So it was Sunday morning when I was invited for an impromptu dinner that evening. Not one to turn up empty handed but knowing that this is a house where there will be plenty of wine, I offered to make a dessert. The offer was gratefully received and since I was already at the supermarket I was in the perfect spot for supplies. Short on time (I had to pick up my Mum for a Mother's Day picnic) the sensible thing to do would have been to head straight for the desserts aisle... but I'm just not that sensible.Instead of buying an overpriced sweet treat, I opted for a failsafe cheesecake recipe with a few easy added extras to give it the wow factor. I made the cheesecake in the 20 minutes before I went out to get my mum and then spent 15 minutes decorating it when I got back. There is no way that this dessert looks like it took just over half an hour to make (not including setting time) but that really was all the time I had. It also took virtually no cooking skill, this is an excellent recipe for beginners.
Secretly Easy White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake
Serves 12
Step One: Make the Base
- Put half a pack of digestives (approximately 15 biscuits) into a blender with half a block (approximately 125g) of melted unsalted butter.
- Whizz into a sandy texture and then press down into a loose bottomed cake tin, 20cm in diameter.
- Pop into the fridge while you get on with the cheesecake mix.
Step Two: Mix up the Cheesecake Topping
- Melt 200g good quality white chocolate either in a bowl over a pan of boiling water or if you are exceptionally careful then in the microwave. Be careful if you opt for the latter though as it will split if you go too far.
- Meanwhile, whisk up 300ml of Double Cream and fold through 500g (one of the large tubs or two smaller ones) of marscapone cheese, a teaspoon of vanilla essence, and finally the melted chocolate.
- Try the mix, not just because it's supremely delicious but also to check the sweetness level. Depending on the chocolate you use, there may be a need for a tablespoon of icing sugar.
- Pour over the base and put into the fridge for an hour or so to let it set.
Step 3: Make the Raspberry Coulis
- Frozen raspberries are absolutely fine for this job, put 200g of them in a pan with a tablespoon of caster sugar and a dash more vanilla extract. Bubble away over a medium heat for 3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of arrowroot powder with a dash of cold water. Stir through the raspberries and cook for another couple of minutes, the coulis will thicken slightly to a jammy consistency.
- Put aside to cool until you are ready to decorate.
** Not everyone has arrowroot in the cupboard so cornflour will do the job, the downside is that it doesn't go as clear on cooking so you might have a lighter looking coulis than the picture above.
Step 4: Decorate
- Help the cheesecake to escape from the tin. The trick here is to have a glass of hot water on hand. Warm a pallet knife, or thin flat butter knife in the water, wipe dry and then run it around the edge of the tin.
- Now you can either leave it on the base or it should be possible to get your pallet knife under the base if you have packed it in tight enough at step one to transfer across to a platter or cake stand.
- Take 70g toasted almond slices (plenty of shops will sell them ready toasted or 45 seconds in a super hot frying pan will do it) and decorate the outside edges. It's simple to do, get a small handful and press them against the sides. You will drop plenty of them on the side, so just collect them up and press them back onto the cheesecake.
- The white ring in the picture is purely two shop bought meringue nests, crushed up and put in a ring to contain the raspberries.
- Finally, spoon over the raspberry coulis and pop the whole thing in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Step 5: Serve it up!
- The hot water trick is a god send at this stage in the process. Heat your knife in a large glass of hot water and it will glide through the cheesecake as if it's butter.
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