Baked Banoffee Cheesecake

I am a sucker for bananas and would probably go as far as naming them my favourite fruit. I went through a period of religiously having a banana sandwich in my school packed lunch. There was something quite marvellous about squashing the banana in between two thick slices of bread, an even more wonderful feeling if the bread was slathered in oozing peanut butter. The combo of bread, banana and butter all stuck to the top of my mouth was one of the highlights of lunch time.  To be honest I only really elected to bake this cheesecake because it had bananas in it. That, and the fact it came with an inordinate amount of toffee sauce.

This recipe I used is taken from Nigella Lawson’s Kitchen recipe book. I’m with Nigella when she (albeit in a totally O.T.T fashion) says “… I love the way a handful of mournfully overripe, positively unprepossessing bananas have given rise to this vulgarly triumphant cha-cha-cha of a cheesecake”. I can’t really fault the recipe but I have included a few top tips below.

The blacker the bananas you use the better. Not only  do they strengthen the banana flavour of the cheese cake,  it is a perfect opportunity to use up those wizened over ripe bananas languishing at the bottom of your fruit bowl.

Take Nigella’s advice and make sure your cream cheese is at room temp before you start. By doing so you will achieve the wonderful aerated mousey texture which is one of this cheesecakes best features.

This cheesecake serves 10, there is plenty cake to go round but if you are serving that many I would double up on sauce.