Easy Peasy Cheats Cheesecake (Peach Cheesecake)

I first tried this cheesecake while Simon and I were staying at my Nana’s place in Tauranga – she loves it and had made it especially for us (and she might even be able to view the recipe on her iPad we were setting up for her – exciting!).  It uses a pre-made cheesecake mix so there really is no fuss; just make the base, whip up the filling and you’re basically done. 
My Nana had made it using apricots, which I ate and really liked, but I’m not usually an apricot fan so in my mind I was thinking of what else it could be made with.  Funnily enough, my Nana said my Dad hates apricots too, so my Mum and her didn’t tell him what was in the cheesecake and he happily ate quite a bit when my parents visited on a previous occasion!  Anyway, I re-made the cheesecake using peaches and it was delicious.  You can use whatever canned fruit you like in this cheesecake and I am sure it will be delicious!
This is the perfect dessert to whip up if you want to receive a lot of praise without a lot of effort!

Ingredients:
200g biscuits (I used Arnotts Farmbake White Chocolate ones, but something like SuperWine’s or similar will work well too)
75g butter, melted
410g can of fruit (I’ve tried apricots and peaches, but any fruit will work)
500g pottle of cheesecake filling (I used Meadow Fresh)
Zest of one lemon or the grated rind of half an orange

Method:
Place the biscuits in a food processor and process until crumbed (alternatively, place in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin).
Mix through the melted butter, then press into a 20cm circular loose-bottomed tin.
Drain the can of fruit and chop the fruit roughly.
Prepare the cheesecake filling according to packet directions.
Mix the fruit and the cheesecake mix together to combine.
Spread the cheesecake mixture over the prepared biscuit base.  Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until set.  Garnish the top of the cheesecake by sprinkling the lemon zest over the top.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Believe it or not, this Blueberry Cheesecake was inspired by a Broccoli Salad!  I absolutely recommend you try the Broccoli salad, it’s one of Simon and mines faves.  The recipe calls for Blueberries, which is something I haven’t really eaten in the past and we had been leaving them out of the salad because they haven’t been in season.  But, they are in season now, and I am loving them!

This is a no-bake cheesecake and is packed full of blueberry – none of that plain cheesecake business with a few blueberries scattered on top, or a swirl of syrup (although, I have done that too!), this one has blueberries all the way through.  Which, has got to be good for you right, considering they are super high in antioxidants?

I topped my cheesecake with a thin layer of plain cheesecake mix with blueberry jam swirled through it.  I also made candied lemon peel to sprinkle over the top to pick up on the lemon juice that is in the cheesecake - I’ll include how to make this in the recipe below.  However, if you can’t be bothered with the extra work, I think spreading some whipped cream over the top and decorating with some extra blueberries or simply grating some white chocolate over the top would be perfect (this would be amazing if you use the same biscuits that I did for the base).

Ingredients:
Base:
350g biscuits (I used Farmbake’s White Choc variety and they were delish!)
80g butter, melted

Filling:
3 teaspoons gelatine
¼ cup boiling water
375g cream cheese
½ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup cream
3 cups blueberries (this worked out to be three small punnets from the supermarket)

Topping:
¾ cup of cheesecake mixture (reserved from main recipe)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 teaspoons blueberry jam

Candied lemon peel:
3 lemons
4 cups water
2 cups white sugar, or as needed

Method:
Grease a 20cm round tin.  Place the biscuits into a food processor and process to a fine crumb.  Mix through the melted butter.  Press into the base of the prepared tin and place in the refrigerator to set.

In a glass, sprinkle the gelatine into the quarter cup of boiling water.  Mix until dissolved, then set aside.

Using a hand beater or stand mixer, in a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, caster sugar, vanilla essence and one tablespoon of lemon juice.  Once the mixture is a smooth buttery texture, add in the cream and gelatine and beat until the mixture is smooth again. 
At this point, if you want to create a marbled effect on the top of the cake as I have one, reserve three quarters of a cup of the cheesecake mixture into a small bowl and set aside.
Using a blender, puree the blueberries (some bits of skin will still remain).  Pour the blueberry puree into the main cheesecake mix and stir through until combined.
Pour the mixture over the prepared base and place into the refrigerator to set.

