Banana-Baked Cheese Cake

Baked Banana Cheese Cake

Forget banana bread, use up over-ripe fruit in this low-sugar cheesecake 

with a chocolate and nut base and a ricotta and yogurt topping.

 

• Prep: 15 mins  
• Cook: 35 mins plus 3-4 hrs chilling
• Easy
• Serves 12 

  For the base:

  • 50g butter 75g oatcakes, finely crushed
  • 50g cream crackers
  • 1 tbsp cocoa, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tbsp salted peanuts, very finely chopped, plus 1 tbsp to scatter over (optional)

  For the topping:

  •  2 small ripe bananas
  •  juice 1 lemon
  • 2 x 250g tubs ricotta cheese
  • 200g tub Greek yogurt
  • 4 large eggs
  • ½ tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 200ml double cream

   
  

  How To Make: 

  For The Base:

  • Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and lightly oil a non-stick loose-based 22cm cake tin. 
    > Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the oatcakes, crackers, cocoa and the chopped peanuts until well coated. 
    > Press into the base of the tin to make a firm layer, then bake for 10 minutes. 
    > Remove from the oven and turn up the heat to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. 
    
    

    To make the topping: 

    1. Mash the bananas with the lemon juice in a large bowl, then beat in the ricotta, yogurt, eggs, vanilla and cornflour until everything is very well mixed. 
    2. Pour onto the biscuit base and bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven heat right down to 110C/90C fan/gas and cook for 25 minutes more. 
    3. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside the oven to cool. When cold, chill for 3-4 hrs. (Cooling the cheesecake this way should prevent it from cracking.) 
     

  To serve:

  1.  Remove the cheesecake from the tin and slide onto a plate.
     > Whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then smooth over the top of the cheesecake, lightly dust with cocoa and scatter over the chopped salted peanuts as you like.
     
     
     Enjoy!
     
     
     
     *Recipe from Good Food magazine