Ricotta and cherry cheesecake

This cheesecake is perfect on a summer evening with a large scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream on the side. It's delicious and light, not to mention very easy to make. You can add different types of berries if you can't get cherries and it will be just as delicious. It's also great for entertaining as it can be made well in advance.

Ingredients

200g good quality ricotta
200g sour cream
200g fresh cherries, deseeded & roughly chopped plus extra to garnish
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
1 vanilla pod
150g digestive biscuits
70g butter
1 tbsp, icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degreesC. Place all the digestives into a sandwich/freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs. In a pan, melt the butter and add the biscuits ( if too dry add more butter ) then press into a 9 inch cake tin to form the base. In a food processor mix together all the ingredients apart from the cherries until smooth. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and then add the cherries. Place in the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and very slightly wobbly. Place tin foil over the cheesecake and leave to cool. Remove from tin, place on a serving plate and garnish with cherries and a sprinkle of icing sugar. Enjoy!