Strawberry and orange cheesecake

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees/gas 2. In a blender, blitz the biscuits till they’re crumbs and gradually add in the melted butter until you’ve a moist mixture. Press the mixture into a 24cm round spring-form tin to form the base of the cheesecake, and place in the fridge to chill.

Next, in a bowl, beat together the cheese, syrup, essence and lemon and orange juice and zest. Beat the eggs for a couple of minutes and then add them gradually to the cheese mixture, whisking all the time (an electric whisk is probably best). Remove the base from the fridge and pour in the filling. Cover it with parchment paper and cook for one hour. It will rise up like a souffle and probably look like it’s not cooked, but don’t panic. Eggs continue to cook after they’re removed from the heat.

The whole thing will deflate nicely, leaving a shallow hollow in the middle that is perfect for the strawberries, which you’ll have mixed together with the other compote ingredients while the cake is cooling. I thought this tasted better after it had been chilled down, so it’s probably best to start this early or even the day before you’d like to serve it. To serve, remove the cake from the tin, place it on a pretty plate, pour the strawberries into the hollow and bask in its glory before handing it out to guests.