For the bikini-conscious, cake in November might be a no-no.  But for those who prefer a one-piece or beach cover-up, enjoying a delicious slice should not be an issue! Need more persuasion? Cake can even work with wine! Put away the tea cups – they are for winter anyway – and join us for a month of cake and wine!

Let’s start with our ever-so-popular Leopard’s Leap Chenin Blanc and its perfect cake pairing – a baked Cheese Cake with berries!

Baked Cheese Cake Recipe

Ingredients

Crust

Packet Tennis biscuits

100 g melted butter

Filling

230 g   softened cream cheese

250 ml  sugar

3          eggs

¹⁄₂ cup  sour cream

2 tbsp   lemon juice

2 tsp     vanilla essence

1 tsp     almond extract

2 cups fresh berries (garnish)

Method

Combine Tennis biscuits crumbs and butter, press mixture into the bottom of a spring-form pan and bake at 160 °C for 25 minutes.

Blend cream cheese and sugar together in a food processor until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla and almond extract and blend well.

Pour filling over the crust and spread evenly.

Cover top of pan with foil, to prevent the cheese cake from baking too brown on top.

Bake for 75 minutes at 180 °C, remove foil after 15 minutes. Then at 350 °C for 1 hour and 15 minutes (remove foil tent after 50 – 55 minutes) or until top is set.

Remove cake from oven and cool on wire rack.

Cover and refrigerate to chill.

Before serving, remove sides of spring-form pan and transfer cake to serving platter. Garnish cake with berries.

Enjoy with Leopard’s Leap Classic Chenin Blanc