My inspiration for this cheesecake was found on the Good Food website. Good Food combined a classic Christmas dessert with a cheesecake - can it get any better than that! Cold-set cheesecakes are super easy to make which was perfect for me because I didn't want to put a huge amount of effort into anything straight after eating a huge roast!!
The dessert was made with my sister Charlotte who is also a huge fan of cold set cheesecakes and Christmas Pudding. Once served on Boxing Day, the dessert was eaten almost immediately!
Prep: 25 minutes
Set: overnight
Serves: 10
Ingredients:
Base
- 200g ginger nut biscuits, crushed
- 30g light muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 110g unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 240g Christmas pudding
- 30ml brandy
- 30ml stout
- 1 orange, zested
- 2 x 280g tubs full-fat cream cheese
- 300ml double cream
-200g light muscovado sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For Decoration
- Bag of Satsumas
- Light muscovado sugar. for spinkling
- Dried cranberries (I used the cranberries from a mulled wine spice mix packet)
- Finely grated milk chocolate
Method:
1) Base: Mix the ginger nuts and sugar in a large bowl and sprinkle in the flaky salt. Pour in the melted butter and mix with a wooden spoon to form a biscuit crumb-like mixture.
2) Press the biscuit mixture in an even layer to the corners of a 20cm round spring-form cake tin. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes until set.
3) Put the Christmas pudding, brandy, stout and orange zest in a blender and whizz to a purée.
4) In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with the double cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Then, fold in the purée. Spread the mixture over the biscuit base and leave to chill in the fridge overnight.
TIP: Press the mixture firmly into the sides of the tin to prevent gaps and air pockets.
5) Decoration: The next day, cut the oranges into 11 or 12 slices. Make sure they are not too thin or too thick. Place them on a baking tray covered in tin foil.
6) Sprinkle one orange slice at a time and blowtorch the sugar until caramelised. Set aside to cool.
TIP: Avoid letting the sugar sink in to the orange. The quicker you are to start blowtorching the sugar, the easier it will be to caramalise the topping.
7) Sprinkle the finely grated chocolate around the outside edge of the cheesecake. Next, carefully release the cheesecake from the tin and place on a serving plate.
8) Arrange the orange slices on top of the cheesecake and place the dried cranberry pieces on top of the orange slices.
Credit to: Good Food
The Cheesecake should last in the fridge covered in tin foil / cling film for 2 days.
