My sister and I were invited over to a dinner party on a Sunday afternoon last weekend and were asked if we could bring a dessert over. Charlotte and I were contemplating what to make and thought what are our two favourite ingredients? White chocolate and rhubarb!!
With this in our minds we searched the internet for a white chocolate cheesecake recipe and found a lovely Jane's Patisserie one. Initially, we fully intended to also add a crunchy 'Creme Brûlée' style topping, but the blow torch ran out of gas just before serving!
Prep: 30 minutes
Set: overnight
Serves: 10
Ingredients:
Base
- 300g good quality shortbread biscuits
-120g unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 250g white chocolate
- 500g full-fat cream cheese
- 100g icing sugar
- 300ml double cream
- 1tsp vanilla extract
For Decoration
- Stalks of thin stemmed rhubarb
- 2 tablespoons of orange juice
- 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
- Crushed pistachios
- Edible flower petals
- (Optional) Caster sugar and a blow torch
Method:
1) Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed round tin.
2) In a food processor or by hand, crush the shortbread biscuits into a fine crumb, add the melted butter and mix until combined.
3) Scoop out the biscuit mixture into the tin and press it firmly down to create a layer of flat biscuit. Place in the fridge to cool.
4) In a new bowl, melt the white chocolate carefully over a pan of hot water.
5) Using an electric whisk, mix together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add in the double cream and whisk until thickened.
6) Fold through the white chocolate and pour onto the biscuit base. Smooth out the mixture and ensure to press firmly around the edges to avoid air bubbles.
7) Leave the cheesecake to set for 3 hours, or ideally overnight.
8) To roast the rhubarb, heat the oven to 180 C (Fan). Cut and wash the rhubarb and place in a baking tin. Sprinkle over the light brown sugar and orange juice and place a piece of tin foil over the rhubarb and cook for 15 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
9) Remove the cheesecake from the tin. (Optional) Finely sprinkle an even layer of caster sugar over the top of the cheesecake, this should only be a few millimeters thick. Carefully blow torch the cheesecake from about 10cm away and move the torch continuously. The sugar will start to turn and wiull then caramelise all over.
10) Decorate the top of the cheesecake by layering the rhubarb in the centre and cover with crushed pistachios and flower petals.
This cheesecake can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.