Baklava vanilla cheesecake with honey and nuts
Ingredients
- PASTRY
- 8 sheets phyllo pastry
- 45ml (3 tbsp) butter, melted
- 50g castor sugar
- 80g pecan nuts, crushed
- 20ml (4 tsp) ground cinnamon
- FILLING
- 100g castor sugar
- 45ml (3 tbsp) cornflour
- 900g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 125ml (½ cup) double-thick cream
- 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- zest of ½ an orange
- 50ml honey
- 250ml (1 cup) fresh cream, whipped, to serve
- icing sugar, for dusting
- small chocolate balls, to serve
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease a 24cm springform cake tin.
Brush each phyllo sheet with the butter and layer the sheets carefully in the cake tin, forming a type of “nest” that can be filled.
Sprinkle with the castor sugar, nuts and cinnamon.
For the filling, combine the sugar and cornflour in a bowl. Beat in the cream cheese until creamy. Add the eggs and beat well.
Gradually add the cream, beating until smooth, then mix in the vanilla and orange zest.
Pour the mixture into the phyllo pastry nest and drizzle with the honey. Shake the tin gently to smooth out the surface. Bake in the centre of the oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Serve with the cream, dusted with the icing sugar and sprinkled with the chocolate balls (optional).
