Cooking London Cheesecake

Our answer

Nigella's London Cheesecake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a baked cheesecake that has a sour cream topping added at the end of the cooking time. The cheesecake is cooked in a water bath as this is a very gentle way of cooking the cheesecake and helps to give it a smooth and uniform texture.

The cheesecake is baked for an initial 50 minutes before the sour cream topping is added. At this point the cheesecake should be mostly set, with a slight wobble in the very centre. If the cheesecake is not at this point then return it to the oven for an extra 10 minutes and check again to see if it is ready to have the topping added. As ovens vary the baking time can be a little longer. When you add water to the roasting pan it should be enough to come about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. If it is too high up the sides of the pan the cheesecake could take longer to cook. Also make sure that you are using very hot water from a freshly or very recently boiled kettle. If the water is too cool then it will take longer for the cheesecake to cook.