Creamy Strawberry & Double Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients 

  

For the base 

  

For the filling 

  • 120g white chocolate, roughly chopped 
  • 400g strawberries, trimmed, plus extra to decorate 
  • 300g cream cheese 
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract 
  • Zest of half an unwaxed lemon 
  • 3 tbsp runny honey 
  • 200ml double cream 

  

For the decoration 

Method 

  • Use a pastry brush to coat the inside of a 20cm springform cake tin with vegetable oil and then line the bottom with a circle of baking paper.
  • Place the digestive biscuits into a freezer bag and seal closed, making sure to squeeze all of the air from the bag. Using a rolling pin crush the biscuits until they form a sand-like crumb. If you don’t have a freezer bag to hand, then the same result can be achieved by placing the biscuits into a large bowl and crushing the biscuits with the end of the rolling pin, this will just take a little longer.
  • Place the 50g of dark chocolate and the butter into a large pan and melt gently on a low heat, stirring until everything has melted together. Remove from the heat and add your crushed biscuits to the pan, stirring throughly until the crumbs are evenly covered.
  • Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the tin with the back of a spoon to form an even layer, then chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
  • Remove the leaves from any strawberries and cut around 150g of them in half vertically then place pointing upwards around the edge of the tin - the vegetable oil should help these to stick to the edges a little. If you have any strawberries left over you can add these to the next step.
  • Chop the remaining 250g of strawberries into smaller pieces, these will go into the cheesecake mixture.
  • Melt the white chocolate in a microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted.
  • Whisk together the cream in a stand mixeuntil it forms soft peaks.
  • Place the cream cheese, lemon zest, honey and vanilla extract into a separate large bowl and beat thoroughly. Fold in the melted chocolate and then the whipped cream until everything is fully incorporated.
  • Spoon the mixture carefully into the tin making sure not to disturb the cut strawberries, the level out evenly with the back of a spoon.
  • Cover and chill in a fridge overnight to allow the cheesecake to firm up.
  • Once firm and ready to serve, remove from the tin and place onto a plate or board, then cut the strawberries to decorate the top of the cheesecake.
  • Melt the 50g Lily O’Brien’s Dark Belgian Chocolate for the decoration in a microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until just melted, then drizzle over the top of the strawberries and cheesecake.

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