Easter cheesecake

 

I know Easter time is associated with many flavours in baking – spices, almonds, dried fruit etc as illustrated by Mr CC’s fine hot cross buns...but let’s be honest, the dominant flavour for most of us at this time of year is chocolate.

The cheesecake recipe comes from the latest in the series of “30 best loved recipes” books, which features Bahlsen Choco Leibniz biscuits.  It intrigued me because the cheesecake topping is so simple: just cream cheese, sugar and chocolate.  Normally with non-bake cheesecakes there’s some cream in there too.  The absence of cream made this a rich, dense almost truffle-y cheesecake.

As this was my celebration easter Sunday bake I jazzed up the cheesecake with mini chocolate eggs and fluffy chicks.  This type of fluffy chick has been around all my life and – every year – I buy at least one box...and then only use about three of the chicks.  I put the rest in a drawer or cupboard safe for next year, by which time I have forgotten where I put them and buy another box.  I suspect I have most of the world’s production of small fluffy easter chicks stashed in my kitchen cupboards; they are a veritable battery farm of easter chicks.

Using chocolate biscuits for the base meant that the base felt and tasted far more integrated into the cheesecake.  I liked the extra hit of chocolate; the only downside was that the base was less solid than a normal cheesecake base.  It was more delicious but difficult to cut and plate nicely...there is always a price to pay in life, or as Curiosity Killed The Cat sung so profoundly: there’s a bind for every kind.

Happy easter everyone!

Ingredients

For the cheesecake base:

4 125g packets of Bahlsen Choco Leibniz biscuits – I used a mix of milk and dark
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the cheesecake topping:

300g chocolate – I used a mix of milk and dark
700g Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
100g icing sugar

For the ganache nests:

300ml double cream
200g chocolate – I used a mix of milk and dark

To decorate: easter chicks and mini eggs!

Method

Start with the cheesecake base:  Place a 21cm ring on the plate you wish to serve the cheesecake from.  An adjustable dessert ring is perfect but a springform tin with the base removed will also work.  I like to line the ring with baking paper to ensure I can de-tin it easily.

Start by making the base: blitz the biscuits in a food processor until you have crumbs.  It will look like you have too much but it presses down pretty firm.

Blitz in the butter – no need to melt it if you’re doing it in the food processor.  If your crushing the biscuits by hand i.e with the bag and rolling pin method, it’s easier to melt the butter.

Press the crumbs onto the plate ensuring that you have an even layer pushed right up to the edge of the mould.

Refrigerate while you make the topping.

Melt the chocolate – I favour short bursts in the microwave, stir, another short burst until the chocolate is melted but if you prefer melting in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water that’s fine!

Let the chocolate cool for about five minutes.

In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar.

Gradually beat in the melted and cooled chocolate until evenly incorporated into the mix.

Spread the topping over the chilled biscuit base and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Now make the ganache: heat the cream in a pan until just starting to bubble.

Remove from the heat and break the chocolate into squares and drop into the cream.

Leave to stand for a couple of minutes before stirring. 

Keep stirring until all the chocolate has melted and is incorporated.

Leave to cool (refrigerate if you’re in a hurry) and then whisk to thicken – it needs quite a high speed to thicken it so best to use an electric whisk if you have one.  If it doesn’t thicken enough to pipe, spoon into the piping bag and pop back in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.

Pipe nest shapes on top of the cheesecake and put back in the fridge.

Remove from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving and decorate with the eggs and chicks.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.