You know the saying, you wait ages for a bus (or a tube train) and then 3 come along at once. Turns out it’s the same with cheesecakes.
One of these cheesecakes was made out of a need to make something to take in for the cake rota at work, one I’ve been meaning to make since we came back from the Warwick Folk Festival earlier this year. And the third was a happy accident because we had base mix left over.
Cheesecake #1 – Chocolate
Nothing wrong with a classic. Pure and simple chocolate cheesecake. But how to improve it? Turns out it’s by adding a bit of Horlicks into the mix, just seems to make it more chocolatey!
The Base
This is my wife’s forte. The almost shortbread/almost crumble topping mix of oats, flour, butter, sugar, a few digestive biscuits, and about a tablespoon of cocoa powder. Half fat to flour, press it down lightly into the pan, bake at 180C for 15 minutes. Sorry I can’t be more precise with this, there’s a good chance that a more precise version exists somewhere else on this blog but she makes it so fast! Seriously, this is a blink and you’ll miss it job using the murder blades. One of these days I’ll video it and you can see what I mean.
Anyway. While the base is baking, on to step 2…
The cheesecake
- 3tbsp cocoa powder
- 8oz caster sugar
- 650g soft cream cheese – Philadelphia or store-own-brand stuff. Must be full-fat
- 225g Marscapone (or however much is in 1 standard tub sold in the supermarket)
- 2tbsp Horlicks (or other similar malty beverage in powdered form)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tub sour cream (more precise measurements available on the blog somewhere)
Start by blending the soft cream cheese, Marscapone, sugar, cocoa, and Horlicks. Then blend in the sour cream. Finally, the eggs. By the time that lot is evenly mixed, the base should be cooked and this can get poured onto it. Level the top, lick the spatula clean, whack this in the oven for 48-50 minutes. I did this one for 48 and the middle was just done. Just. But it was done. Give it another minute, that would’ve been perfect. Definitely don’t give it another 5 minutes.
But don’t put that in the oven yet, here’s cheesecake number 2…
The Jam Doughnut Mk 1
There’s a horse trailer in the main bar at Warwick. Moon-Gazing Hare use it to provide thirsty folkies with fine cocktails (their Warwick Dark and Stormy is fabulous) and shots. And this year we had the Jam Doughnut. Baileys and Chambourd. And they slipped down an absolute treat. Just as they inspired the B52 a couple or years ago, this year we’ve this beauty…
The Base
Same sort of deal as before except no cocoa. Instead we’ve got some instant coffee granules and dried raspberry powder. Press it lightly into the tin, bake it for 15 minutes. Game on.
The cheesecake
- 650g soft cream cheese
- 9oz caster sugar
- Marscapone
- Sour Cream
- 4 large eggs
- 2tbsp dried raspberry powder
- 2tbsp Chambourd. Ish. Maybe a little more.
Again, same drill as before. Mix the soft cream cheese, sugar, Marscapone, and dried raspberry powder together. Add in the Chambourd, taste it, add a splash more. Sour cream goes in, eggs go in, whack it all over the base and bake for the 48-50 minutes.
But don’t put it in yet, here’s cheesecake number 3…
The Spare
Call it what you will, this cheesecake used a smaller tin and a mix of assorted leftover bits and pieces. Bit of the leftover base mix from the chocolate cheesecake above went into a 6″ tin. Baked. The chocolate cheesecake mix provided about half of what went into this one. The Jam Doughnut mix provided the rest. So effectively it’s a chocolate/raspberry cheesecake, a bit of a swirl between the layers… Now the bake on this one is going to be interesting as it’s in for the 48-50 minutes with the other 2, so there’s a good chance it might be a bit over-done.
But it’ll make a damn fine breakfast.
After the bake is over
Switch off the oven, crack the door open and wedge it with a wooden spoon. Leave the oven to cool down for an hour or two and then transfer the somewhat cooler cakes to the fridge overnight.
I shall, of course, update this post tomorrow with the tasting notes and results of the spare…