To make the candied lemon peel, boil 2 cups of water in a small saucepan.
While the water is heating up, remove the rind from the lemons and cut it into thin strips.  I find the easiest way to do this is to use a vegetable peeler and peel off the skin, then cut it into thin strips using a small knife. 
Once the water is boiling, add the lemon peel strips.  Boil for about 5 minutes, until tender.  Remove peels from the water.  Replace the water with 2 new cups of water and stir in the sugar. Return to a boil, add the peels, and boil for about 15-20 minutes until the peels translucent.  Stir regularly as the mixture can burn. 
Taste a piece of the peel – if it is bitter tasting, change the water and sugar so you have a fresh pot and re-boil the peel.  Continue to do this until you are satisfied with the flavour.  Drain and allow to dry either on a wire rack or on a paper towel.

To make the thin marbled layer on the top of the cheesecake mix a teaspoon of lemon juice through the reserved cheesecake mixture.  Once the top of the blueberry portion of the cheesecake in the tin has set across the top, gently spread the plain mix across the top in a thin layer.  Dollop blobs of the jam randomly around the top of the cake.  Using a skewer or a fork, rake through the jam blobs to swirl them into the cheesecake mixture.  Place into the refrigerator for 5 minutes before topping with the candied lemon peel and extra blueberries.  Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight before cutting into wedges and serving.

Nutella Cheesecake

I love Nutella.  I love Cheesecake.  So, I combined the two to make a delectable dessert.  I am in love.  I don’t think I need to say anymore – the pictures speak for themselves.


Ingredients:
250g biscuits (I used Choc Chip Fudge Cookies by Farmbake)
80g butter, melted
250g cream cheese, softened
½ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup cream
1 cup Nutella
3 teaspoons gelatine, dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water
¼ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 x 30g flake chocolate bar

Method:
Place the biscuits in a food processor and process into fine crumbs.  Add the butter and process to combine.  Press the mixture in to a greased 20cm round spring-form tin and chill in the refrigerator.
Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and Nutella together with an electric mixer until smooth, then beat in the cream.  Stir through the gelatine. 
Pour the filling over the cookie base.  Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so that the top of the cake sets. 
Crumble the flake chocolate bar over the top of the cheesecake.  Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts.  Return the cheesecake to the refrigerator and leave for 3 hours or until set.  Cut into wedges and serve with fresh whipped cream or your favourite ice cream.

Lemon Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake in early January and it is absolutely delicious. The refreshing zing of lemon cuts through the richness of the cheesecake and somehow makes it feel less naughty. I made my cheesecake by making slight changes to Mel's 'Lemon Cheesecake Slice' recipe and setting it in a cake tin as opposed to a slice tin. This is a perfect weekend dessert and my vanilla ice cream was the perfect accompaniment for it.

Ingredients:

Base

200g round wine biscuits

100g butter, melted

Cheesecake

250g cream cheese, room temperature

3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

395g condensed milk

⅓ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon gelatine

2 teaspoons hot water

Method:

Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper. 

Process the biscuits and in a food processor until fine. 

Add the butter and mix through to combine. 

Press the mixture into the prepared tin and put into the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and lemon rind in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. 

Add the condensed milk and juice, beat until smooth. 

Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve. 

Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again. 

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the base. 

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight to set, before cutting into slices and serving.

Decorate with lemon zest and serve with some refreshing vanilla ice cream for the perfect summer dessert.

No-bake Orange Cheesecake

I seem to get a craving for Cheesecake when I’m away at my parent’s bach (that’s what we call a holiday home here in NZ).  Maybe it’s because it is my Mum’s place and she makes amazing cheesecakes.  Who knows?  Last time I was there, I invented a delicious Mint Chocolate Cheesecake.  This time around I was craving the flavours of orange mixed with dark chocolate (If you ever feel like those two flavours, I seriously recommend making some Choc Orange Fudge!) so I played around and came up with this little number.

