Blueberry Cheesecake (Baked)

Whenever I'm feeling stressed, I used to visit a cafe back home to get a taste of fresh brewed coffee with my ever favorite blueberry cheesecake. Now that the cafe is more than 6,000 miles away, I need to be creative and bake my own as I don't quite find a cheesecake similar to the authentic creamy yet cheesy version that I used to have.

It's important to note that you need overnight to rest the cheesecake. So it's better to prepare it a day before you want to serve it.

Ingredients
For the crust:
Crushed digestive biscuits
1/4 cup melted butter
For the whipping cream:
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
For the blueberry sauce:
1 cup of fresh blueberry
2 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1/2 lemon zest - grated skin of fresh lemon
1 and 1/2 tablespoon sugar (for blueberry sauce)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
For the cheesecake:
300 grams cream cheese - at room temperature
100 grams white granulated sugar (for cheesecake base)
62 grams of sour cream
35 grams of heavy cream (for cheesecake base)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (for cheesecake base)
1/2 tablespoon of lemon zest
2 medium-sized fresh eggs

Let's do this recipe in 4 parts - for four main ingredients that makes up the cake
1. Crust
2. Cheesecake
3. Blueberry sauce
4. Whipped cream

Crust
This is very easy to prepare - you just need melted butter (1/4 cup) and 12 pieces plain digestive biscuits. I normally use a 6-inch springform pan. Just crush the biscuits (using food processor or manually, by putting them in freezer bags and manually crushing using a rolling pin). Put the crushed biscuits in a bowl, add melted butter and mix it. Layer it to the bottom of the springform pan. Cover with foil the bottom <Yes that's right, the outside bottom of the cake pan> of the pan so that water will not get inside the tin when you put it in water bath. Then set this aside - it's better putting it inside fridge whilst making the cheesecake

Cheesecake
1. Ensure the cream cheese is in room temperature. I would suggest you take it out the fridge 2 hours before you make your cheesecake. Put the cream cheese in a bowl and beat it in 2 minutes using electric mixer at medium to high speed (do not overbeat because it will accumulate air bubbles causing it to crack while baking).
2. Add granulated white sugar, heavy cream, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon zest mixing it until fully combined. Again, do not overbeat.
3. Add in eggs one at a time while mixing. The batter should be creamy without any lumps
4. Pour the batter into the crusted springform pan.
5. Make a water bath
**get a roasting pan, large enough that it will fit inside your oven and where your cake springform pan will comfortably fit inside it. Pour hot water on the roasting pan. Gently sit the springform pan with the crust and cheesecake batter in it to the roasting pan**
6. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and let it cool inside the oven for another hour. It's ok if the cheesecake is still jiggling a bit in the middle when you turn the oven off. Once cooled, take it out of the oven, get the springform pan out of water bath and cover with plastic wrap. Put inside fridge overnight

Blueberry sauce
1. In a small saucepan, place the blueberries, lemon juice and sugar. Cook over medium to low heat. Do not stir as the blueberry will be crushed. I prefer the blueberries to be still in tact when I put it atop the cheesecake
2. In a cup, mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoon of water and then pour this evenly into the saucepan. After about 5 minutes, the mixture should continue to boil a little bit and then you're ready to take it off the heat. Set aside and let it cool

Whipping cream
Very easy to make, especially if you will ensure all the ingredients is cold enough even your tools! Bear in mind that whipped cream doubles in size, meaning 1/2 cup of double cream means 1 cup of whipping cream. Place an empty sturdy mixing bowl inside the fridge for about 30 minutes, including the mixer blades. Take it out the fridge when it's cold enough and pour the chilled heavy cream into the chilled mixing bowl and beat it at high speed for 1 minute. Add vanilla and honey and mix it again until stiff peaks form. Note that it's going to transform from soft peaks to medium and then stiff peaks fairly quickly. It probably takes approximately 10 minutes until you reach the desired level of stiffness. Once ready, pour the whipping cream in a pastry bag using your desired pipe tip. I prefer higher pipes such that if I pour the blueberry sauce inside it, it'll not drip on the sides.

Okay so now the fun part. Take out your baked cheesecake from the fridge,  layer the top sides with whipped cream ensuring there's no hole in the sides. Once you form a circle on top , pour the blueberry sauce in the middle of it.

Use a hot clean knife to cut slices. Serve with freshly brewed coffee and surely, it'll make your day 1000x better!