Kitchen Attack: Peach and Raspberry Cheesecake Slice

Serves: 20
Preparation Time: 3 hours and 25 minutes (+6 hours chilling time)
Cooking Time: 50 minutes

• 250gms digestive biscuits
• 100gms reduced-fat canola spread, melted
• 3 yellow peaches, halved, stones removed
• 2 x 250gms spreadable cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (75gms) caster sugar
• 1/2 cup (120gms) sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 100gms Frozen Raspberries
• 3 white peaches, halved, stones removed

1. Grease a 20 x 30cm slice pan and line the base and two long sides with baking paper, allowing the sides to overhang.
2. Process biscuits in a food processor until crushed. Add the canola spread and process until combined. Spoon into pan and use a glass to press over the base. Place in fridge for 30 minutes or until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 150 degrees or 170 degrees fan forced.
4. Coarsely chop 1 yellow peach. Place in a saucepan with 2 tbs of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool slightly. Process the peach in a food processor until smooth.
5. Add the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla bean paste and process until smooth. Pour over prepared base. Sprinkle with raspberries. Cut remaining yellow peaches and white peaches into thin wedges. Arrange, in alternative colours, over the top of the cheesecake.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until just set. Turn the oven off. Leave cheesecake in the oven with the door ajar, for 30 minutes or until cool. Place in fridge for 2 hours or until chilled. Cut up into pieces to serve.

My Thoughts on using this Recipe

• It’s All About the Aesthetics: I was making this cheesecake for a friend (they told me that it tasted pretty good) and I forgot to take photos of the process and the finished result. In all honesty, that was probably for the best, especially since My particular brand of Baking Aesthetic is “Ugly Tasty”. Ugly Tasty is when I bake something abd it looks like a hot mess, however, the finished product usually tastes pretty good.
• The Right Tool for the Right Job: I tried used a loaf tin for this particular cheesecake slice for some reason.  At the time, I thought this was a good idea, in retrospect I have no idea why I came to this conclusion. Spoiler alert: it was a bad idea. It turns out that there’s a lot of volume to the cake-section of the cheesecake, so I recommend a deep baking tray.
• Money’s Too Tight To Mention: To be honest, while I was informed that the cheesecake tasted good, from a costing perspective I honestly can’t recommend it. For example, vanilla bean paste is quite expensive, so I really wouldn’t bother with this particular recipe (there’s plenty of cheesecake recipes available), unless you’re a big fan of peaches or use vanilla bean paste on a regular basis.
• Gonna Eat Me A Lot of Peaches: The recipe calls for a lot of peaches and, to be honest, I don’t think it’s necessary and comes across as wasteful. The total number of peaches (excluding the peach you’re supposed to cut up and mix in with the cheesecake) is five, you could probably decorate the top of the cheese using one white peach and one yellow peach if desired.