Baked Greek Yogurt, Honey & Fig Cheesecake

I love cheesecake. All cheesecakes are good, it's just a fact. However I got a little bored of the same old chocolate or fruit ones and wanted to mix it up a little. It was suggested to me that honey, yogurt and fig would be something interesting to try... and he was right! - Bekki

Ingredients;
300g fig rolls
70g melted butter
450g honey flavoured greek yogurt
250g full fat cream cheese
150g light brown soft sugar
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
1/2tsp salt
A few extra fig rolls to decorate

Equipment;
Food processor
20cm loose bottom cake tin

Oven temp;
160c/320f/Gas 3

Method;

• Take your fig rolls and place into the food processor (you will need the blade, not plastic attachment) and blitz to a crumb consistency.
• Add in the melted butter and combine well.
• Place the buttery biscuits into the cake tin and compress to a firm, even base. I find the best way to get an even and compact base is by using a potato masher to press down on them.
• Pop into the fridge to firm up a little whilst you make the cheesecake mix.
• Put the yogurt (if you cannot find honey flavoured greek yogurt, add 3tbsp to plain) cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt into the processor and mix for 2-3 minutes. This aerates the mix a little to make it fluffy rather than too dense when baked.
• Remove the base from the fridge and pour the cheesecake mixture over the top.
• Place in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. The middle should be just set. Do not overdo it otherwise the top of your cheesecake will crack.
  Do not panic - the edges will rise up a little but will go down and become even when cooled
• Leave the cheesecake to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
• Once at room temperature, transfer to the fridge for 2-3 hours.
• Cut your spare fig rolls horizontally into 4 and use to decorate the top of the cheesecake.

Verdict;

This cheesecake is amazing for several reasons. First of all the texture is perfectly fluffy and smooth. The cheesecake it also not too sweet which makes a lovely change from most cheesecakes I make (chocolate does tend to make things sickly!). The greek yogurt flavour really comes through and makes it almost a little tart in flavour and then the honey comes and sweetens things up the natural way. All in all, if you enjoy desserts but don't like things too sweet, this could be right up your street. After all, figs, honey and yogurt are a marriage made in heaven.