Sicilian Style Apricot Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

Cheesecake

  • 100g Unsalted butter
  • 1¼ cups Caster sugar
  • 350g Ricotta
  • 2 cups Full cream milk
  • 1¼ cups Plain flour
  • zest of 1 Lemon
  • ¼ cup Apricot Jam

Grilled Apricots

  • 500g Ripe fresh apricots
  • 500g Ripe fresh apricots

Almond Crisp

  • 1 batch Almond Crisp
Print Recipe

Preheat a fan forced oven to 180°C.

Grease and line a 20cm spring form cake tin, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until thick and pale in colour, this will take approximately 4 minutes.

Beat the eggs in, one at a time, ensuring that each one has combined with the mixture before adding the next one.

Stir through the ricotta and milk to combine.

Add the sifted flour and lemon zest to the mixture and fold through to combine well. Spoon in the Apricot Jam and stir once or twice to form a ripple through the mixture.

Pour the cheesecake mixture into the lined cake tin and place it onto a baking tray. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 55 – 60 minutes or until golden and set but with a slight wobble in the centre. Remove from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Set the fan forced oven to grill on 220C.

Cut each apricot in half, removing the stone and placing the cut side up onto a baking tray.

Place the sugar and Verjuice into a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil and allow to cook for 3 minutes to form a sugar syrup. Brush the syrup over the apricots and place it under the grill for 5 – 7 minutes or until they start to brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

To serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and slide it onto a serving platter. Arrange the grilled apricot on the top and sprinkle over the crushed almond crisp.

Tip: Maggie likes to replace ¼ cup of milk with ¼ cup Tokay or Brandy which teams perfectly with the apricots. Same process can be followed.