Celia Quinnell, Property Manager at Church Property Trustees makes this Annabel Langbein recipe with her own interpretation. We recently had a taste of it and now know why it is a firm favourite with Celia's family at every Christmas.

This is a rich yet not overly sweet with the perfect texture of a raspberry cheesecake. Celia loves making this cheesecake ahead, storing it in the refrigerator.

Makes: 1 x 23cm cheesecake or 12-14 servings

Ingredients:
200g Arnotts shortbread fingers biscuits or Gingernuts
100g salted butter, melted and hot

Filling:
5 gelatine leaves (silver strength)
1/2 cup cold water to soak, or more as needed for gelatine leaves
250g frozen raspberries
15ml / 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
400g Philadelphia cream cheese (room temperature)
190g / 1 cup less 2 tbsp caster sugar
3 egg yolks (size 7 eggs, room temperature)
200ml / 3/4 cup chilled cream (Westgold UHT)

Line baking paper on the bottom of the loose bottom tin (I find it really helpful when transferring the finished cake to a serving plate at the end). Mix biscuit crumbs and butter together. Press firmly and evenly into the base of a 23cm springform cake tin. Chill.

Filling: Soak gelatine leaves in cold water until soft and squeeze out excess water before using.

Place two-thirds of the raspberries in a pot with lemon juice and gelatine. Heat, swirling the pot occasionally, until berries have thawed and gelatine is melted. Do not stir and mush. (Mixture should be hot but not at boiling point). Remove from heat. Don't let it get too cold and start to set. If it does, gently warm it again.

Beat cream cheese with electric beater until smooth and lump-free. Beat in sugar and egg yolks, scraping down the sides of the bowl to evenly incorporate mixture. Gently stir in berry mixture.

Whip cream to very soft peaks and fold into cream cheese mixture along with remaining raspberries. Pour over base and chill 2-3 hours until set before adding topping.

Topping: Warm raspberry coulis and strain through a sieve, discarding seeds. Return to saucepan and add soaked gelatine, stirring over heat until dissolved. Take off heat and stand until just warm. Pour over the back of a spoon onto cheesecake and chill until set.

Cheesecake will keep 4-5 days in the fridge, sealed with plastic wrap to prevent the absorption of any fridge odours.

When ready to serve, run a hot knife around the inside of the tin to free the cheesecake before lifting off the sides of the tin.

Celia Quinnell