Ingredients:
200g biscuits (I used Farmbake’s Chocolate Chip Fudge variety)
125g butter, melted
250g cream cheese
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
3 teaspoons Cointreau
3 teaspoons yellow food colouring
1 teaspoon red food colouring
4 teaspoons orange essence
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons orange juice
1 block Lindt intense orange chocolate

Method:
Crush the biscuits up in a food processor until they are a fine crumb.  Mix through the melted butter.  Press the biscuit mix into a 20cm round spring-form tin, then chill.  Whip the cream until it holds its shape, then refrigerate.
Beat together the cream cheese and the caster sugar with an electric mixer.  Mix through the orange zest, Cointreau, food colouring and essences. 
Heat the orange juice in a microwave for 10 - 20 seconds, until hot.  Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot juice and then stir to dissolve.  Add the gelatine mixture to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again.  Fold through the whipped cream.  Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or until set.
To decorate, grate the orange chocolate and sprinkle over the cheesecake.  You could also add squares of the chocolate and slices of orange to each segment of the cheesecake before serving.

Snickers Cheesecake

This was a special request from the youngest of my three baby sisters, she turned 21 a few weeks ago and I wanted to make her a special birthday cake, one of her favourite chocolate bars is Snickers and she loves Oreos –YUM! I have made it for another special occasion since and it was well received, I really perfected it second time around and am feeling rather proud of myself that I have mastered baked cheesecake and using a water bath!

Ingredients:
Crust
1 packet of Oreo cookies
25 grams butter, melted

Cheesecake
500 grams cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon cornflour
4-5 full sized snickers bars, cut into 1/2 - 1cm slices
1/4 caramel sauce
1/4 cup peanuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 170ºC and grease a 20cm round springform tin or PushPan.
If using a springform tin you will need to wrap the bottom and sides with tin foil to protect it in the water bath, if you are using a PushPan the rubber seal means that this step can be omitted.
Pulse cookies in a food processor until crushed. Pulse in butter.
Press into an even layer in pan. Bake until firm, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Place a roasting pan filled with 2-3cm of hot water on oven's centre rack, this is your water bath.
Beat cream cheese until smooth.
Add sugar and beat for approximately 1 minute, until well combined.
Beat in eggs one at a time.
Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl before beat in vanilla and cornflour.
Place Snickers evenly over crust.
Pour batter over the Oreo crust and place in water bath.
Bake until cake is set around edges but still jiggles in centre, about 50-60 minutes.
Remove cake from roasting pan and if you need to remove foil.
Place cake on a rack to cool.
Once cool, cover and chill in the fridge until firm – at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.
When ready to serve, drizzle top with caramel sauce and top with chopped peanuts and the remainder of your Snickers pieces.

Mini Berry Cheesecakes

I made these Mini Berry Cheesecakes for our High Tea Picnic Party.  They are actually something I have wanted to make since we began our blog but I was put off as they look tricky.  Truth be told, they weren’t as fiddly as I feared and I was able to make them the night before too, which meant I wasn’t rushing around on the day.  Win!

1 cup ground up biscuits (about 10 – I used gingersnaps)
40g butter, melted
½ cup frozen raspberries, thawed
2 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
375g cream cheese
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 teaspoons vanilla essence
12 – 24 fresh raspberries, to serve

Preheat your oven to 165°C.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper or foil cases.
Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter in a bowl.  Divide the mixture among the muffin cases, pressing down firmly.  Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool. 
To make the raspberry purée, mash the raspberries to a pulp with the back of a fork, then strain through a sieve into a bowl, keeping as much juice as possible.  Discard the seeds.  Stir the icing sugar into the raspberry juice.
Place the cream cheese and caster sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until the mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition.  Finally add in the lemon rind and vanilla essence and mix to combine.
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit bases, filling right to the top of the cases.  Place small drops (about ½ teaspoon) of raspberry purée on the top of the cakes.  Using  a skewer, carefully swirl the purée through the cheese mixture.  Bake the cakes for approximately 15 minutes or until set.  Switch off the oven and leave the cakes in it to cool completely (they will shrink a bit).
Once the cakes are cool, top with fresh raspberries and dust with icing sugar before serving.

