biscuits 

• 250g Melted, Salted Butter

Pomegranate Jelly

• 500ml Pomegranate Juice (Room Temperature)

• 12 Grams of Gelatine Powder

• 8 TBSP Boiling Water

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120°c. 

2. Line an 8” loose bottom tin. 

3. Blend the biscuits till they are a fine crumb and combine with the butter. Make sure there are no dry bits! 

4. Spread the mixture across the bottom of the tin, evenly. Place to the side. 

5. Whisk the eggs & sugar together till they have doubled in size and become very pale. 

6. Whisk the cream till it becomes thick and then add it to the egg & sugar mixture along with all the cream cheese, vanilla, cardamom & nutmeg. 

7. Whisk it all together until there are no lumps and then pour into the tin. 

8. Bake for 30 mins at 120°c and then reduce the temperature to 100°c and bake for a further 1.5 hours. 

9. You’ll know it’s ready when it has stopped jiggling about and has only a slight wobble in the middle, has risen and is beginning to turn golden round the top edges. Sometimes my jiggle is slightly too much so I leave it in for a further 30 minutes.

10. Leave it out to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge overnight or for at least 3-4 hours to firm up.

11. For the jelly, you will need to wrap acetate around the cheesecake, tightly. You then want to take the bottomless 8inch cake tin ring and put it carefully on top, till it can’t go down anymore. This will tighten the acetate around the cheesecake and seal any gaps, stopping the pom liquid from going through.

12. Put your boiling water into a bowl and then add in your gelatine and stir quickly to dissolve.

13. Once the gelatine is completely dissolved, pour in the pomegranate juice and stir well, making sure none of the gelatine is stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

14. Leave the mixture to stand for about 5 minutes.

15. Then with a tablespoon or ladle carefully pour on half the mixture, spoon by spoon. Then place in the fridge to set for an hour.

16. After an hour it should be slushy like, but firm enough for the rest of the pomegranate liquid to be poured on top.

17. Pour the rest of the pomegranate mix on top and then place back in the fridge to set overnight or till fully firm (4hours).

18. Decorate as desired (LOADS OF FRESH POMS)