Kent Pear Crumble Cheesecake

Method: Crush the biscuits. Mix with the melted butter and tip into a 2 x 8cm loose-bottomed tart tin or shallow cake tin. Press the warm, wet crumbs down with your hand to form a base, then put in the fridge. Mix the curd cheese, beaten eggs, lemon zest and half the sugar with a hand-held electric mixer. It should be thick and creamy. Put the tart tin on a baking sheet. Pour the filling into the crust and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas 4 for forty to forty-five minutes or until almost set. Put the prepared fruit in a pan with the remaining sugar, a tablespoon of water, and simmer until the pears are poached. Set aside to cool. For the topping, whizz the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor until they resemble crumbs. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool slightly. Lift the pears from its juice with a draining spoon and spoon over the top of the cheesecake. Pour over a tablespoon of the juice, then chill the rest. Scatter the crumble mixture over the fruit and return the cheesecake to the oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes or until the crumble is starting to colour. Remove from the oven and leave in a cool place. Serve the cheesecake with the juices from the pears. Jordan Marsh Year Group: 7-8 Longfield Academy Recipe by Jordan Marsh, finalist of the The Cygnet Awards. Launched by the award-winning, Michelin-listed brasserie The Swan, in West Malling.