Rhubarb Ginger Cheesecake

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• 200 g flour
• 230 g brown sugar
• 1 tsp, heaped ginger powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 100 g butter
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 orange(s), juice and peel
• 50 g ginger root, cut into thin slices
• 50 ml water
• 400 g rhubarb, approx. 3 cm pieces
• some food coloring, red, (optional)
• 800 g double cream cheese
• 300 g sour cream
• 150 g sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla pod(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 8 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 20 minutes; Total time approx. 10 hours 50 minutes

For the base, melt the butter and, in the meantime, mix the flour with 90g of brown sugar, the ginger powder, and the cinnamon. Stir the honey into the melted, warm butter, add to the flour mixture, knead well, pour into a greased springform pan, smooth out to form a base, bake at 180°C (fan oven) for about 10 minutes, and let cool. Heat the remaining brown sugar with the squeezed orange juice, the ginger, and the water in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the rhubarb, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently with the lid on for 5-7 minutes. Then remove the rhubarb and ginger pieces, reduce the juice mixture in the pan to a syrup, and puree half of the rhubarb pieces. Mix the pureed rhubarb with the syrup, optionally color with food coloring, stir in the remaining rhubarb pieces and let cool. Beat the cream cheese with the sour cream, sugar and cornstarch until creamy, then stir in the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla bean pulp and orange zest and pour the mixture onto the cooled base. Drop the rhubarb mixture spoonfully into the cream cheese mixture, gently “swirling” the surface (see video). First bake the cake at 180°C (fan oven) for approx. 15-20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 100°C (fan oven) and bake for a further 1.5 hours. After baking, keep the oven door closed for approx. 1 hour and then let the cake cool slowly to room temperature before refrigerating it overnight.