White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Pistachio crumble and Raspberry Sauce

Serves 6

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the filling

• 200g cooking white chocolate buttons
• 300g Philadelphia cream cheese at room temperature
• 300ml thickened cream
• 1 tsp lemon juice
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. For the filling, gently melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with boiled water on a low heat. Make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Once the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. The chocolate still needs to be a liquid but cooled to room temperature.
2. Beat the cream cheese with a wooden spoon in a large bowl until soft. Gently fold in the slightly cooled, melted white chocolate.
3. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream on a medium speed until it is thickened but the peaks don’t hold their shape, and then fold it into the white chocolate mixture in two batches. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract, gently folding, and then pour and scrape the pale, almost-moussy mixture into ramekins lined with baking paper. Smooth the top, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Mirror Glaze

Ingredients

• 150g glucose syrup
• 150g granulated sugar
• 75g water
• 10-12g gelatine
• 75g water for gelatine
• 100g condensed milk
• 150g white chocolate
• Food colouring of your choice

Method

1. In a bowl add your gelatine and cold water and leave for 5-10 min to puff up.
2. In a jug add your chopped white chocolate and condensed milk.
3. In a small sauce pan, add your water, sugar and glucose syrup and leave it on medium heat to boil. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, take it off the heat immediately. Then add your gelatine and mix until it melts.
4. Add your hot mixture into the chocolate with condensed milk and leave for few min. Then with a hand blender pulse few times on lowest setting and holding at an angle to minimise the chances of bubbles.
5. If you have any bubbles, get rid of them by using a sieve or a spoon to skim them out. Add cling film immediately and leave in a fridge to cool down, best to leave it overnight (if you are using the glaze straight away, make sure to use it at 35 degrees C).
6. To glaze the cheesecake, reheat the glaze in a microwave in 30 seconds breaks and bring to the right temperature (35 degrees C). Cheesecake needs to be chilled, otherwise the glaze won’t stay. After coating, put the cheesecake in the fridge (not the freezer). The glaze can be stored in a fridge for a long time.

Pistachio Crumble

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pistachios
• 40g caster sugar
• 40g plain flour
• 30g chilled butter

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
2. Place pistachios in the food processor and process until fine. Add sugar and flour and process to combine. Transfer to bowl. Rub in butter with fingertips, leaving some small lumps of butter.
3. Line baking tray with baking paper, tip crumble over the tray and spread evenly. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until just golden. Set aside to cool.

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 450 grams fresh red raspberries, about 3 generous cups
• 100 grams caster sugar
• 5 ml (1 teaspoon)  freshly squeezed lemon juice

 Method

1. Rinse and dry berries before measuring and using in recipe.
2. Using a food processor, purée the berries. Press berry purée through a fine mesh sieve into medium saucepan; discard the seeds. Stir in sugar and lemon juice.
3. Bring fruit pulp and juices to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes while skimming foam from sides of saucepan using a slotted spoon.
4. Once the foam has been skimmed, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook stirring frequently until bright in colour, thickened and reduced by half, about 8 to 10 minutes. When done, there should be ¾ cup of sauce.
5. Set sauce aside to cool completely before using in recipes or serve warm as an ice cream sundae topping.

Plating up

Making sure the plate is not hot.  Start off by using a pastry brush, dip in the raspberry sauce and put a light brush down the centre of the plate. Follow with the pistachio crumble on one side Add the cheesecake on top of the sauce at one end and finish off with fresh raspberries, mint and chocolate garnish of your choice.