Lemon Cheesecake Slice

This Lemon Cheesecake Slice is simple to make and tastes deliciously sweet.  It has a yummy citrus taste just perfect for Summer.

250g butternut snap biscuits
½ cup flaked almonds
125g butter, melted
250g cream cheese
3 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
395g condensed milk
⅓ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons hot water

Grease a 20 x 30 cm tin and line with baking paper.  Process the biscuits and almonds in a food processor until fine.  Add the butter and mix through to combine.  Press the mixture into the prepared tin and put into the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes.
Beat the cream cheese and lemon rind in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the condensed milk and juice, beat until smooth.  Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve.  Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again.  Pour the cream cheese mixture over the base.  Refrigerate overnight to set, before cutting into slices and serving.

P.s. The cute lemon jubes used for decoration were from The Pretty Baker :)

White Chocolate Cheesecake

This is my first cheesecake and I am pretty proud of my efforts! I finally worked up the courage to try it after my cheesecake mousse experiment. I’m a huge white chocolate fan and combined with cheesecake it is divinely indulgent.



Ingredients:

Base
125 grams plain biscuits, crushed (I use round wines)
75 grams butter, melted

Cheesecake
2 1/2 teaspoons gelatine
1/4 cup hot water
250 grams cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk 
1 1/2 cups white chocolate melts
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste

Method:
Combine biscuits and butter and press into the base of a lined 23cm springform tin. Put it in the fridge.
Combine the gelatine and hot water and stir to ensure the gelatine is dissolved, set aside to cool.
Melt the white chocolate and set aside to cool.
Beat your cream cheese until smooth, about one minute. Scrape the sides of your bowl and add the condensed milk, continue to beat until the two are well combined and you have a nice smooth mixture.
Add the cooled white chocolate, cream and vanilla bean paste to the cream cheese mix and combine.
Add the cooled gelatine and beat again to ensure it is combined with the other ingredients.
Pour the cheesecake mix over the crumb base and return it to the fridge to set (I left mine for about 6 hours and it was perfectly set).
Serve with passionfruit or berry sauce, it will compliment the cheesecake perfectly.

Doesn’t it look delicious!?  Now that I have had cheesecake success, I really don’t know what I was afraid of.  I am going to attempt some of the amazing cheesecake recipes Mel has posted once we are all settled after our next move.  I am eyeing up the Mars bar and Bailey’s cheesecake, but the chocolate and Oreo ones look amazing too, and I am a big mint fan… Oh the choices! Have you made any of the other cheesecakes on the blog? Which are your favourites?

Cheesecake Mousse

This is a quick and easy dessert to prepare as a treat but is impressive enough to serve to dinner guests. You can prepare it in advance or whip it up when the mood strikes and eat straight away.

Ingredients:
250 grams cream cheese, softened
150 ml cream, softly whipped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ cup icing sugar
10 round wine biscuits or similar
berry or passionfruit sauce to top

Method:
Place your biscuits in a snap lock bag and beat with a rolling pin to break them up. Divide the crumbs between 4 serving glasses. (If you are feeling fancy and want to make it a little more like a ‘real’ cheesecake you could melt a little butter and mix with the crumbs.)
Place cream cheese in the bowl of your mixer and beat using a whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes.
Add lemon juice and sift in icing sugar and mix until combined.
Add half the cream and continue to mix until combined. Fold in the remaining cream.
Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the centre of each of your serving glasses.
* If preparing in advance I twist the top of my piping bag and place in in a tall glass and refrigerate until needed. Removing it 5 or so minutes before I want to pipe the mix out.
Top each serve with a sauce of your choice.

