Chocolate Button Cheesecake

What’s a better excuse to make a cheesecake, than your grandparents coming round for dinner?

Personally, I think any excuse is a good excuse to make a cheesecake (admittedly I’m a little HUGELY biased). When my mother told me my grandparents were coming round for supper the following evening, they became my excuse to make this chocolate button cheesecake. After all, it would have been rude not to present them with a deliciously indulgent cheesecake after travelling all that way to see me. (They live on the other side of my tiny village.)

Due to short notice and the closest supermarket being a 30 minute drive, I had to make do with what we had in the kitchen cupboards. Luckily, living with my mum means the treat cupboard is always stocked with everything chocolate and the fridge bares emergency cheesecake essentials (soft cheese and double cream). This allowed me to make a quick and easy chocolate cheesecake with an eye catching chocolate button floral design.

This rich cheesecake roughly serves 8 people, which meant I could munch on a left over slice whilst watching the GBBO. I used an 8 inch springform cake tin, however any large cake tin you have will do. Make sure it is properly lined for easier removal.

Ingredients

For base:

• 200 grams of double chocolate digestive biscuits
• 100 grams of unsalted butter

For filling:

• 300 grams of milk chocolate
• 400 grams of soft cheese
• 50 grams of icing sugar
• 100 ml of double cream, chilled

For decoration:

• 1 packet of large white chocolate button
• 1 packet of small white chocolate buttons
• 1 packet of maltesers
• 1 packet of yogurt covered honeycomb (or white chocolate chips)
• 1 packet of milk chocolate chip

YOU PROBABLY WON’T USE ALL OF THESE INGREDIENTS FOR DECORATION BUT YOU CAN PUT THEM IN YOUR BAKING CUPBOARD FOR NEXT TIME 😉

Method

• Step 1: Place the double chocolate biscuits in a mixing bowl or large zip lock bag. Bash the biscuits into a fine crumb by using the end off a rolling pin, or tool of your choice.

• Step 2: Chop the unsalted butter into small cubes, and put in a microwaveable safe bowl. Heat the butter in the microwave on full power for 5 seconds, take it out and stir, repeat until the butter is completely melted. Similarly, if you don’t own a microwave (because you don’t believe in them), place the cubed butter into a small pan, and melt it over a gentle heat. 

Pour the melted butter into the crushed double chocolate biscuits, and mix together. If it looks like something your pet makes in your back garden, than you’re doing it right (Gross!! Sorry). The chocolate from the biscuit melts to make it a very wet mix, but don’t worry the base isn’t unbreakable once it has set.

• Step 3: Line the base of the springform tin, then evenly distribute the buttery chocolate biscuit mix around the bottom of the tin. With the back of a soup spoon gently pack the biscuits down.

Once the base is covered in the chocolate buttery biscuit mix, place the tin in fridge, whilst you make the chocolate cheese filling. This will allow the chocolate base to set.

• Step 4: Break the chocolate into small chunks and place in either a glass or metal mixing bowl.

Pour an inch of boiling water into a small pan, that your bowl sits snuggly on top of. Make sure the water in the pan is not touching the bottom of your bowl, otherwise the chocolate will burn.

Stir the chocolate occasionally, until it is completely melted. Once it’s melted, remove it from the heat, and place on the side to cool down.

• Step 5: Place the chilled double cream in a large mixing bowl. Use an electric whisk (preferably) to whip the double cream into soft peaks. If you are using a normal whisk, this step will take you a while, but don’t give up, keep whipping until you have soft peaks. Otherwise, your cheesecake won’t set. 

• Step 6: In the same bowl as the whipped cream, use a spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the icing sugar. Make sure you don’t knock any air out!

Keep an eye out for thieving family members!!! I didn’t do a very good job of protecting the melted chocolate. As you can see I caught my mother in the act.

• Step 7: Add the soft cheese into the same bowl as the sugary whipped cream. If like me at this point your feeling lazing, use the electric whisk to mix the ingredients together. Defending the melted chocolate from greedy family members with marshmallows is tiring work.

• Step 8: Finally add the chocolate, to the cheesy cream mixture and stir together, until the chocolate has turned the mix completely brown.

• Step 9: Remove the tin from the fridge and pour the chocolate filling over the double chocolate biscuit base. With a silicone spatula make sure the mix is spread evenly around the tin. 

• Step 10: Now get your creative hat on a start making your flowers. It is best to make the chocolate button flowers before you put the cheesecake in the fridge to set. First place the Malteser down, and then fan the large white chocolate buttons around the Malteser. Push each large white chocolate button half way into the cheesecake, this means they won’t fall over. Use small white chocolate buttons, milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips / yogurt honey comb pieces to decorate around your flowers.

Once the top of the cheesecake is completely covered, place it in the fridge to set for four hours, or over night.

• Step 11: When the cheesecake has set, run a knife a round the edge of the tin and place on top of a mixing bowl or mug, pop it open and then push the tin down. 

Run a knife between the tin base and biscuit base, and place on a plate.

And enjoy!! I hope you enjoy this quick and simple recipe for a deadly chocolate cheesecake.

B x