Cheesecake

There is a cheesecake for every sweet craving you can think of.

Once you have learnt a basic cheesecake recipe, you can customize it to fit you own cheesecake fantasy, ( as long as it is not too weird ).

And another plus for cheesecake is that it can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge, so it is one less thing to think about when you have friends or family for dinner.

I am going to give you two basic blueprint recipes for cheesecake. The first is the common, classic no-bake cheesecake, and the second is a basic Basque baked cheesecake.

Both variations are well within our capabilities, according to Chahna, and will allow you a wider repertoire to expand yourselves as your confidence grows. I love a dessert recipe like this, it allows us all room to express our own individual creativity and who knows, you may come up with the next viral social media hit. Also, remember that whatever the feedback from your family and friends, I am very sure that they will eat it anyway however it looks.

Let me know how you all get on with your designs. I would love to hear your experiences and any feedback you get from your guinea pig tasters.

Basic Cheesecake recipe

This template cheesecake recipe is a great one to grow your experience and confidence with either white chocolate or oreo chocolate flavours. It will give you an idea of how you can add your own flavours and variations over time.

Let's start with Chahna's mouthwatering cookies and cream recipe.

Recipe

1. 115g (4oz) unsalted butter melted gently in a pan

2. 280g (10oz) oreo biscuits

3. 680g (24oz) cream cheese

4. 115g (4oz) caster sugar

5. 1 tsp vanilla essence

6. 230mls double cream whipped

7. Oreo chocolate 200g (75oz)

White chocolate variation recipe

1. 280g unsalted butter

2. 280g digestive biscuits

3. 200g white chocolate melted

4. 800g marscapone cheese , sprinkle with 1 heaped tbs icing sugar as you beat it.

   Marscapone cheese has a higher cream content and is also smoother, sweeter and softer than cream cheese. Unfortuately, it is also more expensive. So decide on your choice depending on the scale of your event. An elaborate dinner party or a special celebratory meal, would totally benefit from the full upmarket recipe.

Method

1. Use greaseproof paper to line and grease the base of a 20cm (8inch) cake tin with a removable base.

2. Melt the butter gently in a pan.

3. Break the biscuits into pieces and place into a sealable freezer bag. Bash the biscuits with a rolling pin until it becomes a crumb. This is always quite a satisfying part of the preparation, though don't get carried away, we want rough crumbs not fine powder.

4. Stir the biscuit crumbs into the melted butter and press quite firmly into the cake tin.

5. Melt the white Chocolate as described in the post on how to melt chocolate. Let it cool for at least 5 minutes before you add it to the cheesecake mixture.

6. For the oreo cheesecake, whisk the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla essence in a large bowl. Whip the cream and gently fold into the cream cheese mixture using a spoon. Now add the oreo biscuits to the bowl and combine.

7. For the white chocolate cheesecake whisk the marscapone cheese and icing sugar together until soft and smooth. Then mix in the melted white chocolate.

8. Pour the cheesecake mixtures over the biscuit bases and refridgerate for at least 2 hours.

9. Decorate your cheesecake with whatever takes your fancy, though I think classy creativity, not psychedelic colourful mayhem.

   Some ideas you may like are: Thick whipped cream with grated chocolate on top

   Seasonal fruit

   Favourite biscuits or childhood sweets.

Well done, you have mastered the basic cheesecake recipe, it is such a versatile dessert to have under your belt. You are a total star and are ready to move on to the more upmarket baked cheesecake.

Basque Baked Cheesecake

This dessert originated in Spain and is well worth giving a try. It is definitely within our cheesecake capabilities and will add a slightly Continental flare to any dinner party or special occasion. Again it can be made a day or two in advance, which is what I love about cheesecake.

Recipe

1. 500g cream cheese at room temperature .

2. 4 eggs also at room temperature .

3. 220g (just under 8oz) caster sugar .

4. 250mls double cream at room temperature .

5. 1 tsp vanilla extract .

6. 1/4 tsp salt .

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (180 degrees fan or 400 Fahrenheit) . I still haven't learnt how to do a degrees symbol on my laptop as you may have noticed.

2. Grease a 20cm (8inch) cake tin with a removeable base and line the base with greaseproof baking paper.

3. Whisk the cream cheese with a hand held electric whisk until smooth.

4. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk each one until well incorporated.

5. Add the sugar slowly as you continue whisking.

6. Whisk in the cream, vanilla essence and salt, continue to beat until well combined.

7. Pour the mixture into your cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is golden. The centre is meant to still be a bit wobbly.

8. Leave it in the cake tin to thoroughly cool. Then place in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours. ( It is ok if it sinks a little. Don't panic , that is what decoration is for )

9. Serve it topped with your heart's desire. But remember it is a very rich dessert, so maybe thick plain yoghurt and berries would suit it better than a full on creamy sweet creation.

I have to admit that I haven't yet had a go at this cheesecake but it was one of the first desserts that my youngest teenage daughter created for an adult dinner party. She said that it was stunning and looked and tasted fantastic. I know how proud she felt of it from the number of photos she posted.

I am looking forward to trying it out soon, though I will miss my biscuit base bashing.