product review: new york style baked lemon cheesecake mix by james martin bakery

serves: four
preparation time: 10 minutes
baking time: 35 minutes

just add:
20 g melted butter,
300g full fat soft cheese
60ml (4 teaspoons) of semi skimmed milk


i've always seen these little packs in the supermarket and not really had the urge to make them. though there is something nostalgic about those nineties cupcake mixes with tom and jerry edible sugar paper decorations! 


this one caught my eye because it was a little different and as i drool at most culinary delights made by james martin on saturday kitchen, i decided i'd give this "new york style baked lemon cheesecake mix" a whirl. so here goes...

preheat the oven to 150 degrees. easy enough :)
assemble the baking tray provided. again this was simple and felt secure that it wouldn't leak in the oven. you then press the butter mixed with biscuit crumbs to the baking tray and chill for five minutes. i had"base, base, buttery biscuit base..." in my head the whole time.


mix the full fat soft cheese with the semi skimmed milk. add the contents of the "cheesecake sachet" and mix together using an electric whisk on a high setting for two minutes. i actually didn't use an electric whisk for this one as mine always feels like it wastes ingredients by being stuck in the blender bit. so i just used good old elbow grease and had no problems at all - afterall it's only soft cheese! it whipped up into a lovely, creamy mixture (and tasted yummy too!) spread the mixture over the chilled base. again, no problems with leaking out and the mixture evened out itself just fine.


place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 35 minutes. leave to cool complete before placing the cheesecake in the fridge prior to serving. i baked mine for 40 minutes with a fan oven - i guess this part is just trial and error. the packet doesn't actually say whether you take it out of the baking tray yet. in excitement i did and realised you probably aren't mean to until its cooled. it started to crack a bit and i hastily put the sides back up. however, this did add quite a cool cracked "baked" look to the cheesecake. 

excuse the picture - i made this in the evening and there was no longer much natural light when i finished. the smell was amazing and i honestly think you could get away with saying it was homemare - very light, fresh and, well, lemony! great for saying i paid £1.70 and £1.50 for the soft cheese. i would be tempted to use medium fat soft cheese just for a "lighter" version. but what the hell? it's a new york baked cheesecake after all! all in all - a success!