This cake is probably the epitome of Indian frugal baking – it consumes just 1 precious pack of Philadelphia cheese, and yet makes an eight inch cake. The key: create a thicker cookie crust bottom with Oreos that are now, thankfully, produced locally and abundantly available.
My grandma, an elfin lady with the tiniest appetite, licked her plate clean. She had an entire wedge of the cake – an entire wedge. She never eats an entire wedge! Not being a fan of chocolate laden cakes, this one was right up her alley. She declared this cake as being the “best I’ve made so far.” I even saw my aunt tuck away two slices of the cake for office the next day.
While it’s tempting to spoon into the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, exhibiting a little patience is in your own interest. The cake, after cooling and firming in the refrigerator for a little while, is creamy melt-in-the-mouth good with the pieces of Oreo cookies lending some bite. And why not, the recipe is based on my go-to cheesecake recipe.
I’ve used vanilla sugar in the recipe, but if you don’t have that, you can just as well use regular sugar and vanilla extract. As with all cheesecakes, it’s important to bake this in a water bath: place the cake pan in a bigger baking dish or roasting pan and pour hot water until it covers about half an inch of the cake pan. The steam helps keep the heat in the oven gentle, and thus prevents the cheesecake top from cracking.
You can even make individual portions of cheesecake cupcakes using the same recipe, just alter the baking time in the oven to 20-25 minutes and use whole Oreo cookies as crust. Easy.
Oreo Cookie Cheesecake
Ingredients
28 Oreo cookies, ground to a powder
3 tbsp butter
225g cream cheese
70g. vanilla sugar
1 egg
70g cream
6-8 Oreo cookies, chopped up
Method
- Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper, both base and the sides.
- Mix together the ground oreo cookies and melted butter and press it into the pan. Use the back of a spoon to smoothen it out and press it tightly in.
- Whisk together the cream cheese and vanilla sugar in the bowl until smooth. Add the egg, followed by cream until it forms a smooth mixture. Stir in the chopped Oreo cookies and pour it over the crust in the cake pan. Top with a few more Oreo cookies and bake in a preheated oven at 160°C in a water bath for 35-45 minutes. The centre should still be a little jiggly.
- Once cooled, refrigerate the cake for at least 3-4 hours before slicing up. The texture and flavour develops even more.
