HONEY AND YOGURT CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

• serves 8
• 500 g (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) Greek-style yoghurt
• 200 g (about 12) crunchy cookies *
• 60g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
• 400 g (14 ounces) full-fat cream cheese **
• 40 g (1/4 cup) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 150 g (5 1/4 ounces) white chocolate, finely chopped
• 60 g honey
• 1/2 tsp picked thyme leaves
• Equipment:
• One 23 cm, 9-inch spring form pan, bottom and sides lined with parchment paper.
• *The original recipe calls for Hobnobs “biscuits”, a crunchy, oaty, British brand cookie, but any crunchy cookie or cracker can work for the crust. Graham crackers are the classic cheesecake cookie in the states and in France I use a combination of Speculoos & petite beurre.
• ** The Philadelphia cream cheese sold in France has a soft texture that is easy to blend into other ingredients, even when cold. If using the firmer, block cream cheese sold in the states, let it come to room temperature before using.

Instructions

1. Process the crackers in a food processor or place them in a large ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to pulverize them into fine, sandy crumbs. Place the crumbs in a medium size bowl and pour over the melted butter. Toss everything together with a fork until the crumb mixture is well-combined and slightly damp. Transfer mixture to the parchment lined springform pan and press the crumbs tightly into the bottom of the pan until you have a smooth, even surface. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Line a colander or sieve with a clean tea towel and set over a bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the tea towel. Pull up the sides of the towel and twist the yogurt into a ball, squeezing out as much moisture as possible. You want to end up with 340 g of thickened yogurt. Discard the liquid.
3. Gently whisk together the strained yogurt, cream cheese, confectioners sugar and lemon zests until smooth – this is best done by hand as an electric mixer can overwork the mixture and cause it to become runny.
4. Place the chocolate in a bowl and place over a pot of barely simmering water. (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water, white chocolate will go grainy if overheated). When the chocolate has melted, spoon into the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine.
5. Remove the biscuit line pan from the refrigerator and evenly spread the cheese mixture over base. Chill for at least 2 hours or until set before serving.
6. When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin, warm the honey and the thyme in a small saucepan and drizzle over the top of the cake. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.
7. The cake can be made up to 2 days ahead.