Oh, how I miss being in a huge room with hundreds of other Murder, She Wrote fans laughing like a drain at Tim Benzie’s antics onstage at one of his Solve-along-a-Murder-She-Wrote events.

You are missing it too right?  Well I have a TREAT FOR YOU ALL.  During lockdown Tim and I got together on Zoom and made Angela Lansbury’s cheesecake.

Alone but together as the phrase goes, we had SUCH A BLAST cooking together.  In between baking chores we had a good old chin-wag about how Tim got into Murder, She Wrote and how he created the Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote experience.

We also talked about the dreadful accents in some of the episodes set in Ireland, and the fact that Hollywood seems to think that Australia is exactly the same as the Wild, Wild West as per the episode, Southern Double-Cross.

I want to go to a Jessica Fletcher Day!

Because Tim and I were enjoying our chat so much I forgot an important step in the recipe but it was ALL FINE.  If you want to cook along with us, the recipe is below.  But really, it is so fascinating to hear Tim talking about Agatha Christie and his love of Murder, She Wrote it’s worth sitting down with a cup of tea or glass of wine and just listening in.  We have a right old chuckle!

When this crazy lockdown is over, and I am allowed to have people back in my flat, I am getting Tim round to my place and I won’t let him go until we have watched all 264 episodes AND the TV movies!  He will be my prisoner, like in that fab film Misery.

As I know Tim is a vegetarian, we’ll have a feast of Angela’s veggie recipes every single day over and over again until our viewing marathon is done.  We’ll have bowls of her Garden Vegetable Soup with slices of her Power Loaf, some of her Kitchen Sink Salad, dressed with her Mustard Vinaigrette alongside her Angel Hair Pasta with Fresh Summer Tomatoes Naturally we will round off  each evening with Jessica’s Cheesecake!

Until then, enjoy the fun of two Murder, She Wrote fanatics cooking cheesecakes in their kitchens to Dame Angela’s very own recipe, miles away from each other and having a HOOT doing it together, thanks to the wonders of Zoom!

This video is about an hour long – just imagine it’s the 265th episode of Murder, She Wrote!  

And here we are (a bit drunk) after letting our cheesecake set.  It’s the GRAND REVEAL!  If you are pressed for time, this bit is only 10 minutes, but I DO recommend the longer chit chat with Tim.

 

Tim and I are planning to organise a Cabot Cove Potluck Party sometime soon.

If you aren’t signed up to either of our newsletters, do sign up to one or the other or both!  We’ll announce it when we’ve got our acts together – haha!  Meanwhile, there are still a few recipes available for test cooking if you’d like to be a part of the forthcoming Murder, She Cooked book.  Just skip over here to sign up.

Here, finally is the recipe.  I like to pop some blueberries on the top of mine, but it’s just as good without…

Angela Lansbury’s “Jessica’s Cheesecake”

1½ cups/125g graham cracker crumbs/crushed digestive biscuits

¾ cup/170g sugar plus 2 tablespoons

4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

11oz/310g cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs, well beaten

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups/480g sour cream

2 teaspoons almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/165 degrees C/gas mark 3.

Combine the crumbs, 2 tablespoons of sugar and the butter or margarine. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate or, just on the bottom of a springform cake tin. Bake for exactly 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Blend the cream cheese and half the beaten eggs thoroughly with an electric mixer. When blended, add the remaining eggs and mix thoroughly. Gradually add the vanilla and ½/110g cup of the sugar. Pour into the baked crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Mix the remaining ¼ cup/60g sugar with the sour cream and almond extract. Spread over the cheesecake. Turn off the oven. Place the pie in the hot oven for exactly 4 minutes. Remove, chill, and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings.

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