Vanilla Cheesecake

I have a real sweet tooth and I'm always drawn to any chocolate based desserts but what always catches my eye at a street food market is the cheesecakes. They're usually loaded with indulgent toppings and always look so desirable. But they're so easy to recreate at home, I've gone traditional here with some berries but I've listed some other ideas at the bottom of this page.

This homemade vanilla cheesecake is topped with a dark berry sauce, toasted almonds and drizzled with delicious honey.

I’m not a fan of a digestive biscuit base so I used crushed Hob Nobs which made an excellent crunchy alternative. It’s a no bake cheesecake which isn’t too sweet so the fresh topping was complimented with the sweetness of the honey and the tanginess of the berries. It made the perfect autumn winter dessert. 

This recipe makes a whole cheesecake which can be divided into approximately 8 portions. The topping is for 1 slice which you can scale up if you are serving it all at once. 

Base
300g Hob Nob biscuits
150g melted butter

Cheesecake
750g mascarpone cheese
100g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
300ml double cream
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Dark Berry Sauce
2 handfuls of frozen berries
1 tsp Afon Mel Wildflower Honey

Toppings
Handful flaked almonds
1 tsp Afon Mel Wildflower Honey

Crush the biscuits and mix with the melted butter. Grease the bottom of a deep spring form cake tin and press down the mix in a thick layer. Chill for an hour or more

In a large bowl add the mascarpone and icing sugar, vanilla essence and lemon juice. I used a hand mixer for about 20 secs to combine. Add the double cream and mix until it thickens, be careful not to over mix. Add to the tin and chill overnight.

Add the berries to a small pan with a splash of water and the honey and bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Allow to cool.

In a dry frying pan add a handful of flaked almonds and toast on a medium heat until they start to colour. Keep your eyes on them as they can burn very quickly.

To serve, gently remove from the spring form pan. Cut a thick slice and top with a generous spoonful of the berry sauce, a sprinkle of toasted almonds and a generous drizzle of honey

Alternative toppings

Half a Cadbury's Flake and a drizzle of chocolate sauce

1 Lotus biscuit and a drizzle of toffee sauce

A handful of fresh raspberries and a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce

Berry sauce and some crumbled chocolate of your choice

Chopped Hazelnuts, chocolate chips and a drizzle of toffee sauce

November 2021