Tipple Desserts
For some unknown reason I find myself making an obscene amount of cheesecakes over the festive period.
Much as I love fruit & the natural sweetness it brings to the table, Christmas is all about overindulgence, something naughty, a little bit of luxury.
So how do you up your dessert game & bring a bit of luxury to the offering? Alcohol.
Us Brits go all out on the booze at Christmas, often stocking up on bottles of wine & spirits so as to be prepared for any possible visitors & their preferences (being British, we don’t like to offend).
Other than the traditional mulled wine, brandy, whisky, amaretto & Baileys are all regular offenders in my kitchen. The hard liquor usually finds its way into my Christmas cakes, puddings & preserves, whilst the smooth delight of Baileys is a delight to be drunk on its own merit.
If by happy accident you find yourself with too much Baileys at Christmas time (is there such a thing?) , I have a truly wonderful recipe that’s sure to bring that little bit of luxury to dessert… Baileys & white chocolate cheesecake. This is a definite crowd pleaser , sweet, creamy, a little bit naughty & just light enough to squeeze in a slice.
BAILEYS & WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
(makes on 22cm cheesecake)
Ingredients:
For the base:
- 300g digestive biscuits
- 80g butter
- 3 tbps demerera sugar
For the filling:
- 400g full-fat cream cheese
- 284ml double cream
- 180g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 25g plain flour
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 150g white chocolate, melted
- 75ml baileys
Method:
- Grease & line the best of a 22cm round cake tin
- To make the base, blitz the digestives in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs, empty into a large bowl & add the demerera sugar
- Melt the butter & pour this over the digestives
- Mix together until all of the biscuit crumbs are coated
- Tip into the cake tin & press the biscuit mixture in using the back of a spoon
- To make the filling, place all of the ingredients into a large bowl & whisk together
- Pour the cheesecake filling over the biscuit base
- Bake at 150°C for 1 hour, until the cheesecake has a slight wobble when in the middle when shaken
- Leave the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven before removing & placing in the fridge
- Optional: using a stencil, dust with icing sugar or cocoa powder before serving