Easy peasy! Even though it is so simple I think it actually looks a little more sophisticated and special than a slice of cheesecake with the bonus that it is much easier to make. Enjoy x

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

In New Zealand the 6th February is a public holiday as it is the day that our Treaty was signed between the British and the Maori back in 1840 (Haha, look at my history teacher training coming out!).  This year the 6th of Feb happened to be a Monday which meant a long weekend baby!  Simon and I headed up North to my families beach house in Ruakaka.  The weather was pretty rubbish so there wasn’t much swimming going on.  However, I had a relaxing time reading my book and baking (I made Neenish tarts too, which will be posted up soon).  On the Sunday I felt like making something rich and indulgent.  I decided upon a mint cheesecake.  I didn’t have any recipes with me though (and there’s pretty much zero cell phone coverage and no internet), so I made this one up!  I was pretty impressed with the result too and will be making it again :)

Base:
1 cup biscuit crumbs (we use Farmbake Choc Chip Fudge Cookies)
⅓ cup butter, melted

Filling:
250g cream cheese
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons hot water
1 cup cream
¼ teaspoon green food colouring
1 teaspoon peppermint essence
5 – 6 mint slice biscuits, roughly chopped
1 Cadbury mint bubbly chocolate bar, crumbled (optional decoration)

Combine the biscuit crumbs and butter.  Press into the base of a 20cm round spring form tin and then chill.  Whip the cream until it holds its shape, then refrigerate.
Beat the cream cheese, caster sugar, food colouring, peppermint and vanilla essence together until smooth.
Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve.  Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again. 
Add the mint slice biscuits and whipped cream, fold the cream through.
Cover the biscuit base with the cream cheese mixture and smooth out the top.  Refrigerate for at least two hours or until set.  Sprinkle the Mint Bubbly chocolate bar over the top to decorate.

Hope all my fellow Kiwi’s had a great long weekend!

Chocolate Berry Cheesecake

My mum made this Chocolate Berry Cheesecake the other day and bought around some slices for my flatmates and I.  Love.  The top of it is a little dented up from the tin foil she wrapped it up in, but that didn’t stop it tasting damn good.

I’ve got the recipe; it’s a pretty easy one as it uses a store brought pre-made filling :)

250 grams sweet plain chocolate biscuits
100 grams butter, melted
425 gram can boysenberries in syrup
500 gram pottle cheesecake filling (mum used the Tararua brand stuff)
2 teaspoons gelatin

Process the biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor.  Stir in the butter.  Press into the base of a 23cm loose-bottom flan tin.  Refrigerate until required.

Drain and reserve the juice from the boysenberries.  Beat together the drained boysenberries and cheesecake mix until smooth.  Spread into the prepared biscuit base.  Refrigerate for one hour.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the reserved boysenberry juice and when it has been absorbed, warm in the microwave for 2 minutes on high and stir until dissolved.  Cool.  Pour over the chilled cheesecake and refrigerate for a further hour before serving.

Thanks for the cheesecake Mum!

Coffee Group Treats: Cheesecake Brownie Swirls and Savoury Scone Scrolls

It was my turn to host coffee group for the Mum’s and Bub’s Max and I hang out with every week so I had to whip up some treats.  I got this amazing ‘Cheesecake Brownie Swirl’ recipe from one of the Mum’s on a baby forum that I chat on – the bonus of living in this age I guess is that when you are at home with bubs you don’t have to be ‘alone’.  So thank you for sharing Caroline (or maybe not, as these are SO good that they have to be absolutely no good for me or my waistline!).  Baked cheesecake on a rich brownie base, truly irresistible!


Ingredients:
Cheesecake mix
1 egg
250g full fat cream cheese
50g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brownie mix
115g plain chocolate
115g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
50g plain flour

Preheat oven to 160°C, grease and line a 20cm square shallow cake pan.
To make the cheesecake mixture, put all the ingredients into a bowl and beat well together.
To make the brownie mixture melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water, or in the microwave.  When melted, remove from the heat, stir well then stir in the sugar.  Add the eggs a little at a time and beat well.  Gently fold in the flour.
Spread ⅔ of the brownie mixture into the base of the prepared tin.  Spread the cheesecake mixture on top.  Spoon the remaining brownie mixture on top in heaps.  Using a skewer, swirl the mixtures together.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until just set in the centre (there will still be a wobble to your cheesecake), Leave it in the oven with the door ajar for 30-60 minutes then remove to further cool on the bench.
Remove it from the baking tin when completely cool and cut in to squares to serve – I cut mine into 16 but you could go bigger for a dessert.
* Note, if you leave your cheesecake to cook for too long it will crack, don’t be afraid to turn the oven off as long as your center has set, this was my first go at making a baked cheesecake and I probably left it 5 minutes too long and as you can see below, some small cracks in formed on the surface of cheesecake.


