Goat’s cheesecakes and slow-cooked plums with sherry
Everybody loves a cheesecake, right? This one is very light and uses an easy no-cook method. The goat’s cheese adds an unusual grassy tang and is really delicious – just make sure it’s a very light, soft-textured one. As the plums are cooked nice and slowly to the side of the charcoal, doused with sherry and infused with some wood smoke along the way, you can put them on just as you’re finishing cooking your main-course dishes. Couldn’t be easier.
You’ll also need six 4.5cm (1¾in) ring moulds or individual tart tins, and a lump of hardwood
6 Victoria plums, cut in half and stones removed
100ml (1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp) Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry
For the biscuit base
150g (5½ oz) amaretti biscuits
85g (3oz) digestive biscuits (graham crackers)
85g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, melted
For the cheesecake mixture
85ml (1/3 cup) double (heavy) cream
150g (2/3 cup) cream cheese
75g (1/3 cup) mascarpone
60g (¼ cup) caprini fresco or other soft, light, rindless goat’s cheese
75g (1/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
seeds from ½ vanilla pod (bean)
For the biscuit base, crush the amaretto and digestive biscuits under a clean tea towel with a rolling pin, or pulse in a food processor; you want the crumbs to be imperfect and fairly rustic, though, so go easy with the food processor. Place the crumbs in a bowl and mix in the butter. Place the ring moulds on a tray and divide the crumb mixture between them pressing it down with the back of a spoon so the bases are firm and level. Transfer to the fridge and chill for an hour.
For the cheesecake, whip the cream in a bowl until it forms stiff peaks. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the other ingredients – an electric mixer is good for this – until smooth and fully incorporated. Using a spatula or large metal spoon gently fold in the whipped cream. Spoon the cheesecake mixture into the moulds, tapping the outside of each ring to make sure the mixture settles into the mould, leaving no air gaps. Place the cheesecakes in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.
Light the barbecue and set for direct/indirect cooking. Place the lump of hardwood onto the ashen coals to smoke.
Place the plum halves, skin-side down, on the grill in the indirect heat zone of the barbecue and drizzle with some of the PX. Close the lid and cook for 10 minutes before drizzling with more PX and cooking for a further 10 minutes, still with the lid down. Finally, move the plums to the direct heat zone to char for 5 minutes, placing them skin-side up. Transfer to a tray or plate, drizzle over a little more PX and leave the plums to macerate for 20 minutes.
Carefully remove the cheesecakes from the moulds by warming the outside of the rings with a blowtorch or hot towel. Place on serving plates, along with the slow-cooked plums and syrupy PX juices.