I’m a huuuge cheesecake fan. In fact, it’s probably the only kind of cake/dessert/sweet thing that I actually like. (Aside from Angel’s Cupcakes, of course!) I think I like cheesecake, because it’s not actually that sweet and it’s not actually that cake-like.
I’ve never tried making a refrigerated cheesecake before Sunday – I’d always thought that it was seriously difficult to get right, and was too scared to actually try it – I’d always stuck to making baked cheesecakes (see the Cookies & Cream Oreos Baked Cheesecake recipe) because I thought they were easier.
Turns out I was wrong. The recipe for the cheesecake I made for my father-in-law’s birthday lunch on Sunday couldn’t have been simpler.
Preparation time: 30-40mins
Setting time: overnight
Ingredients –
- 1 x packet of Tennis Biscuits
- 1/2 packet of Choc-kits biscuits
- 1 x tin of Caramel Treat (PLEASE NOTE: Caramel Treat and tinned caramel are NOT the same thing – Caramel Treat is solid, which is why it needs to be melted and mixed with cream – it will also re-solidify in the fridge, which is why it makes a good topping)
- 400ml full-fat cream – 200ml of which you must whip until thick
- 150g icing sugar
- 90ml lemon juice
- 2 x 250g tubs of Mascarpone cheese
- 1 x 10g packet of gelatin
- 15ml/1 tablespoon warm water
- 100g melted butter
- 1 pack of chocolate-covered toffees for the topping
Method:
- Put the biscuits for your base, in a blender/food processor and whizz until they’re thick, chunky crumbs (not fine, dusty crumbs – then you’ve done it too long).
- Pour the melted butter over the cookie crumbs and mix until it’s all coated in butter and sticky.
- Spoon the mixture into a springform pan (pre-greased) and press it down well with your fingertips, ensuring that it’s evenly spread. Put this in the fridge to harden, while you carry on making the filling.
- For the filling – mix the mascarpone cheese together with the lemon juice and sieve the icing sugar into the mixture – and blend it until it’s fairly smooth.
- Mix in 200ml of the cream you mixed earlier.
- In a double boiler – heat the gelatin and 15ml water until the gelatin has completely dissolved. While you’re doing this, you’ll need to put another saucepan on the stove, and heat up about a cup of your cheese-and-sugar mixture, until it’s runny and hot.
- You’re then going to pour the gelatin mix into this saucepan, mix it thoroughly and then transfer it back to your main bowl and mix it slowly into the rest of the filling mix – make sure that you pay serious attention to mixing it thoroughly – in order for the cheescake to set in the fridge, the gelatin needs to be distributed throughout the mix.
- Let it cool down for a few mins before pouring it into your springform pan, and smoothing it out with a spatula. (If you look at my pic I didn’t do this very well, thinking it would settle – it doesn’t, you need to smooth it by hand)
- Put the pan in the fridge, and get on with making the topping.
- For the topping – dump out the contents of a tin of Caramel Treat, and add 200ml of cream, slowly, until you have a thick, liquidy caramel mixture.
- You’re going to pour this mixture over the top of your cheesecake and then place the toffee balls on top.
- Refrigerate overnight, or for at least 2-3hours.
Reading over the ingredients for this cheesecake, you might be tempted to think “shooweee, this is going to be sweet” – but it’s not. At least it’s not overwhelmingly sweet. There’s enough lemon juice and mascarpone cheese to cut the toothache-inducing sweetness of caramel and toffee – making for a delicious (but dangerous for your hips) dessert/tea-time treat.
