With a tasty peppermint ganache and crunchy meringue, this cheesecake is sure to top last year’s Christmas pud.
Difficulty – Medium
Prep time – 80 minutes
Cook time – 2 hours drying for meringue
Serves – 16
Ingredients
Base:
250g chocolate shortbread biscuits
100g Westgold Unsalted Butter, melted
Filling:
500g cream cheese (room temp)
150g icing sugar
30g Dutch cocoa
350g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
150ml hot cream
250ml cream, lightly whipped
Ganache topping:
175g 50% dark chocolate, chopped
⅔ cup hot cream
40g Westgold Unsalted Butter, soft
2½ tsp peppermint essence
Meringues:
85ml egg whites
100g caster sugar
50g icing sugar
1 ½ tsp peppermint essence
2 drops red gel colouring
2 mint candy canes (for decoration)
Method
Base:
Line the base and sides of a 23cm loose bottom tin with baking paper.
Blend the chocolate biscuits into fine crumbs, add melted Westgold Butter, and blend until combined.
Tip the mixture into the tin, spread evenly on the bottom, and press gently. Place in the fridge while preparing the filling.
Filling:
Melt the dark chocolate and 150ml cream together, stirring until smooth. Using an electric beater, whip the cream cheese, icing sugar, and cocoa until smooth and whipped.
Fold in the melted chocolate and cream. Gently fold in the lightly whipped cream. Spoon the mixture onto the cold biscuit base and smooth over the top. Refrigerate to set.
Ganache topping:
Melt the chocolate and cream together, stirring until smooth. Stir in the Westgold Butter and peppermint essence, then spread over the cheesecake. Refrigerate until set.
Meringues:
Preheat the oven to 120°C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Slowly add caster sugar until dissolved and the meringue is glossy.
Add icing sugar through a sieve, then add peppermint essence and gently fold in. Put a plain piping nozzle in the piping bag and drip little dots of red gel colouring around the inside of the piping bag.
Spoon in the meringue. Pipe an array of different meringue sizes as desired.
Bake for 2 hours until the biggest meringues are dry and crisp inside. Cool and keep in an airtight container.
To finish the cheesecake:
Take the cheesecake out of the fridge 2-3 hours before serving. Remove from the tin and peel away the paper. Place on a serving plate.
Crush the large meringues into pieces and sprinkle over the top of the cheesecake with the little droplet meringues.
Sprinkle over crushed candy canes.
Serve and enjoy!
Note: Use a knife dipped in hot water to cut into slices. It is very rich, so cut into small pieces.
Original recipe sourced from: Westgold
