Almond Amaretto Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Crust:
50g sugar
50g toasted almonds
140g unsifted plain flour
pinch salt
100g unsalted butter, chopped
1 large egg yolk
1/4 tsp almond extract

For the Filling:
1.2kg cream cheese, softened (or you can use my home-made cream cheese recipe to prepare your own)
335g sugar
2 tsp freshly-grated lemon zest
5 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
60ml double cream
3 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
1 tbsp plain flour
Strawberries for garnish

Method:

Begin with the crust. Combine the sugar and almonds in a food processor and process until the nuts are finely ground. Add the flour and salt and pulse to blend then add the chopped butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs then add the egg yolk and almond extract. Pulse until the dough just holds together then press into the base and 5cm up the sides of a lightly-greased 22cm diameter springform tin. Refrigerate for 1 hour then transfer the crust to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for 8 minutes, or until just golden. Remove from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool.

In the meantime, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue beating the mixture until the mixture is smooth. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Now beat in the lemon zest, followed by the double cream and Amaretto. Finally add the flour and beat until just blended. Pour the filling over the prepared crust then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for 12 minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 95°C. Bake for 1 hour longer (cover loosely with foil if the top is browning too quickly) then turn off the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 30 minutes with the door ajar.

After this time transfer the cheesecake to a wire rack and loosen the rim. Allow to cool completely before removing the rim then transfer to a refrigerator and chill for 6 hours (or over night) before decorating with strawberries and serving.