I also whipped up some savoury scone scrolls using this recipe Melissa posted earlier in the year, except I filled mine with shaved ham and a sprinkling of the new ‘Egmont’ cheese that Mainland have released (they are right – it is great in baking!).


And just because I can’t resist – here is a pic of Max with his ‘birthday buddy’ Sophia at coffee group this week :-)

Oreo Cheesecake

This is a very rich and creamy cheesecake – perfect for anyone who loves Oreos!

Serves 15

350g Oreo original cookies
80g butter, melted
375g cream cheese, softened
½ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup cream
3 teaspoons gelatine, dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water
200g white chocolate, melted, cooled slightly
For decoration: Strawberries or extra Oreo cookies, broken

Place 250g of the Oreo cookies in a food processor and process into fine crumbs.  Add the butter and process to combine.  Press the mixture in to a greased 18cm x 28cm slice pan (or 20cm round spring-form tin) and chill.
Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth, then beat in the cream.  Stir through the gelatine and white chocolate.
Roughly chop the remaining biscuits and stir through the filling.  Pour the filling over the cookie base.  Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.  Cut into triangles and decorate with strawberries and the extra Oreo cookies before serving.

Baileys and Mars Bar Cheesecake

Yummy yummy, cheesecake for my tummy! I think it’s pretty hard to go wrong with cheesecake, they’re always good.  This one definitely is, with its chunks of Mars Bar scattered throughout.

 
Serves 8

200g malt biscuits
125g butter, melted
2 x 60g Mars bars
1 ½ x 390g cans sweetened condensed milk
250g cream cheese
⅓ cup good commercial chocolate topping
¼ cup Baileys liqueur
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
¼ cup hot water

Whizz the biscuits finely in a food processor.  Add the melted butter and spread on the base of a 20cm round spring-form tin.  Chill.
Chop the Mars Bar and place over the biscuit base.  Beat the condensed milk and cream cheese together until well mixed and light (about 8 minutes).  Reduce the beater speed and the chocolate topping and the Baileys.  Increase speed to mix well.
Dissolve the gelatine in the hot water.  Reduce the beater speed and slowly add the gelatine.
Pour the cheesecake mix over the base.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Chocolate Cheesecake

My mum makes the best cheesecakes.  Usually she only makes them for special occasions – luckily we had two Christmas gatherings this year so we got spoilt with two different flavoured cakes!  This Chocolate Cheesecake is always good, mum has been making it for years and we always look forward to it.  Here’s the recipe:

Base:
1 cup biscuit crumbs (we use Farmbake Choc Chip Fudge Cookies)
⅓ cup butter, melted

Filling:
3 teaspoons gelatine
½ cup boiling water
500g cream cheese, softened to room temperature
¾ cup castor sugar
100g dark chocolate, melted
½ cup cream

Topping:
White or dark chocolate shavings

Combine the biscuit crumbs and butter.  Press into the base of a 20cm round spring form tin and then chill.
Sprinkle gelatine over boiling water.  Use a fork to whisk vigorously for three minutes or until the gelatine is dissolved.  Use an electric beater to beat cream cheese until smooth.  Mix the melted chocolate and remaining ingredients, including the gelatine mixture, into the cream cheese until well combined.  Pour onto the biscuit crumb base.  Chill for 2-3 hours or overnight.
Decorate the top with the shavings of chocolate.



White Chocolate Cheesecake: If you have found us through foodgawker, we apologise as the wrong link was included with our White Chocolate Cheesecake photo.  You can find the recipe for it here.