Malteaser Cheesecake.
Ingredients
For the base -
300 g milk chocolate malted milk biscuits (you can also use chocolate digestives)
100 g butter
For the filling
400 g full fat cream cheese
300 ml double cream
200 g maltesers, crushed (plus extra to decorate)
100 g icing sugar
2 tbs Horlicks powder (malt powder)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
For the topping
150 ml double cream
200 g milk chocolate
1 tbs Horlicks powder (malt powder)
Method
1 -
Begin by lining the bottom and sides of a 20 cm / 8 inch springform cake tin with parchment paper, allowing the paper to rise above the edge of the tin by a few centimetres. Set aside.
Using either a food processor or a food bag and rolling pin, finely crush the biscuits until they resemble fine sand crumbs. Once done, in a small pan, melt your butter and allow to cool (you can use a little of this butter to help stick the parchment to the sides of the cake tin).
2 -
Combine your cooled melted butter and biscuit crumbs and mix thoroughly until the mix resembles wet sand and clings together when pressed. If it is still very crumbly, add a little more melted butter. Once ready, add a third of your mix to your prepared tin and press firmly into the base until you have an even layer. Add the remaining crumbs and work this up and around the sides. Using either a glass or your hands, press the mixture firmly so the walls of the base are strong. Once you are happy, place in the fridge to set for 1 hour.
3 -
Once your base has fully set, measure out your cream cheese and cream and put into separate bowls. Add your sugar, salt, vanilla and malt powder to the bowl containing the cream cheese. Using a hand mixer, whisk the cream until stiff peaks. This will take 1 to 2 minutes. Be careful not to over beat as it will split. Stop just before you think you have achieved stiff peaks and set aside. Using the same beaters, whisk your cream cheese mixture until it thickens and holds its shape. It will start off loose but will thicken. Once ready, gently fold your cream into the cream cheese mixture until almost combined. At this point, add your crushed maltesers and stir to combine, ensuring it is evenly mixed.
Carefully spoon this mixture into your chilled base and smooth it out. Be careful not to get it all over the parchment that reaches beyond the biscuit base. Once even and smooth, place in the fridge to set whilst we prepare the topping.
4 -
In a small saucepan, add your remaining cream and malt powder and gently heat until small bubbles form and it starts to steam. Make sure you stir / whisk gently to ensure there are no lumps of powder. If there are lumps you can pass this through a strainer once ready. When the cream is hot, pour this over your broken up chocolate in a heat proof container and allow to sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Once you have allowed it to sit, using a spoon or spatula, stir the mixture until all the chocolate has melted and combined, ensuring to scrape the sides and catch all the chocolate. You should have a very smooth, thick and shiny ganache. Allow this to cool slightly then gently pour this over the top of your chilled cheesecake. Tapping the tin will help pop any bubbles. A toothpick to pop any bubbles also works well. If you are not worried about bubbles then you can chill this for a minimum of 1 hour before serving. Otherwise, allow it to rest at room temperature for 5 mins and check for any bubbles and then chill.
Once chilled, take the remaining malteasers, crush them lightly and top as you desire. Slice, serve and enjoy! This cake will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days and can be frozen partially to extend its shelf life. I would recommend adding the ganache when ready to serve as this can discolour in the freezer.
