A Happy New Year
I think January can seem like such a long month.
We have had what feels like a solid week of continuous rain.
Even Little Bee asked me if it was every going to stop?
Every one seems to complain about how they find
January a grim time
and how we wish the days away.
This makes me feel a little guilty
as my sister and mother-in-law both have their
birthdays this week
and it can't be much fun for them,
having to listen to people moaning about how much they
dislike the month that they were born in.
My sister had a fun day
and my mother-in-law had a party to celebrate
turning 80 on Sunday.
I can't imagine reaching the dizzy heights of 80
and being able to call yourself an octogenarian.
My sister-in-law made
her mum's cake
and what a beautiful job she did.
I offered to make a selection of
sweet treats for the guests to enjoy.
I decided to go with my old faithfuls which are
Fruit pavlova and chocolate roulade
but I also wanted to try something new.
I had a bottle of Baileys in the cupboard
that 'had' to be finished off
so I thought a cheesecake would be a tasty treat.
This recipe was so simple to make and absolutely
delicious.
You will need :
100g unsalted butter
250g digestive biscuits, crushed
450g cream cheese such as Philadelphia
60mls Irish Cream Liqueur
100g icing sugar
300ml double cream
50g dark chocolate
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan or
microwave and mix in with
the crushed digestive biscuits.
I used the food processor to crush the biscuits
which gave a very even,
smooth texture to the base.
You could use a rolling pin to
batter the life out of the biscuits,
which is actually quite
therapeutic and does give a nice
texture to the base as there
will be some larger bits of biscuit
giving the base a good crunch.
2. Line the base of a 7 or 8 inch spring form tin with grease proof paper.
I left a good inch excess on mine
which does make it so much easier to remove from the base.
Gently press the biscuit mixture into the base
of the tin and pop in the fridge
for around 30 minutes to chill.
3. When the biscuit base is nice and firm
it's time to prepare the filling.
This is so simple.
Whisk the double cream until just firm.
It should form soft peaks.
You can also pop the dark chocolate
over a simmering pan of hot water
at this point
and it will be just about ready to use by stage 6.
4. Beat the cream cheese until smooth
and then add the icing sugar and liqueur.
Beat again until well combined.
5. Add the double cream and mix gently until well combined.
6. Pour the mixture into the spring form tin
and even out across the top.
Now for the chocolate topping.
It's time to play.
Put the melted chocolate into a
disposable piping bag and snip off the end.
Pipe the chocolate in a circular pattern
onto the top of the cheesecake.
Now take a cocktail stick and go for it.
I drew a figure of eight design
all over the top and created a swirl pattern
but you can do whatever takes your fancy.
7. Put into the fridge and leave for at least six hours
but I left mine over night.
When you are ready to serve,
remove from the fridge and leave to stand for about 20 minutes
and run a small palette knife
around the edge of the tin to loosen the sides.
Release the spring clasp and now to hold your breath.
This is the point at which
you say a secret little prayer in your head to the
God of cheesecakes
"please, please, please don't collapse into a puddle of
runny cream."
Once you have recovered from stress of the 'release'
and your cheesecake has a beautiful little wobble,
you can serve this to your guests,
and wait for the compliments to flow.
Until next time,
enjoy your day.
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