Cheesecake with cookie base

Ingredients

• 150 g oats (for cookies)
• 75 g pecans
• 100 g butter
• 0.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Organic lemon
• 1 Vanilla bean
• 750 g cream cheese (three-quarter fat; at least 30% fat in milk solids)
• 75 g beetroot syrup
• 75 g coconut blossom sugar
• 4 eggs
• 15 g cornstarch (1 tbsp)
• 300 g sour cream
• 50 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa content)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Place cookies in a clean dishcloth and crush into crumbs with a rolling pin. Finely chop pecans. Melt butter in a small pot over low heat and mix with crumbs, pecans, and cinnamon.

2. 2.

   Line a springform pan with parchment paper. Pour cookie mixture into the pan and press firmly. Rinse lemon under hot water, pat dry, and finely grate zest. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.

3. 3.

   For the filling, whisk together 2 tsp lemon zest, vanilla seeds, cream cheese, 50 g beetroot syrup, and 50 g coconut blossom sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition. Briefly stir in cornstarch.

4. 4.

   Spread filling over cookie base. Bake in preheated oven at 180 °C (fan 160 °C; gas: level 2–3) for 40–50 minutes.

5. 5.

   Meanwhile whisk sour cream with remaining beetroot syrup and coconut blossom sugar until smooth, spread over hot cheesecake, and bake again for 7–10 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool. Only after fully cooled release from pan and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

6. 6.

   Melt chopped chocolate over a hot, non‑boiling water bath. Place melted chocolate in a freezer bag, cut a tiny corner, and drizzle thin strands of chocolate over the cheesecake. Serve sliced into pieces.