Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

[fblike layout=”box_count” show_faces=”false” action=”like” font=”trebuchet+ms” colorscheme=”light”][tweet username=”icedjemsltd” layout=”vertical”][stumbleupon layout=”5″]

I made a beautiful cheesecake at the weekend – A White Chocolate Biscuit Base is covered by a thick Strawberry Cheesecake layer, topped with a layer of Rich Chocolate Ganache and Fresh Strawberries! The recipe and instructions are below so you can make this at home, be warned – once you share this at a party you will be requested to make it over and over again!

[fancy_header]You will need:[/fancy_header]

• 500g White Chocolate Fingers (or any White Chocolate Biscuits)
• 200g Butter
• 600g Cream Cheese (Philadelphia is best – supermarket own cream cheeses tend to be runny when mixed)
• 100g Icing Sugar
• 284ml Pot Double Cream (for the cheesecake layer)
• 100g Strawberry Jam
• Red Food Colouring Paste
• 200g Dark Chocolate
• 284ml Pot Double Cream (for the ganache layer)
• 1 Punnet Fresh Strawberries

Start by crushing your white chocolate fingers / biscuits into crumbs using a food processor or the end of a rolling pin.

Melt the 200g of butter, then mix into the biscuit crumbs until it becomes thick and sticky.

Press the biscuit mixture into the base of a deep spring form round tin (approx 10 inches size for this mixture). Smooth out to an even layer with the back of a spoon and transfer to the fridge to set.

To make your cheesecake layer, empty the Cream Cheese, Icing Sugar, 1 Pot of Double Cream and Strawberry Jam into a large bowl and mix on high speed. The mixture should start to thicken after a minute or so.

Add a little red food colouring paste to the cheesecake and mix a final time to make a lovely bright pink colour. Remove the cheesecake base from the fridge and spread the cheesecake mixture over it, smoothing over with the back of a spoon and tapping lightly on a surface to release any air bubble trapped.

While the cheesecake mixture is setting, you can make the chocolate ganache layer. Heat your double cream in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water until lightly bubbling. Remove from the heat then stir in 200g of dark chocolate until it has melted and formed a thick ganache. Set to the side and leave to cool and thicken up.

Once the ganache has cooled and is much thicker, pour over your strawberry cheesecake mixture and transfer to the fridge to set further.

Wash your punnet of strawberries then chop them into halves, cutting off the stalks.

Pour the strawberry halves on top of the ganache layer before it has finished setting, then transfer to the fridge a final time before serving.

To serve, remove from the spring form tin and slice into pieces (makes about 12 large slices).

Enjoy!

Jem x

[fblike layout=”box_count” show_faces=”false” action=”like” font=”trebuchet+ms” colorscheme=”light”][tweet username=”icedjemsltd” layout=”vertical”][stumbleupon layout=”5″]