American cheesecake with banana fritters recipe
Inspired by a traditional New York cheesecake and topped with Jamaican banana fritters. The filling is whipped together with cream, bananas and other sweet gems, and layered over a crunchy crust base. After baking, the cheesecake is decorated with irresistible banana fritters on top.
Ingredients
For the banana fritters- 4 overripe bananas
- 120 g soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 250 g plain flour
- 80 ml water
- 120 g digestive biscuits
- 60 g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
- 400 g full-fat cream cheese
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 200 g sour cream
- 100 g double cream
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g plain flour
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 3 ripe bananas
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 x quantity of banana fritter mixture
- 200 ml vegetable oil, or enough for shallow-frying
- 300 ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks
- 1 handful sliced strawberries and blueberries, to decorate
- 2 tbsp icing sugar, to dust
Details
- Cuisine: Caribbean
- Recipe Type: Cheesecake
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 25 mins
- Cooking Time: 90 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- First, make the banana fritter mixture. Mash the bananas in a bowl, then add the sugar and mix together. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt, and mix together. Add the flour and water, then mix well until you have a thick consistency. Set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/356°F/gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 23cm/9in springform cake tin.
- Place the crushed biscuits in a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Tip the mixture into the greased tin and spread it evenly over the base, compacting it down. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then leave to cool.
- For the filling, combine the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl. Stir in the sour cream and double cream. Whisk in the eggs, then add the vanilla, plain flour and cornflour and mix to combine.
- Mash the bananas in a bowl with the lemon juice, then stir into the filling mixture. Spoon the filling over the cooled base and level it out.
- Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/428°F/gas mark 7. Bake the cheesecake for 10 minutes, then turn down the oven temperature to 140°C/284°F/gas mark 1 and bake for a further 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the centre has just a slight wobble. Switch off the oven and let the cheesecake cool inside for 2 hours.
- For the topping, heat vegetable oil in a pan to the depth of about 5cm/2in. Using a tablespoon, drop walnut-sized spoonfuls of the banana fritter mixture into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes or until golden.
- Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cheesecake. Dot the banana fritters over the cream, then scatter over the berries and dust with icing sugar.
This recipe is from Original Flava: Caribbean Recipes from Home by Craig and Shaun McAnuff. Published 22nd August by Bloomsbury, £22. Photography by Matt Russell.
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