It is midday on Monday and I have decided to go all decadent on this miserably gloomy day with a cheesecake and tea. Did she say cheesecake for lunch? ‘What an odd thing she is,’ you might exclaim. I cannot refute it now, can I? Once in a while, when it is your birthday month which will go away all too soon, you need to give into hedonism.
I baked the cheesecake on a Friday night when Adi had stepped out for drinks with friends and I could spend my time watching an old Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn movie, whisking ricotta and milk, sugar, eggs and butter, inhaling the wonderful smells of that buttery concoction of custard consistency that I could pour into a chilled base of crushed oatmeal biscuits. Now I had looked high and low for digestives. I am addicted to their moreish taste. But the people at the store cast me a blank look. I got a nonchalant ‘never had those’. I gave up and bought a packet of oatmeal biscuits to which I added salt to make it less sweet.
This heavenly cheesecake is a Paul Hollywood recipe and I have tinkled around with the base because I like me a buttery & crumbly oatmeal base. The man calls for oatcakes but I like the texture of digestive bases in cheesecakes more. Customisation is queen baby.
The result is a cheesecake which makes the heart sing as I let it melt into my mouth, the buttery biscuit base adding the perfect crunch. The taste of the raspberry coulis drizzled on top of it adds a fruity, tangy deliciousness that makes me say like Will.i.am, it is dope man.
ARUNDHATI BASU 
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