GEORGE'S ROAST BANANA CHEESECAKE

Former head chef Louise Kelleher at Ripe Deli introduced this cheesecake to Ripe, which is now officially named after its biggest fan, George Henare. Louise’s caring and infectious personality is missed at Ripe (not to mention her piping bag skills!). The team at Ripe, who use All Good bananas in their baking, were kind enough to share this delicious recipe from their first cookbook with us www.ripedeli.co.nz.

1. Preheat oven to 170°C.

2. Grease and line a 26cm spring form tin with baking paper.

3. Prepare the base
- place the biscuits and butter into a food processor and blend until they form a wet sandy consistency.
- transfer mixture into the lined tin and press down with the back of a spoon.
- cover and chill in the fridge.

4. Prepare the filling
- put the unpeeled bananas on a lined baking tray and bake until black and soft, approximately 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- in the cleaned food processor bowl place the cream cheese, sugar and eggs and process until smooth and well combined.
- split and peel the cooled bananas and add to cream cheese mixture.
- process until well combined.
- pour onto the chilled biscuit base and bake for 45 minutes. At this point give the tin a gentle jiggle – if the surface stays set together on top it’s ready to remove from the oven.
- for best results chill in the fridge overnight.

5. Prepare the topping
- peel and slice the banana in half lengthways.
- melt the butter and sugar in a small frying pan.
- add the banana and cook over a medium to high heat until slightly caramalised.
- allow to cool.
- before releasing from the tin, pour over the maple syrup as a glaze and pile the banana on top.

George's Roast Banana Cheesecake from Ripe Recipes published by Beatnik. Copyright Sally Greer.