Banana ice-cream cheesecake with blueberry compote

Cheesecake in any form is a winner for me and this is a simple no-bake ice cream version, which also happens to be vegan. Its sweet, oaty, hazelnutty base is filled with a banana ice cream ‘cheesecake’ layer, then topped with a warm blueberry compote.

Credit: Penguin Books / Nadiya Bakes

• serves

  8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

Ingredients

For the base

• 160 g porridge oats
• 160 g roasted whole hazelnuts
• 60 ml coconut oil, plus extra for greasing the tin
• 185 g golden syrup
• a pinch of salt

 For the filling

• 7 bananas, chopped and frozen, about 580 g
• 1½ tbsp golden syrup
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tsp cocoa powder

 For the compote

• 250 g fresh or frozen blueberries
• ½ lemon, zest and juice
• 100 g caster sugar

Chilling and freezing time: 2 hours.

Instructions

1. Start by lining and lightly greasing the base and sides of a 20c m round loose-bottom tin, 7.5 cm deep.
2. Make the base of the cheesecake by toasting the oats and the hazelnuts in a large frying pan on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until they just start to turn a golden brown, making sure to stir all the time to keep the oats moving. Pop them straight into a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Now add the coconut oil and the golden syrup and blitz again till it all clumps together.
3. Throw the mixture into the prepped tin and, using the back of a spoon, press into the base and 2.5 cm of the sides. Leave the base to chill while you make the filling.
4. Make the topping by taking out the frozen chopped bananas and adding to a food processor with the golden syrup, cinnamon and cocoa. As tempted as you might be to begin whizzing, walk away for 5 minutes and allow the bananas to defrost just very slightly so that they process more easily, then blitz till you have what looks like a soft-scoop ice cream.
5. Quickly spoon the mixture on top of the prepped base and pop into the freezer till you are ready to eat.
6. When you are ready to eat, make the compote by adding the blueberries, lemon zest and juice and sugar to a pan and stirring over a medium heat till the blueberries have just softened. This should only take a few minutes. You can make the compote well in advance and, if you do, keep  it chilled in the fridge until serving.
7. Take the cheesecake out of the freezer, slide it out of the cake tin and put it onto your serving dish. Add the warm compote on top and leave for just a few minutes before slicing and enjoying.

 

Recipe and image from Nadiya Bakes by Nadiya Hussain (Penguin Books, RRP $45).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.