As we gallop into late summer, raspberries in the UK are at their peak. The majority of which are grown in Scotland, where they have the longest season.

I wanted something that could showcase any summer fruits, that could be made ahead, and that would not be too heavy.

Cheesecake traditionally has a biscuit or sponge base, then I recalled a Bill Granger recipe of old; a base-less cheesecake that was lower in fat and higher on flavour, using ricotta cheese, honey, and Marsala soaked raisins.

I used a heather honey that gave a rich, peaty after taste to the dense, almost squeaky, baked cheese. The deep yellow colour is due to using supremely fresh eggs, it was almost obscenely golden as you can see!

Towards October I will be making this again, and serving with baked with figs, I'll probably switch the heather honey for chestnut, which has a caramel kick to it and should work well.

Adapted, slightly, from Best of Bill, available HERE
For 4 generous servings:

30g fat, golden sultanas 
30ml marsala or cold weak tea 
25g castor sugar
3 large eggs
finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
2 x 250g tubs of ricotta (or half a kilo if you can buy it from a whole wheel), tip it into a sieve and drain for 10 minutes
45g runny honey, heather or other distinctive flavour of your choice

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Soak the sultanas in the marsala/tea for 30 mins whilst preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Beat  the sugar and eggs well for 5  to 10 mins until light and foamy. Drain the sultanas and fold through the egg mixture with the zest, honey and ricotta until well combined.

Pour the batter into a 7 inch greased springform tin and bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden, the cake should remain slightly wobbly in the middle.

Leave to cool in the tin, then remove to a serving plate and dust with icing sugar, serve with seasonal fruit of choice.