Ever since I have started my blog, I wanted to make cheesecake. It is not something that has been an all-time favourite of mine though. As far as I know, cheesecake is not a very popular dessert in Belgium. I have been seeing it appear more frequently recently, but that is in little coffee shops with amazing pastries. In bakeries on the other hand, they are nowhere to be found.

About two months ago, we went on a school trip to Namen (or Namur, in French) and the highlight of the day was our break in the city. Since the weather wasn't great, we went into Exki, which is a Belgian fastfood-chain, but a natural & fresh one! They very often use organic ingredients and have quite some healthy options too. We did have our lunch with us, but no one can resist dessert, right? There were a whole lot of options to choose from and one of my friends took the chocolate brownie cake, which apparently was delicious! Another friend wanted to take the cheesecake with speculoos crust, but she didn't want the entire piece. I wasn't sure whether I would like cheesecake, since I had once tried a very sour cheesecake in London that I hated. I decided to give it a try anyways and i ab-so-lute-ly loved it! The combination of the cheesecake and the speculaas was amazing.

That is when I decided I wanted to make one myself. Although I added it to my to bake-list, it wasn't very urgent. Until last week. I passed a local restaurant, and I read on the menu that the dessert of the day was cheesecake with cherries & speculoos. That's when the idea popped into my head to involve my favourite fruit! I found a recipe that makes it with a mix of red fruit instead of cherries, but you can choose yourself what to add. I do not recommend adding strawberries though, since they do not stay in their shape properly. Sadly enough, there are no ripe cherries yet, so I had to buy canned ones. Nevertheless, they were very delicious! While I am writing this, I am eating a piece of cheesecake and damn, it's addicting! I recommend making the cake one day in advance, because the best way to serve it is cooled. Enjoy!

Ingredients
for 8 portions

• 50 grams (1/5 cup) butter
• 5 eggs
• 160 grams (0.7 cup) granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional, but I do recommend!)
• 500 grams (2 cups) ricotta
• 300 grams (1 1/3 cups) cherries (or red fruit, as you prefer)
• 200 grams speculoos. (I am not sure about the amount in cups, but I think 1 cup will do.)

Preheat your oven to 150°C/300°F. Put some parchment paper on the bottom of your mold.

Put the speculoos in a ziplock baggie and crumble. I hit it with a spoon, and that worked out perfectly! An amazing way to let your anger out ;) Melt the butter, add this to the speculoos and mix. Pour the mixture into the mold and press firmly with the back of a spoon.

If necessary, stone the cherries. Pour them on top of the speculaas crust.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta with the sugar. I recommend using a hand/stand mixer for this. Add in the eggs and the vanilla extract. Once this is all combined, pour onto the fruit.

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, but let it stand for 10 more minutes afterwards. Let cool completely, cover up and put in the fridge for several hours. For best results, let it sit in the fridge overnight, it will be even more delicious!

Serve cold and enjoy!