Wow.

That’s all I can say about my latest baking venture! This cheesecake is so luxurious, so decedent, so creamy, it’s just gorgeous.

I always used to cook sweet things, I loved baking cakes, sweets, and using chocolate, but recently I’ve been loving cooking savoury. For me it just feels slightly more rewarding putting a wonderful meal on the table, but in my house we have a very strong sweet tooth! This was the first sweet dish I had made in so long, and it was so worth it.

I will say now, this dish took about 8-9 hours to be fully finished, but we did probably waste some time but just be warned it does take a long time – but it is so worth it in the end.

There’s a lot of steps in this cheesecake but it really is a lot easier than it looks!

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE BASE:

• 180g digestive biscuits
• 60g butter (melted)

FOR THE CHEESECAKE

• 200g granulated sugar
• 55g light brown sugar
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 4 eggs & 2 yolks
• 170g double cream
• 340g dark chocolate (roughly chopped)
• 680g cream cheese

FOR THE GANACHE TOPPING

• 230g milk chocolate
• 60g unsalted butter
• 340g double cream

METHOD:

FOR THE BASE

1. Preheat the oven to 160C. Thoroughly grease a springform baking tin, and tightly wrap the outside of the tin in tin foil. This needs to be done carefully, as it needs to be watertight.
2. Melt your butter either in a microwave or in a pan.
3. Using your food processor or the trust rolling pin, turn your digestives into a crumb.
4. Combine with the melted butter, and place in the foil wrapped tin.
5. Ensure to press the base down firmly and evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and leave to completely cool.

FOR THE CHEESECAKE

1. Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and add your chopped chocolate to the bowl, and stir until melted.
2. Set aside until needed, ensure the chocolate does not start to set.
3. With a mixer or food processor beat the cream cheese until it’s complete smooth and creamy.
4. Add in the granulated sugar, brown sugar and cocoa powder and continue to beat until smooth.
5. Add in the eggs, yolks, double cream and mix until throughly combined.
6. Carefully fold in the melted chocolate, until mixed through. It should be smooth and silky.
7. Tip the filling onto the already baked crust, and ensure you have an even layer, to your desired thickness.
8. Place your tin into a deep enough roasting dish, that you can fill the roasted dish with enough water to reach 1/1.5 inches up the side of the springform tin.
9. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour or until the top of the cheesecake is set however there is still a wobble.
10. Once you remove from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the tin immediately to ensure it doesn’t stick. You can also remove the foil.
11. Leave aside to completely cool, and then place in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

FOR THE GANACHE TOPPING

1. Roughly chop the milk chocolate and place in a bowl.
2. Cut the butter into very small chunks and leave in a warm place.
3. Add the cream to a saucepan and heat until simmering. Pour 3/4 of the hot cream on top of the chopped chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes.
4. Mix the cream and chocolate until combined and then slowly add the rest of the cream. Once mixed you should have a smooth, silky, mixture.
5. Add the butter chunks and mix until completely melted and glossy.
6. Leave aside to cool.
7. Once cool, pour over the cooled cheesecake, making sure it’s an even layer.
8. Place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours before eating.

YOU ARE DONE!

Enjoy this wonderful double chocolate cheesecake!

Chloe x