Ingredients
| 150g flour | |
| 295g sugar | |
| 100g cold butter, cubed | |
| 3 eggs, separated | |
| 750g quark (see Note) | |
| 40g cornflour, plus 1 teaspoon extra | |
| ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste | |
| finely grated zest of ½ lemon | |
| 100ml passionfruit pulp (about 8 passionfruit) | |
| 5g basil, roughly torn |
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Instructions
| 1. | For the base, combine the flour, 50g sugar and the butter in a food processor and pulse until you have an even crumb (or mix by hand). |
| 2. | Spray or butter a 20cm springform cake tin. Tip the crumb into the tin and press down to an even layer coming about 5mm up the sides in case it shrinks a little. |
| 3. | Prick all over with a fork then chill for at least 20 minutes. |
| 4. | Heat the oven to 160°C. Bake the base for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. |
| 5. | For the filling, use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks. |
| 6. | Gradually add 80g sugar until it looks white, glossy and quite thick. |
| 7. | In a separate bowl, combine the quark, 150g sugar, 40g cornflour, egg yolks, vanilla paste and lemon zest. |
| 8. | Fold a spoonful of the egg white into the quark mix to loosen it then fold through the remainder. |
| 9. | Spoon the filling over the sweet pastry base in the tin and spread evenly. |
| 10. | Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 150°C and bake for another 40 minutes without opening the oven in between. |
| 11. | Once the time is up, turn off the heat, leave the cake in the oven and open the oven door a crack, using a wooden spoon or tea towel in the door if needed. |
| 12. | After one hour, take the cake out of the oven, leave at room temperature to settle for another hour, then put into the fridge. |
| 13. | For the topping, put the passionfruit pulp in a pan with 100ml water and 15g sugar and bring to the boil. Sieve out the seeds and set aside. |
| 14. | Return the purée to the pot off the heat and add the basil. |
| 15. | Steep the basil in the hot liquid for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, then sieve out the basil, pressing and scraping the strainer to get all the flavour out of the basil leaves into the fruit. |
| 16. | Return the liquid to the pot, adding back the seeds if preferred – they will add a nice texture to the cake. |
| 17. | In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon cornflour with 1 teaspoon water to form a slurry. |
| 18. | Stir into the passionfruit liquid and heat over a medium heat, stirring and cooking for about 2 minutes until thickened and clear. Set aside to cool then refrigerate until needed. |
| 19. | Serve the cheesecake topped with passionfruit and basil topping, and serve any extra passionfruit sauce on the side. |
Recipes Annie Niemann & Lisa Sutherland / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Fiona Smith & Aaron McLean