Custard Cream Biscuit Cheesecake

One of my favourite biscuits from my childhood (and still now!) this cheesecake takes the humble Custard Cream to a new level. I had the idea for this dessert a while ago, but I didn't quite find the right flavour balance until I tasted a superb caramelised white, or 'Blonde' chocolate. It has such a beautiful, rich, biscuit flavour which I knew I needed to incorporate. And I think I may have cracked it in this easy but impressive, no-bake recipe!

Serves 8-12

INGREDIENTS

600g Full Fat Cream Cheese – at room temperature
300ml Double Cream
300g 'Blonde' Chocolate – (I use M&S's Swiss version - not sponsored, I just think it's superb!)
300g Custard Cream Biscuits
50g Salted Butter
1x tsp Vanilla Extract
150g Ready Made Custard - (I used Ambrosia's Luxury Clotted Cream version - again not sponsored, but delicious!)

METHOD

1. Lightly grease a loose bottomed 20cm Cake Tin with a little butter and line the base with parchment paper.

2. Put the butter in a medium sized pan over a low heat and melt. (Use one that will hold a heatproof bowl above it which you'll need shortly!)

3. Add the custard creams to a food processor and pulse into rough crumbs.

4. Spoon out two heaped tablespoons of the crumbs and set aside for the decoration (this is optional).

5. Add the remaining crumbs to the melted butter and stir well until all the crumbs are well coated.

6. Tumble the crumbs into your prepared tin and spread them evenly around the base of the tin and press down gently to compact. Refrigerate as you prepare the filling.

7. Give the pan you used to melt the butter a quick rinse and add a little water to the bottom and place a heatproof bowl over the pan to make a Bain Marie. Ensure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water to avoid the chocolate burning as it melts.

8. Place on a low heat and break in 200g (the rest keep for the cake topping) of the Blonde Chocolate.

9. Gently let the chocolate melt only stirring once almost melted.

10. Once melted, remove from the heat, add the double cream and whisk gently just until smooth and combined.

11. Add the cream cheese and vanilla extract and whisk until all smooth and combined.

12. Spoon the thick filling onto the cooled biscuit base, a little at a time, smoothing as you go to avoid any gaps.

13. Pour over the custard and smooth on top carefully to not disturb the cream cheese layer.

14. Chill for at least 4hrs or ideally overnight to firm up and set.

15. Once set, carefully remove from the tin (I place the cake tin onto a large jar or can and gently slide down the sides to reveal the cake!) Place on your serving plate.

16. If you have reserved the extra biscuit crumbs, carefully spoon them up the sides of the cheesecake pressing them gently in to stick and add a crumb coat. (Some will naturally fall onto the plate so just keep spooning them up the sides until you've covered the whole circumference of the cake)

17. Then to finish, finely chop or drag a sharp knife carefully over the remaining 100g of chocolate to create delicate shavings.

18. Pile the chocolate shavings onto the top of the cheesecake and serve.

Enjoy as it is or try with some fresh raspberries and any extra biscuit crumbs!