Mary Berry Biscoff Cheesecake Recipe

This Mary Berry Biscoff cheesecake is a rich baked vanilla cheesecake on a crunchy caramelised Biscoff biscuit base, finished with a smooth soured cream topping. It serves 8. It takes about 1 hour of work and 40 minutes in the oven, plus cooling and an overnight chill.

To be clear, Berry has no Biscoff cheesecake in any of her books. This one is built on her American-style Cheesecake from Mary Berry Cooks the Perfect (2014), which we’ve kept exactly as she wrote it, except for the biscuits. In her Complete AGA Cookbook (2015), she writes about crushing “digestive biscuits or other biscuits for a cheesecake base,” so we’ve used Biscoff in place of her digestives, weight for weight.

The step that keeps it creamy instead of cracked is the slow finish. Berry bakes it for 40 minutes, then turns the oven off and leaves the cheesecake inside, door closed, for 2 hours. The centre still looks “very soft and wobbly” when the oven goes off, and that’s exactly right.

Mary Berry Biscoff Cheesecake Recipe

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

485

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

A baked New York-style cheesecake using Berry’s filling, base method and soured cream topping from Cooks the Perfect (2014), with Biscoff biscuits in the crumb base. Make it the day before you serve it, because it needs at least 6 hours in the fridge.

Ingredients

• For the base:

• 60g (2oz) butter, plus extra for greasing

• 115 to 125g (4 to 4½oz) Biscoff biscuits, broken into large pieces (Berry uses 8 digestive biscuits)

• For the filling:

• 700g (1lb 9oz) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

• 125g (4½oz) caster sugar

• 1 tbsp plain flour

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 2 large eggs

• 100ml (3½fl oz) full-fat soured cream

• For the topping:

• 100ml (3½fl oz) full-fat soured cream

• 1 tsp caster sugar

• 2 Biscoff biscuits, crushed, to decorate (optional; our addition, not Berry’s)

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Directions

• Prepare: Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan/325°F/Gas 3). Lightly grease the tin with butter and line the bottom with baking parchment.
• Make the base: Put the biscuits in a plastic food bag, seal it, and crush them to fine crumbs with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a medium pan, take it off the heat and stir in the crumbs. Tip them into the tin and press evenly over the bottom. Sit the tin on a baking sheet.
• Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric hand whisk on low speed until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, then the flour. Beat in the vanilla, lemon rind and juice, then the eggs one at a time. Briefly beat in the soured cream, then pour the filling over the base.
• Bake and cool slowly: Bake for 40 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside with the door closed for 2 hours. Take it out and loosen it from the side of the tin with a palette knife. When it’s completely cold, chill in the tin for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
• Top and serve: Mix the teaspoon of sugar into the soured cream. Take the cheesecake out of the tin, slide it on to a serving plate and peel away the paper. Spread the soured cream over the top, as near to the edge as you can, and chill for 20 to 30 minutes. Scatter over the crushed Biscoff, if using, and slice with a large, sharp knife.

Notes

• Cook time: 40 minutes, plus 2 hours in the switched-off oven
• Prep time: 25 minutes (our timing; Berry doesn’t give one)
• Chilling: at least 6 hours, preferably overnight

FAQs

Is this Mary Berry’s own Biscoff cheesecake?

No, and we’d rather tell you than pretend. Berry has no Biscoff recipe in her books, so we’ve taken her American-style Cheesecake from Cooks the Perfect (2014) and swapped her digestives for the same weight of Biscoff. Every other quantity, temperature and timing is hers, and our vanilla cheesecake is that original recipe.

How fine should the biscuit crumbs be?

Berry aims for “fine crumbs,” because big lumps make a base that’s harder to slice. Biscoff crushes easily in a bag with a rolling pin, so pound it until no large pieces are left. Then press it down firmly and evenly with the back of a metal spoon, so the crust is the same thickness all over.

Why must the cream cheese be at room temperature?

Cold cream cheese stays lumpy, and you end up over-beating it to get it smooth. Berry takes it out of the fridge “at least 2 hours before,” then beats on low speed throughout, because too much air makes bubbles in the filling. Once it’s in the tin, jiggle it gently and burst any surface bubbles with the back of a teaspoon.

What if the top cracks?

Don’t worry. Berry says “a small crack or two may appear” as it cools, and the soured cream topping covers them. Loosening the edge with a palette knife straight from the oven helps too, because it lets the cheesecake shrink as it cools without splitting across the middle.

Can I add Biscoff spread on top?

Berry gives no Biscoff spread topping, so we haven’t added one to the recipe. Her soured cream layer is what balances the sweet, spiced biscuit base, and it’s lighter than a spread would be. If you want more caramel, her millionaire’s cheesecake is the one to try, with its own homemade caramel layer.

Is there a no-bake option?

This one has to be baked, but Berry has plenty of chilled cheesecakes. Try her easy lemon cheesecake, which sets in the fridge. If you love a liqueur twist, her Baileys cheesecake is another crowd-pleaser.