A great make-ahead pud, this is a low-effort option for the big day.
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Yields:
10
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
45 mins
For the base:
- 200 g digestives
- 75 g butter
For the filling:
- 3 sheets leaf gelatine
- 60 ml stem ginger syrup
- 560 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- 400 ml double cream
- 80 g stem ginger, roughly chopped
For the topping:
- 600 g plums, destoned and quartered
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp. ginger wine or stem ginger syrup
- Step 1Grease and line a 21cm springform tin. For the base, put the digestives in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Transfer to a bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave for 20–30sec, then stir the melted butter through the crumbs, making sure they’re evenly coated. Transfer the mix to the tin and press down with the back of a spoon until you have an even layer. Transfer to the fridge and chill for 10min, while you make the filling.
- Step 2Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for 5min. Put the stem ginger syrup in a small pan and heat until just bubbling. Remove from the heat. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and add to the hot liquid, stirring well until the gelatine has dissolved. Leave to cool slightly.
- Step 3Put the cream cheese and caster sugar in a large bowl and whisk with a handheld electric whisk until well combined. Add the gelatine mixture, vanilla bean paste and double cream and whisk to soft peaks. Stir through the stem ginger pieces. Transfer the mixture to the tin and smooth with an angled palette knife to level. Chill for a minimum of 6hr, ideally overnight.
- Step 4For the plum topping, put the plums in a shallow frying pan and pour over the ginger wine, or syrup if using. Put the sugar in a separate pan with 100ml water. Heat over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a simmer and simmer for 5min, until syrupy. Heat the pan the plums are in and pour over the sugar syrup. Cook the plums in the syrup for 5–6min, until they have softened, then remove the plums with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Continue to cook the liquid until it has reduced to a thick syrup. Pour over the plums and leave to cool completely.
- Step 5When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and top with the syrupy plums.
GH Tip:
Make both the cheesecake and the plum topping the day before and keep in the fridge overnight. Allow both to come to room temperature before serving.
For an extra hit of ginger, swap the digestives for ginger nuts.
Per serving:
- 546cals
- 5g protein
- 38g fat (23g saturates)
- 46g carbs (37g total sugars)
- 2g fibre
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Sarah is Good Housekeeping's Kitchen and Homes Director, looking after all things food and homes for the brand. Sarah started her career in journalism, then retrained as a chef 15 years ago following a lifelong dream to work in food. Since retraining, she has worked as a private chef, assisted on tv commercials, created recipes for some of the country's leading brands and became the go-to birthday and wedding cake baker in her friends and family network. In 2025, she was shortlisted for Cookery Writer of the Year by the Guild of Food Writers