Digestive Biscuits

Let me tell you about Digestive Biscuits, and why they, not some other cookie, are the right base for your cheesecake.

Look at the crumb. It is coarse, speckled with bran, not smooth and white like a shortbread. Bite into one and you catch a mild, nutty note under the sweetness, not plain sugar. Choose Digestive Biscuits by feel in your hand: a good one feels firm and dry to the touch, breaks with a short, dry snap, not a soft bend, and smells of warm flour, nothing sharp or stale. Pick that one.

Some people say Digestive Biscuits are called that because they are light, low in everything, a "diet" biscuit. No! I have seen cooks skip the melted butter when building a cheesecake crust, trusting that name, thinking the biscuit is already light enough on its own. Don't skip it. Press the crumbs with butter and feel how they go from loose sand to something that holds its shape under your palm. Skip that step and the base stays dry, and it will crumble the moment you slice through it at the table, falling apart instead of standing clean next to the filling.